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Otago Daily Times, Issue 22051, 6 September 1933, Page 6

Fire Brigade Calls

Two chimney fires, one at 5.30 p.m. and the other at 0 p.m., were dealt with by the City Fire Brigade yesterday at Stafford street and High street respectively. No damage was done. A malicious false alarm caused the machines to go to the corner of George and Frederick streets shortly before midnight.

Conditions in South Africa - " Conditions in this country have never been better than they are at the present moment, where complete racial unity has been achieved and every factor is favourable to rapid development on sound lines in all branches of trade and industry." The foregoing statement concerning the situation in. South Africa is made in a letter .received by the editor last night from the editor of the Band Daily Mail, Johannesburg.

Price of Bread in Wellington The Wellington Master Bakers' Association has decided to raise the price of bread from 5d over the counter to 5Jd. Delivery will remain at 6d.

A Favourable Portent "An indication of favourable portent (says the Abstract of Statistics for August) may be interpreted from the number of .marriages celebrated during the first six months of the present year. These numbered 5353, as compared with 5006 during the first six months of 1932, an increase of 347, or 7 per cent."

A By-law Challenged In his reserved judgment in the appeal by Frederick M'Cormick, challenging the by-law which prohibits unengaged taxies waiting outside theatres in the hope of obtaining a fare, Mr Justice Ostler (says a Press Association telegram from Wellington) held that the by-law is not unreasonable or oppressive.

Fruit Trees in Blossom One of the sights that is most appreciated by the traveller in Central Otago in the springtime is the blossoming of the fruit trees in the Roxburgh and Ettrick districts. The secretary of the Otago Motor Club (Mr W. F. Sutton) has received advice that the blossom in these localities will be seen at its best during the coming week-end, and many motorists and others will no doubt take the opportunity of visiting the Central and of seeing one of the most beautiful sights that Otago, so richly endowed with natural attractions, has to offer.

Harbour Board Reclamation No work has been carried out by the Otago Harbour Board for almost a year now on the reclamation of the southern endowment, for the reason that the dredge has not been operating in that vicinity. About 100 relief workers are at present employed, however, in building up the outside wall of the area, the whole of which has yet to be raised from three feet to four feet before it will reach the finished level. Reclamation, in this case, is not regarded as work to be completed as soon as possible, but is looked on rather aB a convenient site for the disposal of spoil dredged from the harbour.

An Old Bank Note x One of the oldest bank notes in New Zealand to-day has been presented to the Wanganui Museum by Mr D. A. Jjilburne, of Wanganui. It was issued by the Otago Banking Company. on July 5, 1852. Community Singing

A suggestion has been made to the committee controlling the weekly community singing that a day should, be set apart for members of choirs to join •with the other singers and swell the chorus. The proposal has been adopted, and at this week's session a block of seats down the centre aisle' will be reserved until 12.30 o'clock for members of choirs who decide to attend. Mrs R. S. Black, the "Cinema" Queen, will be associated in the leadership of this " sing," and, in addition, will, by request, sing the favourite old song, "The Old Rustic Bridge." Treatment for Sea-sicknes*

Experiments reported to the French Academy of Sciences, in Paris, by two experimenters suggest a remedy seasickness or air-sickness. The idea is to heat by electric current the medulla oblongata, which lies at the junction between the spinal cord and the brain. Some two years ago it occurred to the investigators that many things causing nausea involved nerve paths through the medulla oblongata. It is said that Indian fakirs and other primitive physicians' sometimes treat nausea by rapid massage of the back of the neck, and the idea was tested by the experimenters, _bv gently heating the medullas of actual sick people by electric current of the kind used in diathermy. The results, it is stated, were remarkable, for not only was there relief from sickness, but simultaneous observation* by X-rays showed that the heating stopped the violent spasms of the diaphragm and abdominal muscles which make sea-sickness so distressing. A Comparison

The population of the Dominion of New .Zealand is 1,500,000. In view of this comparatively small population (writes a Sydney critic), the total amount owing by local authorities—£72,ooo,ooo— to he a huge one. As an offset to their loan obligation it must be remembered that New Zealand councils have sources of revenue not available to those of Australia. For example, for the last financial year the councils received '£41,000 from liquor licenses, £179,000 " heavy traffic fees," £26,000 dog registration—altogether a total of £376,000 from various kinds of licensing fees. In addition, the Government allocated to the councils £IOI,OOO petrol tax receipts, £457,000 subsidy on rates, as well as other minor special allocations. The total amount of receipts in respect of these was £628,000, and, in addition, the Government gave £2,710,000 in the form of grants for special work and unemployment relief. During' the same, year the Government lent the councils £103,000. It is no wonder that with so much assistance the councils were able, to give employment to a number of men which, at every month during the year, exceeded 40,000. Collection of Power Board Rate* The Bruqe County Council was waited on at its meeting at Milton yesterday by Mr R. H. Michelle, district member on the Otago Electric Power Board, and the secretary (Mr L. W. Potter), who quested that the council should assist the board by accepting a lower rate of commission for collecting the board's rates than the maximum 5 per cent, allowed. It was explained that several of the local bodies similarly placed had agreed lo accept a lower rate this year, with the idea'of helping the Power Board towards reducing its rates, and it was pointed out that last year the Bruce County Council had collected the rates free of charge. After some discussion Cr Renton said the council had done very well out of collecting the rates in past years on a 5 per cent, commission, and he thought it might well agree to carry out the work this year for a commission of li per cent., provided that the board was prepared to reimburse the council for any extra cost up to 5 per cent. A motion on these lines was carried.

Maternity Hospital At a conference of representatives of the Otago University Council and the Otago Hospital Board held yesterday to discuss the question of the maternity hospital the following resolution was passed:—"That in the opinion of this conference the taking over, after reconditioning and extension, of the St. Helens Hospital does not form a satisfactory basis of settlement for the question of the Maternity Hospital, either from the financial, educational, or humanitarian point of view." A sub-committee was appointed to prepare a statement with regard to the matter for submission to the Government.

A Spartan Diet Living on black bread, vegetables, and a little meat, an old German couple, Mr and Miss Lander, both over 70 years of age, have, for 35 years, lived like the peasants of their native country in a tiny cottage built of clay bricks, perched high up on a hill behind Cooper's Creek, North Canterbury. For the past few years (says the Christchurch Times) brother and sister have existed on approximately £5 a year. Their needs are simple, and they have led a healthy and contented life, supplementing their Spartan diet with vegetables from their own garden and a little meat at Christmas. Last' week Mr and Miss Lander became naturalised, and from now on will be entitled to the old-age pension. They came to New Zealand with their parents many years ago, and settled between Ashley Gorge and Oxford. After a succession of bad years, however, the family was rendered almost destitute by a fire which burned their home to the ground and destroyed nearly all their belongings. With the true pioneering spirit they hollowed out a dug-out in the side of a hill, and lived there until Mr Farey, of Cooper's Creek, allowed them to settle on a corner of his land. Misfortune overtook them again, when a fire destroyed their second home. Finally they moved back into the hills, where they have lived for the last 36 years.

Constable Assaulted At a sitting of the City Police Court yesterday morning, before Mr J. R. Bartholomew, S.M., Frederick Olsen Petersen was charged with drunkenness, with using obscene language, and with assaulting Constable Summers whilst in the execution of his duty. He pleaded guilty to each charge. Senior Sergeant Mae- * Lean said that at 9.30 p.m. on Monday

Constable Summers found the accused in a drunken condition in Bath street, standing up against ,a door and annoying people who were in the top storey of the building. The constable told him to go home, and he went away, after which the constable went off on his beat. When he came back, however, the accused was again at the doorway misbehaving himself. The constable spoke to him, and they immediately came to grips, and the constable was kicked in the stomach and punched in the face. The doctor did not think there would be any serious results, but the constable was still suffering severely. The accused was remanded until Saturday, a request for bail being refused.

Customs Tariff Commission The members of the Customs Tariff Commission —Dr G. Craig (chairman), Professor B. E. Murphy, Mr J. B. Gow, and Mr J. A. Pascoe—arrived in Dunedin yesterday afternoon, and the commission will commence its sittings in this centre in the jury room at the Law Courts building at 10 o'clock this morning. It is the intention of the commission to remain in Dunedin sufficiently long to hear all the evidence it is desired by interested parties to place before it, and those persons who propose to make representations should complete their arrangements to do so as early as possible. The secretary is Mr J. P. D. Johnsen. Communications may be addressed to the chairman or to the secretary. Today evidence will be heard on the following subjects:—Pianos, dried milk, men's hats, and imported timber. It is desired that where personal evidence is to be given before the commission respecting any industry the person intending to appear should previously supply, if possible, written information along the lines of the evidence he wishes to submit.

A Fine Month

The meteorological returns for the month of August at Lake Tekapo constitute a remarkable record of continuously fine weather for this time of the year. The sun shone on 30 days for a total of 197 hours, the daily average sunshine for August being 6.3 hours, which is also the daily average for the first eight month* of the year, the total sunshine since January 1 having been 1534 hours. Rain fell on seven days during August, but the total fall was only 1.93 inches. The total rainfall for the year to»the end of August was 15.57 inches.

The Cost of Living According to the Abstract of Statistic* for August, the index number of wholesale prices for the month of July is 1327 (on the base: average prices ruling during 1909-13=1000), an increase of six points since the previous month. Locally produced commodities have advanced by 16 points, or 1.3 per cent., since June, mainly due to increases in prices of potatoes and .butter. Imported commodities included in the index have, on the average, fallen slightly since June. The index number of retail prices of food was, on July 15, ,732 (on the base: average prices ruling during 1926-30=1000), an increase of nine points, or 1.2 per cent., since June 15. Each of the three groups —groceries, dairy produce, and meathas shared in this advance. Food price* were, on July 15, 4.1 per cent, higher than the 1914 level of such price*. When this increase in food prices is combined with the latest„available data in respect of prices of other items of household expenditure it is found that retail prices generally are 26.9 per cent, above 1914 prices. , .

T. G. Macarthy Trurt ~r At the annual meeting in Wellington of the board of governors of the T. G. M'Carthy Trust it- was reported that 156 applications had been received, compared with 158 last year, covering a wide range of objects concerned with charity and education. Every application had been carefully scrutinised and subsequently considered by the Advisory Committee at its. annual meeting last month, when it, recommended the distribution of £10,144. The recommendations were agreed to. Tha principal amounts are:—£Blo to the Wellington City Mission, £SOO to the Home of Compassion (Island Bay), £SOO to the Mayor's Distress Relief Fund (Wellington), £550 to St, Joseph's Orphanage (Upper Hutt), £399 to St. Thomas's Boys' School (Nai Naij, £275 to the Anglican Boys' Homes Society (Wellington), £250 to the Free Kindergarten Society (Wellington), £340 to the Home for Incurables (Wellington), £3OO to the Plunket Society (Wellington), £320 to St. Mary's Guild (Wellington), f 315 to St. Vincent De Paul Society (Wellington). The Salvation Army benefits by considerable amounts spread over the many ramifications of this organisation in Wellington province, and the same applies to several of the churches, district nursing organisations and other societies operating over wide fields.

Hospital Board Representation A reply from the Minister of Health (Mr J. A. Young) to a request that it should have a representative of its own on the Otago Hospital Board was received by the West Harbour Borough Council at its meeting last night. The Minister explained that under the provisions of the Hospitals and Charitable Institutions Act representation was determined from time to time by the Governor-General by Order-in-Council having regard both to the relative population and also to the relative values of rateable property in the various contributory districts. The proportion of the West Harbour Borough's rateable capital value to that of the Otago district as\ a whole was expressed as .015 to one, and the corresponding proportion of population was .019 to one. The mean of these two proportions was .017. On *a board of 11, which was the present number of members of the Otago board, the borough's proportion was only .187. There did not, therefore, appear to be any alternative but to combine West Harbour with another contributing district. The Mayor (Mr T. H. Harridge) said that he was still of the opinion that some better form of taxation could be instituted. The letter, however, was merely received.

The Aims of Fascism The ultimate aim of Fascism is to bring back to Italy the culture and traditions of ancient Rome, according to Mr R. A. Shaw. M.A., winner of the 1929 Mollison scholarship, who returned to Melbourne last week. Mr Shaw, who is attached to the Victorian Education Department, has spent some years at the Florence University and in the Italian province! studying Italian dialects. In the course of his studies (says the Melbourne Age), he tramped over 1000 miles from Florence to Palermo and back. Speaking of his investigations, he said that he had discovered that, the Italian dialect varied slightly every. 15 miles. At towns or cities 100 miles apart the dialect was quite different. Fascism was such a complicated system that it would take a book to explain it, but the thing that was most noticeable in Italy to-day wai the great wave of nationalism that wae sweeping the nation. Foreigners were treated courteously, but were not encouraged. Signor Mussolini was definitely trying to take Italy back to the days of the Caesars. It was said that even hie smooth shaven visage was the result of his desire to look like the rulers of ancient Rome. The people from aristocrat to peasant were eagerly following his lead. Even the smaller towns were changing their names to the ancient Latin, for example, Festo had now become Pestum,

Bankruptcies During the month of July there were 01 bankruptcies in New Zealand, 36 of which were in the North Island. Short Ww» Broadcasting , Mr W. Taine, Karitane, states that the transmissions from the 8.8. G. short ware station at Daventry, England— GSD, 25.5 metres, and GSB, 81.55 metres —that came over the air last Saturday and Sunday evenings were as nearly perfect as possible. Big Ben was clearly heard booming out the hour, and then came a church service and general news. The announcer stated that he was switching over to Qstend for an orchestral concert, this including numbers by renowned singers and instrumentalists. To have heard this, states Mr Taine, would have gladdened the hearts of music lovers and others. 8.8. C. is still experimenting, as the company is not yet satisfied with the results of the Australian and New Zealand zone. Kaikorai Stream Pollution At the invitation of the Green Island Borough Council, Dr T. R. Ritchie and Inspectors J. Craighead and E. Sinclair attended last night's meeting to discuss the question of the pollution of the 'Kaikorai Stream and to make suggestions for remedying the menace. The council decided to discuss the matter in committee. It waa stated in open council that the Health Department would do everything possible to improve matters in connection with the stream. A meeting will be held at Tomahawk to-morrow to form a new Domain Board. Mr J. A. Winefield is calling the meeting under instructions from the Under-sec-retary of the Department of Lands and Survey, who advises that a Domain Board may consist of not more; than nine members, though it is usually found that a board of five or not more than seven is sufficient. It will be decided at the meeting.how many are sufficient, and the new board will be elected. Particulars of a day excursion train to be run to Invercargill on Sunday art advertised in this issue. Meetings organised by the New Zealand Legion will be held in Alexandra this evening, and at Cromwell to-morrow evening. 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. f ße wise, and consult W. V. Sturmer, optician (2 Octagon], thus conserving good vision for old age.— Advt. Those who are requiring an engagement ring will do well to inspect our rings.— Peter Dick ring specialist, 490 Moray place, Dunedin. —Advt.> v