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Manawatu Standard, Volume LIX, Issue 47, 24 January 1939, Page 6

Christchurch Frost.

Railway Loop Line. The construction of the loop line on the Manawatu gorge railway about four miles from the Woodville station is proceeding apace. A gang of men have been employed for several weeks, and will probably continue to be so engaged for some time. Liability For Prosecution. The fact that both vendor and consumer were liable to prosecution for selling and buying milk at less than the fixed price was stressed at a meeting of the Auckland Metropolitan Milk Council, when a vendor was under cross-examination concerning allegations that he had sold milk to consumers at less than the fixed price. Boys’ Camp Isolated. Following a medical examination of 29 boys quarantined at the Toe II camp in the grounds of Korn School, Taranaki, where two cases of diphtheria broke out during the week-end among 31 boys from New Plymouth primary schools, two “carriers” were discovered. The district health officer, Colonel F. W. W. Dawson, stated that he “swabbed’ the boys and the two “carriers” which tho examination revealed were removed to the New Plymouth Hospital. The camp is now in strict isolation. Native Land Claim. Memories of the raids into Hawke’s Bay of Te Kooti and his Hau Han warriors will be revived at a special sitting of the Native Land Court in Hastings on January 31, when the ownership of tlie Tarawer-a Block of 74,664 acres, situated near Te Haroto, will again he reviewed. After the Hau Hau rebellion, part of the Ta rawer a Block was confiscated to the Crown in 1867, and, as a result of petitions to Parliament and the passing of special Acts, the Tarawcra Block was reallocated to 24 loyal Natives, in whom ownership was finally vested in 1870. The family of Te Pohe, descendants of Ngaliere Te Pohe, one of the original grantees, have been particularly insistent upon their rights under tho 1870 allocation, and as a result of a petition to Parliament in September, 1936, have finally secured permission to have the position reviewed by the Court.

A frost of 6.5 degrees was experienced in Christchurch on Sunday morning. It was the sixth and most severe frost this month. Runners Meet Head-On. When ho collided head-on with another runner while taking part in a relay race at a railway picnic at Ngaruawahia, Mr Desmond James Gillies, aged 20, was knocked unconscious and suffered concussion. War on Vermin.

At the request of the Minister of rnternal Affairs (Hon. W. K. Parry) the Auckland Acclimatisation Society is to conduct, in co-operation with other bodies, an intensive campaign against vermin which prey on game birds and fish.

Weraroa Escapees Recaptured. Five of six boys who escaped from the Weraroa Training Farm at the end of last week have been recaptured. Three were caught at Wanganui yesterday and two were arrested by the police after they had been found in a lane in Palmerston North last evening.

Duty on Souvenirs. Boy Scouts, who had spent most of their pocket-money on their holiday in Australia, expressed disgust yesterday on landing at Wellington- at having to pay Customs duty on the boomerangs and other curios and souvenirs they had brought back with them from the Sydney Jamboree.

Stations ‘‘Blanketed Out.” Hundreds of wireless sets in the Opotiki district have been rendered of little use to their owners as a result of a fault in the electric-power system which has been broadcasting static over a wide area. Bets as far away as Omano have been affected. Practically only one station did not have its programmes interfered with seriously.

Need for Rain. Considerable concern to residents on Waihckc Island, Auckland, is being caused by the continued spoil of dry weather. Depending on rain for their water supply, they arc viewing with alarm the falling of their available supplies, and water for household use is already being carried from creeks and springs in sonic districts. Survey of Sea Bed. An oceanographical survey of the Mayor Island waters is being conducted from the launch Kia l’oa by a party consisting of Captain J. Watson and Messrs S. M. Hoyell, It. W. Bell and G. Tetley. Working with a conical dredge at depths varying from 30 to 65 fathoms, the party has secured a varied collection of marine lile.

Municipal Finance. Loan money to the cxent of £200,000 has to be paid off in London by the Dunedin City Council on February 1. The loan will carry exchange of £50,000 and the total amount of ..£250,000 will lie met by taking £150.000 from the city’s sinking funds and raising a loan of £IOO,OOO locally. For the £1 100,000 the city will pay at the rate of 3} per cent, this percentage being fixed by the Local Government Loans Board. Hare Made a Mistake.

It occurred at Puahue, near Te Awamutu, during recent haymaking operations, and it was one of those incidents that take place once in a lifetime. The sweep had just brought in a load of hay and the man working the mechanical grab hoisted a hefty “grabful.” When the hay was about 3ft from the ground and still travelling skywards the workers received a shock to see a hare leap from the load and, evidently realising that he was in the wrong place, light out for fields afresh and pastures new. Rapid Mobilisation. How a million Frenchmen mobilised overnight at the time of the European crisis, laying down their tools to take up weapons, was told by Mr J. W. Collins, retired Trade Commissioner to Canada and the United States, who returned to Wellington yesterday. During his visit lie saw the mobilisation overnight of 1,000,000 men to man the Maginot Line. They went off to war as they might have gone to work, only in place .of the tools of their trades they carried rifles. He saw in the neighbourhood of Rlieims a line of omnibuses 24 miles long, providing a service supplementary to the railways. Assurance Wanted.

Though Australian businessmen with interests in New Zealand and exporters were perturbed over the Dominion’s import control scheme, most people there took tho attitude that it was,an experiment and were wondering how it would work out, said Professor H. Belshnw, Professor of Economics at Auckland University College, who has returned from Sydney and Canberra. “One or two expressed the opinion that unless it was quite clear that dividends could be paid without difficulty there would not l>e any more investments coming from Australia,” continued Professor Belshaw. “An assurance is wanted that dividends can be readily transferred.” Social Credit Conference.

That Douglas Social Credit still possesses an active following in New Zealand is evidenced by the miniature “canvastown” at Claudelands Showgrounds, where the annual North Island conference has opened. Mr F. C. Jordan, of Auckland, described the conference as one of the most momentous in the history of the organisation. “With the recent rise in price levels and the cost of living much of the benefit of the increased incomes of the last three years has been cancelled out, and more people are realising that our basic contention that there is an inherent shortage of purchasing power in the workings of the present financial system is correct,” he said. A Bowling Record.

The feat of winning the New Zealand rinks and singles titles in the Dominion bowling championship concluded in Auckland on Saturday was the climax of 20 years’ bowling experience by Mr W. C. Franks, of Balmoral. Born at Thames, ho has played bowls m a number of centres since lie took up the game, and lias won club championships at Stratford, Napier, Blenheim, Masterton and Featlierston, as well as Balmoral (Auckland), where he has resided for tho past five years. He has also won a champion of champions competition at Wairarapa. The winning of the rinks and singles championships by one man has never before been accomplished in a New Zealand championship tournament. Mr Franks lias two sons who are bowlers, one of them being a member of his' winning rink.