City Fire Brigade

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22751, 11 December 1935, Page 8

City Fire Brigade

The City Fire Brigade was called out at 3.23 p.m. yesterday to a house in Stafford street, where an outbreak had occurred, when some paint which was being burnt off caught fire. Damage to the extent of £lO was done. Particulars of the insurance are not available. University Examinations

In the list of passes in the New Zealand degree examinations the name of G. M. Spence was inadvertently omitted from the successful candidates in chemistry I for B.Sc.

City Police Court A statutory first offender for drunkenness, Sarah Elizabeth Smith, appeared before Mr J. R. Bartholomew, S.M., in the City Police Court yesterday morning, and was convicted and discharged.

Plaintiff Nonsuited " Even Solomon would not have felt any great confidence in reaching the truth of this matter," said Mr J. R. Bartholomew, S.M., in the Magistrate's Court yesterday when nonsuiting the plaintiff' in an action in which Jessie Gnnton Scurr sought to recover from Sarah Ann Bowler the sum of 18s 9d, allegedly lent to her on August 7. His Worship arrived at this decision after listening to a lengthy and frequently irrelevant discourse delivered at high speed by the plaintiff, and also hearing the defendant's version of the affair. The plaintiff contended that the money had been lent on a racecourse, where the defendant had been asked to place some money on a horse for her, and the dispute arose over the division of the winnings. " The plaintiff's task was to satisfy me that her claim was valid," said the magistrate, " and as she has failed in that she must be nonsuited."

Surprise for Rail Passenger A young woman who boarded the north express yesterday morning without realising that she had left her handbag in a telephone booth on the station was no less surprised than delighted to have her property returned to her at Waitati. The train had already left Dunedin when the bag was found, and it was promptly handed to the station master, who, on investigation, discovered that it contained rail and steamer tickets. He immediately took steps to have the express stopped at Waitati, and no less hastily despatched one of his staff in a taxi in pursuit of the owner. Train and taxi met according to plan at Waitati, and a worried young woman, now aware of the lengths to which the Railways Department is prepared to go in the service of its passengers, gratefully accepted her bag. The department has assumed responsibility for the payment of the taxi until the young woman can return and meet the expense incurred. Judge Shocked

" I am shocked that such a defence should be set up," said Judge Ruegg, K.C., at Strafford County Court, referring to the reply of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway Company to a claim by the widow of James Wise, porter, arising out of his death. The woman, Lucy Wise, of Rowley Grove, Strafford, was awarded £3OO and costs. Counsel for the company said the duty of Wise did not take him to that part of the Jine -where his body was found mutilated. It was suggested that he deliberately put his head on the line. Judge Ruegg: "I cannot understand why the railway company should think it their duty where a man has given the whole of his life, 36 years, in their service, that immediately he died by accident arising out of employment they should try to get out of paying a small sum of money by setting up this ridiculous and improper defence. Why they should choose to spend more of the shareholders' money defending this case I cannot understand."

Coining Solar Eclipse On Boxing Day New Zealand is to be treated to the spectacle of an eclipse of the sun. The eclipse is an annular one, visible in all parts of the Dominion, except the extreme north, as a partial eclipse. To see the eclipse as an annular one it will be necessary to spend the Christmas holiday in the Antarctic, in the region of the South Pole, and to see the partial eclipse in New Zealand it will be necessary to rise with the sun, which means at this time of year a very early start. In Dunedin, as elsewhere in New Zealand, the sun will rise eclipsed. Sunrise that morning takes place at 4.46 a.m., and it will be found that at that hour almost half of the sun's face will be obscured by the moon. The sun will be finally free from obscuration by the moon at 5.20 a.m.

Advice About Sun-bathing Both advice and a warning are contained in a circular prepared by the Department of Health on the subject of sun bathing. The circular emphasises the importance of " acclimatising" the body to the sun, that is to say, of sun bathing only a little while for a start, and then for progressively longer periods as the skin becomes accustomed to the exposure. The head, eyes, and back of the neck should • also be protected. Fair-haired people, as a rule, are stated to be more sensitive to sunlight, and the slightest over-exposure might react unfavourably, producing headache, fever and malaise. Both the front of the bare body and the back should be exposed to the sun no longer than for five minutes the first day, increasing to an hour or longer with the progressive bronzing of the skin. With children the first exposure to the sun should be three minutes, to be increased daily. Exposure to intense heat should be avoided, particularly in the case of small children. The sun's rays possess different properties, according to the Hour of the day, and the best hours for, sun bathing are before 11 in the morning and after 3 in the afternoon, state members of the medical profession. During the noonday hours the beneficial violet rays are dominated by the infra-red rays, and even a hardened skin can be badly burned.

Dominion Motorists Praised A tribute to the motor drivers of New Zealand is contained in a letter received by the Automobile Association (Auckland) from the 'Automobile Association of South Africa. Discussing motoring generally, the latter states that while New Zealand and South Africa have approximately the same number of motor vehicles, the vehicle accident death rate in South Africa is amazingly high when compared with New Zealand. During August and September the death roll in South Africa was 162 —an enormous total for two months —compared with 135 in New Zealand during the whole of 1934.

Queen Mary's Commander The appointment recently of Commander Sir Edgar Britten, commodore of the Cunard-White Star fleet, to command the liner Queen Mary, was of special interest to Captain Alec Crichton, of for it was in the barque Kinfauns, commanded by Captain Crichton, that Edgar Britten sailed in 1898, being an officer for two long and eventful voyages. The present commodore of the world's largest passenger fleet sailed under Captain Crichton, 1 first as second mate and then aB mate. Captain Crichton retired shortly afterward, but although he has not seen Sir Edgar for 35 years, he corresponds with him regularly.

Maori Mission Revival A marked improvement in the work of the-Maori Mission in the Waikato is recorded by Archdeacon Hori Raiti in an article in the current issue of the Waikato Diocesan Magazine. The writer said that before 1926 the work of the mission among the Maoris could be described as being dead. The Church had a number of discouraged clergy working among the people, most of whom were hostile to the Church. Two or three clergymen met in 1926 to determine what was wrong. The fact emerged that the trouble went right to the time of the Maori War. It was decided that the clergy interested in the mission should address as many congregations as possible and publicly confess that the.pakehas had been wrong in waging the Maori War and promise to do what they could to put matters right, continued Archdeacon Raiti. The action of the clergy was received by the Maoris with the greatest interest and joy, and immediately the. opposition to the mission died down. Many Maoris who before had been indifferent began to take an interest in Christianity. It could be safely said that more Maoris had come under the influence of the Church in the last nine years than during the 60 years after the Maori War and up to 1926.

Effects of Modern Rush The prevalence of internal disorders, from which many people are suffering at present, is ascribed by a leading Auckland doctor to the rapid eating of meals and the rush'of modern life. He said that, while such troubles were always common, they had become increasingly so in the past 10 or 15 years. Sufferers should not overlook the value of early treatment. While the trouble, even when in an advanced stage, will respond to special care, the cure is often of long duration and, if medical advice is not sought soon enough, an operation frequently is necessary. For some time past (the New Zealand Herald says) there has existed in Auckland a mild epidemic of what is popularly known as gastric influenza. It was stated by a doctor that this was prevalent from time to time throughout the Dominion, and it was very difficult to find a particular cause for it. It was assumed that it was due to some infection that so far had not been definitely found. Catarrhal jaundice had affected many people recently, another doctor said. This malady went in epidemics and was usually at its worst in the' autumn. Another seasonal trouble that caused some distress, particularly among children, was due to the eating of unripe fruit, notably strawberries.