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Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 43, 18 January 1935, Page 6

A teapot, said to have been used byJohn 'Wesley, has been presented to the Wanganui Museum by an anonymous donor. John Wesley died in March 1791, so that the teapot may be about 160 years old. A considerable air of expectancy is hovering over Riverton just now, reports the Southland Times. Rumour has it that within the next four months a large chemical works and low temperature coal carbonisation plant, producing oils and motor spirit from the brown coals of Southland, are to be established there. Since the beginning of work on the weir in the Avon River near the Armagh Street bridge, Christchurch, rats in large numbers have invaded residences in the nearby streets. Several householders report encounters with their unwelcome visitors, and men engaged on the work of installing the weir have seen many. A hopeful view of business conditions is taken by the trade journal the New Zealand Draper, Clothier and Boot Retailer. The gratifying return to better business conditions which marked the passing of the old year encourages every hope that the recovery in trade which Great Britain is experiencing will become permanently reflected in New Zealand. The Easter and Christmas seasons are‘'evidently regarded in New Zealand as the most suitable times of the year for entering the matrimonial state, and 1371 marriages were contracted in April, 1934, and 1249 in December. Certain days of the week also appear to claim popular fancy, Wednesday, chief in demand, seeing 34.3 per cent, of the total marriages during 1934. Saturday, with 22.3 per cent., was also popular, but Friday, blackened wtih the superstition of being an evil day, was honoured by only 5.4 per cent, of the total wedding couples.

Advice from the Woodville County Council that it was proposed to call a conference of the local bodies interested to consider the working of lime deposits at the Manawatu Gorge was received at yesterday’s meeting of the Oroua County Council at Feilding. The chairman (Cr. A. Campbell) commented that most of the lime works in New Zealand were now only making moderate profits. Cr. R. McDonald considered that the County Council should not offer any objection to the proposal, Cr. T. Green saying that the haulage of lime .over long distances now cost the Railway Department a large amount. The matter was left in the hands of the chairman, who said that the reserve was producing nothing now and if the works were established they would provide at least the royalties.

Some of the trees in city parks and reserves in Christchurch, after putting up a gallant fight, have succumbed to the long drought and died. So far the mortality has been comparatively slight. Owing to the death of the Arawa chief Mita Taupopoki, the Maori farewell presentation that was to have been made to the Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe, this week has been postponed until a later date. The improvements to tiie approachc to the sea-front at Waitarere continue' to givo fully satisfactory service. The manuka fascining recently laid down has withstood the stress of traffic and high tides, while accumulated sand has been scooped from the metalled stirface of the roadway opposite the store. Tenders for the erection of 26 chains of stop banking at Hamilton’s bend, involving a volume of 5850 cubic yards of material when consolidated, were finalised by the Manawatu-Oroua River Board at its meeting yesterday afternoon. The board also decided to engage the services of a civil engineer for the supervision of the work. The date set for the completion of the work is March 31. Attending the Summer School at present in session at Now. Plymouth are some 120 teachers from all quarters of the Dominion, while one has come from as far afield as Levuka, Fiji. District teachers attending are Misses J. Atkinson (Mangatainoka), A. Edwards and L. H. Edwards (Eeild. i.ng), D. F. E. Junker (Pahiatua) and H. ltoss (Konini, Pahiatua). When reporting at yesterday’s meeting of the Manawatu-Oroua River Board on the progress of the board’s loan conversion operations, the clerk (Mr R. H. Spencer) said he had the debentures for all but £4OO out of a total loan indebtedness of £6,150 to be converted. Of that £4OO, £2OO was held by each of two bondholders resident in Australia. Forty men are now engaged on the superstructure of the new Fitzherbert bridge, but it is not anticipated that the bridge will be ready for traffic before next Easter. Immediately the decking is linked up the 21-incli water main conveying the supply to tiie city will be brought into use, replacing the 12-inch and tile 9-inch pipes on tiie old bridge. Submitting his report to the Manawatu County Council, yesterday afternoon, the tramways manager (Mr A. K. Drew) stated that during the past month only sixteen trucks of fat stock had been handled. Usually, for this period of the year, about 120 such trucks were hauled, he added, snowing the severe competition created by lorries engaged in road transport of stock. During the years of tiie Maori "Wars a stout part was played by officers and men of two British Naval corvettes, the Esk and the Eclipse. That New Zealanders have not altogether forgotten the excellent service rendered in those early days was shown recently when Sir James Grose, general manager of the National Bank of New Zealand and president of the New Zealand Navy League, visited the newly commissioned destroyer H.M.S. Esk at Chatham Dockyard, and presented a bronze plaque commemorative of the warship's namesake and predecessor. Notification was received by the Ala nawatn County Council, yesterday, from the Public Works Department that the Alain Highways Board bad delegated to the council all the powers conferred upon the board by section 9 of the Alain Highways Act, 1932, in respect .of the recently declared Rangi-otn-Rongotea highway. The maintenance subsidy applicable would be £3 for £l. An estimate of the cost of the maintenance of the highway was sought, in order that application could be made for the necessary monetary authority.

“We will not lose anything by our action,” commented tho chairman of the Oroua County Council (Cr. A. Campbell), at a meeting of that body at Feilding yesterday, when a letter was read from the council’s employees extending thanks for granting thorn a holiday of a fortnight with pay at the Christmas season. The letter, which was signed by a representative of each of the various divisions of the council’s staff, said the employees greatly appreciated the action and they would do their utmost to prove it was justified by their labour a.ud interest in the county work. When the Byrd Expedition returns from the Antarctic, it is improbable that either of the ships will call again at Wellington. The auxiliary barqucntinc, Bear of Oakland, which is now approaching the Bay of Whales to take aboard part of the expedition and their gear, will not put in to any New Zealand port on her homeward voyage. The steamer Jacob Ruppert, now on her way south for the aeroplanes and such explorers and equipment af will not have been embarked in the Bear of Oakland, will return to Dunedin, probably in early March. She will then sail for New York. ‘‘During the whole period since the last meeting very heavy traffic has been experienced in all parts of the county,” reported the engineer (Mr H. V. Bond) to the Manawatu County Council yesterday. “Extraordinary maintenance has been undertaken on all main traffic routes. All graders have been worked longer hours than usual in an endeavour to keep the road surfaces in good running order.” The chairman (Cr. W. E. Barber) stated that the continuous grading which the council had been forced to undertake on the metalled roads had caused heavy wear to the grading plant, and the council might be faced with the cost of a new machine in the near future.