LOCAL AND GENERAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21596, 14 September 1933, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Talking Pictures on Ship One of the latest passenger vessels to be fitted with talking picture equipment is the Huddart-Parker motorliner Wanganella, which arrived at Auckland from Sydney yesterday morning. The equipment has been installed since the vessel was last at Auckland. When the Wanganella is at sea, moving picture entertainments are given every other evening.

" Not Bad Sheepfarmers " A profitable venture in sheep farming was reported to a meeting of the Devonport Borough Council last evening. The clerk, Mr. A. E. Wilson, mentioned that the council, as a domain board, had bought 40 sheep to graze on Mount Victoria at a cost of £l4, and had sold 20 of them for £l3. "We are not bad sheepfarmers," said the Mayor, Mr. H. F. W. Meikle.

A Rainy Week Rain has fallen every day this week since Sunday. The wind has been light and variable since Tuesday, but the conditions have been very unsettled. Yesterday morning was fine and. sunny, but fell continuously from 3 p.m. until midnight. The barometer was unusually erratic yesterday. After rising to 29.90 in. during the morning, it commencod falling shortly before midday, and from early in the afternoon until midnight it was steady at 29.60 in.

Wireless on Rangitoto .An offer by the Radio Emergency Corps to establish a wireless transmission station on Rangitoto Island, which at present has no direct communication with the mainland, has been received by the Rangitoto Island Domain Board. It was stated at a meeting of the board last evening that the only expense incurred by the board would bo the charge for a transmitting licence for the caretaker, who would act as operator. The matter was deferred for further consideration.

Names and Ancestry The Tray in which names often give the lie direct to racial ancestry was referred to by the Rev. L. McMastor when speaking in Christchurch recently. "You cannot go jby names in deciding who is a Scotsman and who an Irishman," he said. "The Mayor (Mr. D. G. Sullivan, M.P.) has a plainly Irish name, but he is really of Scottish blood, while I have a Scottish name and am of Irish blobd. It lias even been said that Robert Burns was really an Irishman, and that his name was originally O'Byrne." Level Crowing Danger

The urgent need for a "wig-wag" signal at the level crossing at the Buckland railway station, between Pukekohe and Tuakau, was emphasised in a report received from a patrol at a meeting of the council of the Automobile Association last evening. The report stated that thdre had been one fatality at the crossing and a number of narrow escapes. It was decided to request the Railway Department to instal a suitable signal. Similar requests were made in connection with the Grey Street crossing at Claudelands, and that at Sefidon Street, Hamilton.

Men and Boy Labour A statement that a boy of 14 working for 6s 6d a week had displaced him was made by a man at the meeting addressed by Mr. Coates, acting-Prime Minister, at Opawa. Mr. Coates showed some interest in the case, the man assuring him that he had been put off after 17 years to make way for a boy. A woman interjector: "You. needn't go short. The Government will help you." At Mr. Coates' suggestion the man agreed to furnish him with details after the meeting. Mr. Coates said that it was a real problem to deal with if it was found that old workers were being put off like that.l

Departure o 1 Warship After a delay of three days owing to bad weather, H.M.S. Dunedin, flagship of Commodore F. Burges Watson, will leave Auckland at 10 o'clock this morning for Napier on the first stage of her Southern cruise. H.M.S. Diomede, commanded by Captain Cosmo Graham, is to leave for Wellington on Monday, and on September 27 and 28 the two oruisers will carry out exercises with the Australian Squadron off the coast from Wellington. The Dunedin will return to Auckland on ;Novembe% 18 and the Diomede on December 7. Shprtlv afterward, the two cruisers will grant Christmas leave. ~ • Thrills of Farm Lile "Personally, 4 1 rather sympathise with the young lad who does not wai)i to go on a dairy farm," sajd .Mr. A. Stuart, M.P. for Rangitikei, when declaring the Youths' Afforestation Camp at Kaitoke, near Wellington, open recently. He said that a cow he had attempted to milk bowled him over, planted one foot on his chest, and pinned him on the broad of his back, and another she placed in the milk bucket. It was no wonder that he had not looked kindly upon cows after that. In those- days, too, bails were not so well supervised as they are now. However, he considered that it would not do the lads any harm to spend a year or two on a dairy farm. Taxation oi Motorists Advice that motor taxation for the year ended March 31, 1933, totalled £2,656,207, was received from the secretary of the Norlh Island Motor Union, Mr. W. G. Walkley, at a meeting of the council of the AutomqJ)ile Association last evening. The letter stated that the total taxation was made ■up as follows: —Customs duties, vehicles and parts, £145,059; tyre tax, £64,177; motor spirits tax at 6d a gallon, £1,243,614; motor spirits tax at 4d (Consolidated Fund), £526,054; surtax on petrol (Consolidated Fund), £96,094; fees under Motor Vehicles Act, £352,56J; heavy traffic fees, £165,000; drivers' licences, £55,000; foes under Transport Act (commercial vehicle licences), £8648. Cause of Sunstroke The almost universal belief that sunstroke is duo to direct exposure to the rays of the sun was contradicted during tho hoaring of a compensation claim in the Arbitration Court yesterday. Counsel who was opposing the claim of a man alleged to have suffered sunstroke in a Te Kuiti quarry quoted to a medical witness numerous medical authorities who hold that direct exposure to the sun took no part in the production of heat stroke or heat cramps. The witness expressed surprise that the authorities were so unanimous, and said he had understood that was a moot point among the exports. Another medical witness explained the position by saying it was a question of temperature rather than of the direct rays of tho sun, although the temperature was naturally higher in the direct rays.