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Otago Daily Times, Issue 21359, 12 June 1931, Page 6

The postal authorities advise that the Niagara, which is due at Auckland on Monday from Vancouver, is bringing 171 bags of European, Canadian, and American mails for Dunedin. The mail is expected to reach the local Post Office next Wednesday evening. After spending six months touring the Continent, an Aucklander writes from London emphasising how the world trade depression has hit the tourist trade. I found that the best hotels suffered most, being, in fact, half empty,” he states. “ I was in Nice at carnival time, and it was just the same. It is generally recognised that the American tourist traffic has declined to a mere nothing. At Monte Carlo, where I spent a week, they were making desperate efforts to counteract reports by enthusiastic publicity, but I found half the tables empty and alcoves with lights turned low and curtains shrewdly drawn. It was no different at the other casinos, and worse at Nice, where on some afternoons they could hot get the tables going at all. Casino business is a fair barometer of tourist trade and spending, so you can guess how things are.”

The secretary of the Otago A. and P. Society informs us that owing to a misunderstanding in regard to instructions the three sheep that were used for the guessing competition on the last two days of the Winter Show were not weighed. The sheep were sent to the abattoirs with instructions that they were to be killed, weighed, and delivered to Messrs Bartons, Ltd., but unfortunately the sheep were sent in with others, and were cut up before the society had been advised that they had been weighed, and consequently was not notified of the correct dressed weight. In the meantime the money received for this competition is being held, and if not claimed will be added to next year’s sheep guessing competition.

A letter containing an unusual request was received by the Peninsula County Council yesterday from an unemployed man, who stated that he had decided to try to make a living for himself, his wife, and five children, by fishing at Hooper s Inlet. As it was practically impossible to sleep out at present he had erected a small “ bach ” beneath the shelter of an old tree on a bank adjoining a farmer’s fence at Hooper’s Inlet. He had been informed that he should have obtained a permit to camp-there. As there was not the slightest' possibility of his camp obstructing the traffic he trusted that the council would allow him permission to remain to try the possibilities of the place or until brighter days came and he obtained work. It was stated tljat the farmer near whose land the hut had been erected objected to its presence. Some years ago about 20 of these camps had been erected, and as their occupants had been a soutce of annoyance to the farmer and his family and, among, other things, had stolen his fence posts for firewood, the Peninsula Road Board had ordered the removal of the huts. It was also stated that it was not possible to make a living by fishing at the inlet. The request was declined, and it was decided to order the removal of the camp, pointing out to the owner that, as similar requests had been refused, an exception could not be made in this case. The South Island District Maori Land Board, presided over by Judge Gilfedder, with Mr J. H. Grace as registrar, sat yesterday. The following cases were dealt with:—(l) The lease of a property at Waikouaiti to Florence Helen Douglas was confirmed. (2) The mortgage of a property at Oamaru to Thomas Gullery was recommended for the Native Minister’s consent. (3) The lease of a property at Waikouaiti to Rangiora Ellison was struck out. The court and board will adjourn to Invercargill this morning. No great quantities of Russian goods have come to New Zealand this or last year (says our special correspondent in Wellington), the principal commodity being matches. For the first five months of the present year 64 gallons of motor spirit, valued at £B, were imported to Auckland, presumably from the United States, although the country of origin was Russia. Last year 561 bof cigarettes, valued at £B, and 1500 gross boxes of matches, valued at £lB3, came in from Russia, (ind for the first four months of 1931 the figures were 1471b.0f cigarettes, valued at £33, and 500 gross boxes of matches, valued at £62. >

The dangerous driving of the owner of a lorry oh the Peninsula low road was the subject of consideration at the meeting of the Peninsula County Council yesterday. The chairman (Cr Macandrew) said that when he had been travelling to town in a bus the lorry had come round a sharp corner at a high speed without lights, and it had been due only to the £act : that the bus driver had young and sharp eyes that an accident had been avoided. It was stated that the lorry driver had been warned bn several occasions, but warnings had had no effect, and the lorry had twice gone over the bank into the harbour. The question whether the driver should be prosecuted was, seriously considered, but it was finally agreed,to give, him a very sharp warning, before taking action in court. Attention was also drawn to the fact that cyclists were riding three abreast on the road without lights. They were a continual source of danger, as it was impossible to see them until cars were almost upon them.

Russell’s jetty, a link with the early history of North-East Harbour, is now being demolished by the Harbour Board. The jetty served a useful purpose for many years. It was used principally by the harbour ferry steamers when passengers were embarked and disembarked. ;For several years pant the jetty had been out of commission as it was in a very bad state of repair. The jetty was built many years ago. It "was 145 ft in length and 6ft wide. The structure was located about half a mile on the city side of Macandrew Bay.

The opinion that even though no active part was taken‘in the voluntary scheme of military training at present operating in New Zealand, every male upon reaching military age should be required to fegister, was stressed by Colonel L. H. Jardine in an address at the annual smoke concert of the Stratford and District Returned Soldiers’ Association. 'lf this was done, he said, headquarters and staff officers would be able at any time to determine the approximate available man power for use in the event of an emergency mobilisation. An allegory taken from horse racing was used by Lord Bledisloe in his address to Boy Scouts and Girl Guides in the Auckland Town Hall on Sunday afternoon. His Excellency said everyone risked his fortunes upon a race called Life’s Handicap, the prizes of which were a silver cup. “ True Success,”, and a gold one, “ Complete Happiness.” There was a very attractive field, including such popular horses as Wealth, Endless Enjoyment, Worldly Ambition, Self-indulgence, and Fashion, but the winner, which was not the favourite, was Uprightness, ridden by Character, and carrying the colours of Faith, Honour, Perseverance, and Selfcontrol. No-one should be ashamed to wear the same colours, which were bright and clear at any distance without fieldglasses, and made a very attractive blend. Above all, Character must be in the saddle to guide the horse if he were to win. Since the creation of the War Pensions Appeal Board Sir Walter Stringer has been chairman and for the past few months it has been rumoured that changes in the constitution were to be made under the Government’s economy measures. On Wednesday Mr J. G. Coates telegraphed to the Prime Minister (Mr G. W. Forbes) stating that it was reported that the chairman and secretary of the board had received notice that the appointments were to cease on Friday. Mr Coates strongly urged the retention of Sir Walter Stringer’s services and stated that he would be glad to hear the decision reconsidered, or that the report was unfounded. In reply, Mr Forbes telegraphed that it was not proposed to change the chairmanship. When the liner Westmoreland was being berthed at New Plymouth on Sunday the anchor chain parted and the flying end fractured the thigh of a cadet, R. B. Westbrook. The chief officer, Mr K. A. S. Phillips, had! an escape, for he was standing just behind Westbrook, who received the full force of the chain. Some idea of the force with which the chain swung back may be gained from the fact that a piece of iron was flattened by the chain, which also made an imprint on the deck of the forecastle. An examination of the broken link revealed no flaw. The falling anchor, five tons in weight, with a piece of the chain attached, narrowly missed striking a launch, which was being used by the pilot, Captain 0. F. MacIntyre. Eye-witnesses state that the anchor fell into the water on!y>-a few yards from the launch. Efforts were made on Monday to recover the anchor. The New Plymouth Harbour Board diver located it about 30 yards from the end of Newton King wharf. It was buried oyer the stock in the sand and only a portion of the chain waa visible.

A few minutes after noon yesterday the City Fire Brigade was called to deal with a hedge fire in Driver’s road, Maori Hill. The blaze was extinguished without anf damage resulting. Another call was received at 7.16 p.m., an outbreak having occurred in a seven-roomed house at 24 Neidpath road, Mornington. This was also quickly dealt with, the only damage done being to a mantelpiece, which was severely burned. The cause of the fire is unknown.

At the last meeting of the Land Board it was decided to grant a lease of an island in the Waitaki River to the Islands Committee at a rental of £2O per annum. The Islands Committee has not, however, signified whether it will accept , the lease, and at the meeting of the board yesterday a letter was received from Mrs M. E. Pavletich applying for the island. The board decided to give the Islands Committee seven days in which to accept the lease and to paj) the rent of £2O asked.’ . “Must hate town life; must stand cold like an Arctic hero; must have plenty of common sense, brains not necessary; must be medically fit; must weigh not less than eleven stone,” All these qualifications are required of a youth of 17 to 18 years of age, advertised, for in Timaru by Mr T. D. Burnett, M.P., for his Mount Cook station. Mr Burnett is to interview applicants to-morrow at Timaru. It will be interesting to learn how many, youths of the present day consider themselves a» complying with this rigorous standard. Contrary to the opinions often expressed, Soviet Russia is on the fair way to success, said Mr Marc T. Greene, the foreign correspondent of many newspapers, who ''arrived in Auckland by the Tofua on Monday morning. Mr Greene has been in Russia recently. “So far is the Five Year Plan from being a failure,” said Mr Greepe, “that the country is actually evolving a Fifteen Years’ Plan to follow. The time has come when Russia and her system can no longer be sneered at and ignored by the rest of the world. Russia is a force to be reckoned with. It has been a great experiment of a great people. It is successful and will, be more so in the future. Socialism as it is known there, has involved great sacrifices by the peasants. They have had, and still have, to live at a bare subsistence margin. But Russia is the only, country where there i» no unemployment. Moreover, it is no contradiction to say that though the peasants have had to make sacrifices. they. are being cared for in a way they have never known.. In some of the industrial areas, as for example, the Baku oilfields, model and modern tenements ate _ built for them, up-to-date hospitals equipped, and living conditions greatly improved.” “It cannot be too urgently stressed that the funds raised by public contributions to the West Coast earthquake relief should be so expended ” (states the Westport News). “Karamea, in particular, has suffered most seriously, not only in the damage done at the time of the earthquake, but subsequehtly from the floods, which were a sequel to the earthquake, as the large amount of debris in the river caused the waters- to overflow the land, damaging some of the properties beyond repair. Roads have been carried away and it seems, likely that many of the occupied farms will havjr no proper access for years to come. The settlers have suffered most seriously and tjheir outlook is anything but bright. . .While their cases are not attended to, it » nothing short of criminal to hold up tne funds that were subscribed for their relief or .to talk of transferring the fund in hand to any other purpose. We are absolutely confident that af ; the Prime Minister visited Karamea and saw the devastation wrought there by the floods, which floods, as we stated above, were a sequel to the earthquake, he would, lose no time in affording at least some measure of relief to’the distressed people from the / fund which was so generously subscribed by the people in general for the relief of sufferers in the West''Coast earthquake area.” ‘ There- was an amazing scene, in St. George’s Cathedral, Perth, Western Australia, on Sunday, May 31, when the mother of a girl about to be married to a young man imthe presence of about 60 persons walked up to Dean. Moore, in answer to the usual question whether anyone knew of a just cause why the couple* should not he joined together, exclaimed: “I abject.” Asked for grounds, she replied that her daughter was not 21. Dean Moore said that the bride had signed a declaration that she was of age, but the mother replied that she could prove to the contrary. A number of the bridal party asserted that the mother knew all about the wedding on the night, but said nothing about preventing it. After further discussion, Dean Moore said to the mother: “You are only doing this to mfike a scene.” Dean Moore stated afterwards that it was his most tragic experience. It was very mean, he said, for the mother to let her daughter go to church when she knew beforehand that she proposed to stop the marriage. Later, Miss Beattie, who is 18 years of age, and Garrigan were quietly married elsewhere by another clergyman, after which the girl went to her parents’ home. On the following day the bridegroom in- _ stituted proceedings under a writ of habeas corpus directed to the parents of the bride to produce the girl before a judge to abide by such decision as the judge might make. t r :

Another of the "land marks” of the Australian shipping trade has disappeared. After 11 years in the tfade the P. and O. liner Naldera sailed from Melbourne for the last time on June 2 prior to going on the China run. She was built in 1918 by Caird and Company, Ltd., at Greenock, and was a very popular ship. The distinction of being one of the two ships coming to Australia with three funnels was shared by her, with her sister ship, the Narkunda. The Naldera, which wasbuilt as an auxiliary cruiser, has cost the company over £2,000,000 with the various alterations that have been made. Her commander (Captain R. Harrison) first came to Australia in 1895 as a cadet in. the training ship Hesperus. The place of the Naldera will be taken by the new P. and O. liner StrathnaVer, which is due in Melbourne about September.

On page 14 the-residents of Dunedin and district will see advertised an auction sale of liquidation stocks. The goods will be sold by Mr D. Livingstone, auctioneer, for J. H. Rankin. —Advt. Messrs Clarke, Marshall, _ Ltd., held a very successful sale of assigned general groceries,, hardware, crockery, etc., y 6 6" terday at Palmerston. , There was a large attendance of-buyers. The sale will be continued to-day. _ „ n , W. V Sturmer, G.A.0.C.. D. 5.0.1., optician. Consulting rooms, 2 Octagon, Dunedin. Most modern scientific equipment for sight testing—Advt. .. A E. J Blakeley and W. E. Bagley, dentists. Bank of Australasia, corner of Bond and Rattray streets (next Telegraph Office) Telephone 12-359—Advt. To see well, see us.—Peter Dick, Jewellers, watchmakers, and opticians, 490 Moray place. Dunedin.—Advt.