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Otago Daily Times, Issue 21269, 25 February 1931, Page 6

In the Magistrate’s Court at Gore yesterday (says our special correspondent), the well-known aviator, Mr Oscar Garden, who has recently been conducting passenger flights in that district, was charged with working at his calling on a Sunday by taking up passengers in an aeroplane. Mr R. B. Bannerman, who appeared for the defendant, contended that the Moth plane used by Garden was a motor car within the meaning of the Motor Vehicles Act, and therefore came within the exemptions provided for in section 18 of the Police Offences Act, under which section the charge was laid. The magistrate (Mr H. J. Dixon) adjourned the case pending the result of the appeal in the case recently heard in Dunedin. The Minister of Railways (Mr W. A. Veitch) made a staiiinent yesterday (says a Press Association telegram) that, recognising that the cost of food supplies had shown a falling tendency, he had decided to reduce the charge for meals served in the railway refreshment rooms from 2s 6d to 2s.

The postal authorities advise that Australian mails by the Makura reached Dunedin yesterday afternoon. The Niagara, which arrived at Auckland on Monday from Vancouver, brought Euiopean, Canadian, and American mails. The letter portion for Dunedin will reach tne local Post Office this evening, and the balance of the mail to-morrow afternoon.

The Otago Rowing Association’s benefit regatta on March 7, which was originally fixed for Port Chalmers, will now be held on the Upper Harbour, the association deciding at its last meeting that stronger public support would be forthcoming if the fixture were held at Dunedin.

Boating men from all parts of New Zealand were in attendance at the Railway Station yesterday morning to fraternise before parting for another period of probably 12 months. Most of those present comprised members of crews who competed in the Sanders Cup races. Those who travelled by the north-bound express included the Canterbury, Wellington, and Auckland crews. The president (Mr J. T. Paul) and several members of the Otago Yacht and Motor Boat Association and a large number of Otago boating enthusiasts were present. The north-bound travellers included Mr A. Johnston (skipper of the Sanders Cup winner Betty), Mr W. H. Wagstaffe (owner of the boat), Mr F. G. Cloke, former owner of the Auckland challenger Avalon, and Messrs H. G. Ostle r and D. Deeming, Canterbury delegates to the Dominion Yachting Conference. When the express drew away from the platform three hearty cheers were given for the Otago crew and supporters on the call of Mr Cloke, and the departing crews were cheered in turn by their comrades from the platform. All the visitors expressed their appreciation of the cordial manner in which they had been treated during their stay in Dunedin. The Southland crew returned lo Invercargill by the afternoon express. The men, who were accompanied by Mr T. Bragg, delegate to the Dominion Yachting Conference, were given a hearty send-off by members of the "V acht Association and local boating men.*

At yesterday afternoon’s session of the Methodist Conference the retiring principal of Trinity Methodist College (Dr C. H. Laws) reported that Mr and Mrs A. H. Reed, of Dunedin, had presented to the college library and museum a valuable manuscript copy of portions of the Holy Scripture dated 1325, and also an incunabula Bible from the library of Cardinal Francis Xavier Zelada, bearing on the flyleaf the inscription, “Venice, 1485.” It was also Mr Reed’s intention to present to the college an illustrated and annotated hymn book, on which he was at present working. It was decided to write to Mr and Mrs Reed thanking them for their generous gift to the college.

After a passage of 70 days, the Union Company’s new cargo steamer Kini arrived at Wellington on Sunday morning from Scotland, via the Panama Canal. The vessel experienced fine weather for the whole of her long non-stop voyage until she approached Cape Palliser on Saturday morning, when she ran into a heavy northwesterly gale, which delayed her arrival for nearly 24 hours. The Kini was originally ordered by the Lamb Company, of Sydney, and was building when the Union Company bought out the Australian company last March. She has been specially designed for the carriage of long poles in the intercolonial timber trade and has two exceptionally large cargo hatches, with long, heavy derricks, for the handling of the big hardwood poles. Built by John Lewis and Co., Ltd., Aberdeen, the Kini .is 240 ft in length, and has a gross tonnage of about 1500, with a deadweight carrying capacity of 1800 tons. Her triple expansion engines are in the after part of the ship, which has a seagoing speed of eight knots. Captain Williams, formerly of the Lamb Company, brought the Kini out. A giant fish of an unknown species was caught off Cape Egmont on Thursday by New Plymouth fishermen. It weighed from 700fb to 8001 b, measured 10 feet from nose to tail, and was six feet in girth. It had the mouth and tail of a shark, but no one was able to classify it. Fishing was in progress near Cape Egmont when the catch was made. The fish fought furiously and three hours and a-half elapsed before it could be brought to the surface. A lassoo was caught round the head of the fish and another was placed round its tail. Trussed up in this way the fish pulled the launch half a mile toward the shore before it could be got under control. The monster was much too heavy to be pulled on board the 35ft launch, and it was towed to New Plymouth, where it was dragged on to the Ngamotu Beach. It was still alive. The fish in some ways resembled a giant hapuku and its body was covered with a rough dark brown skin. A black line ran along the back from the nose to the tail. The flesh was very soft. The fins were more like flappers than fins, while the head, which was two feet across, was blunt and thick. Something of a romance was narrated in the Napier Police Court on Monday when two of the three men responsible for rescuing Mr Gerhard Husheer from the ruins of Dr W. W. Mobre’s hospital appeared to answer six charges. The two men concerned, Ernest Roy Barr, aged 20, and Alfred William Hopewell, aged 19, pleaded guilty to five charges of wilful damage of penny-in-the-slot locks and one of theft of articles valued at 10s 9d from a hairdresser’s shop. The police evidence was that the men were waiting at the police station under suspicion for these charges when the big earthquake occurred. They were released on parole and at once set to work at their own risk to rescue the patients of Dr Moore’s hospital. These were two of the three men who rescued Mr Husheer from the building and the senior sergeant had received cheques from Mr Husheer to present to the men. The two accused were convicted and admitted to probation for a year, the Bench remarking that, it was difficult to understand their case, since they apparently were not wanting in courage when it was needed. It is understood that each received a cheque for £25 from Mr Husheer, who is the proprietor of the National Tobacco Company and a wealthy man, whose generosity, particularly at Christmas time when he makes large donations to hospital and other institutions, has made him a popular and respected figure in this district.

A Press Association telegram from Wellington states that the Navy League has adopted a suggestion made by a correspondent in the Evening Post that subscriptions should be solicited to provide a plate for the Veronica as a mark of the gratitude of the people of New Zealand for the help given during the earthquake. The correspondent suggested that it should not be hard to find 1000 persons who would be willing to give Is each to provide a plate.

At a time like the present, when, in addition to the distress occasioned by the economic conditions prevailing, the people of the Dominion have found themselves faced with the problem of caring fo r the refugees from the earthquake area, the public is inclined to ask what the churches are doing, through their social service branches, to alleviate the suffering. The superintendent of the Presbyterian Social Service Association (Mr J. B. Brugh) stated yesterday that already two boys had been received into the Glendining Home from the earthquake area, and the association wag prepared to receive any others who might be left, as a result of the disaster, without parents or guardians.

Strong criticism of the maner in which culling of deer is carried out by forestry officials was expressed by a well-known stalker and guide of the Hanmer Springs district. He stated that these paid officials, with an unlimited supply of ammunition, returned comparatively poor tallies. He attributed this to lack of skill. Deerstalking required an intimate knowledge of the country to be shot over, together with keen vision and accuracy with the rifle. Hilly country was deceiving as to distance, and much futile of ammunition resulted from snap-shooting. He himself guaranteed to secure 130 deer from 130 rounds of ammunition, and since September last he had accounted for 500.

A Scoutmaster’s experience in the country during the recent Hawke’s Bay earthquake is related in a letter received in Auckland. He said; “I was at the back of my place and saw my neighbour cutting scrub on the face of a steep gorge. I went over to have a word with him, and he came up and we sqt yarning on the edge. I was just going away when suddenly the whole' valley started to collapse, and we started to shoot down the gorge on our backs. Everything was blotted out with dust and rocks. We got to the top on our hands and knees and then the ground rose in mounds about three feet high and burst up into the air with jets of dirt and dust. My neighbour yelled to me to throw myself on my face. This I did until the ground opened up in front of me. I took a flying leap, only to find the ground opening all round. I then broke the record for the 100 yards. I had a ‘ game ’ foot and only had a slipper on, but quite forgot that. I made for another neighbour’s place, and found his house a • wreck. We then went on to'another chap, and his place was the same. They got their cars and we made down to my place. The whole countryside was like a jelly. When I got to my plaice I found my chimney through the roof, all my crockery and furniture in bits, my kitchen range thrown out and my rooms full of bricks.”

“ Auckland’s new railway station is a railway dream, and its only justification is that it is at New Zealand’s front door,” stated Mr F. W. Freeman, of Christchurch, who has been attending the Conference of the New Zealand Society of Civil Engineers, in the course of an in terview, last week. “ The whole . project, including the station and yards, at a cost of £1,250,000. the new Westfield deviation at £790.000, the now completed Orakei-Mission Bay waterfront road at £120,000, and the Otahuhu Railway Workshops at £600,000,, giving a total of £2,750,000, makes one of the most ambitious progranbmes of public works ever concentrated upon one city. The total length of the platforms is about a mile and a-quarter, and there are 62 synchronised clocks for the service of passengers, but the irony of the position is that the suburban traffic has all gone to the ever-increasing motor bus services which compete with the railways. The railway station building is a palatial edifice, with a huge concourse, and is replete with all that a passenger could need, to a dining hall and lavishly fitted bathrooms. This provision is made for a terminal station, where most of the passengers are either coming straight from their homes, or going to them.”

About 12 o’clock on Sunday night th« one-year-old child -of Mr Lyall Stewart, of Opotiki, awoke with a loud scream. An investigation showed that the baby had been 'attacked by a rat, which had bitten through the bay’s left hand, and caused considerable bleeding. According to a letter received by ai resident in Devonport from a friend in' Bremen, Germany, who was formerly a native of Auckland, the conditions of life in Germany must be very bad. The letter states that there are 4,000,000 out of work, and the unemployed walk in grouped processions crying out: “Give us work or bread or we must starve.” All the capital and factories are in the hands of Jews. AH the other countries of Europe are in the same condition, and the taxes here eat up all the earnings, and when a person cannot pay the demanded taxes the State seizes the furniture and then the house. All single men and women, widows included, are taxed, and although times are bad in New Zealand and Australia, they are worse in Germany. The comedy of a foreman who mistook a householder for one of his road relief gang was enacted on one of the hill suburbs the other day. The weather wgs hot and the foreman had to keep a wary eye on his men to see that the pace did not slacken. Suddenly he espied one man leaning nonchalantly against a hedge, his wheelbarrow beside him. With the light of battle in his eye he proceeded to address the indolent one in a few well-chosen words. “Oh, that’s all right,” man with an airy wave of his hand. I m not taking orders from you.” The foreman grew apoplectic, and the indolent one continued: “As a matter of fact, ho said, “my father used to do your father many a good turn when your father worked on the roads.” Just when it seemed that the foreman had reached the height of his endurance the householder smilingly explained that he was not a relief worker, but was just doing a U« e work in his own front garden. Happily the foreman saw that the joke was against him and smilingly acknowledged his mistake.

The Kaitangata Athletic Club is advertising in this issue that its next meeting will be held on March 7, when a varied programme of be provided. As advertised in this issue, the Bail ways Department is calling for tender* for the supply of steel work for a bridge. Attention is drawn to the Railways Department’s advertisement in this issue regarding holiday excursion fares in con nection with the Invercargill trotting rnoes oh March 4 and 5. . The Otago Early Settlers Association will hold the first .of its dances for the season in the Early Settlers Hail on Wednesday evening, Marcu Tne proceeds will be given to the Earthquake Relief F '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 suen a car it is an added pleasure to travel on country roads and beauty spots which are not easily accessible to large vehicles. Austin Motors (Otago), Ltd.. 284 Prince* street, Dunedin. Phone 13-215. Advt. W. V, Stunner, G.A.0.C., D. 8.0.1-, optician. Consulting room, 2 Octagon, Dundin. Most modern scientific equipment for eight testing.—Advt. A. E. J. Blakeley and W. E. Bagley, dentists. Bank of Australasia, corner of Bond and Rattray streets (next Telegraph Office). Telephone 12-3o9.—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. Who is Peter Dick? The most reliable Jewellers, Watchmakers, and Opticians, 490 MoVay place, Dunedin.—Advt.