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Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 243, 11 September 1933, Page 6

Three calls were answered bv the Palmerston North Fire Brigade on Saturday. The first was received at 347 p.m. to a grass fire in Alain Street West, near the railway line. The second was received at 6.23 p.m. to a chimney in a house in Edgeware Road, and the third at 7.9 p.m. to a chimney fire in Rjxngitikei Street. In no instance was there any damage done to property. The optimistic tone of the bulletins received from overseas chambers of commerce and financial institutions in the last few months was-comment-ed on at a meeting of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce by the vicepresident (Air A. F. Wright), wlio was in the chair. Air Wriglrt remarked that this cheerful tone was worth noting, especially as the chamber received a large number of these bulletins.

One of the subjects for discussion at th© next meeting of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society will, be the growing scarcity of wild duck, particularly in the Lower AVaikato district. For several years the wild duck have been decreasing, and poaching, closer settlement and the gradual draining of the swamps have all been attributed as a cause. The society (says a northern report) has had under discussion the importation of English wild duck, but a fear has been expressed that its introduction might result in crossing with the native ' grey duck and the development of a hybrid. Another suggestion made is that the next season should be a closed one.

About twelve years ago a Gisborne resident received from a friend in Queensland, as a curio, a brightly coloured beetle of a type not found in New Zealand. As usually happens with things of that sort, the beetle was wrapped in cottonwool and put away in a cardboard pillbox. It was dead when it arrived from Australia, and there was no doubt about it being dead when the box was opened six years later. Yet, when a day or two ago the Gisborne resident was sorting through a trunk in which the pillbox was kept, she found on opening the box that six little beetles had hatched out, and on© was still alive, although tlie original beetle had been incarcerated for 12 years in a practically airtight box, without food or light. Suggestions that a speed limit might be put into operation on the road through Alanaltau were made at Saturday’s meeting of the Horowhenua County Council by Cr. L. H. Atkins. He said that there had been one or two narrow escapes of late. Cr. A. J. Gimblett commented that the open road through Manakau was a big temptation for motorists to speed. The engineer (Mr J. T. AI. Brewster) said that on a former occasion it had been thought that a speed limit should be imposed in the five townships within the county, but it had been found that such action could not be taken as the road through them was classed as ail ordinary county roadway. The school signs, he said, limited the speed to 15 miles an hour between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. There were school signs in Alapakau. No action was taken in the matter.

The Union Company’s old cargo carrier Kaliika, which was recently purchased to be broken up, will be cut into sections at Port Chalmers and shipped to Japan in the form of scrap metal. It is reported that the Otago Harbour Board’s dredge, No. 222, and the old tug Plucky, are likely to be broken up for a similar purpose. The increased consumption of electricity was strikingly illustrated when Mr W. A. Waters, engineer to the Manawatu-Oroua Power Board, mentioned at to-day’s meeting of that body that when President Roosevelt gave a talk over the air in Philadelphia recently the power station load increased by 30,000 kilowatts owing to the rad’f) sets being switched on, together with extra lighting, by the listeners.

New Zealand’s official summer time will commence a little earlier this year than usual. The reason for this is that under the daylight-sa.ving legislation summer time, when all clocks and watches are set forward half an hour, commences at 2 a.m. on the second Sunday in October. As October 1 is a Sunday, October 8 will be the da.y for the change over to the new time. The close of summer-time will be the third Sunday in March.

Arrangements have been made by the Palmerston North Rotary. Club to visit the Masterton Club on October 19. The Wanganui Club will visit Palmerston North on November 13. Arrangements are in hand for an interclub meeting at this centre to meet Mr F. Milner. C.M.G., rector of the Waitaki Boys’ High School, on his return from America, where he has been on a Rotary mission. Members of the Palmerston North Rotary Club visit Dannevirke on Friday next. Although during the past few weeks the Whangarei district had experienced perfect spring weather, influenza is unusually prevalent. One firm alone has 23 members of tire staff away owing to illness and there is scarcely a business house in the town which is not affected. There is no reason to suppose the sickness is more serious than usual, although all precautions are needed. For some weeks there has been a severe epidemic ct measles, affecting young and old, but this is now rapidly abating. Recently a .number of posters had been pasted up on Broadbelt’s Bridge, on the main road between Levin and Shannon, said the engineer, Mr J. T. M. Brewster, at the meeting of the Horowhe.nua County Council, on Saturday. He said that he had the authority to prosecute and had given those responsible seven days in which to have the posters cleared off. If the request were not carried out he intended to carry the matter further. The chairman (Mr G. A. Monk) thought that the engineer was taking the correct course in following the matter up. “It has been pleasing both to the public and the railways staff to find trom the returns recently published that the railway net revenue for the year so far is £35,000 higher than for the corresponding four months of last financial year,” states the general manager of railways, Mr G. H. Mackley, in the New Zealand Railways Magazine. “These results have been achieved largelv by an improvement on the revenue side, and it is hoped that this tendency will be maintained. Careful handling on the expenditure side has also assisted. Whether the revenue improvement will continue cannot be forecast with any degiee of certainty, but there are now probably more grounds for confidence in this respect. The efforts of the staff to curtail expenditure and their activities in furthering the development of business for the department have contributed to the improvement.” The spectacle of six fine roasted pigs ready for the feast floating down the Rewa River, while thousands of natives had gathered for the very important ceremony of installing a hereditary high chief, was one which would astonish people overseas (says a Suva correspondent). It is, however, a lamentable phase of the Fijian native character. For the entertainment of the great crowd which was expected, thousands of taro, dozens of pigs and turtles (the old special food of the chiefs) were provided at Rewa, and the wicked waste, as Europeans would view the conduct, is regarded as merely “showing off.” It is a common practice to throw half a loaf or other food away while eating. It is the peculiar native way of showing how important the waster is. Even if they have to starve the next week, Fijians will do this. The wastage at the great feasting was wicked when one realises that even many Europeans and half-castes in Fiji are pressed for something to eat.

What has become of Michael Reynolds, an octogenarian pensioner, who has been missing from his home in McKenzie Avenue, Woolston, since January 23 of this year? In the months that have passed the Christchurch police. have been making diligent inquiries throughout the province and the Dominion, says the Christchurch Star, and Gazette notices have carried the inquiry overseas. The file of papers detailing the results has reached inches thick, but as yet no trace has been found of the man. Mr Reynolds appeared to be in quite good health when lie left his home to collect his old age pension at the Pensions Department office at the Government Buildings on January 23, and officials there believe that he collected it. However, he did not return home, and after a time his relatives became anxious and informed the police. It is known that Mr Reynolds had a son in Sydney, and it is considered possible that he might, unknown to his other relatives, have planned to join him. This line of inquiry is still being followed by Christchurch detectives, but without great hope of success.