NEWS IN BRIEF

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22827, 11 March 1936, Page 16

NEWS IN BRIEF

Vast numbers of thistles are growing at the mouth of the Pukaka Valley. The other day (says _ the Marlborough Express), with a faint breeze stirring, the air was so full of thistledown as to give the impression of a snowstorm. Work, on the construction of the station at Kaikoura, Marlborough, which will be used, in connection with the inter-island telephone service, has been commenced. The building, constructed of reinforced concrete, will be 50 feet by 31 feet, and will cost approximately £IOOO. “Bourbon”, Coffee. Users of this favourite brand of breakfast coffee will be pleased to hear’the price is reduced 2d per lb; all grocers.—Durie’s, specialists, 32 Octagon, Dunedin.... “The Government will not be pulled willy-nilly by any groups here or there, Communists or anybody else,” declared Mr R. Semple, in the course of a speech at Eltham the other night. “We will tell them where to get off,” he added. Hundreds of blackberry pickers (says the Wanganui Chronicle) were afield re- ' cently, and rich harvests have been reported in many cases. The fruit is stated to be of good quality this season, and will be made the most of by those energetic enough to gather it. Blackberry wine is popular these days, and a large proportion of the fruit harvested will be used to good effect in that direction. Gray’s Summer Sale at the Big Store, Milton, closes on Saturday, 14th inst. Make your purchases without delay... Quantities of black ironsahd have made the beach fronting the Marine parade, their appearance in widespread patches on Napier. Ironsahd is sand containing particles of iron-ore, and a generous sample has been secured by Mr W. 11. Carter, a resident of Marine parade. It is also of interest to note that large deposits of pumice were laid on the beach recently, and the theory has been advanced that their presence can be attributed to some under-sea disturbance. The water-worn appearance of the pumice points to the possibility of its having come down the Mohaka and other rivers whose sources rise among or near pumice deposits. Grandism (2825); Good company, good wine, and good welcome can and do make good people. Buy the best money can buy jT the Grand Home Supply..-. The story of the man who met a kiwi in Lambton quay, Wellington, and promptly consulted his doctor, was recalled by a Rotorua visitor who was crossing a dark portion of upper Tiitanckai street, Rotorua, the other night, when he looked up to see an elephant in his path (states the Rotorua Morning Post). Elephants encountered unawares are always • a little disturbing, particularly when one does not realise that the circus is in town and that there are elephants in circulation closer than Central Africa.

"There are few white men who would do the same,” remarked counsel for £ bankrupt Chinese at a meeting of the latter’s creditors in Palmerston North, when the solicitor explained that bankrupt had sold up all his furniture and tools and handed over the proceeds to the.deputy official assignee 'in order to pay his creditors. Previously, said Mr J. M. Gordon, lie had explained to bankrupt that he could, under the terms Of the law, retain £SO worth of furniture and tools of trade, but, despite That, bankrupt had sold the lot. Flies bring disease. Keep your windows and house clear of these troublesome pesis by using our fly baths. Quality meat safes stocked in all sizes.— Dickinson’s, Limited, Sheetmetal Workers, 246 Princes street... <

“It is not right that counties should bq, asked to control the main highways.’* said the Minister of Public .Works (Mr R. Semple) at Wanganui the other nightThe liability of The Main Highways Board should be wholly the ’ Government’* liability, and the main highways, which were public highways, should be under the control of the Highways Board. This was the only board which in any. way justified ■ its • existence, he remarked. Secondary or subsidiary roads could coma under the counties’ control, but they should definitely not be asked to bute to the Main Highways Fund.

Legislation will be required to enable the Thames aerodrome site to be leased by the Thames Harbour Board to the Thames County Council, according to advice received 'by Mr J. Thorn, M.P., from the Minister of Internal Affairs (Mr W. E. Parry). Mr Parry stated that he could not see any reason why the lease could not be arranged at once and the work commenced. He would be glad to assist in validating the action and would arrange for appropriate provision to be included in the Local Legislation Bill. Mr Parry thought' this would be sufficient to enable the work to be proceeded with. The Thames Aerodrome Committee will meet shortly to consider the position.

When . Donald was helping himself rather liberally to MTherson’s bottle of Whisky (bought at Wullie Crossun si M'Pherson cried out: “Hold on, Donald, yer toasting a New Year, not a Centenary.”.. "I thought we knew how to move until my arrival down under,” Dr Daniel A. Poling world president of the Christian Endeavour Union, remarked in ah address in Wellington. Americans were generally supposed to know the value of speed and how to employ it, but his eyes had been opened in Australia. There be travelled 4600 miles, flying 2500, and giving 42 addresses in nine cities in nine days. “After Australia I am going back to the United States to tell the real meaning of speed to Americano,” he said. An amazing freak, a specimen of liliutn auratum. with a stem 2i inches wide and a crown of blossom measuring 18 indies long and a foot wide, was brought to the Marlborough Express office by Mrs T. Moore, of Havelock Suburban, in whose garden it was grown. The. unusual form of the specimen was due to several flower spikes having grown into one, forming a wide, flat stem bearing literally hundreds of perfectly formed flowers. In its first freshness, the spike was so heavily flowered that it formed a magnificent natural wreath. In New Zealand and other Englishspeaking countries it is a widely-accepted custom that the aspiring swain waits'• on his intended with flowers. They do it differently in Rumania, so Mr Desmond Roland informed Timaru Rotarians. The young man first of all sees the girl’s godfather who appears to act as a 'go-be-tween. Then he waits on the girl, with a gift of scones. “If the girl eats the scones, he’s on a win. If she doesn’t, there’s nothing doing.” The Rumanians were a very temperamental people, and it was the local policeman’s duty to search the men for knives before- allowLast 10 days of sale., Oddments at gift prices. See windows displays. Hate, frocks, coats,, and summer underwear all greatly reduced. New winter goods opening.—The Mosgiel Drapery Warehouse. A. ing them to enter dance halls. A surprising number of white butterflies was collected by the members of one family in a competition organised by the Harewood branch of the Women s Division of the New Zealand Farmers Union. At a meeting of the Harewood branch recently it was reported that the children of members collected over 6000 white butterflies. The children of Mrs Orchard collected 1480. Sheaves of wheat have been washed up on the Kaikoura, beaches during the last week. Many sheaves are on the beach at South Bay, and also on the other side of the Kaikoura peninsula, near the wharves. The sheaves (says an exchange) are intact and are tied with the original twine. It i s thought that they have been taken up the coast, probably a distance of 100 miles, by the sea currents, and are part of the debris from the recent floods in Canterbury. There is no district with the same potentialities as Poverty Bay, according to an opinion expressed by Mr O. N. Gillespie, a visitor to Gisborne. He said he had been through most' of the travel routes in the Dominion in the last year or so. and all that was required to-make Gisborne a large city and to bring thousands of tourists to its scenic and thermal resorts; from our own country and from overseas, was the completion of the railway. It should not be left to the occasional visitor to make these attractions known, but Gisborne should follow other towns by making its claims known to the world by some definite organisation.:" Gisborne lias every amenity possessed by any other provincial town.” he said, “ and when it becomes a rail terminus will be sought as a conference and holiday centre.” ’ New York boasts of buildings tall, London boasts of its Pall MallScotland boasts much whisky taken, Milton boasts of Hitchon’s Bacon...