LOCAL AND GENERAL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 9 November 1935, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

It is Children’s Day at the Methodist Church to-morrow. Three services will be held at 11, 3 and 7 o’clock, the preachers being the Rev. A. Fear in the afternoon and the Rev. IV. A. Burley morning and evening. The two Nelson Methodist Sunday Schools are combining and will be led by Mr F. Mitchell in ]enduring beautiful and expressive hymns. In the afternoon the primary department will sing some of their special songs, and the scholars of this department will receive their prizes. The Motueka Municipal Band’s concert, arranged for Sunday, 10th November, has been postponed and will be held at the Brooklyn Reserve on Sunday, 17th November at 3 p.m. L. G. Bourne, Car Electrical Specialist, has removed to more up-to-date premises in Bridge street, opposite McKenzie’s.*

Eighty-six years of age. yet possessing the spirit of a man of 60, the Rev. J. 11. Ma-cKenzie, derk of the Presbyterian General Assembly, is the grand old man of the church (states “The Dominion”). t Alternatively ho could be called the watch-dog of Assembly, for ho quickly pounces when the fathers and brethren stray from the rules of procedure. Dour, yet kindly, this splendid officer is ail authority on church lore and the fine points of debate. That lie has retained iiis office for 24 years is its own testimony to the affection and regard that Assembly lias for him and his rare knowledge .ol the why and wherefore of procedure. Air McKenzie’s last ministerial charge was at Nelson. His present post is a one. He is also convenor of the judicial committee of Assembly, and in the opinion of his colleagues lie is the committee.

Drawing attention to the fact that some car radiator caps were fitted with sharp' projections of a dangerous nature likely to increase the risk of injury to pedestrians in the event of a collision, the Transport Department, Hi a letter received by the executive of tbe North Island Motor Union, at its half-yearly meeting in Palmerston North, asked that the use of this type of mascot be discouraged. The union resolved to make inquiries with a view to supporting the suggestion. As a result of complaint by the Auckland Chamber of Commerce of dislocation of the mail services between New Zealand and Australia, the Chief Postmaster at Auckland has written to the chamber stating that the Postal Department would very much like to see a regular time-table maintained by steamers on the trans-Tasman run to enable a good connection to be made at Sydney with the English air mail service, inward and outward. The Chief Postmaster points out that the air mail service was framed so that arrival would be made at Sydney on Fridays, in time to allow the mail to connect with a New Zealand steamer sailing about that time, and departure would lie taken on Tuesdays, soon after the arrival of the steamer from New Zealand. When steamers were delayed, mails were missed. The Post and Telegraph Department had no contract for the carriage of mails across the Tasman, and the shipping companies could not be compelled to adhere to a time-table. The recent difficulty was due to shipping trouble, but the Department’s experience was that the shipping companies did all that was reasonably possible to make the necessary connections.

It lias been decided that the following Christmas and New Year holidays will be observed by the Public Service throughout New Zealand :—Wednesday, 25th December; Thursday, 26tli December; Friday, 27th December; Saturday, 28th December; Wednesday, Ist January; Thursday, 2nd January.

There is at present on view in the Auckland Museum a life-size painting of a rare and large bright red native flower (says the “Star”). This is Neronema calistemon, an isolated member of the lily family with flax-like leaves, a plant unknown to science prior to 1924, when it was found to be plentiful on the Poor Knights Islands, and two years ago on Taranga, or Hen Island (Hen and Chicken group), Xeronema consists of only two species, one in New Caledonia and the other in New Zealand Xeronema is now growing well in several Auckland gardens, and it will soon be a popular addition to our native flora on account of its large bright red flowers, which somewhat resemble an elongated Australian bottle brush flower, bur with the flowers on one side of the stalk iike the bristles of a toothbrush. The discovery of Xeronema in New Zealand is very interesting, because it forms an additional link in the similarity of some of the plants in New Zealand and New Caledonia. There are ether links, such as the snail Placostylus, the large New Zealand species known as the flax snail, and freshwater shells.

Figures quoted by the treasurer (Air V. G. Chapman) at the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church showed the extent to which the motorcar is used nowadays in church work. Congregations in 1820, said Air Chapman, spent £2997 for ministers’ transport expenses; in 1925, £6758; in 1930, £11,215; and in 1935', £11,478. These expenses were for running costs and were quite apart from the capital cost of the cars. If the capital cost of the cars which were supplied by the congregations was also taken into account, tile total amount would be staggering. Air Chapman also referred pointedly to the total property debt of congregations. In 1920, lie said, it was £108,190; five years later £147,000; five years after that £201,000; and this year £223,900. The debt per member in the years quoted was respectively £2 11s 6d, £3 Is 9d, £3 17s 7d, and £4 2s Id. Taking the interest rate at 5 per cent., congregations had to find £5405 for interest in 1920, £7355 in 1925, £10,075 in 1930, and £11,195 in 1935. “I am afraid the Church has gone the way of the world so far as borrowing and the use of motor-cars are concerned,” said Air Chapman.

Alembers of the Nelson Provincial Scottish Society are again reminded of the Inglesfde to bo held in the Velma Hall to-night, the occasion being the official visit of the Scottish Society of Marlborough to Nelson. Word has been received that a large party of members and artists from Blenheim will be coming through. Tbe evening’s programme will be given entirely by the Alarlborough members including vocal and elocutionary items by Airs C. F. McLauchlan, Airs Rhodes, Aliss K. Ball, Mr R. A. Jamieson, Air John Young, and Air C. A Wemyss, Highland dancing by Aliss Pearl Nicholas, Aliss Heatlier Love, Messrs M. and C. Jamieson, D. Guild, and Alaster Thaine. The music for tbe ballroom dancing will be supplied by the Troubadours Band. The Nelson Scottish Society’s Pipe Band will ■ parade tbe streets prior to commencing the Ingleside.

Reporting to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Wellington, the tract committee stated that as it pursued its work it became increasingly evident that ministers throughout the country were feeling the need of some suitable literature to place in the hands of the people. Questions disturbing to the Christian faith were continually arising, and the wisdom of providing the Church with some pronouncement from the Christian noint of view and also from the standpoint of the Presbyterian Church , would not be disputed. The Rev. Dr. j. D. Salmcnd said he had been greatly impressed with the propaganda value of the cheap pamphlet. It was one of the spear points, as it were, in Soviet Russia and of the Nazis in Germany, for instance. lie mentioned the intention of the committee to distribute next year a pamphlet on Christian marriage, which he said lie thought was badly needed, and also on Christian baptism. It was suggested by the Rev. J. T. Mucky that it would perhaps be advantageous to produce something a little more elaborate and that the w’ord “tract” should not be used. Rightly or wrongly the word “tract’’ had got into bad odour. It was decided to commend the booklets to the attention of ministers, office-bearers, and the people. Particulars are advertised of the Y.M.C.A. International Week of Prayer meetings to be held in the Y.M.C.A. building from 10th to 16th November. The members of the N Play Reading Circle of the Women’s Club are reading “Alice, sit by the fire” by Sir James Barrie on Friday, 15th November. All club members are invited.

Dr. Elizabeth Gunn, medical officer of schools for the Wanganui Education Board, when lecturing recently under the auspices of the Plunket Society, said there appeared to be a wave of hysteria in the Wanganui district. She said she did not object to adults following starvation cures and having meatless days, vegetable days, and other “less” days, but. she did object to children being put on such treatment. She Would like to impress on parents the necessity for giving children fresh milk, meat, vegetales, bread and butter. She had found gome children attending schools and trying to do a day’s work on an orange, half an apple, or a lettuce lunch, and being sick in school and falling ill .and fainting. “Beware of fads for children,” she said, in emphasising the value of milk. She suggested that farmers, when sending cream to a factory, should provide a gallon of skim milk daily for distribution among children in the towns. By doing this it would be found in six months tliyt people got so used to plenty of milk that they would not do without it, and children would materially benefit.

At present there are 170 men engaged in various localities in Marlborough under the subsidised gold mining scheme, stated a report submitted to the County Council (stays the “Express”). Approximately 25ozs of gold have been won during tile past month. The drill is engaged on the Nutmeg (Onamalutu), but progress has been retarded owing to the bad weather.

Workers for charity’s sake who conduct public collections are accustomed to find included among the coins a variety of other articles, and those who carried out a successful street collection in Wellington for the health ramps got a good deal of amusement from the'final “bag,” as well as satisfaction when it was realised that the total in real cash amounted to £269 Is Id, despite the fact that the morning was wet and boisterous and little effective collecting could be done until the afternoon. Details of the cash total disclose the remarkable popularity in the capital city of the nimble sixpence, 3,472 having been contributed, totalling £B6 16s ; there were 3,714 threepenny-bits £46 8s 6d); 1,648 shillings (£77 8s); 5,764 pennies (£24 Os 4d); 131 halfcrowns (£l6 7s 6cl); 145 two-shilling pieces (£l4 10s); 738 half-pennies (£1 10s 9d); and four ten-shilling notes. This excellent collection was rounded off with samples of French and South African small coins, a couple of buttons, a perfectly good farthing, and a strange document which the extensive and peculiar knowledge of post office experts enabled the collectors to identify as a pak-a-poo ticket New Zealand’s original air-mail stamps, first issued in November and December, 1931, were withdrawn from sale on 31st October, and have been re placed by the series of one-penny, threepence and sixpence, first placed on sale last May. The original air-mail stamps were brought out for use with a Christmas mail from Australia to England and there were four . denominations: threepence, fourpence sevenpence, and thp threepenny printed in pale green and overprinted “Fivepence” in red. Sur-face-printing was adopted for these stamps, but the current air-mad stamps, carrying a very attractive design, are reproduced by the intaglio line-engrav-ing method. . The Port and Nelson Defence Miniature Rifle Clubs will hold the annual dance and presentation of prizes at the Oddfellows’ Hall on Thursday next. The floor will be in first class order, and home-made supper will be served. Good prizes are offered for the early bird and Monte Carlo competitions. Mr Les Logan and his Dance Band will supply the music and Mr*G. C. Coleman will be the M.C.