LOCAL AND GENERAL

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXI, Issue 4956, 16 February 1937, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The delegates who are to represent the Waitomo Power Board at the conference upon amalgamation are to have a free hand. This matter was discussed in the committee stages yesterday. After the Boaid in open meeting had appointed delegates, Mr. Bluck spoke favouring amalgamation in the north, while Mr. O’Connell said that amalgamation with Wairere should be considered. Messrs. Lee and Simms, two of the, delegates, however, were of the opinion that they should go up with open minds. They did not know what was going to be brought up and felt it would be advisable if they were not tied down to any particular line of action. After a short discussion the Board concurred in this view.

With several acres of hay cut and ready for stacking, a well-known Ohangai resident who recently lost her j son found herself in a quandary, being unable to obtain harvesters. Hearing of her plight, 20 neighbours from several miles around rallied and completed the harvesting. The woman was overwhelmed with gratitude at the kindly action.

“When I Came to New Zealand, I imagined that things would be different from what they were in England,” said Sir Basil Brooke, Minister of Agriculture for Northern Ireland, at a function held by the Wellington Travel Club. . “I find instead that I had arrived in another England or another Ireland. There was no necessity to go through any mental acrobatics. I behaved exactly as I would in England.”

Brisbane, and, indeed, almost the whole of Queensland, has been suffering from drought during the last six months, according to Mr. A. G. Silvester, of New Farm, Brisbane, who arrived at Wellington from Sydney by the Awatea on his first visit to New Zealand. He wore an overcoat, and considered that the weather was cold in Wellington. When he left Brisbane the thermometer registered 98 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade, and 78 degrees humidity. That was fairly torrid, even for Brisbane, and as a result, there had been six deaths from the heat in three days. “That would not be so bad were it not that we were short of water in Brisbane at present,” said Mr. Silvester. “There are very severe restrictions on the use of water. We are hardly supposed to use the house or garden hose at all, and people are not allowed to wash down their motor cars. We have had no rain since July last, and supplies are running low. Such restrictions during a hot summer do not make for comfort.”

Mr. A. W. Anderson, a resident of Milford, has patented an ingenious safety device to safeguard motorists in passing over railway crossings, a model of which was recently shown to the Minister of Public Works and engineers of‘his department. Briefly put, the device is an automatic gate for stopping all traffic before a train approaches anl crossing. Interviewed on the matter, Fr. Anderson explained that the gates are controlled by electricity and swing at right angles outward and inward as occasion requires on the approach and departure of any train. For example, an express train travelling at 45 miles an hour, when it passed a certain point, although a considerable distance off, would cause the V-shaped gates to be closed automatically thus preventing a motorist from proceeding until the train had passed. Mr. Semple requested Mr. Anderson to forward a detailed report for consideration by the Railways Department.

An unrehearsed incident occurred on Thursday afternoon on the arrival at Balcutha of the Minister of Public Works and Transport (the Hon. R. Semple), in full view of a large number of deputationists from all over the countryside assembled in front of the Hotel Clutha, in Clyde Street (states the Otago Daily Times). The chauffeur of the big Ministerial car attempted to turn the vehicle in front of the Bank of New Zealand so as to draw in to the kerb on the opposite side of the street, but at that juncture a woman with two small children was crossing the street and would probably have been run into by the Ministerial car had the driver not stopped the vehicle dead in the middle of the roadway. When approached by a local police officer who had witnessed the incident, the chauffeur stated that he would not have been rebuked had he done the same thing in Willis Street, Wellington, to which the constable made reply: “Well, you can’t do it in Balclutha without breaking the local traffic law.”

The present state of the local fruit market shows the havoc wrought by frosts, floods, and wind, states the Hawke’s Bay Herald-Tribune. Usually at this time of the year an abundance of fruit comes in and prices very often are low for many lines. This however, is not the case at present. It happens sometimes that there are more buyers at a fruit sale than cases of fruit to be sold, a position vastly different from this time last year, when the dealers took their pick of the first-class lines at their own price .and left the remainder for the general public. Now the dealers are in keen competition with each other, and it is somewhat amusing to watch the varies signs given to the auctioneer in lieu of bids, each buyer trying to get in first unknown to his neighbour. The growers who have fruit to sell are getting the benefit of better prices, but the fruit shortage must have made a big difference to auctioneers as well as to growers whose fruit crop has been destroyed.

More adequate provision for the spiritual welfare of men in public works camps, and particularly on the South Island Main Trunk railway, is thought desirable by the Christchurch Presbytery. Steps are to be taken to secure the services of a home missionary (states the Christchurch StarSun). Advice had previously been received from the Home Missions Committee that a man was not available, said speakers. On Wednesday the presbytery decided to approach the committee again, a merhber stating that it seemed as if the members of that committee were not aware of the large field offering. Mr. A. J. McEldowney said it seemed as if the church required to take a survey of all public works to see if some forward step could be taken in catering more adequately for the men and their families. Many of the camps were more or less permanent, and other churches had already taken the initiative. The position should be reviewed on a Dominion basis, added Mr. McEldowney. The Rev. G. T. Hercus said that the Main Trunk area had been “a sort of no man’s land” as far as the church was concerned. The ordinary population was not sufficient to warrant any special provision being made. But centres formerly with a population of only eight or ten had grown into towns of 200 or more. It appeared that the only way to meet the particular needs of the locality was to have a special man appointed.

Though he lost his return boxing bout on points to young Gido, of the Philippine Islands, Al. Stock, who is to meet Jack Carroll at Te Kuiti, gave a very good account of himsef in the Auckland Town Hall last evening, particularly in those rounds where the fighting was hardest. The patronage was large, no doubt due to the fact that the first bout was one of the best seen in Auckland for some time. Last night Young Gildo proved himself the speedier and ceverer boxer, thoug’h Al Stock kept the fighting willing all the way through. '

A home-made motor car brought its owner, Robert A. Keeble, into the Napier Magistrate’s Court last week, when he was charged with passing a motor car on the incorrect side, using an unlicensed motor car, an unregistered motor, and incorrect number plates. “The car is one he made himself,” explained Senior Sergeant W. Pender, who conducted the prosecution, “and in it he has fractured almost every section of the Motor Vehicles Act. He passed another vehicle on the left hand side in Emerson Street, has used the car for the past 12 months without a license, and has been using dealer plates owned by the firm where he is employed.”

An amusing story against himself is told by the Rev. H. G. Gilbert, of Hamilton. When in China, in company with some missionaries, he participated in a picnic, and a number of Chinese children gathered round. As the party moved off, the juveniles fell in behind them and began to sing. Listening attentively Mr. Gilbert who is noted for his predilection for children, picked up the words (but not the meaning) and air, joined the juvenile choir, and blended his voice with theirs. The children began to laugh, and the missionaries expressed astonishment that one of their own company should serenade them lustily with the declaration in Chinese, “You are all foreign devils.”

Much amusement was caused at the dance on Saturday night when the “Knock, Knocks” were read out. The winner was Mr. L. Barlow, with “Scramble —Scram —Bill, here comes my husband!” Close seconds were contributions by Miss D. Sparks, “Popeye —Pop, I need a coupla bob,” and Mrs. D. Ormsby, “Hitler—H’it’ll occur to you later.” Other good “Knock Knocks” not censored were: “Theo— The Old Grey Mare”; “R. Wood—Ah would if I was you”; “Lovelock —Love, lock the door so pa can’t see us”; “Eureka —You reekabeer”; “Anthony— There a’n’t any more beer in Kwiti”; “Taxi —Takers a smart guy to think these up”; “Windsor —Wind so cold you’d better keep the door shdt”; “Ginger—D’y’injure yourself when you fell off your bike”; “Singapore—Sing a poor guy ter sleep”; “Cotter —Cotter feelin’ you’re foolin’ ”; “Rudolph— Rude ol’ feller swore at me”; “Rumania—Remain ’ere and be ’appy”; “Saul —S’all for to-night, folks.” The dance was well attended and was a most successful function.

A strong characteristic of people of Scottish ancestry is pride of race, but perhaps even stronger is their loyalty to and pride in the particular clan with which they claim connection (says the Christchurch Star-Sun). When two or three particularly clad* conscious Scots get together, the battle is on. So it happened the other evening that in a small gathering there was much delving into ancient history. Each Scot spoke on behalf of his own clan, but a dour silent man who had been humming the air of “The Road to the Isles” during the discussion had last say. “The people of the Isle of Skye pray for the adjacent islands of Great Britain,” he announced. As no one could contradict him, the subject was changed.

Though the grants to the local school committee have recently been increased by about 40 per cent., the finances are not yet likely o allow for any extravagances, as evidenced by the following figures given by Mr. Davison last evening when one matter affecting finance was under discussion. The total capitation for a year would be £252. Out of that the cost of cleaning would be £162 10s, leaving £B9 10s for general maintenance of the school, firing and lighting. Last winter the firing cost £25 10s and lighting £9 15s, so that not a great deal, he anticipated, would remain for general maintenance.

A Taumarunui resident had the alarming experience of being bitten by a shark early on Sunday morning. It seems that, when the siren sounded the alarm of fire, like many other residents, he sprang out of bed to see if it might be the post office or some other important building. Rushing to the window of his sitting room the excited resident suddenly put a bare foot in the jaws of a shark. To say that he jumped nearly out of his skin would be putting it mildly and now he is blaming his wife or small son for placing the shark’s head on the floor in the way of traffic.