Mails from America

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22329, 1 August 1934, Page 6

Mails from America

The steamer Golden Coast, which arrived at Auckland yesterday morning from San Pedro, brought 12 bags of American mail and 15 parcel receptacles for Dunedin. The mail is expected to reach the local Post Office to-morrow afternoon.

Mr F. E. P. Foster’s Estate The estate of Mr Frederick E. P. Foster, baker, of Dunedin, has been sworn for probate purposes at under £II,OOO.

Malicious False Alarm A malicious false alarm from the corner of Maryhill terrace and Vickery street wa s responsible for th,e City Fire Brigade being called out at 6.31 p.m. yesterday. Shipment of Steel

The Commonwealth and Dominion Line’s motor ship Port Fairy, which is expected to arrive at Port Chalmers tomorrow morning from London, via Suva, is carrying a quantity of steel for the new Post Office. The vessel also has a large general cargo for discharge at this port.

Missing Man Found James Aitchison Birrell, who left his work on the morning of Friday last and disappeared, was found wandering in Company’s Bay yesterday afternoon in an emaciated and exhausted condition, and suffering from loss of memory. He was brought to Dunedin and was admitted to the Hospital for treatment.

A Community Offering The extent to which the weekly community “ sings ” combine a beneficial purpose with the entertainment of participants is illustrated by the cheque -for £IOO which was received yesterday morning by the Mayor (the. Rev. E. T. Cox) from the Community Singing Committee. The money was forwarded as a donation to the Mayor’s Unemployment Relief Committee as an interim payment on account.

First Reserve Bank Note There need be no scramble among members of the public to-day to secure Hie No. I pound note issued by the Reserve Bank. The note, suitably mounted and framed, has been presented with the compliments of the directors of the bank to the Minister of Finance (Mr. J. G. Coatee) who (say s our parliamentary reporter) proposes to add it to the mural decorations in his office.

City Police Court At the City Police Court yesterday, before Mr J. R. Bartholomew, S.M., Richard John Carter and Leslie William Gibbong appeared on remand on a charge of breaking and entering by night the house of William Cook with intent to commit a crime. Mr O. G. Stevens appeared for Carter and Mr O. J. Cook for Gibbons. Chief Detective Young asked for a remand till Friday. There was another man implicated, he said, and the police would he prepared to go ahead with the proceedings then. Counsel agreed" to the remand and the accused were remanded in custody until Friday.

A Tasmanian Gone American Harold Gatty, who has decided to withdraw hi s . entry of a Douglas air-liner from the Macßobertson Air Race, is always spoken of as an American, as he is now, but he was a Tasmanian boy, educated in Hobart, and was for a good many years an officer in the Union Steam Ship Company, until 1927, when he visited America and found the sort of job that good men deserve, and seldom get, a post on a millionaire’s yacht. About this time lie became an aviation enthusiast, and through his acquisition of the rights of a special device for air navigation, a man of weight in the flying world. With Lieutenant Bromley he made an unsuccessful attempt to fly non-stop from Tokio to California, but in the following year, 1931, he and Wiley Post made a successful round-the-world flight in the Winnie Mae, which Wiley Post is flying in the Air Race.

Cold Night in the Hills An unenviable experience on the Motu Hills befel a yopng married couple with their 12-months-old baby one day last week. They left Opotiki by car in the afternoon with the intention of travelling to Gisborne, but when about 11 miles from Motu a tyre wa ß punctured. The party then got out of the car and the driver jacked up the wheel to enable him to mend the puncture, but the car slipped off the jack, and before the driver could arrest its progress it went over the bank, falling 25ft to 30ft. The passengers spent a trying night camped alongside the car. They had no food, and as there wa s a severe frost they suffered severely' from cold. In the morning a passing motorist gave them his lunch and offered to take the woman and child to Opotiki, but this offer was declined. He then took them to a settler’s housp, and later a bullock team was sent to pull the car up to the road. It was found that one wheel was smashed.

The Royal Navy Sixteen boys are required at the present time for admission to the New Zealand division of the Royal Navy. The period of the first engagement is for 12 years, exclusive of the time when the candidate is under 18 years, and if the rating so desires, he may re-engage tor additional periods of five years each. Promotion through the ranks to that of chief petty officer is possible, subject to the required examinations being passed and subject to recommendations. In addition to the daily rate of pay, which ranges from lid in the case of a boy (second class) to 9s lid in the case of a chief potty officer, there is deferred pay according to rank with the object of assisting the rating on the completion of 0 his agreement or final discharge, and after the first engagement of 12 years the credit is expected to amount approximately to £4OO. The rating is kept, a free kit is issued on first entry, with an allowance for its upkeep, and leave for 28 days is usually granted each year.

Wills Proved His Honor Mr Justice Kennedy has granted probate in the estates of the following:—Henry Osborne Cassells, of Invercargill, saddler; Andrew Howe, of South Wyndham, farmer; Charles MTntosh, of Hedgehope, farmer; Jane M’Laughlan, of Dunedin; John Deans, of Lee Stream, retired sheep farmer; Robert White, of Glenkenich, farmer; James Ramsay Gilchrist, of Rosebery, sheep farmer; James Finlayson, of Herbert, farmer; Herbert Shakespear Fenwick, of Dunedin, sharebroker; Alfred Goodsall, of Peebles, labourer; Thomas MjLay, of Oamaru, retired farmer; Frederick Edward Percival Foster, of Dunedin, baker. Letters of administration have been granted in the estate of. Murdoch M'Lennan, of Mataura, drover. Sketch Exhibition The Sketch and Handcraft Exhibition conducted by the Otago Art Society in the Pioneer Hall continues to be accorded strong public patronage in its closing stages, yesterday’s attendance being satisfactorily large. There is much of interest for students of art in the large collection of water colours, sketches, and other exhibitions of handcraft included in the display, and it is anticipated that in the final two days of the exhibition, which closes to-morrow, local art lovers will take full advantage of the opportunity of studying the work of the artists and students who are represented in the collection. Two sales took place yesterday, these being W. Walden’s “ Mount Earnslaw,” and Ann MacMillan's “Wairata.” Speed on Railways The statement that on good stretches of railway line in New Zealand a speed of 60 miles an hour is sometimes reached was made by a railway engineer giving evidence in the Supreme Court at Auckland. Mr A. J. Moody, defending in a case of alleged negligent driving, claimed that it had been laid down by the Court of Appeal that a speed of 25 miles an hour ought not to be exceeded by a train on a railway crossiiig. Mr V. R. Meredith, the Crown Prosecutor, scouted Die idea, and said that no railway could be worked under such conditions. “I do not know how the Main Trunk would get down to "Wellington,” he remarked.

Gentle Art of Crooning Sydney is stirred by the information that crooners are no longer tolerated “on the air ”in England. The new s encourages the hope (writes a correspondent) of something similar happening here. Not all Sydney is stirred, it should be explained. It is just the heart of Sydney, the •intelligentsia. The surrounding sections rejoice in these painful productions. . Anything is possible to people who revel in “jungle stuff”'as the jazz airs with drum and saxophone elements are spoken of. Not long, ago a judge of the Supreme Court (Sir David Ferguson) roused thousands to enthusiastic endorsement of his indictment of crooning as “seasick music.” Not all could get their approving letters into the papers, the accommodation was all too limited, but it was clear that most worth-while folks were with him. The ordinary man would have' liked to meet him in the street or at his club, the university, and slap him on the back as an accompaniment to the remark: “Well, well, well, let us give three hearty British cheers,” or words to that effect. But the crooners are still on the air. The accompaniments of listeners would be much more interesting could they be broadcast simultaneously. There is by no means satisfaction with the main items on the programmes of the radio stations. One B station is commonly spoken of as giving much better service than either of the A stations.

Hobart-New Zealand Service

Considerable significance is placed on the arrival at Hobart a week or so ago of two vessels plying between Australia and New Zealand, a writer in the Hobart Murcury stating that it was impossible to over-estimate the importance not only to Hobart but also to the whole of Tasmania of the visit made by the Union Steam Ship Company’s vessel Waikouaiti, and the Wanganella on succeeding days. During the year leagues had been formed in Hobart and New Zealand for the advancement of trade between the two countries, and it seemed that some tangible result of their ‘ activities had been achieved. Apart froin the benefit resulting from the direct trade to the actual exporters, the indirect benefits accorded to all members of the community should, it was held, result in increased prosperity to all the port s concerned in the trade route. The visit of the two ships cn consecutive days constituted the first occasion for many years on which two boats trading to New Zealand had been in Hobart at the same time, and it was considered that the restoration of the service between Hobart and New Zealand, which was in operation for about 30 years and was abandoned in 1917, wn s in sight.' Out of the Mists

Like Antaeus, the giant wrestler of mythology, the New Zealander renews his strength by contact with the earth. At heart, whether he lives in the city or in the country, he is a countryman, and that is why the smallest reaction of Mother Earth to the changing seasons finds in him a ready response. Notwithstanding that they are still ruffled by a chill wind one half-hour and warmed by a fervent sun the next, people were ready yesterday to believe that the winter is almost past. The trees and the hedge l rows are climbing steadily, if slowly, into leaf, and one notes day by day the swelling buds of deciduous trees thickening the branches and bringing a message of the trees’ fullness of life —life which has endured all through the bare days of winter, for all these buds were formed while 3’et green shade was given by the leaver last gathered to the “ great barn of -tlicJ earth.” Grey July days, with flying clouds and flurries of rain and a harsh touch in the wind may give a salutary check to springtime impulses, but it needs only a few more days like yesterday to blot out the recollection of past rigours. Some would give August to winter and others to spring, but if the new month continues in the warm, fresh way that July passed, there will be a general admission in a winter-weary province of August’s claim to be numbered among the months of spring.

A pretty Handbag is always a nice addition to the toilet. See the new ones at Williamsons, the jewellers. They are remarkable value.—Advt.

Port Chalmers.—J. Watson’s clearing winter sale general drapery, clothing, boots and shoes, furnishings, now proceeding.—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. Save your eyes. Be wise, and consult W. V. Sturnler, optician (2 Octagon), thus conserving good vision for old age.— Advt.

Who is Peter Dick? The leading firm for optical and jewellery service. Peter Dick, jewellers and opticians, 490 Moray place, Dunedin.—Advt.