A Clean Press.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 121, 21 April 1938, Page 8

A Clean Press.

“Your daily Press m INew Zealand is clean and straightforward and the reporting is excellent, said \ eiy lie > • Father Owen Dudley, Superior ot tlic Catholic Missionary Society, London, to an Auckland reporter. Father Dudley had completed a lecturing tour ot the Dominion,

A Typing 'Feat. The inquests in connection with the Ivopuawhara flood tragedy called lor something of a feat in tj'ping on the clerk of,the Wairoa Court and lus assistant. There were actually 19 inquests, and" 19 witnesses were heard, producing 48 pages of evidence. Each page contained 300 words, jnaking the total number of words 14,500. Nineteen copies, however, had to be taken off, the total number of words involved thus being 276,100.

Popularity of the Pipes. Encouraged by the success of the pipe band of Wnirarap'a College at the Palmerston North Easter contest, and conscious of the fact that pipe music is becoming increasingly popular, wellknown Wairarapa residents have decided to sponsor a college old boys’ highland pipe band. Pipe-Major Murdo McKenzie, New Zealand champion piper, who will - coach the new band, said that there was plenty of material ill the district and there were others eager to learn the pipes if such a baud could be formed. : Road Ruts As Guides. How arid sections of Australia were crossed in some sections without the traveller losing -the ‘‘road” was explained .by Rev. John-Flynn, in the Opera House last evening, when he said that the wheel ruts were the guides. He showed a lantern slide of ruts which remained as ridges after a foot of soil had been blown away. The wheels had packed the bottom of the ruts harder than the surrounding earth and the harder section had remained in place. In one case a young man had followed ruts 30 years old without losing his way.

Spectacular Phenomenon. During the last two or three weeks the Spectre of the Brocken has been a fairly common sight on Mouht Egmont. Climbers and - tram pel's have seen their reflections vaguely outlined in a circular rainbow on a neighbouring ridge against tho mist. Waves of the hands or other movements have been clearly seen.

Challenge Accepted. The challenge recently issued to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Housing (Mr J. A. Lee) by the National Party candidate for the Hntt electorate, Mr J. W. Andrews, to debate publicly the housing question has been accepted by Mr Lee who, in an interview yesterday, said he would be pleased to meet Mr Andrews some Sunday afternoon in the Basin Reserve, Wellington. Busy Railways. Holiday traffic on the railways still continues to be heavy. Relief expresses have been necessary for .both northern and southern runs each day. Last night a north-bound relief train passed through Palmerston North „at 10.30, while this morning a relief express, travelling south, passed through at 9.30. The Napier and New Plymouth trains are also carrying their full complement of passengers. Tiles From Australia.

Because the present output of New Zealand-made concrete and clay tiles is proving insufficient lor requirements, the Government has arranged for the supply for its housing scheme to he supplemented by Australian tiles. It is also specifying galvanised roofs in some instances. Arrangement for importations will be discarded when New Zealand manufacturers are able to cope with the demand. Franconia’s Cruise.

A brief visit to Wellington will be .made on Sunday by the Cunard White Star liner Franconia, which is making a round-the-world cruise of nearly five months. The ship left Hobart at 6 p.m. on Tuesday and, weather permitting, will call at George Sound and Milford Sound to-morrow. She will arrive at Wellington at 6 o’clock on Sunday morning and will depart twelve hours later for Auckland, where she is due on Tuesday morning and whence she will leave at 7 p.m. next Thursday for Suva. New Electric Trains.

The first multiple-unit four-motor electric train to be operated by the New Zealand Railways is nearing completion and is almost ready for its service trials. Intended for the Wel-lington-Johnsonville suburban service, the power-coach and trailer now receiving their finishing touches will be the first of six two-car trains which will maintain fast and regular services between the city and certain suburbs. Five multiple-units have already been landed at Wellington and the sixth is due to-dav. New Zealanders In China.

The Far East Relief Committee of the Joint Council of the Order of St. John and the New Zealand Red Cross Society has received further communieations from Drs Robert B. Grey and H. Tremewan, the two doctors appointed liy the committee for service in China. Dr Grey writes from Loyang,. in the Honan Province, under date March 14, and states that he endeavoured to send a cable, but the man in the post office wanted to know where New Zealand was. He had to inquire from Chengchow where New Zealand was and how much to cliaige for the cable.

Sunday Trading. The sale of fish at New Plymouth on Sundays from licensed fishing boats or their tenders will in future be permitted on the recommendation of the' report of the Sea Fisheries Investigation Committee. “At New Plymouth,” said the report of the committee, “the main cause of complaint by fishermen was that the police had recently prevented the sale of fish at the breakwater on Sunday. The fishermen in New Plymouth lead a precarious existence, and the earning of their livelihood is affected bv storms and other acts of God, so that any alleviation possible should be granted.” Rivers of Sand.

“We have rivers here, too, but you would not know them,” said Rev. John Flynn, of the Australian Inland Mission, when speaking in the Opera House last evening on certain parts of Australia. The “rivers” were wide areas of sand, with trees oil either side. The sand presented difficulty to motor vehicles, but the tyres were let down to 151 b pressure and then the difficulty was minimised. If the trouble remained, long “carpets” of cocoan.ut matting, loin, wide, were laid for the wheels. The matting allowed the vehicle to cross with a cool engine, but the labour of shifting the matting saw that the traveller was not cool. (Laughter.) * Trading at Wellington.. Comparing shipping and cargo statistics for the port of Wellington for March this year with those for March last year, the chairman of the Wellington Harbour Board (Mr D. J. McGowan) stated, at the meeting of the board last night, that the returns showed increases in tonnage of trading vessels arriving and the cargo handled. The net tonnage of shipping arrivals was 416.867 tons, an increase of 11,590 tons. The cargo handled was 207,860 tons, compared with 199,438 tons, an increase of 8422 tons. Increases were shown in general cargo transhipments of 2488 tons, and imports of oils in bulk, 5794 tons. A decrease was shown in wool and. hemp shipments of 6423 bales. Precious Water. “In between the welcomes, we seem to have been doing nothing but crossing rivers and everywhere we go we can hear the sound of running water, which is the sweetest music for an Australian abroad,” said Rev. John Flynn, of the Australian Inland Mission, in speaking in the Opera House, last evening, of his trip through New Zealand .with Mrs Flynn. Referring to lakes—he had only recently visited Queenstown —he said Australia had dozens of lakes," too, but in nearly every case where they were of sufficient importance to be shown on the map they were salt lakes. Some one had suggested an exchange of lakes between the two countries. “We are quite ready to do so as soon as arrangements can be made,” Mr Flynn declared amid laughter. Medical Aid By Air. Air transport was responsible foi obtaining prompt medical attention for an injured man at Manaroa, Pelorus Sound, on Tuesday afternoon. Mr Charles Harvey, Manaroa, received a kick on the side of the face from a horse, and lie was rendered unconscious. It was feared that the injury might bo serious, and a telephone call was put through to Blenheim requesting that a doctor should be sent by aeroplane as there was a paddock at Manaroa which could be used by light aircraft. There was no doctor available in Blenheim, however, so one was summoned from Picton. He motored to the aerodrome where the Marborough Aero Club’s pilot-instructor, Mr A. Crighton, was waiting with a Fleet training machine. They took off about 4.15-p.ni. arid, arrived*at Mana-c roa half-an-hour later.