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Otago Daily Times, Issue 21993, 30 June 1933, Page 6

Overseas Mails

The Mariposa, which is due at Auckland to-morrow from Sydney, is bringing nine bags of Australian mail and three parcel receptacles for Dunedin. The mail is expected to reach the local Post Office on Tuesday afternoon.

Labour Candidate’s Success A Press Association telegram states that Mr Peter Fraser was elected to the Wellington City Council at a by-election yesterday. The polling was as follows:—P. Fraser (Labour), 11,607; R. A. Wright (Civic League and Ratepayers’ Association), 11,288; J. Castle (Independent), 517; R. H. Webb (Communist), 311. A total of 23,859 ratepayers voted out of 55,553 on the roll—a record for a by-election in Wellington.

Municipal Organ Recital The city organist (Dr V. B. Galway) will give an organ recital in the Town Hall to-morrow at 3 p.m. Dr Galway has chosen for this occasion a delightful programme, including three items —a Celtic Melody, by O’Connor-Morris, “The Holy Boy” (a carol of the Nativity), by John Ireland, and Greig’s “ Berceuse ” —which are being performed for the first time at these recitals. Other items are Overture to Athaliah (Handel), Bach’s Fugue in D Major, Symphonic Paean, by Edgar Ford, the Allegro Maestoso, from Elgar’s great Sonata in G Major, the programme concluding with the Finale to Wagner’s “Das Rheingold,” from the well-known opera series, “ Der Ring der Nibelungen.” The assisting artist will be Mr G. W. Johnstone, who is heard all too seldom on the concert platform. Mr Johnstone will sing “ Silent Worship ” (Handel), Schubert’s “Wanderer’fe Night Song,” “ Sunday,” by Brahms, “Have You Seen but a Whyte Lillie Grow?” (Dolmetsch), “At the Mid-Hour of Night” (old Irish air), “As Flora Slept” (A'Beckett-Williams), and “ Cubhin Rushes” (Stanford). Miss Rona Thomson, L.A.8., will be the accompanist. City Police Court In the City Police Court yesterday, Francis Henry Victor Simpson appeared before Mr J. R. Bartholomew, S.M., and pleaded guilty to having stolen a jug and 41b of bacon, of a total value of 7s, and a quantity of bacon valued at. 4s, from the Savoy Restaurant. Chief Detective Young explained that the manager of the Savoy Restaurant had missed the goods in question, and as a result of investigations, the offences were traced to the accused, who was employed as a waiter in the restaurant. There wag no record of the accused having been in trouble before, nor was there any evidence that he had stolen anything excepting the goods mentioned in the charges. The accused w;as remanded until to-morrow to allow the probation officer to submit a report, bail being allowed in his own recognisance o'f £2O. A first offender,, charged with drunkenness, also appeared before the court, and was fined 10s, in default 24 hours’ imprisonment.

Stone Embedded in Tree The tree was just an ordinary one to look at (relates the Auckland Star), a macrocarpa with a cross-section of some 15in, growing in a suburban garden. But when it was cut down a large stone was found embedded in the trunk about 15ft from the root The stone was a piece of road metal, irregular in shape, but roughly about 4in through and Sin long. The trunk had grown almost completely round .it, so that there was but little showing, and, when split, that portion of the trunk showed a peculiar mottling, a twisted grain, as though the tree had been trying to protect itself on the same principle as the formation of a pearl in an oyster. The stone was in the fork between the trunk and a branch, but how it had come there was a mystery. It must have taken years for the foreign body to be almost completely absorbed. When first there, the stone must have been nearly as big across as the tree itself. Had the tree not been cut down, doubtless the stone would have been completely covered. City Fire Calls '

An accidental automatic false alarm, Registered from the premises of Messrs Cadbury Fry and Hudson, in Castle street, was responsible for the City Fire Brigade turning out at 8.50 a.m. yesterday.

Subsidy on Superphosphates The Acting Prime Minister (Mr J. G. Coates) announced yesterday that the subsidy on superphosphates has been extended to July 10 to enable negotiations with the manufacturers to be completed*

Island Fruit Trade The steamer Waipahi, which has been withdrawn from the Pacific Islands fruit service owing to the slackness of trade, was specially fitted for the Island trade, and she has been in the Auckland, Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga service since April, 1932.' She replaced the passenger steamer Tofua, which had been in the trade since shortly after the war. When the Tofua was withdrawn in 1932 the Union' Company’s passenger service ,to the Islands was abandoned after over .50 years. The company commenced trading to Fiji in 1880 with the 985-ton' steamer Hero. As the Island trade increased the services were extended to Tonga and Samoa and larger steamers had to be employed. The Navua, Atua, and Tofua, which were specially built for the Island trade, were at one time engaged together in the, service, two of the vessels continuing from Samoa to Sydney, and the third being engaged in the Fiji-Auckland trade. In addition another,, passenger vessel was in the Sydney-Fiji direct service. During the war the Navua, Atua, and Tofua were withdrawn to be used as troopships and they were replaced by the Talune. After the war the Tofua replaced the Talune until the passenger service was abandoned. The trade between New Zealand and the Islands has been declining ever since, and the position has become worse since the depression, owing to the fall in the value of Island produce and the adverse rates of exchange. The demand for Island fruit in New Zealand has decreased, while lees merchandise is being, shipped to the Islands, The Union Company states that for some considerable time the Waipahi has been running at a loss. The withdrawal of the Waipahi means that the Karetu will now do the work that at one time was done by four large passenger vessels.

Trapped in a Lift The experience of being trapped In a lift for nearly two hours was endured by nine young women in Auckland on Monday evening after they had been rehearsing a play, “Nine Till Six.” which will be staged in aid of the St. John Ambulance with other members of the Auckland Theatre Guild. The ground floor button had been pressed •by mistake when they were descending from the third floor. As there i s no public exit from the ground floor liftgate at nighttime, the first floor button was then pressed, but the cage refused to ascend. Several others who had walked down stairs returned and discovered that their companions could not escape. When someone pressed the basement button the left descended therfe, but -would not climb again. Just after 10 o’clock a police sergeant appeared and, pressing his shoulder to the lift door, shouted - to the trapped women to jump. When they did so simultaneously the lift started to ascend just one hour and 50 minutes after they had first entered it. The women had spent the time by singing and rehearsing parts of their play. A constable had telephoned four electricians, but none was able to come. The failure of the lift to ascend was due to/its being overloaded and not to any defect."

Tooth Found in Scalp A strange sequel to a football injury suffered by a former New Plymouth resident has just occurred. Thirty-five years ago two footballers met in a headon collision on the football field. Both suffered head and face injuries, and were taken from the field unconscious. Only a few days ago one of them had removed from under his scalp a false tooth which he had carried without knowing it for the past 35 years. The match in which the incident occurred was between Tukapa and Stratford, and was played at Stratford. When, the two players were carried from the field they received attention and recovered. Since then, however, the Tukapa player, who is now a resident of Palmerston North, has experienced at intervals pains in the head. It was thought that they were just headaches and no further notice was taken, but a few days ago he felt a prominent lump on his head. He immediately went to a doctor. A minor operation disclosed a false tooth which had been embedded in the skull. Only after 35 years had it made its presence felt. The patient’s pains in the head have now ceased.

School Dental Clints A meeting of householders in the St. Clair School district area was held last night to consider the question of forming a dental clinic in conjunction with the Forbury School. The meeting was ad* dressed by Mr J. S. Nicolson, superintendent of dental clinics in the Otago district, on the aims and objects of the clinics, and it was decided to adopt the proposal.

An Interesting Purchase A Dunedin resident purchased for £3 in an auction room recently an oil painting which he now believes to be worth some hundreds of pounds. Little is known of the history of the picture beyond the fact that it belonged to a seafaring man before it came into the hands of the auctioneers, by whom it was held for.some-time before it was sold. On cleaning-the picture, the purchaser discovered the name of Louis Passini, who was born in Vienna in 1832, and whose pictures obtained great repute in Germany. One of his pictures, a water colour, hangs in the National Gallery in Berlin. Passini died in Venice in 1903. The picture, which depicts two boys endeavouring to retrieve from a canal a doll which has fallen from the hands of a girl who is standing weeping on the bank, is one which is likely to attract immediate interest, but whether it is genuine has yet to he proved. Copies of great paintings are scattered throughout the world, and, although to the layman they may appear authentic, experts may-quickly discover that they are .really of little value. Inquiries are now being made in an endeavour to ascertain whether the Dunedin ■ resident’s purchase is an original work of the noted painter. Relics of Cannibalism

Evidence of great interest to student# of the ancient Maori is being gathered during- excavations being made by a partyworking under the direction of Mr S. M. Hovell, of Waihi, an,d Mr R. W. Bell, of Mercury Bay, on Mr E. Collins’s property at Matatoki, near Thames, which is the site of the old Omarangi pa. It had been handed down in history, Mr Hovell said, that several very fierce battles had been fought around this site, and this was borne out by the recent excavations and by other evidence, which showed that great cannibalistic- feasts had ■ taken place there. On the umu stones, or cooking places, fragments of charred human bones and --skulls were found in considerable quantities. Several howls made from skulls and used as drinking cups were also found in the middens, and some of these cups were elaborately carved. The most outstanding feature was the number of skull-less skeleton# that had been found. Mr Hovell said he assumed that, this was. the result of so ‘many persons being killed that the victors, unable to eat them all, had removed the heads and taken them away as trophies of war, probably to adorn their palisades. The remains found suggested that it was mostly children who were eaten. ■ .■

The patrons of the Bungalow Cabaret, St. Kilda, whose gatherings are held every Saturday night, will be glad to learn that the management has been fortunate enough to secure the services of the Waldorf Band,'which will make its first appearance to-morrow night. Every week a special selection of popular dance numbers will be played by this band, and dancers are assured of the best. Everything that can be done to add to the enjoyment of guests will be provided; and merry and happy gatherings are anticipated. In accordance with a recent decision of the Otago Harbour Board, consignee* will, from Monday ■ next, he able to obtain deilvery of goods under storage only between the hours of 10 a.m. to ; 11 am. and 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. daily except Saturdays, when the hours will be from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

It’s the kind of service that count*. You get service for your car at Austin Motors (Otago), Ltd., 284/6 Prince*: street. Phone 13-215. —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. Save your eyes. Be wise, vand consult W. V. Stunner, optician (2 Octagon), thus conserving good vision for old age.— Advt.

Those who are requiring an engagement ring will dp well to inspect our rings.— Peter Dick, ring specialist, ' 490 ' Moray place, Dunedin.—Advt.