Niagara’s Mail

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21648, 19 May 1932, Page 6

Niagara’s Mail

The handling of 1600 bags of'English and American mail from the Royal mail liner Niagara, which reached Auckland from Vancouver on, Monday afternoon, was carried out in record time by the postal officials. The Niagara anchored in the stream at half-past 4, and the bags of letters were loaded into a postal launch. The launch raced to the end of the Queen's wharf with 232 bags of southern mail and 58 bags for Auckland. The first bags were delivered at the post office 20" minutes •after the Niagara had dropped anchor. By special arrangement with .the Railways Department, the southern portion of the letter mail was loaded into the. guard'* van of the limited. ' , ,■■■■■ Poppy Day The secretary of the Dunedin Returned Soldiers' Association (Mr 0. L. Ferens) has received the sum of £1 Is 3d from Mr Smaill in connection with, the Poppy Day collection, and the total now stands at £IBSB Is lid—exactly £2OO more than the total amount obtained last year; There is still one small return to come to hand. Bonus on Deer ■• v' ; The secretary of the Otago Acclimatisation Society (Mr R. Hanning) has received advice from the Department of Internal. Affairs that it has been decided to discontinue payment of the tail bonus on deer destroyed in the South" Island after June 18, 1932, and, also, that the Minister of Internal Affairs has decided that there shall be a close season for opossums this year .throughout the Dominion. "'_, Supporting Local Industry Many reasons for supporting local industry were advanced at the meeting of the Management Committee of the Canterbury Rugby Union on Tuesday night. A sample footballwas submitted by a New Zealand firm. The committee considered that the ball compared favourably with the imported article, and [it was decided to give it a fortnight's trial. • Link With Tam o' Shanter * A link with the legend of Tarn o' Shanter was exhibited in the Daily Times office yesterday in the form of a quaint, snuffbox, which has been in the possession of a Dunedin family for at least 80 years, having been handed from generation to generation. The box, which is. .beautifully finished, carries on the'inside of the lid a coloured picture of Tam o' Shanter and the cobbler, Johnny Souter. The box must be over 100 years old. It came into the hands of the late Mr John York, who resided at Waitahuna for many years after he arrived in New Zealand in the early days. Mr York came froni Belfast (Ireland) and made the voyage to the colony in the < ship Leichardt, which left the London docks in July, 1866, for Lyttelton. He brought the box with him from Ireland. The heirloom, which also bears the names of Tam o' Shanter and Johnny Souter, i s in a perfect - state of preservation and is highly prized-by the descendants. of Mr. York. Alleged Boycott at Thames :; - The alleged boycotting of business people at Thames was discussed in committee by the Auckland Education Board yesterday. The Minister v of Education (Mr; R. Masters) sent, correspondence the. matter, and asked the board to conduct f full inquiry into the case so far as} if related to the activities of individual teachers in the board's employ, 6r to then organisations. The board decided, that inquiry should be held at. Thames "nex" week. ■"". ~ :\ : :' :i "'-' *•''■'' ■ "y*f ■■■

Burnside Stock Sales Fat cattle, sheep, and lambs were sold •t firm rates at the Burnside sales yesterday, but store cattle and pigs met with a dull sale, the latter class being sold at reduced values. The fat cattle entry, which numbered 280 head, consisted of medium to fair quality animals, and included a few pens of extra choice heavy bullocks, a number of heifers, and fair to prime cows. The opening prices were a shade in advance of those obtained at the previous sale, and although there was an easing tendency later, the closing prices were on a par with last week. Extra heavy bullocks sold to £ll 12s 6d; heavy, to £11; medium, to £8 15s; light, to £7; heavy heifers, to £6 ss; medium, to £5 17s 6d; light, to £4 ss; heavy cows, to £6 10s; medium, to £4 15s, and light, to £3 15s. Prime ox beef sold on a basis of about 21s per 100 lb. About 1500 sheep were offered. There was a sprinkling of heavy open wool wethers, a few extra heavy show sheep, and a large number of ewes. The opening prices showed little change, but values advanced about Is per head for best wethers and ewes later. Extra heavy show wethers sold to 355; extra prime, to 10s 9d; prime, to 16s; and others to 15s 9d; extra heavy ewes, to 12s 9d; heavy, to Us 6d; and medium, to 9s 9d. Between 400 and 500 lambs were yarded. The entry was of mixed quality, but included several pens of prime lambs. There was good competition at firm prices, prime animals selling to 16s 6d. The store cattle entry, numbering 180 head, included 50 fair to good forward bullocks and the usual number of mixed young animals. The yarding met with dull competition. Very forward four-year-old bullocks sold to £7 2 S 6d; good forward three-year-olds, from £4 19g to £5 8s; medium three-year-olds, to £3 9s; medium, two-year-olds, to £2 Bs, and forward Hereford heifers from £2 3s to £3 3s. The pig entry consisted of 91 fats and 61 stores. The fats consisted mostly of porkers. Both baconers and porkers sold at a reduction of 5s per head, but stores were disposed of at late rates. The prices obtained for porker B were equivalent to s§d and for baconers 4|d per lb. University Control An offer from the Carnegie Foundation of a sum to allow the registrar of Auckland University College (Mr M. R. O’Shea) to visit the United States to study university control and supervision was received by the University College Council at a meeting on Monday. The offer was contained in, a cablegram which stated that further details were being sent. Members said that it was desirable that the registrar should also visit English universities, if sufficient funds were available. It was decided to defer consideration of the offer until further particulars were received. No Work at Napier , The police have issued instructions to all country stations in Hawke's Bay to turn back all unemployed men proceeding to Napier in search of work. Building activities have attracted many to Napier, until now the number of non-resident unemployed is over 600, thus creating a difficult problem. Southland Power Board A request that the Southland Electric Power Board impose no further wages cuts on its employees, but instead consider favourably an original proposal submitted by them to increase revenue, was placed before the board at its monthly meeting in Invercargill on Tuesday by a deputation of senior officers. Their proposal was to the effect that in lieu of further salary reductions the board’s employees should be given an opportunity to attract new business and increase revenue by cooperative effort in their own time. After the deputation had stated its case the board decided to have its proposals placed in .the form of a report before members for their consideration. Service Bus Damaged Shortly after 6 p.m. yesterday O’Fee’s . Balelutha-Dunedin service bus, whilst running through Fairfield, struck a telegraph post, and was badly damaged, all of the passengers except one escaping without injury. According to Mr. W. O’Fee, who was driving, a sedan car going south ran from the centre of the road right in front of him just as he was passing the Fairfield store, and forced the bus off the bitumen on to the clay at the side. The bus skidded badly, and before it could be brought under control it struck a telegraph pole with su|h force that the chassis and the body were badly buckled. The motorist did not stop to inquire whether he -could render assistance, but drove on and was lost to view before his number could be taken. The injured passenger was Nurse C. Hall, of the staff of the Dunedin . Public Hospital, who was later treated at the institution for bruises and shock.

City Police Court ..-! There were no cases for hearing at the City Police Court yesterday. The Japanese Way Though in a sense the pupil, now graduated t and mature, of the British Navy, the Japanese Navy retains many customs peculiarly its own (states the Melbourne Age). All sorts of little surprises are to be met with on a tour of a Japanese ship. Down on one of the lower decks one comes across a trestle table lined -with forms, and on the forms are five sailors. Heads bowed in their arms, in strained and uncomfortable positions, they are fast asleep, though beating about their table is a tide of bustle and noise.' Near by is a tiny mode}, of a Shinto shrine, before which a light is always kept burning Cooks, wearing a sort of baseball cap with a deep peak, perform mysterious rites with piles of rice. In the officers' quarters the drink of ceremony is sake, made from rice which has both pungency and potency. Or there is tea, a strong ochreish fluid, the product of Japanese tea gardens. Aromatic cigarettes made from Japanese-grown tobacco seem to indicate the Japanese politicians have been guilty of no tobacco blunder. The visitor i s struck by the unfailing courtesy of .officers and men. Ceremony plays an important part in Japanese life. Though to-day Japan has become much industrialised, obeisances are frequent and profound. And the Japanese is always smiling. It is as much a part of his creed as the bow of ceremony. This apparent freedom from care is at seeming variance, until one understands it is_ a brave mask presented to the world, with the willingness with which the Japanese soldier or sailor lays down his life. Death in Hot Pool A well-known Maori of Horohoro, Whare Ahi Kohepa, aged 60 years, was found drowned in a hot pool at Rotorua on Saturday evening. The deceased left his whare, near the pool, at 5 p.m., to bathe, and owing to his prolonged absence ■his relatives became anxious and a search was made. The deceased's clothing was found on a bank near the pool, but there was no trace of him. Fearing that he was in the pool, a Native dived in, and after a search recovered the body from the bottom of the pool. The deceased had been suffering from heart trouble, for which he had received medical treatment. The body was brought to Whakarewarewa, where the burial will take place.