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Otago Daily Times, Issue 21264, 19 February 1931, Page 8

The tcwn clerk (Mr G. A. Lewin) announced at the meeting of the City Council last night that he had received a copy of the report by the commission of engineers on Leith flood protection. ■Copies would not be available for members until to-morrow. The main point to decide was whether the report should be published.' Cr Begg moved that the report be not published until councillors had had '.copies. Cr Mitchell seconded the motiom, stating that as a large sum was involved the report should not be handed to the press unUl councillors had had an opportunity of seeing it. The motion wias carried. When the news that a honeymoon couple had been separated in Hastings on the day of the earthquake, and that the young' wife was missing, was published in Timam last week, it brought sorrow to more than one Timaru home (says the Christchurch Press). The young couple were Mr and Mrs J. Hallam, Mrs Hallam being the daughter of Mr and Mrs R. H. Hill, of Timaru. Subsequently, however, advice was received that Mrs Hallam had escaped injury and had been found by her husband. They were then quartered at .one of the camps at Hastings. '“I simply cannot tell you how I felt wh.en word came through that they were safe,” said Mr Hill, referring to his daughter and son-in-law. “ The first intimation we had was the Press Association message that my daughter was missing, and then came the suspense of waiting. My mother and my wife feared that the worst had happened, and so did I, but later came the glad tidings that both were safe.” Mr and Mrs Hallam were married in Wellington on January 24, and from there they went to Greenmeadows and thence to Hastings, where they were staying when the earthquake occurred. Mr Hallam is in business in Nelson.

A man on the dole at Kyogle, New South Wales, who asked for the best cut of beef was told that he could, not get it, and said!: “All right, give me what is .coming for the dole, and I’ll pay for the ‘other.” Apparently he had a _ fair amount of money. Another said he wanted the best cut of mutton, and when refused this accepted the quality provided. He then said: “Now give ma that best cut. I can pay for it.” He did.

The J. C. Williamson, Ltd., pantomime, “ The House That Jack Built, 1 opened its Invercargill season on Tuesday night to a house that was comfortably filled but, like Dunedin, Invercargill audiences are noted for hanging back .until they are assured that the show is a “quality” one. That the pantomime fulfilled the highest expectations was shown by yesterday’s response. A packed audience greeted the matinee and hundreds were unable to gain admittance to tihe evening’s entertainment. It should be noted that half the proceeds of the entire takings of the New Zealand tour are to be banded over to the Earthquake Relief Fund.

There was little improvement in the tone of the Burnside stock sales yesterday, and most classes were sold at a further reduction, in price. The fat cattle market showed a decided slump, and prices dropped from 25s to 30s per head. There was a weak demand for sheep, and prices for ewes receded 2s and for wethers from Is to Is 6d per head.’ Lambs met with good competition, and prices advanced about Is per head. There was little life in the store cattle section, but the pig section showed an improvement. The fat cattle entry totalled 166 head of average sorts. The yarding of cows and heifers was large, but only a small number of prime bullocks was forward. There was little life in the sale.' Heavy bullocks made to £l4, medium to £lO ss, light to £8 7s 6d; heavy heifers to £7, medium to £6 10s, light to £5; heavy cows to £7 ss, medium to £6 ss, and light to £5. Prime ox beef sold at 25s and 26s per 1001 b. About 2000 sheep were penned. A large proportion of the entry consisted of ewes, many pens containing animals of indifferent quality. Several pennings of good heavy wethers were forward. Extra prime wethers sold to 16s 3d, prime to 13s 3d, medium to 11s 6d; prime ewes to 10s, medium to 7s. The lamb entry comprised 300 head. The animals were well grown, and included average to prime heavy sorts and a number of plain lambs. Prime heavy sold to 17s, medium to 11s 9d, and light to 10s 6d. About 100 head of store cattle of mixed quality were forward. There w r as very little demand and reduced prices had to be accepted. Heavy heifers sold to fl, cows to £5 5s and forward bullocks to £5 ss. In the pig section 51 fats and 33 stores were offered. Porkers were forward in larger numbers than baconers. All classes sold briskly at a substantial rise over the prices obtained at the previous sale. Small pigs sold from 18i to 255. A letter from Afghanistan does not arrive 'in Christchurch every day (says the Press). The town clerk (Mr J. S. Neville) received one from that country this week, addressed to “The President Christchurch City Council.” It was from a professor at the Habibia College, Kabul, and inquired whether Afghans of good position can buy land and settle in Ken Zealand.

Representatives, both ministerial and lay, have been arriving in the city to attend the Methodist Conference. The Examination Committee, which deals with candidates for the ministry, probationary ministers, and students in training for the ministry, was sitting all day yesterday at Slade Hall. To-day from 9 a.m. the Committees of Details —some seven or eight in number—will be sitting in order to prepare further the business for the sittings of the conference. To-night, in the Concert Chamber of the down Hall, the conference will be officially opened at 7 o'clock by the retiring president, the Rev A. N. Scotter. Owing to the illness of the Rev. W. Greenslade, who is president-elect, the first business of the session will be to elect some one in his place to* assume office immediately. At a later stage the president-elect for 193will also* be elected. Another ballot will be for the secretaryship. Other sessions of the conference will be held in trinity Church.

In yesterday’s report of the Chamber of Commesrce visit to the Catlins, Mr A. C. Cameron is credited with stating that the first sawmill in the Catlins district was opened by Messrs Guthrie and Larnach. What Mr Cameron stated was that the first sawmill was built by Messrs Bru"h and Thomson in 1863, and that a son of Mr Thomson (Mr W. S. Thomson, of “ GlenfaHoch,” Warepa) was present in gathering. Messrs Guthrie and Larnach established the third sawmill. The Mr Brugh referred to was the father of Mr W. E. Brugh, of Dunedin, and was a membeir of the first party to make the journey overland from Dunedin to Owaka.

The South Canterbury Chamber of Commerce last nigjit unanimously carried the following resolution (says a Press Association telegram from Timaru): That the Government be requested to allow as deductions for income tax purposes all contributions to the Earthquake Relief Fund made by companies or individuals.

A party of local anglers spent several days at the Manorburn dam last week, and foind the fishing moderately good. Rainbow trout ranging in weight from I jib to over 2lb were caught, and were found to be in excellent condition. The best fish taken was a 12lb Loch Leven trout, 31 inches long and 16 inches in girth. This fish was played for over three-quarters of an hour before it was landed, and it was only by Using two nets that this operation was successfully completed.

For driving at a speed of 67 miles an hour, a motor cyclist was fined £5 and his license was cancelled for two months by Mr T. B. M'Neil, S.M., in the Police Court in Wellington last Friday. Ihe traffic inspector said he followed the defendant from the Oriental Bay tram terminus to Clyde quay. In the centre of Oriental Bay the speedometer registered 67 miles an hour. The inspector said he came up to the rider opposite the boat harbour, and although he called on him to stop he continued on his way. Both cycles swung round the corner proceeding to Courtenay place at a speed of oO miles an hour. Defendant pleaded guilty. ‘'l am not going to have motor vehicles travelling about the city at that speed, said the magistrate, in imposing the penalty.

Statements concerning certain conditions in Western Samoa were challenged by Mr R. J. Carter, Commissioner of Labour in the Samoan Administration, who is visiting Auckland (says the New Zealand Herald). It had- been stated that there were now more than 3000 Chinese in Samoa, but Mr Carter said the Government had reduced the number to 950. The Government, was making every endeavour to get Chinese labour away from the islands and replace it with local labour. No artisans of any description were now imported. The Administration welcomed local labour ■wherever it applied, and ■ substituted it for Chinese i labour whenever and wherever possible. Thesre was no foundation for the statement that any Chinese had been brought to the islands to work in stores or behind counters. It had been stated that recent stormy weather had brought down motst of the banana trees, and that it would take many months before Samoa would be able to send away full shipments. Mr. Carter said he was at the islands during the last two hurricanes, and the damage was not nearly so serious as had been reported. His own impression was that by next month the island would be sending away the standard quantities of fruit.

A telling illustration of the value of a school library in encouraging boys to ‘‘browse” among books was!given by the head master, Mr H. J■ i®- Mahon, in his address at the opening of the new library building at Auckland Grammar School on Saturday. Mr Marion said that Dr Raymond Firth had told him that he first became interested in anthropology when he was a boy at the school through reading Maning’s “ Old Zealand” in, the library. Dr Firth had taken up anthropology, and one result of bis studies was a remarkable book, “The Primitive Economics of the Maori” which was in the library. Interest was added to Sir Mahon’s remarks by .the fact that Dr Firth, who is on hoßday from Sydney University, where he is a lecturer in his subject, was among the old boys present at the ceremony. Evidence that the hospital boards of the Forth Island are concerned over the spread of tuberculosis • among the Maoris nvas given in a letter received by the Cook Hospital Board recently (says tne journal of the Hospital Boards Association of New Zealand). The letter proposed the collection of reliable information as to the true degree of infection, and a conference to discuss measures, to combat the disease, j “My board has j been somewhat concerned of late at the amount of tuberculosis prevailing amongst the Maoris in this district,” states the letter. “ The board has come to the " conclusion that the wprk now being done to combat it is hopelessly inadequate. It is believed that the Natives in your district are probably affected by the disease, if not to the same extent, then at least seriously enough to warrant your board s sympathetic consideration of any scheme which may improve fihe present state of things. Without casting any reflections on the Health Department’s administration I think one may say that so long as the present methods are allowed to continue, no lessening of the disease amongst the Maoris can be expected. Their peculiar traditions and temperament make for difficulties which are not met with when dealing with sickness amongst Europeans.” “ Much complication in • the work of the Church of England in the Pacific has arisen through the introduction of other people,” said the Bishop of Polynesia (the Right .Rev. L. S. Kempthorne), when addressing the congregation of St. Saviour’s Church, Sydenham (states the Christchurch Times). Missionary work was primarily carried out among the natives who formed the vast majority of the inhabitants of tho diner ent islands. To-day, however, the position was different. In Fiji there were 70,000 Indians as against 90,000 I ijians, while in Tahiti there were large numbers of Chinese. The former had come into the area in increasing numbers to supply labour for the plantations and industries. The Chinese formed a large part of the population, and schools, solely for the instruction of Chinese children had been built. The majority of the Chinese and Indians were not Christians, and adhered to their old traditions, customs, and religion.

The tremendous uplift of the land on the occasion of the earthquake in Hawke s Bav can be gauged from the experience in a Hastings home. When the occupants returned to investigate the damage, after the first tremors had subsided, they found a chair on top of a sideboard. In another case a mirror was hurled off a wall, but, strange to relate, was not broken. In other instances pictures were swung to and fro, battered against the wall of dwellings, and hurled to the ground. Beds, in some cases, were found turned completely round.

Fees of all descriptions received by hospital boards during the year, including payments for inmates in charitable institutions (derivable chiefly from oldage pensions), district nursing, and other fees, and excluding fees received from other boards or from the Government, amounted to £447,599, as against £401,419 in 1928-29, states the appendix to the annual report of the Health Department, just issued. The amount received per occupied bed in the general hospitals controlled by hospital boards shows an increase to an average of £70.8 per annum, as against £63.4 in 1928-29. The average for all hospitals and sanatoria administered by hospital boards increased from £62.6 to £68.2, whilst the fees received by the department’s institutions increased from £158.8 to £162.6. The average of all hospitals, both board and departmental, increased from £7l to £7B. Patients’ payments constitute approximately 22 per cent, of the total revenue of hospital boards and departmental hospitals, and they have shown a much greater proportionate increase than hospital expenditure. A new golf game is making its appearance (states a Melbourne paper). This involves the use of a special tunnel of metal or wood, suitably lined, and having a number of twists, turns or coils in its length, with holes at appropriate intervals. The player drives a ball into the tunnel, and the ball travels an appropriate distance, and according to the length and direction of the drive, before dropping into a hole. The full distance represents an accurate drive of about 250 yards. Golfers, it is contended, will find this game much better practice than the putting of the present miniature golf, and jt will certainly give them the joy of being able to open their shoulders. “1 do not want to assert that all the heathens in Melanesia are crying out for Christianity,” said Bishop Molyneux, of Melanesia, preaching at' Christchurch on Sunday. “On one island 120 miles long, and with a population of 65,000, one-tenth are in touch with missionary work, and it would be untrue to say that the remainder are clamouring for Christianity. For centuries they have been ruled by spirits, and it is only natural that there is an inborn dread of what these spirits will do if they leave them. Then there are the diffifficulties of access. The islands are mountainous and bush-covered, with rocky coastlines, and thus the duties of the missionaries are very arduous, and much of the population cut oS from contact with them. Some of the mountains are 5000, 6000, and even 7000 feet high. In an island with a topography like that, and 100 miles long, I have had a letter from a young missionary. He says: ‘When, oh, when will we have a doctor and medical equipment here. In every village there are sick and dying. _ I cannot tell of all the pain and suffering in the bush villages with no doctor or nurse available. I can deal only with a fraction of the misery and pass on, as I can do no more.’ That is one instance of many such conditions existing in the Melanesian group, and my appeal cannot be made urgent enough. There is, as you know, the increase of leprosy in the Solomon Islands due to lack of proper treatment, and another instance of want of ordinary doctor’s care is the deaths of 500 children of the Solomon Islands. Most of them died of whooping cough. During this year I appeal to all of you to take a more active interest in the work of your Church overseas.”

The Railways Department advertises in this issue holiday excursion tickets m connection with “Visitors Day at the South Otago freezing works at Finegand to Th°c r Railways Department advertises in this issue excursion and cheap day excursion fares and train arrangements in connection with the official opening and Air Pageant at the Otago Aero Clubs aerodrome on Saturday. ~ * Where space is limited, there the Austin Seven solves an awkward problem. The overall width is only 4ft 2m, and it can be housed at very little expense It can be taken into and out of places where no other car can go. In such a car it is an added pleasure to travel on countryroads and beauty spots which are not easilv accessible to large vehicles. Visit Austin Motors (Otago), Ltd., 284 Prmcea street. Telephone 13 ' 315 -— n ~ 0 . W. V. Sturmer, G.A.0.C., D. 5.0.1., optician. Consulting room, 2 Octagon, Dundin. Most modern scientific equipment for sight testing.—Advt A B. J. Blakeley and W. E. Bagley, dentists, Bank of, Australasia, corner of Bond and Rattray streets (nest Telegraph Office). Telephone 12-359 Advt, S. E Ferguson, G.P.0.C., consulting optician, watchmaker, and jeweller. Consult us about your eyes; our advice and long experience are at your disposal. Optical repairs a speciality; done at shortest notice. —45 George street. Advt. Just arrived: Winner cold water stocking dye, to dye your faded stockings to fashionable shades—gunmetal, suntan, nude, new brown, beige, bulrush, smoke grey, dago, rose glow, copper beech, Florence Mills, cocoa: 6d tube, posted /d, from H. L. Sprosen, Ltd., chemists, Octagon.— A Pat Hanna’s popular record on cricket now available on Vocalion, 2s 6d each. Lists post free—Barth Electrical pupplies, Ltd., 56 Princes street, Dunedin Advt. , , Who is Peter Dick? The most reliable Jewellers, Watchmakers, and Opticians, 490 Moray place, Dunedin. —Advt.