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Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 286, 31 October 1933, Page 6

The Government, states the Prime Minister, is considering the appointment of another Judge of the Supreme Court and an announcement will probably be made shortly. So far this month only one bankruptcy has come before the Official Assignee in Christchurch, and only 23 have been dealt with in the last six months. A proposal to erect a new church at Westown, New Plymouth, has been approved by the standing committee of the Waikato Diocese. The church will cost £9OO and funds are available for the building to be erected free of debt. Another lucky Aucklander, Mrs W. Morgan, of Epsom, has received private advice that she drew a horse in the Irish hospitals’ sweepstake on the Cambridgeshire Stakes, which was run at Newmarket, England. Although the horse, La Becassino, was unplaced, Mrs Morgan expects to receive about £IOOO plus exchange. Her horse was the fourth drawn in the Cambridgeshire this year by residents of the Auckland province. The presence' of large numbers of rats on Little Barrier Island is reported by the caretaker, Mr W. H. Hardgrave, in the annual report of the Department of Tourist and Health liesorts. He states he has been successful in destroying quite a number of rats. There are also many wild cats, which are being steadily shot. Bird life is still increasing, and a number of birds have become exceedingly tame. Tuis and bellbirds especially are increasing. Wild pigeons are plentiful and kiwis are numerous and can be heard calling every evening. Several times during the hearing of a case dealing with farm property in the Supreme Court yesterday, the enhancing of the value of land when it was in a popular district, was mentioned. The Kairanga was given as an instance and two witnesses said that land which was described as being some of the best in the Foxton district would be worth more if it were in the Kairanga. Mr O. Monrad expressed the opinion that it would be worth more because there would be a greater demand for it. Mr N. H. Mackie said that there would be a certain “popularity value” attached to the land if it were situated at Kairanga. It was stated by the Railways Board in its annual report that the suggestions and inventions committee dealt with 622 suggestions during the year, as compared with 1055 during the previous year. Of these suggestions 59 were recommended for adoption in whole or in part; 210 were referred to heads of branches for their information, or were already in operation or related to' matters of policy; 304 were not recommended for adoption, and 49 were, at the close of the financial year, under trial or investigation, and were carried forward for future consideration. Of the 59 suggestions recommended for adoption 18 were in connection with improvements to rolling stock, 10 were in connection with workshop equipment, 9 referred to matters connected with the ways and works and signals branches, while the balance dealt with general matters in connection with railway working.

To-morrow. November 1. is All Saints’ Day' and the patronal Festival of All Saints’ Church. There will bo two celebrations of Holy Communion, 7 a.m. and 10 a.rn. In the" evening at 7.30 pan. there will be Festal Evensong when the- choirs of neighbouring parishes will assist that of All Saints’. The preacher will be Rev D. J. Davies, of St. Peter’s. On this day and also Sunday, November 5, the annual Golden Offering will bo taken up.

Only 12 objections have been lodged against the urban farm lands list compiled by the Auckland City Council under the Urban Farm Lands Rating Act, 1932.

“Financial conditions in Britain have definitely improved, and manufacturers have a very hopeful outlook,” declared Mr Norman 0. Fulton, chairman of directors of a Glasgow motor firm who, accompanied by his wife, is revisiting New Zealand after an absence of twenty years. An endeavour is at present being made to institute an annual reunion of all who served with the New Zealand Medical Corps during the Great War. The proposal is to hold such a reunion in Dunedin within the next few weeks, and the question pf making it an annual function will then be decided.

Evidence of the enthusiasm with which Wanganui golfers liqve welcomed the proposal to send Misses Oliver Ivay and Bessie Gaisford, New Zealand’s champion lady golfers, to England next year was furnished at Belmont on Saturday and over the week-end. In a tournament staged by the Wanganui Golf Club £2l was raised for the fund.

History was repeated when the flag was flown on the Timaru Council Chambers in commemoration of the Battle of Trafalgar and the death of Lord Nelson. Owing to the clock tower still being in the course of construction, the flagpole was not complete, but the mast was there, and the flag was nailed to it in traditional style.

Hallowe’en, the eve of All Saints’ Day, falls to-night. It is a time associated in Scotland and. Northern Ireland with certain pleasing superstitions, so minutely set forth in Burns’s famous poem, “Hallowe’en” ; it is the night when young men and maidens, by observing certain rites, are supEosed to have their future wives and usbands respectively made known to them. A remarkable escape was experienced by a boy of six years at Waitata on Saturday. Running out suddenly 'iJn to the road in Princess Street, he was struck by the radiator of a car, which passed over him. He jumped to his feet immediately afterward with a deep cut over an eye and body bruises, but without any broken bones. He did not lose consciousness either then or subsequently. “In the better class districts the selling value is higher than the productive value of land,” said Mr N. H. Mackie, Government valuer, when giving evidence as to the value of a farm concerned in a Supreme Court actio.u, heard yesterday. When questioned by counsel he said he would be very surprised if another land valuer had said earlier in the case that the productive value of a farm at Foxton was higher than the selling value. His Honour Mr Justice MacGregor said that if the witness had heard as much about land values as he had in Court he would not be surprised at anything in that regard. Interested in the sewing cotton business, Mr H. Ollerenshaw, of Halifax, England, who is accompanied by his wife, arrived by the Niagara to spend a five weeks’ holiday in New Zealand. The cotton business, he said, showed only slight improvement, although recently there had been an increase in the exports to India. Mr Ollerenshaw mentioned that in the woollen industry a noticeable improvement had taken place, although he was not prepared to say that the improvement would be permanent. The heavy wool factories were very busy, and at the time he left England they were working day and night. Mr R. B. S. AVatson, who came down to Fiji to explore local waters at the suggestion of the Government in search of swordfish fishing grounds, has returned to New Zealand (writes a Suva correspondent). Before going he announced that he had purchased the beautifxxl island of Wakaya. situated to the north-east of Levuka. The purchasers are known as “Wakaya, Ltd.” Mr Watson is lucky that no American millioixaire had heard of the island being for sale. It is a paradise for sportsmen, for its wooded valleys and moixntain ridges swarm with deer and wild fowl, and its reefs are ideal fishing grounds, almost untouched by fishermen. The island also has large areas under coconuts, and can produce a large quantity of copra yearly. Some years ago Mr de Mouncey bought it from the Government for some £14,000, and then it was acquired by Morris Hedstrom, Ltd., who have sold it to Mr AVatson. Suggestions that primary school children siiould be discouraged from swimming further than the 880 yards for which certificates were awarded, and that beginners should be taught a recognised stroke for use over a shorter distance than 50 yards for the learner’s certificate, were made to the annual meeting of the Taranaki Swimming Centre last week by Mr AV. A. Brown, educational officer. To a strong swimmer of good physique this distance was not difficult to attain, but beyond that a swimmer of lesser bodily strength might easily over strain his powers should he try to emulate the feat of a stronger companion. This had happened on. several occasions, swimmers having to be assisted to their homes in a state of colla.pse. The objections to the swimming of undue distances by the children were endorsed by the meeting, which decided that it would not recognise school certificates for swims further than 880 yards. . ,