LOCAL AND GENERAL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 8 June 1927, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The town planning committee of Chrislclfifrch City Council has laid down a policy that all motor -sheds which are visible from the street shall conform in general appearance with the standard of the buildings in the locality, and has instructed the building inspector to refuse all applications which are. nob in accordance with this policy. Charged with drunkenness, a firstoffender was convicted and fined 10/at the Court to-day. Mr F. W. Fairey, J.P., was on the bench. A heading to the article in last night's ".Mail" dealing with the ra>w wireless station 2YA (Wellington) might create the impression that the. station will commence operations this week. As stated in the body of the article, the station, which is (.tie second largest in the British Empire, will be officially opened on 9th July, after which a restricted service will be given until the full timetable conies into operation on' Ist August. An indication of Ihe terrible pr\ver of electricity was given at CuiiVnbrae recently (says Ihe Ashhurton "CViaidiau"), when at (ho height of a gajo a tree fell near a sav/mill, bringing a high tension wire to within two feet, of the ground. A group of men from the null approached the wire to investigate Ihe damage. With thetm went a dog, wtijcJi, in_ an attempt, to leap over the hangup wire, came in contact- with ii. Instantly it was reduced to ;i withered. shapeless mass, as big as a man's fist. It is notified that the promises of the Nelso/i master grocers will remain open all day to-morrow (Thursday). For infants! Cream wool matinee coats and frocks, daintily finished from 7/6 at McKay's.* Down Pixxyf Sateens, newest designs, 2/6; Plain Down proof Sateens 2/3 yard. —Trathen's.* Children's woolly sets, comprising coats, caps and legginettes, cream and colours from 22/6 at McKay's.*

Athol Norgata, aged 9, son of Mr F. N'orgato of Annesbrook Crossing, had his now broken by being thrown from a cow's back yesterday. Having climbed upon the animal ihe lad gave, it a slap to make il go faster. The cow bucked and threw him forward, so> that one of its horns struck his nose. The boy -was treated at a private hospital but was able to- return home last night. The New Zealand Astronomical Society advises that an "Appulse" of Venus and the star B.D. plus 22 deg., 1U92 is predicted in the 1927 11.A.A. Handbook. "On Bth dune, at about 7h 41m (19h 11m New Zealand mean time), this Bth magnitude, .star passes within 1 or 2 seconds of arc of the northern cusp of Venus. The appulse is visible from Mew Zealand and the. eastern part of Australia. A short occultation is not impossible, as the uncertainties of the Itiuhlai' place of Venus and the positions of the star are of the order 1 or 2 seconds of arc." This is evidently a critical phenomenon, worthy of the attention of all who possess telescopes. It will be interesting lo see whether an occultation occurs, and if it does occur, the times of disappearance and reappearance, also whether the star fades slowiv or is blotted out distantly.

In the Police Court at Waihr a strange Story was told when Henry Wiles, known as the "Owharoa Hermit," was charged with being an incorrigible rogue and a vagabond. SeniorSergeant McLean said that Wiles had lived on raw turnips and pumpkins stolen from an adjacent garden. He was the filthiest man who had over appeared it' tli? Waihi Police Court and badly needed a complete "clean-up." His extraordinary conduct of late had developed to such an extent that children were afraid to go to school. Wiles was sent to Mount Eden for six months.

The major portion of the Taranaki provincial district has been constituted a separate health district. This is the first step in a movement by the Department of Health to do away with overlapping of several branches of nursing service and to provide for closer medical supervision. The intention is in future to have one medical officer in the district, who will act as both medical officer of health and school medical officer. The. change is on the lines of a. system which obtains in America. In no case does more than one nurse, one inspector, and one medical officer cover the same ground. The main object of the scheme is to decentralise public health administration and to bring the unit of control nearer the homes of the people. The advantages of the scheme are twofold, as if makes for both economy and efficiency. The negotiations have, already been entered into with the Red Cross Society and the Taranaki and Stratford Hospital Boards, with a view to the nurses employed by these bodies co-operating with the Department and undertaking certain duties, such as inspection of school children and supervision of cases of infectious disease in specified areas. If Ihe experiment is successful, it is hoped fo extend this new system to other parts of New Zealand as opportunity offers. Dr. R. J. Macredy has been appointed to the new district, with headquarters at New Plymonth.

A library of 1500 volumes, including some rare British and American historical works, is being presented to the Stratford Technical School by Mr Harold Trimble, whose brother was the collector. —Press Association. "For nearly 13 years we have worked quietly, and now 5,000,000 people know that there is a sanctuary," said Bishop James, speaking to his congregation at the Sanctuary, Basil Street, Sloane Street, 5.W.," London. He referred to some of the letters he had received from his congregation, astui'ig him "to be careful." "I shall gibe and mock in this pulpit,; I shall laugh at you and insult you," he said, "but I will not have any tittering or giggling." Ton well-dress-ed women had, ho said, put a penny in the collection at a mid-week lecture, and. this was regarded as an insult to the Church, to himself, and the lecturer. In future he would not receive pennies. They were a nuisance; they were dirty, and' it took many of them' to be of any use. Any person offering a penny would have, it handed back to him or her. The bishop read his statement of protest «nd warning in angry tones from a typed document. After his address the bishop preached a. short sermon. At the end of the service he shook hands with all those present. ft is generally expected that the. session of Parliament which will open on SSsd June will be more interesting than any which have been held in repent years* So far as the Government's legislative proposals are concerned, the Prime .Minister in his speech in North Auckland a few weeks ago gave a slight indication of some of the measures which are to be brought down, but other Ministers have thrown out very few hints during the recess. Whether this has been due to discretion or not (comments "The Post>") the fact remains that the present recess has been almost the, quietest on record so far as Ministerial speeches have been concerned. Last session the Government was successful in hewing into legislative shape the chief planks of the platform on which it went to the country in 1925, but it is expected that amending Pills will constitute a good proportion of the programme for the coming session. In political circles it is thought t/hat the Government may seek to amend the Arbitration Act, particularly in regard to preference to unionists, and the Apprentices Act is likely lo be made more workable also. Licensing and gaming matters may be heard of again, although in respect to gaming it is stated that a private Bill, which the Government wilA afford full facilities to discuss, may appeav. But dairy control and the amendment of the Tariff are subjects of paramount'interest, whichjjprobably will be sufficient to overshadow'most of the legislative proposals. The Canterbury centre of the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association is. not satisfied with the methods adopted by the New Zealand Council for the selection of representatives to take part in the Australian and New Zealand championship meeting in Australia, and it was decided at a meeting last evening Ir, ask for a change.—Press Association.

At a meeting of (be executive of the Tiihuria Sands Association held last evening it was decided fo write the City Council thanking them for approving the general scheme of improvement,') for the Sands Reserve, and accepting the invitation to meet the Council in conference to discuss the details. A further resolution was carried, "That the City Council be urged, in the interests cif the public, to take at once ihe neoessarv steps to raise a loan of £SOOO for the general improvement of the S;iruls> Reserve." A children's parlv is being held in the I'nhuna Hall on Saturday next in aid of school grounds improvement fund. Alfred Gould announces an auction sale for Monday next of household furniture in the estate of ITenrv Saunders. deceased, High street, Motneka. A jazz dance will be held on Thursday evening at. the Elite Hall in honour of the visiting Canadian footballers. Down Quilts. Good assortment, sne-c-ial values, 27/6. 35/-, 42/6, 50/-. SC/6 to £5 10s.—Trathen's.* Cream wool shawls in honevcomb, fancy wool, and silk knits from 19/6, at McKay's.* Art Serge, all wool, 60ins. wide, heavy weight, 5/6 yard.—Trathen's.*

Following out the principle that, everything that floes up /mist come down, three people in Wanganui recently were tempted to believe that wh.'il. goes in must come out. A man and two girls on a cold rainy night all got into a public telephone box, while one of their number used the machine. An entrance was effected with some little difficulty, and the telephone call was eventually put through. A dismayed parly, however, found that exit was infinitely more difficult than entrance. For longer than they liked the three pushed and shuffled and reshuffled themselves in a vain endeavour to get the door open far enough to allow the slenderest body to squeeze through. But the combination which allowed of entrance proved ior> elusive, and for a while it looked as if the cabinet would have to bo broken into or the door removed before the unhappy three could be released. At length the party got out, but one had taken a perfectly good umbrella into the box. It. was not a good umbrella afterwards, being such a wreck that it was found necessary to discard it over a nearby fence as soon as possible.

Asked if any important legislation affecting farmers is contemplated during the coming session, the Hon. Mr. Hawken, Minister for Agriculture, tpld a reporter last week that the most important piece of legislation in connection with his department probably would be the amendment of the Fertilisers Act. As to the provisions of the Bill Mr Hawken could not, at tnls stage, give any information. One of the objects of the recent visit of the Hon. Mr Hawken to Otago -was to pay his first visit, to the State Forest Service's plantation nursery at lapanui. Mr Hawken told a representative of "The Press" that ha had been impressed by what ho had seen, and that the trees appeared to be doing well. Between 1500 and 2000 Acta of all kinds of trees are being planted every year.

The number of Maori war pensioners in the Auckland district is 90, and the amount paid to them for the year 192627 was £4142 12s 2d. The total number of Maori war pensioners on the roll on March 31, 1927, was 384, and the amount paid to them was £19,457 19s 2d. No fewer than seven pensioners died during the past financial year. These facts, recently supplied by the Coinmisisoner of Pensions, were mentioned in Auckland by Captain J. Stichbury at a complimentary luncheon given to the King's Empire veterans. He referred sympathetically to the claims of the South African War veterans for pensions, but pointed out the Maori war men had to wait 50 years to get, theirs. He considered that the South African veterans were entitled to pensions of right just, as the Maori war men were, although not on the same condition.

A year ago the (lax milling industry showed signs of recovery, and the official statistics for last year provide further indications of a satisfactory nature, as a result of a rise, in prices. In many districts, according to the Government Statistician, the season was unusually wet in 1926, and this somewhat, retarded outputs. But apart from this consideration, the period was a satisfactory one for millers. There were 71 mills in operation during the ,1925-26 period covered by the official returns, this number being only six fewer than when the industry was" at the peak in 1918. The number of persons finding employment in (he industry rose sharply from 967 in 1923 to 1241 in the latest period, when the industry paid £275,755 in salaries and wages. Hie value of the output is set down at £563.285.

No winter or summer sioeplechasing is the demand from the Melbourne Society for (lie Prevent ion of Cruelty to Animals. The V.R-.C. and V.A.T.C. will have to consider the decision of the society, for it has caused a sensation in (he*ranks of the racing public. It is known that the society wields a great deal of influence. At a meeting recently the society discussed sleepleehasing, "and decided to approach the committees of the V.H.I', and the V.A.T.C., the two leading racing clubs in Victoria, to omit that form of racing from all their programmes The reason given for the request is because of the great danger to jockeys and horses. To support the request statistics showing the number of fatalities recently will be produced.

Acting, no doubt, on the principle of "New Zealand for the New Zealanders," the New Zealand-made Preference League has adopted a. novel manner of advertising its advocacy of preference to goods manufactured within the Dominion. Employees at some manufactories now receive their salary in envelopes branded with the following caption, "This is your money, earned in manufacturing New Zealand-made goods. If you endeavour to spend it on New Zea-land-made articles you are' helping New Zealand and yourselves." Thus is a spirit of trade patriotism being instilled into the minds of the young workers of New Zealand.

At a meeting of the unemployed in Christchurch last, week Mr E. L. Hills, after giving an account of his interview with the Prime Minister in Wellington on Thursday, announced his intention not to take, any further active part in meetings of the unemployed. He said that Mr Cbates definitely had stated that he would subsidise, £1 for £l, voluntary contributions for the relief of unemployment, provided the City Council similarly subsidised such contributions. Mr Hills warned his hearers against propaganda in the interests of Communism. He said:—"lf you are supporters of the Labour Party you should be true to its constitution and bo true to its principles and the planks of its platform. The Labour Party has definitely st a fed time and again that it will not recognise Communism, yet we know that in this town it is being fostered among the unemployed. One of the greatest, disruptions within the Labour movement took place in Wellington some time ago and was caused by Communism. To the Labour Party and to the Labour movement Communism is as deadly an enemy as the Coales Party is to tlii> Labour Party. Let every unemployed man think over that and think over it w.v deeply. Labour is fighting Communism, and if you support it you are not true to the Labour cause. 'Don't let Communism enter the ranks of the unemployed."

Smoker's heart is a distressing malady caused chiefly through the effects of an alkaloid called Nicotine which is extremely poisonous. Strong tobacco with a. hi"h percentage, of nicotine should therefore be avoided. When selecting a brand, the smoker should not be guided bv appearance alone. lircanse oven n:. apparently mild cigarette tobacco of a bright lemon colour may contain—ami often does contain —an excess of nicotine. It is a peculiar fact thai certain New Zealand soils produce a leaf with a very small percentage of nicotine. compared with the foreign typo. Take for instance our local brands—Riverbead ("Sold Cut Plug No. 10 and Toasted N:iv\ Col. There yon have an absolutely |aire article, which can be smoked cnntimionsly without the slightest alter i fleets. It'burns to Ihe last shred, leaving |lie mouth sweet and clean. So highly is New Zealand tobacco commented upon by doctors and experts that smokers should acquaint themselves with the merits of our own product by giving the above brands a fair trial.* Infants' cream wool bootees a'nd infantees, I'6 to 2/6 at McKay's.*