LOCAL AND GENERAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22504, 22 August 1936, Page 12

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Waitakere Ridgeway Scheme The How ie k Town Board unanimously decided at a redent meeting not to contribute toward the cost of the Wnitakere ridgeway scheme. it was stated that the board's apportionment was £37.

Reality in Acting While the audience was convulsed with laughter at the fall Irom a table of a character in a play at the recent drama festival at Stratford, the actor was not amused. In falling he slipped and the result was a real performance instead of a rehearsed turn, and for the past few days he has been suffering from bruises and a strain to the upper part of his left arm and shoulder, injuries that have confined him to his lied. Evidence of Better Times Referring to the smaller attendance of old boys at the annual reunion of the Mount Albert Grammar School yesterday afternoon, the headmaster, Mr. F. W. Gamble, said that in the past ~ few vears tho numbers of those able to atteiul had been swelled by former pupils who were out of employment. That was no longer the case. II was also mentioned that this year a register of old boys out of employment had been j commenced with a view to placing as ■, manv as possible iu positions. Law Studies Begun Late Because a man of 20 years had had j only a year at a district high school i in Taranaki and had passed no exam- ; illations, Mr. P. .L o'Regan sought i to show in the Supreme Court at New Plymouth that the witness was fitted i for labouring work only. "But at that age you did not have much more schooling," observed Mr. Justice Ostler j to counsel. "I thank Your Honor for j reminding mo," said Mr. 0 Regan, "ft is quite true. 1 was 31 years of J age before 1 looked inside a law book.' Te Anau-Milford Road At present 130 men are working on ; the West Coast side of the Homer j Tunnel, a number of new arrivals bav- i ing been taken there by tho Govern- j ment steamship Matai last week. On I several occasions since work on the job , was begun from the Mi I ford side, the j Matai, in the course of her usual visitation of lighthouses, has picked up ; men from Bluff and taken them to the j job, and stores havo also been similarly conveyed. Other vessels arc sometimes used for the work, tho lamatea , having made several such voyages. Overseas Mails To-day Three Australian mails and two Empire air mails are due at Auckland this morning. A small Australian mail, ex the .steamer Karetu at Bluff, and another small Australian mail, including an Empiro air mail, which was j despatched from London on August 2 j and reached Wellington from Sydney j by the Kaiwarra yesterday, arc due from Wellington by train this morning. Tho third Australian mail will arrive from Sydney by the Mariposa early this morning. She also has an | Empire air mail which was despatched j from London on August 5. Bull in Shopping Area A bull, which was being driven along j Walton Street, Whangarei, yesterday i morning, broke away from tho other j cattle and turned into tho shopping \ area of lower Cameron Street. In a ; highly excited condition it took to the ; footpath near the Whangarei Hotel 1 and proceeded along tho footpath in j this area, which is ono of the busiest areas of the town. People scattered in j all directions Tho bull, after proceed- ; ing the length of Cameron Street, crossed to Bank Street and stopped near the new library building in Rust Lane, where it was again placed under control. A Friendly People "No wonder New Zealand is getting so much favourable publicity in the foreign press," writes Mr. Mason Warner, an American journalist, who recently concluded a tour of New Zealand, in a letter of farewell and appreciation to the Tourist Department. "Nowhere else in the world have I found more intelligent and helpful co-operation from public officials than in your country. Your tourist bureaux, libraries, museum curators, railway officials, the Government hostel managers—everybody I met —wero so genuinely friendly that I am at a loss to express my appreciation." Pollution of Streams Tho growth of population and the establishment of industries will in the near future require measures for guarding against the pollution of rivers and streams, states the annual report of the Director-General of Health, Dr. M. 11. Watt. An investigation which has been made from Wellington shows, he says, that up to tho present only a few of Now Zealand's rivers are badly polluted. The Manawatu River is an example of tho surprising amount of pollution that a large river can absorb without harmful effect., but this did not lessen the necessity for keeping as much as possible of industrial waste out of the rivers. Buller Left Out Ironical reference to Nelson cii vie authorities' knowledge of their own province was made at a meeting of the Buller County Council when a letter was received from tho Town Clerk at Nelson apologising for not inviting representatives of tho county to a meeting recently held in Nelson to form a provincial centennial committee. Tho letter said that the fact that the Buller county was in the Nelson province had been overlooked. The county clerk and engineer, Mr. C. F. Sehadick, remarked that the Buller county was the twelfth largest in New Zealand, nnd amusing references to Nelson's i mistake were made by members.

Unwarranted Embargoes "Tho trouble is that I cannot get my two Governments into tho ring together," remarked Mr. R. 11. Nesbitt, Australian Trade Commissioner in New Zealand, speaking of the embargoes on potatoes and citrus fruits to members of the Christchurch Stock lilxchango. Mr. Nesbitt stated that the arguments for maintaining an embargo, both on the Australian anil the New Zealand side, had been proved groundless. The embargoes had boon begun, he said, partly for economic and partly for scientific reasons. But they were now a purely political issue. The economic' reason had proved a myth and the scientific reason had proved a myth. New Zealand's difficulty was that she was determined to settle trade problems with Great Britain before she began negotiations with any other country. "In tho meantime we shall just have to 'box on' with spuds and oranges," Mr. Nesbitt Concluded.