MOTOR COLLISIONS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIII, Issue 1718, 8 January 1920, Page 4

MOTOR COLLISIONS.

Motor accidents, mostly (if not all) avoidable, continue to take place, and arc indeed, becoming alarming in then frequency. Several have been reported of late, both locally and in other prfrts of the Dominion, attended with" lamentable consequences to motorists and the public, and it is not always easy to 'apportion the blame, if indeed blame be apportionable. The police nave power, under the Police Offences Act, to taker proceedings against people who drive along the wrong side of the road, or who exceed the speed limit, but they complain locally that the absence ol bylaws leaves them powerless to put down certain dangeruus practices on the part of motorists and others. There ought most certainly to be a by-law regulating the speed at which motors may be driven within the Borough, and the Municipal and County Councils alike should, not merely in the interests ot the public, but in tho.se of motorists also see that such restrictions are placed upon the "speed limit'' as to ensure the greater safety ol pedestrians and traffic generally. Many a lalmprstonian has had a narrow escape ol being run down by cars tearing through, ami around the Square at an excessive speed, and, in the heart of the town, tars should be compelled to slow down t> a reasonable rate such as is consistent with perfect safety, particularly in places like the 'Square, where there are so many crossings that have to be negotiated. The correspondent who writes to us to-day, on the subject of motor collisions, puts forward a very sensible suggestion, so tar as the country districts are concerned, ami one which should be taken up by the authorities in the interests ot bare traffic. He asks that wherever main roads are intersected by the byways of traffic, or where such by-ways join the main roads, any trees and undergrowth that obscure a clear view of the roads thus functioned, should be removed, so that cars or other vehicles approaching one another, may pass in satety. It has happened, and will happen again, that cars passing along the main road, or leaving it for a side road, have come suddenly upon pedestrians or vehicles that have barely had time to get out of the road and thus avoid an accident, while in some cases accidents have occurred in this way, which ought to, and would, have been avoided had there been a clear and unobstructed view of the road along which the car was travelling. Motorists claim that a high rate of speed may be maintained with safety on country roads where there is little or no traffic, but there are occasional painful reminders of the mutability of all such opinions, and something should certainly be done, either by the Government or the local authorities, to minimise the greater risks tho public now-a-days incurs, as a result of motor traffic on the highways and byways of the Dominion.

Our Down the Line correspondent says 11 is stated that an Otaki resident has received a windfall of £4500. Mr W. Murdoch suggested at the meeting 6f tho Hospital Board today that a committee ho set up to consider tho whole question of wages and salaries paid to the Hoard's employees. The chairman (bir James Wilson) said that the Board was now paying rather more thai: the Department considered a fair amount. In reply to a question tho secretary said that the probationers were paid £2 10s per month, plus uniform, in addition to their keep. It was decided that the executive submit a report on the question of salaries before the estimates for next year are prepared. The matter of providing a recreation ground for the stall at tho hospital was mentioned at the meeting of the Hospital Board to-dav by Dr. Whitakor, who said I that tho Board" would soon be increasing tho number of tho nursing stall, and it should cator for their recreation by providing tennis courts, etc., for which there was a suitablo picco of ground. Ibo matter ho said, had been put oil too long, and tho Board should appoint a small committee to have the work done before 1 next meeting. The matter was passed, however, without any resolution being adopted by tho Board. Reference to Australia's birth rate is reported to havo been inado by Dr Iruby King, who has just [returned from his visit to tho Old World in connection with child welfare ''They want to havo Australia white," Dr Truby King is quoted as saying, "but if they find the Eastern nations more moral, more noblv willing to make more sacrifices for tho continuity of tho race, the result must be the same as has been the case with the great civilisations of tho past. ' Greece and Rome went down not through ,inv' failure in tho valour and courage oi their voung men, but because of tho increased luxury, the repugnance of rearing iamilies, followed by decadence and sterility, and eventually extinction. If the population of Australia do not do their duty to the race then there cannot be any resistance. to other races coming in and populating that fair land." .Among the arrivals at Wellington by the Tofua was Mr Stanley C W. David formerly of Palmerston North, who has been absent for over five years, most of which time he spout in America investigating the latest engineering methods. Mr David has specialised in irrigation and land development, hydro-electric work, _ highway construction', and modern municipal engineering. " He has secured an interesting insight into modern American methods, more particularly in his capacity of resident engineer for Miller and Lux., Inc., Button Willow, California. During tho time he was With this firm it was developing a quarter of a million acres of land, and carrying water to it bv moans of large canals, 25 feet wide at tho'bottom, 6 feet deep, and 45 feet wide at the ton, constructed by Momghan dragline dredges, working night and day, at the rate of 100 C feet a week. Prior to going on service with the Canadians, Mr David was with a land company, which was developing 55.000 acres by the. most modern methods for closer settlement. The country in this case'war desert land, and the engineer" bad to drill for water to a depth of 1800 i'o 200 C feet, at a cost of about 10s a foot. Forty wells wore sunk, each one developing a capacity of 500 to 600 gallons a minuto.- From the wells the water was passed through a sand-box, designed by MiDavid and a fellow engineer, Mr Reed, for the purpose of separating the sand from the water. Incidentally, tho device measured the" water, which was then passed on to the waiting ploughed land.' One year after this land was irrigated it was sown with wheat," ai'd produced a crop of over 50 bushels to the acre. Mr David was for two years at Iho Polytechnic College of Engi • ncering, Oakland, California. —Post