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Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 289, 3 November 1934, Page 6

As a result of the effort of publicspirited residents the Waipukurau Hospital is to be equipped with radio at an early date. With the resignation of Sir Apirana Ngata the strength of the Cabinet has been reduced to nine, of whom Hon. E. A. Ransom is absent on sick leave and Hon. A. Hamilton is performing only light duties because of recent illness. Thus the active membership of the Cabinet is only seven. It is expected the vacancy caused by Sir Apirana Ngata’s retirement will not be filled until after the House has adjourned. Couched in Biblical language, a Maori petition presented to the House of Representatives was reminiscent of the Book of Genesis. The petitioner alleged that a Native Land Court had been wrong in allotting land to another Maori, claiming that ho was the lineal successor of the founder of the family. Starting ten generations back, the petitioner, in simplv but striking language, traced his family down to the present day, thus proving to his own satisfaction that he, and not another, should have received the grant of land.

One of the worst storms within living memory struck Bombay, near Pukekohe, shortly after two o’clock on Wednesday afternoon, causing considerable damage and lasting for about one hour. Without warning, there was a torrential downpour, accompanied by heavy hail, and within a few minutes everything was flooded, most roads becoming rivers. The storm continued for about one hour, after which the sun came out and shone on a world of white paddocks, thickly covered with hailstones of great size. Such was the intensity of the storm that the roar of the descending hail was heard in Pukekohe, five miles away.

The Dairy Commission’s proposals for more extensive research had his unqualified approval, remarked Mr A. M. Seaman, president, when speaking at the conference of the Associated Chambers of Commerce in Christchurch. “I was astounded,” he said, “when, on my appointment to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, I became aware of the pitifully small sum which was available for investigation of the weighty problems troubling this "industry. The proposals should put this work on a sounder basis, blit the suggested expenditure of £25,000 annually still seems to me a very low rate to pay for the insurance of so valuable an output.”

Seven fire alarms were received by the Palmerston North Fire Brigade during October. Two were to actual fires, though neither was ' serious. Three of the other calls were for chimneys, one was to a burning hedge, and the other was a false alarm.

A reduction of Wanganui’s Indebtedness by £37,170 was made yesterday with the repayment of two loans, one of £33,590 on the corporation gas undertaking and the other of £3580 on the Opera House. In four years the city’s debt has been reduced by £165,531. The secretary of the Shannon School Committee has received advice from the Education Board that the board has approved of the application for the establishment of a District High School at Shannon and is submitting the matter to the Education Department for favourable consideration. The spring nesting of birds is not often thought of as the cause of fires. The thoughtlessness of homemaking songsters in the Koru district (Taranaki), however, has placed them in serious jeopardy of losing the title of “man’s feathered friends,” states the Taranaki News. A faulty chimney in a Koru house last week set alight to nests made in the wall, part of which had to be demolished before the blaze was extinguished. Mme. Breshko-Breshkovskaya, generally known as the Babushka or “grandmother” of the Russian Revolution, has died in a village near Prague at the age of 90. She played a notable part in the earlier revolutionary movements, but as she was in fact a Menshevist, _ after the establishment of the Bolshevist regime she took refuge in Czechoslovakia, near Prague, with a family,of Russians who carry on a small poultry farm. Plans are nearly complete (says the London Times) for 18 German firms, engaged in the making-up of women’s gowns and coats, to establish branch factories in England. Nine factories will be situated in the city and West End areas of London, and nine in the Manchester district. Work in some of the factories will begin shortly and in the remainder later, the precise dates being partly determined by seasonal requirements.

A plea of counsel to a jury to give an accused man the “benefit of the doubt” was criticised by Mr Justice Herdman in the Supreme Court at Auckland. That was not a correct statement, His Honour said. The position was that it was the duty of the Crown to prove its case beyond all reasonable doubt, and if it failed to do so the accused was entitled to be acquitted. The use of the word “benefit” in this connection was inaccurate, as had been pointed out bv a high authority.

Between 60 and 70 men of C company of the Wellington-West Coast Regiment, from Feilaing and Palmerston North, went into camp this afternoon at Hokowhitu, under Major Pollock. Lieutenant J. W. Barry, N.Z.S.C., of Wanganui, adjutant of the regiment, is also attending. The camp will break up to-morrow evening, but will enable a course of training to be undertaken that is not possible at evening parades. The training will include drill, minor tactics, and weapon training, embracing work with light automatics and machine guns.

“We who are on the Secretariat of the League of Nations are really international civil servants,” Dr. J. B. Condliffe said at Auckland yesterday. “As such we can hardly discuss the affairs of the different nations. Most of our work is done almost informally in committee and through meetings of experts, and, as such, does not receive the light of publicity. However, I feel justified in saying that bad as the depression has been in Central Europe, it would have been infinitely worse if the League had not assisted in propping up the financial structure of Austria three years ago.”

Mr Hannaway Rowe, one of the picturesque showmen of other days, has died at Southampton at the age of 93. He was the son of a naval surgeon, and himself walked the hospitals before beginning his career at the “Medicine King.” With his brass bands, cowboys, and Indians, he travelled all over the world selling the medicine which he guaranteed would cure every ailment under the sun. Everywhere he _ went large crowds gathered to watch him arrive in his gilt carriage drawn by four ponies. He founded a herbalist’s business in Southampton' and sold it. He was very generous and died in poverty. Mr Justice Blair, in the Supreme Court yesterday, gave some frank advice to beneficiaries in a civil case concerned with a trust estate, when he said it seemed a waste of their good money on legal and accountancy fees. As far as he could, he would ensure that those who prosecuted these matters and failed would pay the legal and other costs and not the estate itself. When counsel suggested that certain' undecided computations could probably be referred to an accountant, His Honour said he would do nothing of the kind. The parties could try and settle the matter between themselves, and if they could not agree he would refer the matter to the Registrar, who would carry out the investigation on better lines than the accountant and make a much better job of it. The Governor (Sir Philip Game), speaking at the annual dinner of the Naval Comrades’ Association at Sydney, emphasised the need for maintaining a strong British Navy. The dinner was held to commemorate the 129t1i anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. Sir Philip Game said that he did no ttliink peace would come until the world realised not only the wickedness of war, but also its utter futility. Armaments were an effect, and not'a cause, of war. The world to-day was arming, and the Empire had to be armed too. Soldiers and sailors knew that the only defence was attack. The Empire had to be armed to keep peace. A weak nation could not keep out of war. With a strong navy, the Empire would be able to keep the peace and pursue its own destiny just as it pleased. The spirit of Nelson had inspired his crews 129 years ago, and it had captured the British imagination since. It appealed to something that was fundamental in human nature. The conclusion that the ultimate necessity is a Church station is reached after surveying' the present position of broadcasting as it affects the Church by the committee on broadcasting in its report to be presented to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand in Dunedin next week. Some of the possibilities hoped for, the report states, may, perhaps, be realised under a national system, but the committee records its conviction that the full realisation of some of them will only become possible when the Presbyterian Church has its own broadcasting station. “A strong case might also be made out for diverting to this work the considerable annual sum formerly expended on evangelism. Whatever the future may bring forth, we can only affirm most emphatically our judgment that the Church must continue to think most seriously and practically about this matter. There is the gravest danger that we may become alive to its importance too late and find ourselves forestalled,” it is stated.

An advertisement appears elsewhere in this issue drawing the attention of members to the commencement of the 1934-35 season of the Central Swimming Club.