LOCAL AND GENERAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22442, 11 June 1936, Page 10

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Bequest to Salvation Army Under the will of the late Dp. Charles Henry Smith-Hozier, retired medical practitioner, whose. death occurred at Auckland on May 19, provision is made for a gift of £SO to the Salvation Army in New Zealand. The value of the estate is sworn for purposes of probate at under £I3OO.

Replacing a Bridge An important work set down for early attention is the replacement of a bridge at Talieke, on the main highway between Dargaville and Kaikohe, via the Waipoua Kauri Forest. This bridge was washed away during heavy storms some time ago, and traffic has since used a temporary structure. The new bridge will be in reinforced concrete, and will consist of three 50ft. spans. Rescues by Lifeboat

The annual report of the Sumner Lifeboat Institution records the fact that four rescues were made by the Rescue 11. during the year, involving 10 lives. These brought the total number of lives saved by the new boat and the crews up to 49 in six years. In addition four boats were towed to safety from dangerous positions, 11 people being thus assisted. Central Waikato Power Reporting at a meeting of the Central Waikato Electric-Power Board yesterday the engineer-manager, Mr. J. R. Ellis, stated that the staff had again been kept very busy during the past month with extensions and services. An 11,000-volt extension at Wliangamarino had been completed with the exception of putting the transformer in place, and work has been commenced on an extension of similar power at Rotongaro. Relief Committee Praised

Admiration of the work of the Auckland Metropolitan Unemployment Relief Committee was expressed yesterday by Bishop Brodie, Roman Catholic Bishop of Christchurch.- Bishop Brodio, who has taken a prominent part in the activities of the relief committee in Christchurch, arrived by train yesterday morning and attended the meeting of the Auckland committee. He was welcomed by the chairman, Mr. Ernest Davie.

Proposal for Hostels Inquiries have been made in the past year about the possibility of establishing a chain of hostels round Lake Wakatipu, according to the fourth annual report of the Canterbury Regional Council of the Youth Hostel Association of New Zealand. The establishment of the hostels had been partly arranged for, says the report, but a letter to the Otago Tramping Club asking this body to make the final arrangements had brought no result.

Brighter Trams In South The trams and trolley-buses owned by the Christchurch Tramway Board are to be painted in colours different from those at present used. The new scheme will be much brighter than the present one of green and cream. The colours chosen by the board are red, yellow and grey. The main colour on the body will be red, and the window sashes and other markings and bands will be yellow, vfith the roof grey. The red will be of a lighter shade than that used in Wellington.

Transport ol Sick Ohlld Removing a sick child, Dawn Monteith, aged eight, from her parents' home at Ostend to the Auckland Hospital on Monday night proved a difficult task for the St. John Ambulance officer at Waiheke Island, Mr. C. S. Butler, and his assistants. Bearing the child on a stretcher to Mr. J. Clark's small launch, they were required to wade through mud and then push the boat into deep water. The patient was transferred to Mr. Kennedy's larger launch, which made a fast trip to Howick, where a St. John ambulance awaited to convey her to hospital.

Waikato Band Praised Favourable comment on the part taken by the Waikato Regimental and Municipal Band in the recent ceremony of presenting new Colours to the Waikato Regiment is contained in correspondence received by the Hamilton Borough Council. Major-General Sir William Sinclair Burgess, officer commanding the New Zealand Forces, states that the success of the parade was largely due to the efficient manner in which the band carried out its very difficult and important duties. Congratulations are extended to the band by Colonel J. E. Duigan, officer commanding the Northern Command. Linguist's Ignorance

"Anyone learning a foreign language learns the bad words first," was the way in which a ship's cook, giving evidence in the Napier Police Court the other day, explained an example of Chinese he had used against a Chinese defendant. Later in the proceedings defendant told the interpreter what had been said to him, but the latter refused to repeat it. He finally compromised by writing it down for the defending solicitor, who handed it to the magistrate with the comment: "It must be conceded that they are a fairly catholic indictment." The witness had explained that he knew the words were swearing, but said he did not know what they meant. A Language Problem "Englishmen are the poorest linguists of all," said Miss L. M. Cranwell, botanist at the Auckland War Memorial Museum, when explaining to a meeting of the Auckland Institute last night how linguistic difficulties were surmounted at the international botanical congress, held at Amsterdam last September, and attended by 1000 representatives from 55 countries. She said the Dutch were fine linguists, usually speaking at least one other tongue apart from their own. English, French and German were spoken at the congress to overcome the speech barrier. Now, more than ever before, there was a tendency for English to be adopted as the scientific medium for botany. Cancelled Old-age Pensions

A provision of the Pensions Act that if an old-age pensioner is convicted under the Police Offences Act his pension is permanently cancelled, is considered by the Hospital Boards' Association to be unduly harsh. A resolution of the recent Dominion conference, which was submitted this week to the Minister of Health, Hon. P. Eraser, by Mr. W. Wallace, president of the association, proposed that the Pensions Act be amended so that a pensioner so convicted should be allowed to apply to a magistrate after three years to havo his pension reinstated. Mr. Wallace saul yesterday that the Minister had gone further, and expressed the opinion that pensions should not be cancelled automatically in such cases, since the ordinary penalty which the Court would inflict was entitled to be treated as adequate. He promised to consider the request.