LOCAL AND GENERAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21564, 8 August 1933, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

A Youthful Motorist A claim to very early experience as a motor-car driver was made by a witness during the hearing of a motor accident claim in the Supreme Court yesterday. He said ho started driving a car at 11 years of age and when 13, just after ho had left school, ho was driving a service car. "That was before you had to be 21," said witness. Theft from a Nurse

A sister of the Auckland branch of the Plunket So'eiety has been the victim of a more than usuajly mean theft. While shopping in a city store she placed her attache case on the floor beside her and when she turned to pick it up found tjiat it had been stolen. The case contained £8 and all her records concerning the babies sho had been visiting.» The sister was in uniform at tho time. Cabin as Seaside Cottage The after-deck cabin of the old Melanesian Mission steamer Southern Cross, which has been in tho hands of the shipbreakers for some months, was lifted out of tho vessel yesterday by a Harbour Board crano and placed on a lorry at Prince's Wharf. Tho cabin, which is of quarter-inch steel, will be used by its now owner as a seaside cottage. It was lifted on to tho lorry intact, completo with roof and floor and fitted with bunks and furniture.

Motorists Without Licences Twenty-five motorists were prosecuted in the Hamilton Police Court yesterday for driving without licences on Juno 27. The excuse given by the majqrity of tho defendants was that they had overlooked renewing their licences. Each was fined 10s. Two motorists caught with only one headlight burning said both lights were on when thoy left homo. In fining the defendants 10s each, the magistrate, Mr. S. L. Pa'terson, said the onus was on defendants to see that their lights were in proper working order. A Chinese Concession "This concession will be appreciated by exporting. manufacturers who cannot write Chinese," said tho chairman of the Auckland Manufacturers' Association, Mr. J. A. C. Allum, at yesterday's meeting, when it was pointed out that a regulation requiring goods exported to China to bo marked to show the country of origin in Chinese characters had been amended to allow the language of the country of origin to be used. Advice to this effect was received from tho New Zealand Department of "Industries and Commerce.

Snowballing at School When tho. acting-Minister of Education, Hon. J. Bitchencr, arrived at the District High School at Methven, Canterbury, last week, the children were busily snowballing one another in the playground. There had been a heavy fall during the previous night, and the country was white with snow. Trees and hedges were heavily laden, and there was a depth of some inches on the footpaths and roads. The morning was beautifully fine and, set in front of snow-capped Mount Hutt and the surrounding peaks, the township of Methven made a very beautiful picture indeed.

Barge which Capsized The barge Billy White, which capsized off Devonport eatly on August 31 when it was being towed from Pahiki Island loaded with shingle, was righted by the Harbour Board's transport punt yesterday. It was towed to tho Western Viaduct and will be repaired. The bargo was considerably damaged by the accident. The mast broke close to the deck and the port bulwarks were damaged. The vessel' is full of water and until it is pumped out the damage to the hull cannot be ascertained. When the vessel capsized, her deck cargo of 100 tons of shinglo was lost, as well as a new winch and a quantity of gear. Records in Twin Lambs

What is thought to be a probable record has been created by a ewo on the property of Mr. C. W. Dagg, of Newman, Eketahuna. The ewo was five years old when Mr. Dagg took over the property eight years ago, and each year since then it has reared twin lambs. Although now thirteen years old it is still in excellent condition. Born 15 years ago and still lambing is the record of a ewe on Mr. George Queale's farm at Lochiel,- Otago. Fourteen years ago, the ewe, then a year old after being reared on the bottle by a little girl, was given to Mr. Queale's daughter. Since then it has lambed every year, producing twins more often than noji. Suburban Railway Tally

A tally of passengers travelling on the Auckland south suburban railway service on ono day showed a total of 8093 persons using the service on that day, according to a statement made by an official of tjjo Railways Department when giving evidence before tho Transport Appeal Board yesterday. The count, ho said, was made on a normal day to ascertain the number of passengers in and out of Auckland on the south suburban line, Papakura-Auek-larul, and included the passengers on one Mercer train. Tho details of tho tally were: —0 a.m. to 8 a.m., 1394 passengers; 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., 1535; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., 1594; 4 p.m. to 6.30 p.m., 2960; after 6.30 p.m., 610; total, 8093.

Airman's "Dangerous Periods" "The .dangerous periods in a man's career as an aviatiou pilot are when ho has completed 100 hours' flying, or about 10,000 miles, and when he has completed 500 hours," said Mr. E. P. Boucher, president of tho Auckland Aero Club, in an address to the Auckland liotary Club yesterday. Mr. Boucher explained that when he had down for 100 hours a man began to think lie could fly, and after 500 hours lie was liable to treat flying with contempt. Flying was really a very safe means of travel —far safer than most people believed —provided tho pilot was unceasingly on the alert and took every precaution to avoid risk. It was not suited to tho reckless; the good pilot was a man of stable mind and a thinker." Treacherous Human Memory An account of an experiment performed at a recent summer school in Canterbury to test tho accuracy of memory, a test which succeeded only in showing its untrustworthiness, was given by Dr. C. E. Beeby in Christchurch last week. An action involving two or three participants representing a murder and lasting only a few seconds was performed on a stage, and tile .students in tho audience wero asked to writo down a full account of what they had seen, underlining what they would bo prepared to swear to in a Court of law.. Of tho statements tho students wero"pnepared to swear to, 51 per cent had boon absolutely iucorrect and of the events that they were fairly sure had occurred, but were not prepared to swear to, 57 per cent had been quite wrong,, said Dr. Beeby,