Mails from Australia

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21940, 29 April 1933, Page 8

Mails from Australia

Remarkable Catch of Flab

The Wainui left Melbourne on Wednesday for Bluff with 13 bags of Australian mail and one parcel receptacle for Dunedin. The mail is due at the local office on Monday evening. Jurors Discharged Common jurors summoned for Monday next are notified that they are not required and are discharged from attendance. Sworn for Probate The estate of Mr Alfred James, of Dunedin, solicitor, has been sworn for probate at a value of £35,000. Fire Alarms The City Fire Brigade turned out at 10.5 a.m. yesterday.morning to a chimney fire in Serpentine avenue. At 2.25 p.m. the brigade received a call to Messrs A. J. White’s garage in Cumberland street, whore some waste, ignited by an overheated brake-lining, had caught fire. No damage was done. Sales Tax Plus Exchange The effect of the sales tax and the high exchange on imported hospital requirements was referred to at the meeting of the North Canterbury Hospital Board. The chairman (Mr H. J. Otley) said the board had bought goods valued at £l9 in London. By the time the articles were landed in New Zealand the price had reached £43. This was going to prove an expensive matter. Theft of Jewellery Some time between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. yesterday, during the absence of the occupants, thieves entered the residence of Mr W. B. Lane, 80 Sutherland street, and stole a quantity of jewellery. The theft was a particularly impudent one, as entry was effected by forcing a front window, which is only a few yards from the roadway, and in full view of passersby. Base Ingratitude Though it is safe to say that the vast majority of the unemployed are genuinely grateful for the'practical assistance which the Mayoress (Mrs R. S. Black) has, largely at her own personal expense, rendered them and their families during recent difficult years, there is apparently one man at least who does not recognise the virtue of gratitude. At Mr Black’s meeting at 1 South Dunedin last night this man was very prominent and very loud in his denunciatory remarks concerning the candidate, and finally, when invited by Mr Black to read out the questions sent up, proceeded very vigorously to put his own question, which was one regarding an alleged refusal by the Mayor to render succour to a certain applicant. At this stage the Mayoress, who had been standing at the side of the platform, came. forward, obviously moved, and remarked in clear tones, “ I’m surprised at you, Mr a fact that I have spent quite a lot of my own money on blankets and other necessities for you and your family? The rebuke was greeted with loud applause, and the man soon afterwards left the platform and resumed his seat. For the rest of the meeting his voice was not heard. Mrs Black had previously been presented with a bouquet of flowers by the small daughter of an elector.

Ex-Imperial Soldiers Efforts to obtain a share of the Imperial canteen funds for the assistance of ex-Imperial soldiers now resident in New Zealand are to be made by the Dominion Executive of the Returned Soldiers’ Association. At the meeting of the executive of the Christchurch Association on Thursday evening it was decided to support the action taken by the Dominion Executive, the Rev. F. T. Read, chairman of the ' Benevolent Committee, remarking that in the hearts of many ex-Imperial men there was a spirit of unrest. A great deal of assistance had already been given to these men, and he considered that it was proper that a share of the Imperial canteen funds should be asked for. Slip on Makarora Road The secretary of the Otago Motor Club has been advised by the engineer of the Vincent County Council that a large slip has come down on the Hawea-Makarora road in the vicinity of the old slip near Boundary Creek. As the road is now dangerous for vehicular traffic, the council has found it necessary to close it for traffic indefinitely, or, at any rate, until sufficient assistance is forthcoming from the Government to enable the slip to be cleared away. A “ Hush-hush ” Policy * A Press Association telegram from Christchurch states that, due to the decision of the Women’s Unemployment Committee to continue to hold its meetings in camera, two members of the committee (Mosdames J. Roberts and R. Brooks) have resigned. In giving notice of their resignation they state: —“ We claim that where public money is being disbursed the public should know from disinterested sources —namely, the newspapers —how their money is being spent, and .not have to be content with scraps of information doled out by the committee, which appears to be conniving with the board’s ‘ hush-hush’ policy.”

Forty-two fish of a total weight of over 2cwt, and all caught in the short period of five hours on Wednesday last, was the astounding performance put up by a quartet of anglers fi;hing in the waters of Lake Wanaka. The sportsmen concerned were Messrs Keith Roger and D. D. Edgar, of Tapanui, and two local men, Messrs John Hunt and E. Gillespie. Included in the basket were 11 sea-run salmon, and this fact alone makes the catch one of outstanding importance. If the sea-run salmon continue to take so readily as they did no this occasion, good sport will be enjoyed by anglers right up to the end of May, when the season for this particular fish closes. The details of the various fish which comprised the catch are as follows: —Sea-run salmon, two, 201 b each, three 181 b each, two 161 b each, one 151 b, two 141 b each, and one 91b; rainbow trout, tw T o 51b each and two 41b each; landlocked quinnat, 27 fish.

Sheep Crushed by Lorry Twenty-one sheep were killed or subsequently destroyed about two miles on the Wanganui side of Bulls one afternoon last week when a heavily-laden motor lorry ran into a mob of 330 sheep, which were being driven by Mr H. L. Richards through a steep, narrow cutting. The animals, wedged between the bank of the cutting and another stationary car, were trapped as the lorry came over the brow of the hill. It appears that Mr Candish, the driver of the lorry, as soon as ne breasted the hill and saw the sheep, made a vain attempt to pull up, but when trying to apply the brakq, portion of his trousers got wedged in the door jamb, thus preventing him from bringing the vehicle to a standstill in time to avoid the accident.

Rush for Concession Tickets A remarkable state of affairs is revealed in the half-yearly report of the Adelaide Municipal Tramways Trust. Last year it inaugurated a system of concession tickets, but for the first six months only 885 were taken out. For the July-January period of 1932-33 the number leapt to 28,000, and because of the popularity of the concessions, the trust estimates that on the half-year it lost £7424 in revenue. Thus, for the six months it showed a debit of £1313, compared with a profit of £10,989 for the corresponding period of the previous year. There was an excess of revenue over working expenses of £126,000, but commitments and interest more than absorbed that amount.

Scanty Coal Reserves “Assuming that the average consumption will be 2,500,000 tons per annum and that half the proved coal will be ultimately mined, New Zealand has sufficient proved coal to last only 110 years, a very short period in the life of a nation,” said Dr J. Henderson, director of the New Zealand Geological Survey, when discussing the coal resources of the Dominion in a paper he read at the meeting of the Wellington Philosophical Society on Wednesday evening. The estimate, he proceeded, was for coal in the ground and not for coal extractable under present conditions without financial loss. In other countries where mining conditions were more favourable than in New Zealand an extraction of 75 per cent, was in general not considered bad practice. In New Zealand he doubted if more than half of the higher rank coal or more than a third of the lower rank coals was at present being extracted, the remainder being either destroyed by fire or otherwise irretrievably lost. “ Though already over 90 years of age, we, as judged bv our dependence on many essential imports and on the distress the recent cut-ting-off of external loans has produced, have not yet reached the self-supporting adult stage,” added Dr Henderson. “ When we do we may expect to consume more coal per head and so reduce the life of our all-too-scanty reserves.” ,

Shipbuilding Feat The man who constructed a 500-ton ship on Lake Titicaca, Peru, the highest lake in the world on which steam navigation has been established, Mr John Wilson, died at Upper Hutt on Sunday last. In 1891 the Peruvian Corporation, Ltd.-, London, placed a contract for a ship with Messrs William Denny Bros,, Dumbarton, Scotland. The ship, which was named the Coya, was temporarily built on the river Clyde, then dismantled, shipped to Peru in pieces, and reconstructed on Lake Titicaca. The Coya was landed in thousands of pieces at Mollendo Bay, and was then loaded on railway freight cars for the first stage of the’journey, a distance of about 120 miles, to Arequipa. From Arequipa a dreary run of 12 hours brought the party to Lake Titicaca, where nearly 18 months were spent in assembling the ship. Situated about 13,000 feet above sea level, Lake Titicaca is 130 miles' long, and from 35 to 45 miles wide, and in many parts no bottom has as yet been found. Mr Wilson was born in Dumbarton, Scotland, in 1863, and adopted the profession of engineer. He came to New Zealand some 20 years ago, and was for .some time a draughtsman in the head office of' the Railways Department. In later years he lived at Upper Hutt.

The Dunedin Starr-Bowkett Building Society will dispose of £2OOO by ballots and sale in the Nos. 4,5, and 6. groups. The Mayfair dance will be held in the Early Settlers’ Hall to-night. Will Smith’s Kapai Dance Band will supply the music. ~ ~ , Mr R. S. Black will address the electors to-night at the Upper Junction School, on Monday at Caversham, Tuesday in George Street School Hall. An advertisement appears in this issue advising common jurors summoned to the Supreme Court on Monday that their services will not be required. _ r The Leader of the Opposition (Mr H. E. Holland) will address a meeting in the Town Hall to-morrow evening on the present economic situation and its remedies. 'Particulars of time table alterations, including the inauguration of a fast passenger service between Oamaru and Dunedin, operating from Monday, May 8, are advertised in this issue. A relief express will leave Christchurch at 9.10 a.m. on May 6 for Dunedin, and a mail train for Christchurch will leave Dunbdin at 8.40 a.m. on the same date. The Rev. E. T. Cox will speak at Opoho and Albany Street Hall to-night, and at the Town Hall on Monday evening. The Labour Party desires to draw attention to an advertisement in this issue. A. Frank Anderson, dental surgeon. Princes street, Dunedin, will visit Waipiata and Patearoa Thursday, May 18; Ranfurly, Friday, May 19. —Advt. Austin Cars, the most popular car m England and the colonies. Dunedin agents: Austin Motors (Otago) Ltd., 284-6 Princes street. Phone 13-215. Advt.

C. W. Sundstrum, Dentist, 53 Moray place, Dunedin, will visit Waipiata, Monday, May 15; Ranfurly, Monday, May 15; Naseby, Tuesday, May 16. —Advt. A. E. Blakeley and W. E. Bagley, dentists, Bank of Australasia, corner of Bond and. Rattray streets (next Telegraph Office). Telephone 12-359.—Advt. New stocks English violet-ray machines. Inspection invited. —Barth Electrical Engineering Co., Ltd., 56 Princes street, Dunedin—Advt.

Save your eyes. Be wise, and consult W. Y. Stumer, optician (2 Octagon), thus conserving good vision for old age.— Advt.