LOCAL AND GENERAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21520, 17 June 1933, Page 10

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Escape of Mental Patient A male patient escaped from the Mental Hospital, Avondale, yesterday. No trace of the missing man had been found by the police at a late hour last evening. Bathing Sheds on Beaches The erection of bathing sheds at Deep Creek, Brown's Bay anrl Mairangi Bay was reported at yesterday s meeting of the Wa item at a County Council. At Castor Bay similar work had been commenced. Otago Harbour Board For the 1932-33 period the Otago Harbour Board had an increase in revenue of iISG, compared with the previous year. Exports increased from 36,576 tous to <17,000 tons, being the largest amount of exports for the past four years. Trade with United States A keen desire in tho United States to develop greater reciprocal trade with New Zealand was noted by Mr. .J. ' Truscott, an Auckland business man, who returned by tko Mariposa yesterday from a visit to the United States and Canada. "Among chambers of commerce and business men generally, there was a strong i'eqling that a reciprocal tariff arrangement not only should, but coulcl, be made," said Mr. Truscott. Supreme Court at Hamilton The quarterly session of the Supremo Court at Hamilton, which commenced on May 30, will conclude this morning when chambers matters will be dealt with by Mr. Justice Herdman. A large number of civil claims have been heard at the sittings, in addition to several criminal trials and petitions lor divorce. Mt\ Justice Herdman will leave Hamilton for Wellington to-morrow evening to attend a sitting of the Court of Appeal. No Soup Kitchens A suggestion that soup kitchens should be established in Christchurch met with an unfriendly reception at a meeting of the Metropolitan Relief Association. The disposal of forty gallons of hot soup which had been offered by a city butchery was being debated, when Mr. J. W. Crampton suggested ■ that a central soup kitchen might be established. There was general dissent. " You can say what you like," said Mr. Crampton,| " but they will come." This remark was greeted with cries of " No." Thames Valley Dairying Interesting facts regarding the progress of dairying in the Thames Valley district during the last 30 years were given by Mr. W. E. Halo at a gathering at Ngatea this week. He said that when a factory was first started at Paeroa the production of butter-fat was about 200 tons a year. To-day there were operating in the area eight butter factories, 11 cheese factories and two dried milk factories, with an output last year of 17,000 tons of butter, 7500 tons of cheese and a largo quantity of dried milk.

Motoring on Ninety-Mile Beach Special beacon signs for the guidance of strangers to the district will bo erected shortly by the Automobile Association at the end of the road leading from the Ninety-Mile Beach to Waipapakauri. Several instances have been reported recently of motorists who have been caught by darkness on the beach having difficulty in locating the road, the end of which is at present distinguished by an ordinary yellow sign. Even in daylight, motorists have been known to over-run the turn-off, arriving eventually at Ahipara, at the southern end of the beach. Passengers lor Dargavilie A carriage for Dargavilie passengers was attached to the northern express yesterday morning. This is the first occasion on which it has been possible to travel on the Dargavilie line without tho necessity of changing trains, and the innovation is a trial by tho Railway Department to find if public support warrants . its continuance. The carriage was shunted at Waiotira to the branch train, and from Kirikopuni to Tangowahine it was run over the line at present controlled by the Public Works Department. Transport of Football Teams Football teams in the country have in the past relied largely on local motoilorries to take them to matches, tho charge being within what members could afford. Now, however, the owners of lorries have to take out special passenger licences before they can accept payment, and this is causing difficulty. The Waikare Club has brought the matter to the notice of the South Auckland Rugby Union, which has asked Mr. J. N. Massey, M.P., to endeavour to effect an alteration, as many teams have to travel long distances where homo and home matches are arranged by country unions. Artificial Teeth A set of false teeth was an exhibit in tho Magistrate's Court in Christchurch, during the hearing a claim in which the defendant alleged that the dentures she had received from a dentist wero unsatisfactory. The examination of a medical witness elicited a number of facts about false teeth and their fitting. No two mouths were the same, so it was impossible to make a standard set of dentures. The mouths of people over sixty years of ago were harder to lit than tlioso of young people. A dentist could not guarantee a perfect fit, but ha could guarantee to do his job to tho best of his ability. Winter Bathing While tho Mayor of Lvttclton, Mr. W. T. Lester, and members of the borough council were inspecting Corsair Bay on a recent afternoon they were astonished to sec a woman clad in bathing costume emerge from one of tlio dressing sheds and enter tho water. Tho sun had gone from that side of the bay at tho time, and already tho evening's frost was beginning to make itself felt, so that the spectators did an involuntary shiver as the bather dived under and commenced swimming about. After 10 or 15 minutes sho left tho water, but entered again at the request of a photographer. The bather was a Lyttelton resident, Mrs. E. M. Scollar, and sho bathes regularly three or four times a week. If anything, sho stated, sho prefers bathing in the winter to the summer, as sho is sure of having the beach to herself. Mrs. Scollar was formerly well known to passengers in tho little, steamer Wakatu, of which she was stewardess for many yeais.