LOCAL AND GENERAL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 13 April 1928, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

When a school teacher leaves England to settle in Xew Zealand, he loses his English superannuat icvi rights, which are only retained if his service mi transfer abroad dues not exceed one year. Following on ihe visit t 0 England last year of Dr. High!. Rector of Canterbury College, the Education Department is considering the question of making reuipri.val arrangements with England lor the preservation of the salary, superannuation, and certificate rights of teachers transferred from the one country to the other. A suggested solution of the difficulty is thai when a teacher transfers from one service to another and completes in the two services the time required before retirement on superannuation, lie should be entitled to separate retiring allowances under the superannuation schemes iu proportion to Ihe lengths of service, and that each superannuation fund would provide its share of the annuity.

The extent lo which acclimatisation work is hampered by the depredations of pests was referred to at the annual meeting of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society (slates the "New Zealand Jlerald"}. Following remarks made by tiie retiring president, Mr C. A. Whitney, regarding the havoc wrought by hawks, stoats, wild ferrets. shags. pukekos, and kingfishers, the newlycleeted president. Mr F. E. McKcn/ie. said the society would have to consider the advisability of spending a larger portion of its £4OOO of revenue on the extermination of pests, even il such a policy meant spending less on the liberation of game.

The voyages of mail steamers like the Aorangi Ironi Auckland to Honolulu and Vancouver are coming hi mean something more than the mere transport of passengers and mail matter (.states the -New Zealand Herald"). In the holds of the great moior-.ship, which sailed for Vancouver on Wednesday, is stored another substantial consignment of orchard and dairy produce. While this week's consignment. o break no records, they are substantial and indicate ihe .solidity of a growing trade with the Central Pacilic. British Columbia, and the Fast. CI the 14.323 boxes of ointer placed on board at Auckland, 1403 are for Honolulu, which has a strong preference for the Dominion pro duct. J 2,215 boxes for Vancouver. 400 for Shanghai, and a further 300 for Kobe and Yokohama. 'llu-re were also ■ \>J; i rales ol cheese for Vancouver. Fasten) consignments will he transhipped In in Vancouver. In the Cali fornian '"< •»" season for fruit Honolulu looks In New Zealand fi* a large part ol us apple supplies, and 3000 cases shipped by private In ins will be taken |,v i he. " Aorangi. Throughout the balance oi ihis month, and in May. further shipment-- of Auckland apples will i'o t'ol ward In 1 Ins quarter

As Wednesday next proved lo lie all inconvenient dale For several of ihe per lormeis, il is no!iti.d thai Ihe Nelson Harmonic Society's concert will be held on Tuesday evening, 17ih inst.. the Mll „| rehearsal being held on Monday evening. The list of items thai will form the programme appears ■r* the advertising columns.

Just opened at McKay's' Ladies' 3 pi,.,.,. Woollen Suit-, -mart colourings from 47/6."

School Pullovers! All school colours in stock, prices (> 11 lo 8/6. according to j. ;w '.. tratheu's.'

Three-piece Wool Suits for women. dumper. Skirt, and Sleeveless Cardigan a new lot just opened, direct from Eng land, prices from 47/6. McKay*."

Speaking at Mnrchison yesterday the Minister of band:; (the lloii. -\. I >'. Mo Leod) said that the Minister of Public Works (the Hon. K. S Williams) would pay a visit to the district before the session began.

After f> o'clock yesterday afternoon. Trafalgar Park presented a busy scene when members of several of the local Rugby football clubs tinned out for Ihe first practice this season. •Judging from the keenness displayed, more especially oy the youngei members, the season promises to be ;i very successful one.

The losses on New Zealand's railway.-, were mentioned bv the. Minister oi' Lands (the Hon. A. 1) McLeod) while speaking at Mnrchison this week, bast veal the Railway Department, showed a loss of 1*380,000 but there would he nearlv double thai amount this year.

"An invitation has been extended by the Chief of the Imperial General Staff. War OfKee, London, to all officers of the Xew Zealand Military Forces, visiting England, who so desire, to attend collective training with the Regular Army or the annual training of the Territorial Army, providing no cost is thrown on British Army tunds." states a General Order, issued to the New Zealand Defence Forces. "The collective training season extends from Ist March to Ist October annually. All officers desiring to take advantage of this invitation should arrange details direct with the High Commissioner for New Zealand in London, but it. must be understood that no expense in this connection will be admissible against. New Zealand tunds."

While in reminiscent mood at the presentation of trophies in the grounds of the Auckland Golf Club on Wednesday afternoon, the (.ovcrnor-t 'eneral, Sir Charles Fergusson, said be would tell the golfers something they did not know (reports the "Auckland Star"). Prefacing his remarks with a reference to tin- golfing proclivities of Scotsmen. his Excellency said that lie was one of n quartet who Introduced the game in Ireland. One of the players was the present Fail Balfour, who was then Einanrial Secretary to tbe Treasury, and two others were "officers of his Excellency's regiment. "They were experts; [was rot " added Sir Charles, "'but we played ■',,. Phoenix Park. Dublin, and that was the first goif seen in Ireland His Fxeetlencv caused further smiles by remarking "that, although he bad seen many matches. he himself bad not played since.

Vmongst the many strange folk in ,he rit\ at present, (writes a bydney correspondent), is one Sidney Dan. a m erry-f:iced young man, who showed a number of newspaper men the oilier <U\ J,." he could eat tumblers. Without cutting bis lips or tongue, he chew* then, into pieces, keeps on chew.ng mi. •he glass is fine powder, and then washes the delicacy down with water. Sidney is a remarkable man with a remarkable digestion, and it is said that he will eat anvtninc front the cranuh.in(,tP of „ motor car to the buttons of a policeman's tunic. 'I here s not, the slightest deception about what he does. 1 Tat a restaurant he finds the steak too tough, lie eats the plate, and sends the steak back. That's honest. He Jotind o„t what a clever fellow he was when he was a lad and swallowed three blue ■or.,,es and came through it smiling. He '.ay. thai he then polished off the home supply of carpet tacks. He can eat anyihimr'at all but cucumber—that he just can'r digest. But Sydney's biggest thrill just now is Nevada, a pietu gin, who wallows in a pit filled with halt a tOII of wriggling crawling, 'sudden death." Nevada is a snake charmer, whose abilities in this direction do not rest with the menacing reptiles alone; she has two hundred snakes, and lots of nerve: she handled a thirtv-four inch death adder as her less venturesome sister would a fur. Its a scandal to see such a fine girl tatting such risks.

"This is the dav of the new eduea,ioH, of new ideas, nf new methods, (writes "Dominie" in the Hawera "Stir') "The pendulum has swims the'otlier way. The methods of the past are obsolete —and save of a very recent past are regarded now as being dull, lacking spirit. True there was 0 motive in those methods, a powerful one. but it lacked broadness. \\ hat it did it did well, but there was no horizon of viseate colours. It was a driving period—plenty of knocks but few sugar plums. Now in manv respects we have [he opoosite. Everything must be made interesting—the day of soft soap, of sugar coated pills. The methods ol approach have certainly changed. But is there any royal road to learning.' Certainly we can dispense with many of the harsh methods of the past but thorn is a danger of our overleaping ourselves. The result is that we have gone from one extreme to the other — we have not steered the middle, course. What is the earthly use of disguising plain facts, dressing' them up in strange garb. Life, is full of hard, disagreeable facts, of disappointment. Many tasks must be don. —t'npleasant and distasteful. What is the use of endeavouring to soft soap children perpetually, why not take them into our confidence, provide them with an honest reason why we are doing this or that, give them a strong motive? They will respond and solve our problems for us. Certain facts must he learned in. one way only-plenty of drill and repetition. ' Deadly. I grant you. yet necessary. If necessary in the case of adults, how much more so in the case of children? Let us have a metric system, and many of these difficulties will disappear as mists before the sun of the morning."

By seizing a substantial quantity of cigarettes nil the French liner Cnmtnissaire Rnmcl at Fremantle a few days ago Customs searchers frustrated an ingenious attempt at smuggling. The searchers wei ngaged on the vessel, when one of their number, examining a lifebelt, became suspicious that, the cork had been substituted by a softer substance. The lifebelt was opened, and it was found to contain about 1300 cigarettes. The cigarettes were confiscated, and the member of the crew to whom the lifebelt had been allotted was fined £3.

A thrilling story of a race with death i:-. told in Ashburton. states the correspondent of the "Lyttelton Times.'' A local garage proprietor was asked 1.0 go to Christchurch to procure a certain serum in an endeavour to save Ihe life of a fourteen-year-old girl suffering from infantile paralysis. He needed 110 second bidding, and set oh at breakneck speed for the city. There be procured what he wanted and sl.-.rted back, reaching Ashburton two hours and twenty minutes after he had sei out. In the meantime, however. Ihe sufferer had passed away.

Messrs lltissell and Son, Bridge street, announce that they have added a new department to their business -a gramophone record exchange.

The tesitlcnts of the Brightwntor and Richmond districts will have an opportunity on .Monday and Wednesday next of hearing a story full of living interest. Chaplain Head, who saw several years of active service in the (beat War and wln.se duties aboard a hospital ship lo.ik him ever many seas and tn many lands, will relate his experiences and will illustrate them by suite 120 lantern slides made from photo graphs taken of the places visited. The proceeds are to be devoted to the Richmond Methodist Circuit,

Boys' OiFkin Cats 17 6. Rubber Coats 22 6, Sou'-westers 43, at Trathen'*.*

I'h.- Wairon river was hi heavy flood yesterday, Tin- water reaching tin* toad ill the southern approach to tin- bridge at Urighfwater. Light showers fell tofl:iv. and the weather is unsettled.

A; ;i sitting of Justices presided over l.y Mr 'l'. E. Maunsell, S.M.. to-day. the jury list for Nelson was revised.

The Swedish Consul-Oenerul .'it Sydney advises Mr Martin, Consul for New Zealand, that most of the pulp paper and sawmills in Sweden which closed down some months ago owing to labour ilfsputi's are resuming work this week.— Prt-ss Associal ion.

"The Army Council has approved of the principle <>l alliances between batteries ot the. Artillery of the Dominion Forces and batteries of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, provided they are sought, for the purpose of creating a practical as well as a sentimental bond uf friendship.'j states a General Order issued to the New Zealand Military Forces. "Battery commanders may correspond direel with British units on this subject. Once a common understanding has been reached, the New Zealand battery commander will forward an official request for the alliance through the usual channels, stating at the same time the practical advantage-; of the proposed union."'

Commenting in an interview at Christchurch on the rejection by the Labour Party Conference of a proposal for a modification of the existing pledge of membership which debars members of the Communist Party from acceptance as members i/f the Labour Party, the Rev. .1. K. Archer, the newly-elected president, uf the party, mi id that the idea of the Auckland Labour Representation Committer in seeking to modify the. pledge was '"* that Communists should be eligible for admission to the parly as Communists. The position was that' in nianv of the industrial unions affiliated to "the Labour Party there were individual Communists and some of the members thought that every member of a union should be eligible for everv oflico of the union, and that no such question as to whether a man wap ti Communist should arise. "Theoreticallv." said Mr Archer,

"there may be something b< be said for that po.nl' of view. However, the Lahour Party does not ask any questions as to whether a man is a Communist' or Otherwise. All it asks Tim to do is to sign a pledge of loyalty In the party, and if he refuses- to that pledge he is automatically excluded. No man who is loyal to the Communist creed can join the Labour Party, because the Labour Party is not Communistic. It is just as well that the public should know that."

That many people have been uncou-si-ioiislv breaking the law on Sundays is alleged in a leltei from the New Zealand Presbyterian Assembly's Sabbath Observance Committee to the Christ church Presbytery. At its meeting on Wednesday, the Presbytery was asked to consider the letter and to answer a number of questions (states the Christchurch -Press"!. The letter stated:

"It. should be generally known that the present law of New Zealand protects the Sabbath in two ways: (a) Sunday trading is illegal. Sunday picture shows and Sunday concerts are regarded as breaking the law. even when held after church hours, and when no charge is made for admission, but only a collection taken up, unless the proceeds are given wholly to some charitable purpose, (bj Ally noise that disturbs public worship on the Lord's Day, such as barracking at a football match, or shooting, band practice, motor horns, and other similar noises. Our minist|ers and people should make use of these provisions up to their full value, to safeguard the Sabbath by hiving infcimation to the police." The committee asked for answers to the following questions :—(a) in what way is a proper observance of the Sabbath injured within the bounds of your Presbytery? (b) Are there bleaches of the law by the Government railways in your district in providing pleasure excursions on the Lord's I lay? (c) Is it a practice in the district to hold railway picnics and other picnics on the Lord's Day? (d) Has the Summer Time Bill affected in any way proper observance of Christian Sabbath': The Presbytery decided to refer the letter to Us .Life and Works Committee, which will report to the next meeting.

No appointment has so far been made ti? the Railway Board to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of the late chairman (Mr F. d. dunes-), but an early announcement is believed 10 be likely (states "The I'ost"). The question <>f the. constitution of the board and its future activities are matters which are receiving (lose attention. The Act says that the hoard shall consist of three person.", ami that, one member shall be appointed by the Governor-General as chairman. Whether it is intended to appoint one of the existing members of lhe board as chairman or 10 go outside the Service in search of a suitable person is at present a matter of speculation. The name of a former member of lhe board who resigned in order to take up an appointment with a big dairying concern is freely mentioned. Sub-sec-tion 2 of section 4 of the Act saws that

"lhe board shall consist of three persons, being members of the Department, to be appointed by the OovernorOonera! by warrant under his hand." But, apparent]!))' the board can act without a chairman, as it is provided that at any meeting two members shall constitute a quorum. In railway circles ii is believed that the Government intends ultimately to revert 10 administration <if the Department by a general manager, hut it is understood that the late chairman of the Railway Board has presented a report containing a recommendation in favour of the retention of the board svstem.

Speaking to a deputation at Murchison vestcrd.-rv on valuation matters the Minister of'Lands (the Hon. A. D. M(d.eod) '-aid there were areas in the Waitomn and Taumarunui districts which were several years ago carrying ',:.!, sheep to the acre. During the period of prosperity Hie districts went in for a tremendous amount of special loans. The result ' was that their special rates were now up to 7d and 8d in the jo. Ii was quite impossible for I hem 10 cany on. The Government was considering the position now and the possibility of giving some relief. The suggestion made by Mr C. A. Whitney ai the meeting of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society that an export trade might be built up in smoked or frown eels is 'evidence that the pakeha is beginning to realise the value of what in lhe old days was one of the staple foods of the Maori (says the "Star.") After the _separnlion by violence of Rangi and Papa by their children, one soil, the Hod of Winds, elected to go 10 the sky with his father, Rangi. and has ever since ai times waged war mi the children who remained on earth with the mother. In lhe far distant past lhe force of the wind god was so great that Tangaroa decided it would lie more pleasant under water, and thus the fishes were developed. Some of his followers, however, elected to remain in the rivers ami streams, or \ on the land, and thus became in course of lime eels or lizards. The Sea Cod warned them that if they stayed in the shallow rivers they would he cooked on tires and eaten, hut lie did not look far enough down the dim vista of the future to tell the eels that 'heir descendants might also 1..' frozen and smoked for ex-l port. I Boys' School Pullovers; new stocks now opened; puces from 6,11, Trathen's.*

"We have heard n "lot about New Zealand and the wonderful opportunities it. offers in way of sport, and we hope to spend a holiday here on some future occasion, ' said Viscount Mandeville. son and heir of the Duko of Manchester, who with Viscountess Mandeville was a through passenger at Auckland on the Aorangi. It would he difficult to imagine anyone bearing less resemblance to the old fashioned idea of a Viscount, than the .young holder of the ancient Mandeville title. A vigorous athletic naval officer in his late twenties lie is in the first flight of English Rugby players, and -dso excels in other branches of sport. He plays for Blackheath and the Navy, his position being full-back. With considerable experience of both •he Springboks and the All Blacks, he considers that there will be very litlle difference between the teams "during the South African tour. "It will be a very level affair indeed." he said, "though of course the hard African grounds may tell in favour of the home sides."

A. Dunedin citizen who would be offended if described a? anything but a loyal Presbyterian, asked a reporter to note a suggestion fur relieving the church of part of its outlay on suburban extensions (says the "Star"). "The position is." he said, "that the population i- moving out, and claims are advanced for new churches in all sorts of places, some that an' sure to be. quickly peopled, others that may or may not be a. drag on the central* finance. Opoho is the latest example. The presbytery has decided to erect a church extension charge there, but- evidently not without a doubt as to its being self-supporting. What the presbytery or the synod might, reasonably do in every sulci) case is to authorise' a comparatively cheap building. Current fashion decrees that a church should be structurally the best in its district, and distinctive in design. Quite right if we could afford it. But we can't. Let us rid ourselves of. the old notion that a church must necessarily he like a bit of Solomon's temple, and adopt an inexpensive type of structure. plain and neat and commodious. This would be a great relief to burdened finances, and it would have this advantage; that- if the site proved unsuitable in after years such a building would have a saleable and shiftable value, and thus help to pay for another building in some other part of the district. It you„_print this it may bring about helpful discussion in the right quarters. Personally 1 like a fine church to sit in. but J would sooner help towards a church that could be paid for and maintain itself than one that is everlastingly in debt lor construction or repair."

"Chile has a constitutional Government, ami a sort of dictator. President Ibanez. who has a tight hold on the reins and is straightening the country our." said. Mr N. R. Down, an engineer interested in copper mining, on his arrival at Auckland on the lonic this week-. After passing through a period of depression, Chile has recovered its balance, and was rapidly returning to prosperity, said Mi - Down. Exports were increasing, especially minerals. There was still a big demand for copper, and the Chilean mines were capable of being operated for at least another hundred years. Quantities of the minerals were etude, but if bandied on a big scale profitable returns could be expected. The central /ones in Chilft consisted of rich agricultural laud, making successful farming possible, and in the north there were vast- fields of nitrates and borax, giving rub yields. In that quarter the country did not have rain from one. year's end to another. This conditions contrasted with the southern territory, which was thickly wooded and experienced a heavy rainfall. Sheep farming was carried on fairly extensively in Chile, and numbers of Australians and New Zealandeis were farming profitably, continued Mr Down. Owing to the close proximity to the world's markets, Chile was very favourably placed for expert.

The curious habit so common in America of popping an unlighted cigar in the mouth and chewing an inch or two of it to pulp, is not popular with us, although the chewing of black plug tobacco is common enough amongst sailors everywhere. However, with the rank rind file of Englishmen "the pipe's the thing" and a source of enjoyment, daily, to millions. But discrimination should be exercised in the choice of tobacco. Brands full of nicotine (as the American tobaccos usually are) ought to he cut out, because nicotine is the source of all the mischief when tobacco proves injurious. Our New Zealand grown tobaccos are about the purest going and contain only a trifling percentage of nicotine—a negligible quantity. That is why you can go on smoking them all the time'with the utmost safety. They wim't do you any harm. And they are delightfully fragrant. You can get'them of iiiiv strength. Ask for "Riverhead Cold," mild'. "Navy Cut" (Bulldog) medium, or "Cut l'lug No. 10" (Bullshead) full strength.*