GENERAL ITEMS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 25 January 1939, Page 6

GENERAL ITEMS

New “Taint” in Butter The close relation between import and export trade is illustrated by the comments, in a letter received by an Auckland merchant from an important manufacturing house in England, on the regulations for the control of imports. “The recent action of your Government is certainly to be regretted,” says the writer. “Much as I admire New Zealand end a l ' that comes from it, I doubt whether New Zealand butter will taste as good to me in the future as it has done in the past.” Farmers and National Fitness Commenting on the appeal by the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Hon W. E. Parry, to local bodies to cooperate in the promotion of a national physical fitness week next month, the chairman of the Piako County Council. Mr W. C. Kennedy, said that, while he was prepared to call a meeting in response to the Minister’s appeal. he did not anticipate a very enthusiastic response from the farming communiyt Mr Kennedy said that in the first place the fitness week came at the busiest part of the season, and. secondly. most farmers thought that the work they did kept them and their families fit. As far as physical drill was concerned, while it might be very desirable for the town workers, it was completely unnesessary for the rural communities, whose early rising and long working hours combined to give all the exercise required by the average man or woman. Sport in Japan With the exception of cricket, the Japanese took part in the same sports as New Zealanders, said Mr H. Ogasawana, Osaka, when discussing his country in an interview in Christchurch. He said the American game of baseball was also very popular, being played all the year round. Skiing and skating were also very popular sports, and there were a large number of ski clubs in North Japan, where was ample snow for this sport during the winter. Mt. Fujiyama (12.391 feet), about 100 to 150 miles from Tokio, was climbed by many persons, including tourists, during the summer, but was not safe for mountaineering in winter. Another much-visited place was Hakone, where the hot springs were on a much larger scale than those in Rotorua. Sea fishing was more popular than river fishing, the rivers in Japan being much swifter than those in New Zealand.

Publicity Expenditure “The Municipal Corporations Act and other legislation contemplate the use of local funds for publicity, but until this association came into being operations in publicity were spasmodic and almost wholly competitive in character,” states the report of the director of the South Islands Travel Association, which will be presented at a meeting of the executive in Greymouth this week. "By coordination we eliminate the second factor. and we hope to make each of our guides direct attention to other provinces while advertising its own region. Publicity expenditure in this country is small compared with what is done elsewhere, and yet our problem is greater. The city of Miami spends more each year than the Government of New Zealand; Vancouver spends much more than five times the amount spent by the cities of this Dominion; Auckland spends more than any two cities in the South Island.” Health of the Army

The British soldier of to-day does not i drink as much beer as his predecessor. |He likes lemonade better and is becoming an adherent of the “drink more milk” campaign. As a result there has been a steady reduction in the number of heat stroke and heat exhaustion cases in India. This tendency is helped by another: the soldier is not shut up during the hot hours of the day. These facts are revealed in a record of the Army’s Health Organisation. Hospital admissions in India are about double those in England, the reasons being chiefly local injuries, sprains, cuts, fractures and minor septic cases. Tonsilitis shows a high figure. 28 per 1000. diphtheria about 100 admissions a year. The reasons for the high hospital figures in India are malaria, sandfly fever and dysentry, which are seldom met with in England and though the incidence of malaria has dropped most of the present cases are relapses from old infections. This reduction is due to steady anti-malaria work over many years. Local Power Poles An effort to determine the extent to which New Zealand must rely on Australian hardwoods for her supply of power poles is now being made by the North Canterbury Electric Power Board. This advice was given to “The Press” by Mr A. Buckingham, engineer and secretary of the board, who said that deliveries of poles had been arranged from Little River, Hanmer Springs, and Cheviot for the reticulation of North Canterbury. About 350 eucalyptus poles had been ordered from Little River, Mr Buckingham said. The order was more in the nature of a trial shipment, and should the poles prove satisfactory more might be ordered in the future. The board had ample evidence of the durability of eucalyptus wood, and it had now' set out to make sure that it would stand up to cutting and logging, and be a commercial success in power-line transmission. Bluegum had a tendency to split at the ends when it was sawn into lengths. The board, Mr Buckingham said, was also obtaining some of its poles from a plantation of oaks on the old Cheviot estate. These trees, which are about 75 years old. were planted by one of the first runholders. who came to be known in later years as “Ready-money” Robinson. It had been estimated that the plantation would provide 1000 poles, but so far only 420 had been taken out in a thinning scheme. Many oak poles, Mr Buckingham explained, were in use today throughout the country. The Cheviot oaks, which would be used in the district, were splendid trees, having no branches for 50 or 60 feet, and being nearly as straight as the eucalyptus poles from Little River.

Few Wealthy Yachtsmen The mistaken notion that all yachtsmen are wealthy enough to own motorcars and would have no difficulty in reaching their boats, even if they were moored miles from the city, was quietly corrected at Auckland on Monday by. the Hon P. Fraser, Minister of Marine, at a meeting in the Town Hall, when hearing objections to the proposed boat harbour at Okahu Bay (reports the "Herald”). One speaker had suggested that the harbour could be built at the Tamaki Estuary, and remarked that all yachtsmen owned cars. The Minister said he was not aware of that. It was known to him that even in Wellington apprentices and other young men clubbed together and acquired small boats. The number of such groups would be much larger in Auckland, and he was sure that few would own cars. Mr D Holderness, superintendent and engineer of the Auckland Harbour Board, said that possibly 75 per cent, of those who owned boats in Auckland were not people of means. Letter From Vienna A Nelson business firm received by air mail a few days ago the following letter from a woman in Austraia: “Very dear Madam, with greatest pleasure I have found your name and address in an Australian list. To be short and honestly frank I pray you. if ever possible. to apply at the Canberra Government for me. to get a labour-contract and accordingly a permit for entrance in Australia. Let me promise you. that by diligence honesty and best-experien-ced work 1 shall for ever prove you my gratitude. Personal itencs. born on Nov. 2nd 1903 in Vienna. German citizen. by profession milliner for 16 years, 8 of which running my own shop (customers of the Vienna society). Best references on request. Thanking you in advance best for sending me a lab-our-contract. or filing same directly there. I beg to remain most faithfully. Yours