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Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 263, 5 October 1936, Page 6

No less than 67 frosts have been recorded at Hamilton in the past winter, compared with 66 last year. The heaviest was 15 degrees.

Enquiries are to be made by the Presbyterian Church regarding the possibility of establishing a home in New Zealand for the children of missionaries to enable them to be educated here.

Within a few hours of the official opening, on Saturday afternoon, of the new Paremata-Plimmerton road, two motor cars collided about half a mile north of the new bridge. One of the cars was badly damaged, but no one was hurt.

Travelling in the inspection rail-car, Mr G. H. Mackley (General Manager of Railways) returned to Wellington from Auckland yesterday in 9 hours 52 minutes’ actual running time. The rail-car left Auckland at 10.30 a.m. and arrived at AVellington at 10.13 p.m. At a conservative estimate, between £30,000 and £40,000 has been contributed by Mr Gerhard Husheeiy of Napier, to charitable objects during the five years of the depression, according to Mr G. B. Young, chairman of the Napier Social Service Committee. Mr Young said a few days ago that the committee had made available between £IO,OOO and £12,000 in goods of various descriptions in the past five years.

In reply to a request sent to the Minister of Labour (Hon. H. T. Armstrong) by the business people of Inglewood, that a Bill should be introduced during the present session of Parliament "declaring a universal half-holiday for the Taranaki province, the Minister states that time will not permit of any such legislation during the present session. Consequently the Taranaki towns are still in confusion as regards their half-days. , “I am glad .in my short term of office to have made a decision to construct the road round the coast to Paekakariki,” said Hon. R. Semple ; when opening the new Paremata bridge on Saturday. “I am determined to improve the highways of this country and to widen them and cut out dangerous zigzagging climbs wherever possible. We will have 300 or 400 men working on the coast road before many months. The road from Plhnmerton to Paekakariki will cost about £200,000.” A controversy in the correspondence columns of the Times, London, has proved almost beyond doubt that Mr George Harper, of Christchurch, is the oldest living old boy of Eton College, England’s most famous public school. Mr Harper celebrated his 93rd birthday last April and is at least a year older than any other old Etonian. Mr Harper is a member of the Old Eton Association and his name appears in the lists of the association with the dates 1855 to 1877 beside it. There is no other member of the association listed who was at the college before that time.

An amusing episode was related in the Papakura Police Court by Inspector F. Jones, traffic officer for the Manukau County Council. He said that just about dusk he was chasing a speeding car at between 50 and 60 miles an hour when ho noticed an approaching car pull up, turn round, and give chase to both. The driver of this car turned out to be Inspector 'l'. C. Clissold, traffic officer for the Main Highways Board, who had failed to recognise the second car as that of Inspector Jones. Eventually, he saw whose it was and left the stopping of the first ear to his brother officer.

Fashion follows various whims from time to time hut nothing • ever replaces the tailored-type of costume. For spring a smart fabric for this useful garment is fine check woollen suiting. The colours arc brown, navy, and black and white. We are featuring a wonderful sot of these. Just consider them when you are deciding on your-spring outfit. Their tendency to impart a youthful appearance is an added virtue. Collinson and Cunninghamo, Ltd. —Advt.

At the annual meeting of the Pahiatua Lawn Tennis Club, it was decided to endeavour to form a Bush Tennis Association. A sub-committee was set up to further arrangements to that end..

A AVliangarei report says it would appear as if the white butterfly pest will be particularly severe this year, although measures were taken last year to control the butterflies. Gardeners are concerned at the large numbers already seen.

Shortly after 7 o’clock last evening, the Fire Brigade received a call from the alarm at the corner of Main and Albert Streets, the cause being a chimney fire in Church Street. When the brigade arrived the fire had been e - Anguished. A fracture of a wrist was suffered by Trevor Thompson, aged 14, 6on of Mr and Mrs A. Thompson, of Tokomaru, when the engine of his father’s car back-fired as he was cranking it, at Shannon, last evening. He is now in the Palmerston North Hospital.

Among the remits to be discussed at the Congress of the Chambers of Commerce is one from the Grimsby chamber, which suggests that in the interest of progressive trade with New Zealand the embargo imposed in 1923 on direct exports to New Zealand of live stock should be removed.

An interesting remit from the London Chamber of Commerce, to be discussed at the congress in Wellington, advocates calendar reform. It suggests the adoption throughout the Empire of a perpetual 12-month calendar divided into equal quarters of 91 days, with New Year’s Day undated and a fixed date for Easter.

There is to be a move made shortly in an endeavour to alter the rules governing the conduct of the Ranfurly Shield. Mr G. H. Pownall, of Wanganui, has framed a scheme whereby the shield is to be competed for by provincial instead of union teams. _He proposes to place it before the New Zealand Union in the near future. If it is adopted the scheme will mean that the Wellington team will take in the whole'of the Wellington geographical province. An unexpected answer came from a Maori witness in the Supreme Court at Auckland, when he was asked by counsel why he had left the farm on which he was working at Clevedon. “There was a rumour about the end of the world among the Maoris,” he said. Counsel suggested that witness left because he had had a row with “the boss,” but witness maintained that he had been influenced solely by the belief that the end of the world was at hand.

“There are far too many collisions, not only at busy intersections, but at other corners in Ferguson Street,” declared Mr J. L. Stout, S.M., during the hearing of a case in the Magistrate’s Court to-day. “They occur at the Victoria Avenue and other intersections,” he added. “It seems to be a bad street.” The Magistrate added that probably the accidents were due to motorists, thinking the street was a quiet one, passing over intersections there at 25 to 30 miles an hour.

A pair of handcuffs of historic interest has been presented to the Canterbury Museum by Mr J. Houlden, of Christchurch. They were issued to his grandfather, who was a special constable during the “wool riots” in Yorkshire during the ’thirties of last century, when there was considerable agitation because of the introduction of machinery in the wool industry, which, it was thought, would lead to unemployment. The handcuffs show that there has been practically no change in pattern during the last 100 years;

Nineteen years ago yesterday the main phase of the New Zealand Division’s engagement at Passchendaele commenced, when the New Zealanders and Australians were in the centre of the line in an advance which was marked by considerable success. Gravenstafel Bridge was captured and held by the New Zealand Division, but the fighting was a mere prelude to that encountered eight days later, when an attack was launched on Bellevue Spur. New Zealand’s share in the battle culminated in the disastrous fighting of October 12, 1917, in which very heavy losses were suffered with magnificent heroism in the face of overwhelming odds. Financial figures for the mission work of the New Zealand Presbyterian Church during the year ended June 30 last were presented to a meeting of the missions committee of the church, held in Auckland. The estimated expenditure for the year was £37,619 and the actual expenditure £37,840. The givings of congregations toward mission objects had increased by £2OOO, but they still fell short by fully £7OOO of the amount required. Unrestricted legacies totalling nearly £6OOO had come to hand, and that enabled the committee to begin the year with the foreign mission and home mission funds practically clear, but there was a deficit accumulated over a number of years of about £6OOO in the Maori mission fund. It was decided to approve the proposal to ask the Church at large for a special donation of £6OOO to clear off the liability.