LOCAL AND GENERAL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 14 January 1928, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

"It is so far satisfactory that the margin of advances in excess of deposits shows a reduction of- roughly £3,000,000," said Mr O, W. Mcintosh, chairman of the Associated Banks, when reviewing the financial ponition of the country as revealed by the hank returns for the past quarter. "It is essential to the welfare- of the community, however, that the whole of the remaining excess of £4,000,000 should disappear, artd it is well for the public to know that this can be largely helped by depositors placing their money with the trading banks, and so making it available in commercial and producing channels. This position still requires to be viewed cautiously."

In his report to the City Council meeting last evening the Electrical Engineer (.Mr E. Fleming) showed that in December 1927, the number of-units sold were 67,073, as against 45,873 for the same month in 1926, an increase of 25,200. The revenue amounted to £llll 4s 7d compared with £IOOB 16s 2d, an increase of £lO2 8s sd.

In view of the N.Z. Municipal Conference to be held in Nelson next March the * Council last evening, on the suggestion of the Mayor, decided to renovate the interior of the Council Chamber, where the conference, will sit. The matron of the Nelson Public Hospital would like to receive a supply of second hand sunshades and umbrellas for the use oT patients (both men and women) who are sufficiently well to take tho air on the verandahs during certain hours of the day. During the present warm spell the sun beats down strongly and coverings of the kind indicated would very greatly add to the comfort of the convalescent. Nelson must have many scores of urtused umbrellas and sunshades, and if they a" a sent to tho matron of the public hospital the very best use possible will be made of them. Supplies can be called for if a telephone ring is given. \

Traffic returns on the Nelson section of railways for the period ending 10th December, 1927, and for the corresponding month of 1926, show that in the former period 7946 passengers (161 first-class and 7785 second-class) wero carried, as against 8499 (342 and 8157). Goods totnlled 1689 (cattle and calves 61 and sheep and pigs 1628), compared with 416 (21 and 395). Tonnage amounted to 2177 and 17G5. On tho revenue side tho figures were £l6lß for 1927 and £1743 for 1926.

The headquarters of the Egyptian Exploration Society, London, has presented to the Dominion museums at ■ Wellington and Auckland, replicas of the head of one of the daughters of Akhenaten, taken from, a group unearthed at Tell El Amarna in the winter l of 1926-27. The head is either that of King Tutankhamen's wife or one of his sisters-in-law. It is about tho size of a large doll's head, and the workmanship is exceptionally high. The original of the group from which the head is taken remains in the society's museum at Cairo.--Press Association.

The culling operations in the Haast district, carried out by the Westland Acclimatisation Societv, resulted in about 500 deer being killed last month. The herds are reported to be numerous, and several good heads were observed. Culling operations are being continued this month. The deer-shooting season opens in two months' time. , Preference to British manufactured .goods although higher in price than American, was shown by the City Council last evening when tenders were being considered for an electric motor. The lowest tender was for an American engine, and the next lowest was of British make, but £7 higher. It was resolved to accept, the British tender. Rabbits, which in the past have outnumbered the human inhabitants of Central Otago by many millions, are reported to be rapidly diminishing in numbers, and in farming circles it is considered that the sheep carrying capacity of the land in that regicu (states the Dunedin -"Star"), will correspondingly be increased. In preparation for this season's battle with the bunnies, trappers and poisoners have already booked up the blocks worth operating on. The Mayor of Nelson (Mr W. J. Moffatt) has received an invitation to attend the Greymouth Diamond Jubilee celebrations to' be held at the end of March next,

At the. organ recital which Mr D. Tayler will give at the School of Music to-morrow evening, the player will preface each item with some remarks about the composer and the work to be played. This will greatly add to the interest of the performance. As Mr Tayler has the reputation of being one of the finest organists in the. Dominion, his recital will no doubt attract a large audience. Continual dry weather experienced for the past few months in the Nwth Island has considerably affected the dams at the Mangahao hydro-electric works, so that, there is not enough water there now to keep tip the load required to supply all the districts fed by the scheme. The level of the water in the darns has sunk low, and in the meantime efforts are* being made to raise it. To do this some of the, strain on the headworks is being relieved and the Napier and Hastings plants are at present supplying power to the two boroughs and are also supplying power to the Government to keep"up the load in adjacent, country district;. The position is not eotsidered t,> be immediately alarming, but it is suc'ested that i; ruin doe:-; not come within a week consumers may he asked to keep down their load as much as possible, with a view to lessening the strain on the proiuclive plant Streams feeding the dams at Mangahao are reported fo"bc very dry and though the new dam will be complete next month, rain is considered an/urgent necessity. A large number of the members of the I Summer School now assembled at Nell.qon. will attend Evensnng at the Cathedral to morrow when the preacher will be ihis Lordship the Bishop of Nelson.

The Court was hushed. The judge, justly jealous of the dignity of his Court, w&ved a white hand at ttio gallery and indicated hi?) meaning by momentarily touching his wig, afterwards adjusting his robes and retaining his appearance of settled calm. The constable, intelligently translating his Honor's gesture, searched the gallery for a man with a hat on, visited eac|i row in order, failing to find the rude individual who remained covered. Ho therefore remained inoperative. No arrest was made, no order given, no hat removed. The Court rose, the gallery constable, fully conscious of having done his duty, loosened the buttons of his tunic, blew several times to express his feelings as to the heat and moved downstairs. The sergeant met him. "Did yez not notice," said lie, "a mahn in the gallery," he said, "wid his hat on?" sez he. "I did so," said the constable. "Well, phwin his Honor waved his hand to ye to make him take his hat off pwhy did yez rot do ut?" "Bedad thin, the mahn wid the hat on was a wiman wid an Eton crop, sergeant." "0h ; well, thin; don't do ut again." "I wdl not, sergeant." "Ye may go," said the sergeant. And the constable went (writes "M.A.T." in the Auckland "Star"). '- Serious damage has been done in some parts of the Nelson district through motorists and others leaving roadside fires lit to boil the billy, before making sure that all is safe. In one instance a settler lost 150 acres of grass which was of considerable value to him and .in another part of the district two huts together with a collection of tools were destroyed, obviously from roadside fires which had not be'en extinguished. In some parts large areas of foTest as well as private property are endangered by such fires and the conservator of Forestry (Mr C. M. Smith) issues a special warning in this issue. The recent fires in Bridge street and Hardy .street destroyed corporation property to the value of £ls, reported the Electrical Engineer (Mr E. Fleming) to the City Council List evening.

It is estimated that the total value of the wool sold at the sale in Christchurch last week was about £621,000. At the sale 27,064 bales were put up to auction. Of this number about 290 failed to sell under the hammer, but probably the majority of the "passedm" lots were disposed of privately later. The average -price per bale at the sale, reckoning all classes, fleece wool and fellmongering lots, has been estimated at £23. A catalogue of 27,000 bales at £23 a bale gives a total of £621,000. The total value of the wool sold at the first Christchurch sale of the present j.eason, held at the end of November, when the catalogue totalled 13,847 bales, was estimated in round figures to te £300,000, so flat I as. a result of the (wo salrs nearly a million pounds 1 as come to Canterbury. At the wool sales held in Christchurch last season 72,703 baits were fold at a total value of £1,437,864. If present values are maintained this total should be exceeded this year. As the outcome of numerous complaints regarding the conduct of bathers nt New Brighton (states the Christchurch '"Star") it has been decided by the beach inspectors to conduct a vigorous campaign for tho enforcement of the bathing regulations during the coming week-end. It is stated that many bathers are making a practice of walking about the streets of the borough in Whing costumes without overcoats as well. This practice is to be stopped, also that of undressing on the sandhills between North Beach and Central Brighton. Some of, the costumes worn by lady bathers 'do not conform to the borough regulations, especially those made in one piece. A determined effort is therefore to be made to bring about an improvement in this respect, and offenders who do not heed the warning given to them will render themselves liable to prosecution. ».'

They are following a new procedure at the Auckland Police Court (comments the "Sun"). When a young woman from Hamilton was, presented there, on the elastic charge of "idle and disorderly," the prosecuting officer said he did not desire to bring the facts' before the court, and handed a written statement to the magistrate, who read it, observed it was "a fine state of affairs," and adjourned the case for six months, so that the girl could be placed in the care of (he Salvation Army. If the court continues to follow this procedure, it will save a lot of trouble. All .the police will have to do will be to arrest a man (or woman), write their opinions on the case and leave,the rest to the magistrate, or judge. It will then be as easy to hang a man as a dog, and the public will not be harrowed by the morbid details of the murder. The suppression of names is a regular thing; the suppression of evidence follows. Logically, the next thing shftuld be the suppression of the courts. Tes, "a fine state of affairs," truly. "For the past couple of months production has been steadily falling on the dairy Jands of the Auckland province," said Mr A. E. Robinson, provincial secretary of the Farmers' Union this week in regard to the effects of the dry spell. He said that in. normal times December or January were flush months of the dairying season, and expectation was that production would be' unusually heavy, as the amount of top-dressing done'last winter was a record. The outlook for the remainder oif the season was causing anxiety in all parts, as it was now realised that there would not be Hie benefit that was exported as the outcome of heavy expenditure upon fertilisers. At the conference and exhibition of the College of Pestology, held in London, Mr George Madden, honorary treasurer, said £300,000,000 a year was lost in Britain in preventable pest destruction. If they could only get the public to realise that fact and to concentrate, on the destruction of pests, they would do a lot to benefit humanity. Mr A. Moore Hogarth (chairman of the college) said tiie greatest enemy of man today was the hostile insect. Mr Ernest Crabbe (a member of the executive) declared at length how four streets at Swindon were invaded by an army of crickets, with the result that the inhabitants were nearly driven mad by the noise. It is well known, that foreigners experience the grentest difficulty in mas.tering the English language.* Englishmen, however, often find themselves in a similar dilemma as regards other languages. The British and Foreign Bible Society has recently printed a translation, of the Bible in the Longua language of South America and this is one which abounds with difficulties. For example, the word for "eighteen" is " Soliog-omok-waklhla-mok eminikantanthlama." A literal translation of it, is, "Finish my hands, pass to my other foot, three." Anyone who follows Che instructions correctly will arrive at thn number eighteen. The people who speak the Lengua language count by means of their fingers and toes. Another example of the way in which the language is built un is shown by the word-for "butter." This is "Wait-kyana-mankukingniirn'k ikpithmuk," which literally means "the grease of the juice of the udder of the cow." In this issue the Commissioner c,{ Crown Lands advertises a farm for ?a!e at Kikiwa, near Kohatu. Cadets who usually parade on Wednesday evenings and who wish to enter for or attend the swimming sports on Wednesday may parade on Monday the 16th ' inst. Otherwise no leave can be granted. I

An exciting chase took place in Auckland city on Wednesday afternoon, when a clerk in tho Bank of Now Zealand pursued a man whom ho suspected, and caught him in the offices of the South British Insurance Company, states the "New Zealand, Herald- The man entered the bank to negotiate a cheque, and in view of"=certain circumstances the clerk who attended him made inquiries and later communicated with the police. Apparently becoming alarmed at the delay, the man ran from the bank premises, his hurried departure was observed by the clerk, who rushed after him, and chased him across Queen street into Vulcan lane and through High street into Shorfland street. The fugitive endeavoured to escape by dodging among several taxi-cabs, but was captured and detained until the arrival of a detective a few minutes later.

The Mayor (Mr W. J. Moffatt) recently attended a meeting of the executive committee of the Municipal Association held at Wanganui. In referring to the fact at the Council meeting Inst evening Mr Moffatt expressed appreciation of the hospitality he had received from the Mayor, of Wanganui. Advice has been received in Wellington that the University of Sydney's War Memorial Carillon (which was ovdered some two years ago) is now ready for shipment to Australia, having passed with honour tho tests of European experts. It is hoped that it will be installed in the tower of the university early in March or at any rate, that the inauguration ceremony can be held on Ansae Day. As in'the case of, the Wellington Carillon, the Sydney Carillon will comprise a first instalment of 49 bells, leaving four additional and larger bells to be added later. The Wellington bells, however, will lie, much heavier than the corresponding bells of Sydney. The big bell of the first instalment) of 49 at Sydney, for instance, will weigh 4 tons 3 cwt," while that in the Wellington set will weigh' 5 tons. Similarly in the 53-bell set when completed, the big bell at Sydney will weigh 9 tons, while (that at Wellington will weigh 10 tons. The Wellington Carillon, which will be a sister of that in the Tower of Victory, Parliament Buildings, Ottawa, should arrive here ready for erection about the middle of next year.

Power and light in Hamilton and Cambridge were cut off on Wednesday evening following the closing of the Horahora works. Auxiliary plant had been installed at the Waikato Hospi-. tal, which was without light for a few minutes before the change-over was effected. No power was available at the Hamilton water supply pumping station, but the reservoirs had been filled before hand. The residents have responded loyally to the appeal of the Borough Council to restrict consumption, which has been cut down from 1,000,000 to 250,000 gallons daily. There is about four hours supply in the reservoirs. Experiments with the chemicals for coagui lating tho water with a view to freeing ing it from pumice have been made, and the method is expected to be successful. They did.things in style in Auckland 53 years ago. Expense was no object in those "good old days." A "Star" representative was shown a few days ago a beautiful silk menu, printed in heliotrope on exqaisite silk. It has a quarter-inch border of blue, hand-sewn, and the whole menu is about half the size of a gentleman's handkerchief. This expensive menu was printed by, the firm of Reed and Brett, from which sprang the Brett Printing and Publishing Co., Ltd. It is headed: "Masonic Dinner. Tn commemoration of St. John's Day, .Tune 24, 1875, at the Thames Hotel." If anyone left that dinner hungry, he must have been blind, for the menu set out mora than a score of the tastiest ' ; shes. There was a wide choice for ever, v. 'se, and of joints there were a dozen. ■" ' Aucklanders who attended such banqt. say that the food was always cooked by experts, the utmost care being exercised in its preparation: Freemasons in tho old days gave wonderful dinners much more frequently than they do to-day, the best of foodstuffs and its preparation costing much less than is the case now, with comparatively high wages and prices.

The Methodist Theological College has benefited to tho extent of £2OOO by a bequest made in the will of the late Mr A. A. Wagstaff, farmer, of To "Aroha. A communication io this effect was received at a recent meeting of the council of the college, when grateful reference to Mr Wagstaff's interest in collegiate work was made. Mr Wagstaff was a prominent official of the Te Aroha Methodist Church, and was a liberal contributor to the fund for the new college, which is being erected in Grafton Road, Auckland. , v

A motion expressing appreciation of Mr Robert Patterson's 14 years' service on the Nelson Land Board was passed at a meeting of the Board on Thursday. Mr Patterson recently resigned his position. t Many visitors to Nelson fail to visit the Nelson Rock Garden, as it is off the beaten track "a little. The many teachers and other .visitors in town will find the easiest way is to follow the • lower road to. the right of the Church Steps towards the Nelson Bowling Club. The permission of the City Council is being sought to put one or two signs to direct those wishing to inspect the garden. To any interested in .hundreds of plants rarely seen, it is well worth a visit. One plant in full bloom worth seeing is Campanula Miss Wilmoti, and the section devoted to New Zealand plants is particularly interesting at present. The thymes are now at their best, and the society has at least 16 different specimens, the gem being Herba- Barona-. New plants are coming into bloom daily. The King of Montbretias*is just breaking into bud, viz., "His Majesty," which is.believed to be the most beautiful in the world. Several gentians are blooming, and in the back ground the Australian weeping broom, Lilium regale, qncl manyrare plants and shrubs, including an English cranberry. Miss Glendinning, principal of the Bishop's School, has been asked by some parents living in the "Wood" area of Nekon to open a private school for young children in that district. Whether there •is a sufficient demand to justify such a venture remains to be seen. Miss Glendinning, therefore, is inviting the mothers and any who may be interested, to meet her on Thursday next (20th inst.) in the drawing-room of Maitai Lodge, kindly lent by Mrs Tillyard for the purpose. Should it be decided to begin work in the district, a very suitable room, which is available, will' be rented near to Milton street, and the school carried on under Miss Glendinning's direction and supervision.

An endeavour to obtain- Continental quotations for a supply of rails and fishplates needed by "the Wellington City Council in August last has resulted in the discovery, it is said, of an international rail combine, (states the "Dominion"). "Erma," the European Rail Manufactures' Association, includes four countries and possesses a central allotment committee which makes its allocations on the basis of 1,000,000 tons of steel rails each year. These allotments are reported to be divided in the proportions of 42 per cent, to Grent Britain, 22 per cent, to Germany, 19 per cent, to France, and 17 per cent, to the Customs Union of Belguim and Luxemburg. It is stated, also, that there is an understanding between the various countries which results in a refusal to quote against Great Britain where a supply to her Dominions is concerned. Tn any case the cablegrams to the Continent from New Zealand remained unanswered.

The following nurses of the Nelson Public Hospital wore successful at the recent State examination: Misses Mitchell, Williams, Lucre, Smith, Robertson and Anstice. These were the only candidates from Nelson.

In combatting a statement made in "The Mail" yesterday by "Oversea Visitor," that a policeman is a rara avis at Tahuna, "A Visitor" writes to the effect that a constable is constantly on the sands, keepjng a look-out for petty thieving. It is'added that a policeman cannot bo everywhere at once, and that thieves await a favourable opportunity before purloining other people's property. A shortage of junior doctors in New Zealand was mentioned to the Waikato Hospital Board this week by Dr. G. W. Cower, surgeon superintendent. He said that hospital boards throughout the Dominion were experiencing difficulty in maintaining their medical staffs. Many boards were advertising for junior doctors and some were even sending to Australia. The chief reason for the shortage, said Dr. Cower, was the lengthening of the meflic.il course at Otago University to six years, as against three vears formerly, the number of students qualifying had been reduced on that account, while there had also been an increased demand for doctors by hospital boards. The Dean of Otago University had informed him that he did not know what was going to be done in the matter during the next few years, as the position was going to be very difficult. Dr. Cower added that at present he had the greatest difficulty in 'getting men. Two were leaving at the end of February and *-e hospital had been one short for the past nine months. Mr Smytbe suggested that as the profession had been "overdone" in the Old Country some of the young doctors nt Home might be -induced to come out here. Dr. Cower said that was what probably would" happen, wnen the demand became known. The position at the Waikato Hospital was going to be aggravated when two new wards were brought into commission. That would make nine wards in all. On Dr. Gower's recommendation, it was decided to offer Dr. McMieken, who is due to leave, an additional inducement to remain.