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Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 291, 7 November 1934, Page 6

Formerly the Buenos Aircs proviiice of South America had r 55 sheep. To-day it has only.half that number, owing to the concentration of activities oil wheat This information was given to the Palmerston North Citizens’ Lunch Club yesterday by Dr T. Oliver, the Scottish wool ex- * a favourable recommendation was brought down by the Public Petition. Committee of the House of Representatives when reporting yesteiday on the petitions of C. 0. Morse and 88 others, of Napier, and J. J. Laulkner and 36 others, of Hastings praying for remission of interest on Hawke s Bay earthquake rehabilitation loans In view of tho substantial Jail in the rate of interest, the committee recommended that relief be granted by the reduction of interest on all loans made through the Rehabilitation Committee, and further that the free-of-interest period be reviewed and extended.

“We have to blend wools to secure the acme of excellence,” stated Dr T. Oliver, D.Sc., during an address to t ie Citizens’ Lunch Club yesterday. >\e use New Zealand Merino for strengthening the blend,” he added, and South African for imparting fineness of quality.” Whatever prejudice formerly existed, lie did not consider it a disadvantage to mix Argentinian wool with that from New Zealand. No North Island wool was used in the Scottish trade, because its fibre was too thick, though it was quite useful for certain classes of manufactures in Bradfoid.

At the annual conference in Glasgow of the National Smoke Abatement Society Bailie R. Brownhill Smith, acting president of the Scottish branch, stated that iri the United Kingdom nearly 2,500,000 tons of soot escaped into and polluted tho atmosphere every year from domestic fireplaces alone.. The only way to stop smoke was to stop the burning of raw coal and provide better and cheaper means of heating. The installation of gas grids, in suitable areas, presented no more difficulty, probably less, than electricity grids, and' the chances of an increased consumption of gas were even greater than that of electricity.

A unique service was held in the Onehunga Methodist Church on Sunday evening, when a Biblical play, “He Had Great Possessions,” was presented instead of the usual sermon.

The Masterton County Council proposes to prosecute a planned tar-seal-mg programme with the idea of providing a network of sealed roads radiating from Masterton. It is intended that five miles be sealed annually. A strange club has been formed in Christchurch. It consists of boys of the Cathedral choir who have reached the melancholy age when their voices change. They are to be banded together in “The Croakers’ Club.”

The discovery of a blackbird’s nest neatly built between beams in a corner of a cattle truck in the Lyttelton railway yards was made by some Lyttelton children the other day. The truck had arrived the previous evening from Addington. The nest contained five eggs.

Swarms of midges—a species of sand fly which breed in swampy places—have been infesting the town area of Napier during the past few weeks. They became so numerous last week that the borough authorities saw fit to wash down the footpaths and gutters with disinfectant.

“When one cracks a joke against an Englishman or a Colonial he usually looks for a safe exit,” stated the Scottish wool expert, Dr T. Oliver, during an . address to the Palmerston North Citizens’ Lunch Club yesterday, “but when the joke is against a Scotsman he retaliates . by telling a worse joke against himself.” A most unusual burst of thermal activity occurred at Whakerewarewa at the week-end, when a boiling pool near the Paurenga Bridge, at the entrance to the village, shot to a height of 20 feet. It covered the bridge with boiling water and enshrouded it in steam. Fortunately no one was on the bridge at the time and no damage was done.

In the House of Representatives yesterday, Mr A J. Stailworthy asked the Prime Minister (Mr Forbes) if he intended to fulfil his promise to give the House an opportunity of passing the Religious Exercises in Public Schools Enabling Bill before the House rose. Mr Forbes, in reply, said an opportunity would be given before the session terminated, but it would not be possible before the adjournment. Mr James Moore Hickson, who visited Australia and New Zealand some years ago as the herald of “spiritual healing” and conducted missions of healing in this regard, left an estate valued at £30,00U. The major portion of his estate (says the Australian Church Record), roughly £20,000, was New Zealand property. The remainder represented his English property. He was an Australian, but for many years lie had lived in England. Reasons why the Government Railways Board had- refused leave of absence without pay to one of the Hutt workshops employees, elected by members of the railway staff to visit Russia, were sought by Mr W. Nash in notice of a question given the Prime Minister (Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes) in the House of Representatives yesterday. Mr Nash said the visit to Russia was for the purpose of examining the experiments that were being carried out in that country. “Just foolishness” was the reply given by Dr T. Oliver, the Scottish wool expert, who is visiting Palmerston North, to a query made at the Citizens’ Lunch Club, yesterday, as to what caused the jump in wool prices last year. There was no reason at all lie added, beyond the influence of a hustling movement which, once started, gained impetus. There had never really been a surfeit of wool, commented Dr Oliver, despite the German claim to make cloth from paper.

Blooms of the beautiful Alpine plant commonly but inaccurately called the Mount Cook lily have appeared in the garden of Air J. W. Kealy, of St. Helier’s, Auckland. This lovely buttercup, pure white with a gold centre, is found naturally only in tlie Alpine districts of the South Island, at an altitude of from 2000 ft to 4000 ft. It is well-known to visitors to the Alount Cook and Arthur’s Pass regions. It is remarkable that a plant with such a habitat should have been induced to flower by the seaside in Auckland, says the Star.

“I still feel a bit dizzy about it,” said Air P. S. Taylor, of Lower Hutt, when interviewed yesterday, after lie had received word that he liad won the first prize of £12,000 in a Hobart consultation. Tlie prize-winning ticket was entered under the nom-dc-plume of “Three of Us Syndicate,” but actually, said Air Taylor, he is the only person concerned. Air Taylor is a baker and pastrycook. “We have still got to bake, £12,000 or no £12,000,” said Air Taylor. “It’s a wonderful Christmasbox, and it will come in useful in these difficult times.”

“There has been a very definite decrease during the year in the. number of fires recorded as of suspicious origin,” states the report of the Chief Inspector of Fire Brigades, for the year 1933. “The special inquiries by the police into all fires the cause of which is not clearly accidental have been continued, but the number of cases it has been found necessary to refer to tlie special committee for further consideration lias been less than one-third of the number dealt with in 1932. Only seven coroner’s inquiries into fires were held during the year.”

“Your own woollen cloth is much better than some of the substitute material being imported into this country, though, owing to the fact that it is made entirely of coarse wool, it is not as good as the real woollen cloth of Australia and England,” commented Dr T. Oliver, D.Sc., principal emeritus of the Scottish Woollen Technical College at Galashiels, during an address to the Palmerston North Citizens’ Lunch Club yesterday. America had 30 years ago, adopted tlie manufacture of worsteds from cotton.

“The M.C.C. lias agreed to send a team to New Zealand in 1935-36,” states the annual report of the New Zealand Cricket Council. “This team will be of much tlie same standard as Gilligan’s team and the New Zealand matches will not be regarded as Test matches for record purposes. Our English representatives, Air Sims and Air Harold Gilligan, are doing all in their power to ensure that the next representative English team to Australia will return via New Zealand. This proposal will be discussed later by the AI.C.C. and the Australian Board of Control.”