NEWS OF THE DAY

New Zealand Times, Volume LI, Issue 12015, 18 December 1924, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

A visitor to Wairarapa by motor-car stated that he was astonished to witness the amount of merchandise that is being conveyed over the Rimutakas by .mobor-lorries. Stock, he' states, is also being sent to tbe freezing work by motor-lorries'. Regarding the efforts made hy the railway authorities in Christchurch to reeapturo tho transport of the wool clip, Mr H. Chapman, district traffic manager for Canterbury, replying to a question stated that there had been a gratifying response from the farmers, and though the railways were not conveying all the wool they were getting quite a quantity that in recent years had been transported by road. Tho chairman of the Wellington Haflbour Board, Mr G. Mitchell, refiorted upon tbe arrangements made or the reception of tho GoveruorGenenal last Saturday, in respect of which the secretary to tbe board read a letter from His Excellency thanking the board for the arrangements, whim were, successfully carried out. the chairman remarked that no doubt Sir Charles Fergusson fully appreciated the Stootch mist which had followed him all the way from his native land. (Daughter.) The prevention of inroads of “woodborer” was outlined by Mr D, Miller, Government Etymologist, at Christchurch. He said that timber cut from immature trees was more susceptible to the borer than mature wood, and, of course, the heart wood was preferable to the sap. Timber like white pine should be avoided. One of the best and most simple remedies was to paint or *spray oreosote on the ■ wood, which if it was dry would absorb it. In a house where the wood had to be painted, it was practicable to treat the studs and lining with creosote and to spray the weather-boards on the inside. The paint on the outside would not stop the borer, but exposure to tho weather would. The balance-sheet of the Manawatu Gorge Road Board of Control has been returned from the Auditor-General, carrying the dreaded tag. The disputed items are £6 6s and £l, being expenses incurred in the providing of dinners for members at meetings held at the gorge. It has been the practice of the board to meet alternately at the offices of the engineers and at tho gorge office. Such a move was introduced! to enable the members periodically to inspect the improvements being undertaken at the gorge, and as their stay included the luncheon hour, arrangements were made to have dinner at the cookhouse, same being a charge on the board and not on the individual members. The Auditor-General deems such practice unlawful and requires the refunding of the. amount immediately. That £2 per ton per annum is not a sufficient fee for the owner of heavy lorries to pay is the opinion of Mr W; T. Strand, Mayor, Lower Hutt which he expressed at the meeting of the City and Suburban Highways-,Board of Control. In view of the damage done to roads by heavy lorries the amount decided upon, £2, was not nearly enough, and he pressed for consideration of the Auckland view. He indicated the increase in such traffic on the Hutt- road by pointing to the heavy wool loads which came through, and double the fee originally fixed would be a moderate sum to change them. Mr Strand was not in order in bringing forward at that meeting a proposal to alter a decision already oome to, so he has given notice of motion to put it in order. Seymour Hicks, the distinguished London actor-manager, soon to visit New Zealand under Hugh J. Ward’s management, tells many good stories in his now book, “Chestnuts Reroasted.” “The kindness of our American cousins to us when we visit their shore,” he remarks, l their continual solicitude for our comfort sometimes make extremely difficult the answering of questions and the necessity of commenting on facts that are repeated to impress and keep one’s interest. Oscar Wilde was lionised on his first visit to the States in the early eighties, and was the recipient ot great hospitality. Among his hosts was a gentleman who, although he gave Wilde tho best time imaginable, whenever tbe guest expressed his admiration at the sights he was being shown, always said: “Ah, but you should have seen it before the war.” Wilde was delighted! enough with what he did see, and at last got so tired of the constant repetition of the phrase, that,, standing on a balcony one evening after dinner, and having his attention drawn to the beauty of the sky and tbe silver moon overhead, he, appnr entlv absent-mindedly, said“ Yes, :h.~ moon is wonderful to-mphs : lint t" ■ in p 'S' 1 I ought to have ; i ; r ~ war.” House-hunting in Wellington—that is, to rent—is like gold prospecting—you might strike, and you might not. It has been said bouses are always scarce. This statement is not quite correct. It all depends where you desire to live. Leslie Jones, 101, Willis street, reports having an exceptionally good range of homes for sale, and will also arrange to bsiild your home on a small deposit. •

A proposal to increase the speed limit of 12 miles pear hour through Ngahauranga and Kaiwarra has been deferred pending a report upon the whole subject to the City and Suburban Highways Control Board. When the City and Suburban Highways Board of Control were considering tenders for supplies it was ©reported that no tender had been received for a fiye-seater motor-ear, and tbe purchase of one was left to the city engineer. While speaking at the civic welcome to the Governor-General, Sir Charles Fergusson, Mr T. M. AVilford said His Excellency would not find anything unfamiliar in any of the cities of the Dominion. “We dig np our streets just as you do.” (Laughter.) Mr Wilford said he could not refrain from that, dig at the Mayor. (Renewed laughter.) A letter from Mr H. E. Chang, a member of the Chinese Soccer football team, who had been an inmate of the Christohurch Hospital for some time, was received at a meeting of the Christ church City Council, asking the Mayor to convey to the citizens of Christchurch his sincerest thanks for many attentions to a stranger in a strange land. An accident which occurred to a man near Palmerston recently was found to be due to faulty electric installation of a water heating tank The fitter responsible for the Job has suffered the lose of his license for four months as a penalty for failing to notify the Manaiwatu Power Board of the completion, and his failure to effectively earth the apparatus. “I bought a rear red reflector for my bicycle,” said Councillor F. R Cooke at the meeting of the Christchurch City Council. “And someone pinched the red out of the reflector,” he added amidst laughter. “Am I compelled to put more red in,” he asked. “Perhaps yon could use one of vour old red ties,” suggested the Mayor (Mr J. A. Flesher). A female witness in a civil case at Palmerston North was lamenting loudly and long that other people were dishonest and untruthful, and when asked if she herself Wfl6 speaking -the truth, said: “X thought the court was a place where you had to tell the truth.” The magistrate obviously tired of the lament, broke in: “Well, don’t make a song about it. Just apeak the truth 1” A judgment debtor in the Police Court at Wangtoui stated that he rented a few acres and milked cows. Part of the milk, went in part payment of the rent. The balance of the proceeds went'to his wife. The magistrate pointed out that the arrangement would not hold good as far as the creditors were concerned. Seeing that he paid the rent, he was entitled to tho proceeds and not the wife. An accident occurred at the Stanley Bay wharf, Auckland, when a little blind girl, about eight .years old, narrowly escaped drowning. The child, with her mother and three other children whose ages ranged from about four to ten years, was waiting for a ferry beat from town. She apparently walked off unnoticed and tripped over the side of the wharf into the water, a distanoe of 12ft or 15ft. Two men promptly plunged in and rescued’ the child.

Mr L. J. Bayfield, officer-m-charge of the Government Tourist Department, Christchurch, stated that all accommodation at the tourist resorts, including Rotorua, Hammer Springs, and the Mount Cook Hermitage, has been booked np for Christmas week. He states that they could do with twenty more sleeping cars on the Main Trunk line at Chmtmas time. Generally speaking, business at the office was quite as brisk as in former years at this period. Retailers a± Christchurch are dm mayed at the number of applications that have been received of late for trophies, picnic prizes, and other donations One man.declared that he took a census and found that oh some days more canvassers came to the shop than customers. “We don’t mind applications from people who do a public service,” he said, “but we do object to demauds from bodies which have no association whatever with the business concerned." Support to the proposal of the Melbourne City Council to remove blind beggars and other mendicants from the streets is given by tho police. They say that in several instances, these beggars, when arrested, have given proof of ownership of terraces of houses and other property. * One man who was brought to the police station said that he owned three houses and had no need to beg. “It had,” he explained, “became a habit.” He lived sparingly, and put away every penny in tbe hope that he would die rich. Another man has reduced begging to a fine art, and he leaves Melbourne whenever carnivals are being held in other States. He is stated to be a successful student of psychology. - A horse belonging to a storekeeper at Rockhamptoir, Queensland, recently frustrated an attempt by burglars to steal its roaster’s money. The burglars broke into the store and loaded tho safe on a cart. Then they took tiro horse from the stable, harnessed him to the cant and started away with their booty. The thieves, however, had reckoned without'the horse. First the horse ran them into a tree guard, and when .they untangled themselves ■he refused to go further. A householder nearby saw them struggling to make the horse go, and when a policeman was sighted a few minutes later they decamped. The policeman found the horse standing in the street, and led him quietly back to his master’s yard The unrifled safe mas still in the cart. It contained £IOO. Of daylight saving, Mr C. A. Wilkinson,' of EWnam, m an address to the Chamber of Commerce, said his experience was that it was an “infernal nuisance,” and one of the biggest inconveniences he had to contend with during his trip to England. Just when he wanted to do' business, everybody had gone home, andi he could do nothing. He exeprienced that time after time. “It suits those who want to play, but not those who want to work,” he said. later, he added that farmers in England were opposed to daylight saving. The City, and Suburban Highways Board of Control has declared itself for the principle that, things being reasonably equal, preference should be given to British made-goods, and this had due effect in some of the tenders ~1 H’ittCil VI-: " as ■

;( u c ,i (.J; -J..1 t.'iu.', illid VO. U 106 rfuen; bituminous or asphaltic cement, GUO tons, Texas Oil Company, 190 tons, at £6 Is per ton; British Imperial Oil Company, 310 tons, at £8 4s 6d per ton- gravel from McArthur and Co., 3s od per yard (delivered in bins); crushed metal from the Ngahauranga quarry, to be. ..paid for ut tlje same 6 rice as was pajd in the case of the [utt rood, via., 9s 6d per yard.