LOCAL AND GENERAL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXX, 31 March 1936, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

• % The Nelson Fire Brigade wishes to acknowledge with thanks a donation of £2 2s from Air G. Ai. Smart for the Members’ Fund. The Marlborough Golf Club opened its 1936 season successfully on Saturday afternoon, a particularly large gathering of members, visiting golfers and friends being present. “Asparagus grows in Christchurch almost like a weed, and in England today it is still a luxury; the supply is never equal to the demand, and" asparagus is never cheap in London. Surely here is an opportunity to start a new industry,” said Airs A. Bradley, a much travelled woman, who spent last week in Christchurch. As a preliminary to the Newman Shield match next Friday and Saturday, a practice match, Alarlborough v. the Rest, was played at Horton Park, Blenheim, on Saturday, the Alarlborough representative winning after disposing of the Rest for 84 and compiled 87 for eight wickets in their own innings. Consideration will soon be given by the Government to the possible redistribution of electoral representation on the basis of the population as revealed by the census last week. The Prime Alinister was not inclined to discuss the very controversial auestion of whether, , in view of possible redistribution of population, particularly in the North , Island, Parliament would be, asked to consider a comprehensive scheme for the redistribution of licenses. .Mr Savage also was disinclined to indicate the view of the Government on the necessity for licensing polls in the future.

During recent months, the department had reduced the cost of a number of its services, particularly the charges for toll calls and the charges for telegrams, said the Postmaster-General, the Hon. F'. Jones, yesterday. A further concession, estimated to be worth £25,000 per annum to the public, was made available a fortnight ago in the form of reduced parcel-post rates. As yet it was a little early to assess the increase iii parcel traffic which had resulted from the reduced rates, but he had eveiy confidence that the business public would respond readily and encourage the department to make its services available at rates which were as cheap as possible, consistent with the necessity for at all times providing an efficient service. An acute housing shortage is being felt at New Plymouth to-day (says the “News”). It is practically impossible to rent a good type of house, furnished or unfurnished, and it is difficult to obtain flats of a better class. Owners of houses, secure in the knowledge that they have no fear of lack of tenants, are placing the residences on the market for purchase but at prices unsuited to the pockets of prospective buyers. Buyers, however, are fairly keen to secure houses on which deposits are not too high. This concensus of opinion secured. from New Plymouth agents was emphasised by one business man. “It is impossible to obtain a house to let,” he declared. “The higher priced houses have been taken and there is not a great deal to pick and choose between many of those now on the market. Quite a number of prospective tenants havo to be satisfied with board and residence. There is nothing for the average man who wants to pay about 25s a week for an unfurnished house and while he may be in a position to pay interest on a table mortgage cash deposits on houses are too high.” _ A recent increase in the cost of building, an increase which shows a tendency to continue, may be attributable to a comparative slackness in the erection of new houses. Before Christmas a house had been built at a cost of £6OO. Identically the same plans are to be used for another house and the estimated cost will lie an additional £SO. What few sections suitable for building remain at New Plylpouth are generally too expensive and this is poss’bly another factor in the building 1 shortage Numbers of other towns in the North Island are passing through a period of speculative building but this, too. is virtually dormant at New Plymouth. Practically no houses m course of erection at present will be for sale when completed.

Alfred Gould announces an auction sale of household furniture and effects in the estate of the late William Webb, at 176 Vanguard street, to-morrow at 1 p.m#

As from the Ist April the attendance it, the Brightwater telephone exchange. ,vill be extended to 6 a.m. to midnight in week-days and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays and holidays. In laboratory work at the Otago Aledi;al School said Sir Louis Barnett on Saturday, efforts were being made to try to discover simple, suitable remedies, to eliminate the parasite from the intestines if country dogs. It was necessary to specify country dogs, Sir Louis Barnett observed, since it was rare to find the trouble in town dogs. They were not fed with the raw offal of sheep, which might be considered normal food for country dogs. A speed fiend caused trouble on the Blenheim-Piclon road on Sunday, when, flashing along at an exceptional rate and skidding round a corner, he forced a car being driven by Air J. F. Allen in the direction of Picton. off the road into the swamp (reports the “Express”). Only by quick judgment on the part of Air Allen was a collision averted, and the speeding motorist went on, not stopping to see what bad happened or to render any assistance. Air Allen’s car, which was travelling at a moderate pace, rolled over and rested on its hood, but neither the driver nor the three passengers were injured. The vehicle was onlv slightly damaged, and shortly afterwards was extricated and continued its journey under its own power. Five brothers, a Roman Catholic Dish, op, a Jesuit Father, a missionary priest, a city solicitor, and a doctor, who nave not met for 20 yeai-s, joined in an unusual reunion in a golf match at the Peninsula Golf Club, Alelbourne, this month, states the “Argus.” The brothers are the Bishop of Geraldton, Western Australia (Dr. J. P. Collins), the Rfev. Father T. W. O'Collins, of the Jesuit seminary, Watsonia; the Rev. Father Gerald O’Collins of St. Columban’s Alission, Han Yang, China; Air P. F. O’Collins, solicitor, of the firm of Ellison, Hewison and O’ColTins, Alelbourne; and Dr. J.®B. O’Collins, of Northcote. The most striking member of the party as it. moved from the first tee in a four-ball match was Father Gerald O’Collins, who in the manner of missionaries :n the distant parts cf China, wears a long flowing dark beard —an unusual sight on a Alelbourne golf course.

Stating that the occupation of the Rhineland bad occurred after he had left Germany, and he only knew what he had been able to read in the cable messages. Herr E. Yon Dziegielewski, an officer in the German Consular Service, who is a through passenger on the Maunganui, which arrived at Wellington this week, said he was satisfied there would he no consequences (reports “The Dominion”), He had been tcld by someone on the liner that there would be a European war in a few days, but that was not right. The occupation of the Rhineland was no more significant than the reintroduction of conscription in Ger. many a year ago. Herr Von Dziegielews’ki is on his way to Sydney, where he expects to be stationed forborne years. Questioned as to conditions in Germany, he s aid there was very little unemployment thei'e mow, but there had been a good deal in the past. It was the ambition of Germany toll ave everyone ambition of Germany to have everyone enitliey were employed.

Numbers of Taranaki farmers are among those participating in the greatly increased demand for dairy and mixed farms which has been shown throughout the Waikato in the past few weeks (states the “Daily News”). The in-going price of Waikato land is so reasonable compared with that of Taranaki that there has been steady flow of settlers to the north. At present Waikato prices are from £lO to £ls an acre lower on the average than those for Taranaki land, but as a result of the demand the value are showing an upward tendency. Although there has been a fairly steady inquiry' for Waikato land during the past 12 months,, there is now a different type of buyer - on the market. Purchasers are now offering larger deposits and in a number of cases are apparently turning to farming as a suitable means of investing their capital. Land agents have experienced difficulty in supplying sufficient farms of the most suitable tvpc. Generally the demand is for well developed'properties with modern farm buildings and equipment. Although there has been a steady flow of settlers properties, the type of buyer now active prefers to purchase a property of 70 to isUO acres as a going concern.

“The spectre of the Brocken,’’ that strange phenomenon in which mountaineers see their shadow reflected in a bank of mist, occurred during a recent traverse of Mount Oates in the National Park region at Arthur’s Pass (reports the “Press”).' The occurrence of the spectre of the Brocken is very rare, but has been, recorded occasionally in the European Alps and has been recorded in Canterbury by Mr G. Mannering. During the traverse by Messrs W. Fraser and R. Scott a halt was made in the earlv morning on the shoulder of the mountain. On their looking west towards Goat Pass, where a bank of mist was hanging, their shadows appeared in the centre of a circular rainbow. As the mist receded or approached the shadows altered from nearly life-size to gigantic proportions, and the effect continued for some time. The following account of an appearance of the spectre of the Brocken in the Hartz mountains in Germany is given bv an old writer and an t-xDerieneed mountaineer': “When the rising or the setting sun throws his rays over the Brocken upon the body of a man standing opposite to fine light clouds floating round or hovering past him, he need only fix his eyes steadfastly upon them and in- all probability he will see the singular spectacle of his own shadow extending to a length of 500 or 600 feet at a distance of about two miles before him.”