NEWS OF THE DAY

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 11247, 27 June 1922, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

A number of freezing works’ employees who are at present on strike in Southland applied for employment on the Bluff wharf, but their services were refused.

Cheese factories which sold their output this season expect to come out considerably better than those who consigned, states the Dannevirke “News.” One authority computes that they' will be able to pay Is 5d per lb for butterfat.

In the last paragraph of the interview with the Rev. W. S. Heathcote reported fin yesterday’s “Tipies,” it should have read that he said “New Zealand is the first country in the world,” not “England,” to which the reply invariably was, “Yes, we have heard that.”

The “Manawatu Times” states that the livery stable business, which was threatened' with extinction in the years of plenty, is coming back, more especially in the country towns. Farmers are laying by their motors, which in idleness consume neither tyres benzine, nor oil. They furbish up the old gig and buggy, and enjoy the reins and whip dn place of the wheel, though the pace seems slow.

The Prince of Wales is a. member of tho Returned Soldiers’ Association, and pays hie fee of 10s annually as the other memjbers do. The Auckland hranoh cabled him its congratulations on the occasion of his birthday. The secretary received l a reply as follows: “The Prince of Wales desires to thank his comrades very much for their kind message of congratulation on the occasion of his birthday.”

“The Molyneux river has not been so low for over twenty years,” stated an old resident of Ralclutba North to a “Free Press” representative. The speaker went on to prove his argument by pointing out that the bottom figures on the fiood gauge painted on one of the cylinders of the traffic bridge were now visible, and it was the first time he had observed them for over two decides, and lie crossed the bridge daily

A collection in aid of the funds for the relief of starving Russian children was taken up in all the Oatholio churches in the Christchurch diocese recently, and a considerable sum was realised. The collection has not yet been completed. The Very Rev. Dean Bowers, Diocesan Administrator, has forwarded the first draft of £SOO to Europe. This will be followed by the remainder of the collection when it is completed.

A Balclntha resident who has returned from a ' visit to the Bald Hill Flat, Central Otago, stated to a "Free Press” representative: “You people down here don’t know what cold is. Why at Bald Hill Flat, Speargrase Flat, and other places in Central Otago I saw wire fences with standards looking like post and rail fences, so thick had they become with accumulated ice and frost. Even the telegraph wires bad sagged badly in place®, and looked as if they might collapse with the weight they were carrying.”

Attorney-General Armstrong, of the United States, has ruled that the police have no authority to send women prisoners against their consent to hospital clinics for examination. It has hitherto been a common practice of police captains to order women prisoners to he taken in charge of police women to the hospital clinics—where they were obliged to submit to compulsory examination for venereal disease. This gross indignity practised on many innocent women will now be stopped.

The raised safety zone was referred to by Mr H. C. Jones (president of the New Zealand Association) at the Motor Tradersi 1 Association dinner at Christchurch. The speaker said that the experiment had lately been tried in Auckland, and it had stopped the loitering of pedestrians between the footpath and the safety area. In Christchurch he had noticed the way pedestrians walked over the 1 streets, and it was a wonder to him that more of them were not knocked down. Raided zones would, in his opinion, overcome the difficulty.

The chairman of the Auckland Harbour Board, Mr H. R. Mackenzie, who is visiting the Bay of Plenty, says:— “Before coming \o Tauranga I was a strong advocate for the early linking up of the East Coast Maiii Trunk line at Waihi. After seeing the country I am more convinced than ever that every effort should be concentrated in urging tho Government to push on the construction of the line to Waihi. Once the district secures connection with the railway system this will he a great factor in developing the farming lands.” He favoured the employment of, insulated steamers for the transport of produce to Auckland.

“As the pharmacy examination has just been held (stated Mr J. H. Howell, Director of the Technical College, in his import to the Board of Governors last might), the pharmacy classes in chemistry are now so Bmall, and are likely to remain so small, that their continuance will not be justified. This will set Mr Glendimning free, and in view of the difficulty of supervising the evening classes now that they are held in, buildings so widely separate, I would ask permission to utilise Mr Glendinning’s services on two evenings in the week, subject to the consent of the department, in assisting me in this work. Mr Enting, the head of the commercial department, ie able to help an one evening in the week, so that it should be possible to carry on the work satisfactorily for the rest of this session.”

That there are cases of distress in the city resulting from the financial position no one can deny very well, and that a number of households, while not actually driven to extreme want) have to exercise a new and unwelcome chock upon expenditure seems equally Certain \(says the “Otago Daily Times”). But with those conditions there continues in a section of the community an indulgence ill luxury that is bordering on the anomalous. For instance, a confectioner who happened to he in conversation with a reporter mentioned that, although his takings had fallen away as compared with the takings for the same period a year ago, he had not, dn his business felt the effects of the slump appreciably compared with the experience of large conoerns, dealing in utilitarian goods. He added that he found that the children of the poorer classes were spending almost as freely as ever, and that it was very seldom that it was anything as small as the modeert penny that they had to pass across the counter.

Thirteen degrees of frost -was regisrtered at the Domain weather station at Ashburton.

It is understood that, as the result of Mr T. M. Vv'ilford’s meeting in Masterton, the support of the U.P.L.L.P. at the general election will be accorded to Mr A. C. Holms.

Six cases of diphtheria in the Auckland district were reported to the district health officer. One notification was from the city, two from the suburbs, and three from country districts.

A recommendation will be made to the City Council on Thursday evening that an internal auditor shall he appointed to watch municipal finance, stock, etc.

The postal authorities have received cable advice from Sydney that the Fiona left Newcastle on the 24th instant for Auckland. She carries a small mail for Wellington.

One of the events of the visits paid by the Minister for Lands to soldier settlements in the Wairarapa was a request from a settler on the Ahiaruhe block to be supplied with copies of “Hansard.”

It is stated that the supporters of Mr W. H. Field, M.P. for Otaki, are somewhat concerned at the prospect of Mr McClure (Commissioner for Crown Lands) being a candidate foT the seat at the general election.

There is a boom in rabbitskins at present and a decided upward tendency (states the “Dunstan Times”). One buyer in Clyde last week, without even seeing the skins, paid £4 7s 6d per 100 for them. Over 100 per day is quite a common catch, so that poor, despised bunny is well worth catching.

Old pioneers are still setting .a good example to West CoasteTs, writes the Greymouth correspondent of the “Lyttelton Times.” An inmate of the Old People’s Home offered half of his only half-crown towards the war memorial fund. He said that he lost two 6ons in the war and! wanted: to give all he could, Is 3d, to aid in securing a memorial far the Grey district.

The Conciliation Council proceedings in the general engineers’ dispute in Dunedin opens at Dunedin to-day. Another sitting of the Conciliation Council in the same dispute is to be held in Christchurch on July 6th with the view of discussing and if possible arriving at a partial agreement; the metal workers’ assistants’ dispute will be also dealt with at this sitting.

While motoring to Levin, says the “Chronicle,” Mr Judd, of Makerua had am unusual experience. When nearing Levin, not far from the butter factory, jumped from a bank by the roadside and crashed through tile windscreen, shattering the thick glass, and falling stunned at the driver’s feet. Mrs Judd, who was also in the car, caught the animal as it revived and attempted to leap from the oar, and brought it home to Shannon as evidence of what liad occurred.

Towards Hie end of last week two farmers from Waitara with three lady friends decided to take the crosscountry trip by motor over Mount Messenger to the Waitomo Caves. Although the weather was good, the journey was an awful one, and the oar arrived at Te Kuiti in an almost unrecognisable state through mud, showing clearly the ordeal which, had been come through. The journey of 108 miles was covered in thirteen hours, and two cases of benzine were used. The car is the only one which has got safely through, this winter. The party stated that they would not undertake the journey again. The effect of heavy winds on the speed of vessels at sea was under discussion during the hearing of the Wiltshire wreck inquiry at Auckland, when it was asserted that a strong wind and sea behind a vessel would increase her speed. The Witness was a well-known captain trading out of Auckland, and his testimony was to the effect that no ship he had over been in went better with the wind behind her—exoept a sailing ship. He said it was a peculiar thing that this should be so, and he could not explain the reason, but any of the master mariners present would bear Mm out.

While it is Dot uncommon for a seafaring man to stumble into the harbour,- it is but rarely that the surefooted horse falls overboard (says the “Lyttelton Times”). Such a mishap, however, took place at No. 3 jetty at Lyttelton. The animal was one of the Bailway Department’s best draughts, and fully harnessed. He swam round the harbour for over an hour. A few men more skilled'in the handling of a dinghy than throwing the lassoo, made unsuccessful attempts to get a rope over his head. At length he was headed, by H. Bees and H. Darby, firemen in the s.s. Tairoa, for the steps at the lower breastwork, whence he got safely ashore.