GENERAL NEWS

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6808, 11 January 1929, Page 6

GENERAL NEWS

Aorangi left Sydney yesterday for Vancouver via Auckland. A number of Ministers’ decisions under the Customs Act are published in last night’s Gazette.

The dentists’ register of New Zealand is published for general information in last night’s Gazette. The official dates of the Schneider cup race to be held on the Solent are September 6 and 7.

A meeting of the Palmerston North Hospital Board will bo held next month to decide the capital estimates for the ensuing year.

Tho number of inmates of the Palmerston North Old People’s Home has increased during tho year just ended, the average being 41.9 for 1926-27 and 45.5 for 1927-28.

There was a sudden rise in the Manawatu river yesterday as a Tesult of rains in the Hawke’s Bay and Pobangina districts. Prom 9ins. above normal at 7 a.rn., the water rose to 6 feet at 5 p.nn, but at 8 p.m. showed signs of falling.

Patients numbering 19G were admitted to the Palmerston North Hospital during December, while 182 were discharged, and eleven had died. On January 1, there remained in the institution 162 as well as 14 infectious diseases cases, (scarlet fever 12 and diphtheria, 2).

“The greatest act of reciprocity that could possibly be brought about between New Zealand and Australia would be the interchange of some of our sunshine for some of your rainfall,” said an Australian bowler at the Dominion tourney. "If we had your rainfall Australia w r ould be the greatest country under tho sun, but we still have places where rain comes as an annual treat ,and others where threeyear droughts are not uncommon.’''

“Work on the Board’s farm has progressed satisfactorily during the month,” reported the secretary, Mr A. J. Phillipps, to the Palmerston North Hospital Board, yesterday. “The. 20 acres on the river flat has been ring fonced. The pasture which was put in has taken well, and providing we do not get a long, dry spell, the result will be a great improvement to our property. Owing to the faelt that within the last two months several cows have been culled from our herd, it will be necessary to purchase four or five cows within tho next few months. Yesterday was the first anniversary of tho ill-fated attempt of the two Now Zealand airmen, Lieut. J. B. Moncricff and Captain G. Hood, to fly the Tasman Sea from Australia to New Zealand. The pair left Sydney in a two-seater plane in the early hours of the morning, but wore never seen again. Conjecture as to their fate has led to tb.e now generally accepted belief that the fliers crashed in the sea several hundred miles from the New Zealand coast. Beports that were rifo at. the time that the ’plane had been seen or hoard over various parts of the country are now considered to have been groundless.

A slight decrease in chsiritable aid during December was reported to the Palmerston North Hospital Board yesterday, by the Charitable Aid officer (Mr P. Aisher). He issued 193 rations at a cost of £49 12s, compared with 252 rations at a cost of £63 10s for November. Charitable Aid in other parts of the district was again back to normal now that the flaxmills had again started. During the month 21 men travelling the roads had called on him for asistance. Of those he' assisted 14 at a cost of £4 16s, compared with 13 at a cost of £3 16s in November and 21 at a cost of £5 10s in Depember, 1927. Thanks were due to the Mayor (Mr A. J. Graham) for providing a Christmas fund for the needy, and the public who responded to his appeal. The Botary Club had also provided an outing for indigent children.

New Zealand road organisation and the abundance of service cars to all tlio outlying parts are among the principal aspects of this country that have sfruck Sir Hugh Poynter, who arrived in Christchurch a few days ago from the North. “The whole country looks so clean,” lie told a press reporter. “The farmhouses look well painted, and everything has an air of prosperity. New Zealand, of all our overseas Dominions, seems to me the most suited for British immigration. I have spent five years in Canada and two in Australia, so I can judge for myself.” One feature of the Dominion he remarked upon was the tremendous number of commercial travellers who had to sell to a relatively small population. “The competition,” he said, “must be enormous, and it certainly makes it difficult for anyone from outside. Of course, the public may benefit with such rivalry among the various firms.”