Holiday Arrangements

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23691, 24 December 1938, Page 10

Holiday Arrangements

There will be no publication of the Otago Daily Times on Monday next, December 26 Air Mails Reach London

The English letter mail despatched from Auckland on December 8 arrived in London on December 22. The air mail despatched from Auckland on December 6 arrived in London on December 19. All Roads Clear

Reports received by the Automobile Association (Otago) indicate that all roads in the Otago district are in good order. Yesterday the surface of the Milton-Lawrence highway near Manuka Post Office was inclined to be greasy, but it is expected that this section will present no difficulty to-day. Motorists, however, would be well advised to exercise caution when negotiating this portion of the road. The district engineer of public works has notified that the Makarora road right up to Haast Pass is in first-class order for motorists. Drunken Drivers

One of the most serious and grave offences on the road is the offence of driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of drink. The mere fact that any police officer may arrest a person committing this offence without a warrant is an indication of its gravity, says a report issued by the Automobile Association of Otago. The suggestion has been made in Great Britain that when a person is found guilty of having taken intoxicating liquor to an extent sufficient to prevent him having proper control over his vehicle, the penalty should be increased and the vehicle impounded for a certain period. Motorists will be well advised, the statement adds, to live up to the slogan "If you drink, don't drive, and if you drive, don't drink." Exhibitions in America

Arrangements fur New Zealand's participation in the two exhibitions to be held in the United States of America next year—the World Fair in New York and the Golden Gate Exposition in San Francisco—were explained by the Minister in Charge of the Tourist and Publicity Departments, Mr F. Langstone, in an interview. The New Zealand court in New York will be in the charge of Mr R. M. Firth, New Zealand Trade and Tourist Commissioner in Toronto, and that in San Francisco will be in the charge of Mr R. W. Marshall, New Zealand Tourist and Publicity representative stationed in Los Angeles. The New York World Fair, said Mr Langstone, would be held from May to October next. New Zealand had been allocated 10,000 feet of covered space, free of charge, in a special building, in which would be housed the exhibits of the British Empire. The keynote of the British authorities' exhibit, and, in fact, of the whole fair, was prestige and simplicity, and the internal design and lay-out of the New Zealand court was being planned accordingly. Mr Langstone said the Golden Gate Exposition in San Francisco would be held from February 18 to December 2, 1939. The Exposition authorities had granted New Zealand 2000 ft of space free of charge, and they had also provided a building free of charge.

Restoring Gold Boom That efforts should be made to renew activity on the Thames goldfields is the contention of a correspondent who knows the locality well (says the Auckland Star). At one time, he states, the business people at Thames launched the Thames Low Grade Ore Prospecting Association, which was well supported by Government grants. A large amount of money was spent, a great number of prospectors were employed, and a reasonable amount of gold was won. but the system, he claims, was radically wrong, being carried out on the " old-time" surface scratching. The general opinion of experienced miners was that local geologists should have been consulted as to where quartz reefs were located, containing characteristics favourable to ore values. Work should have been concentrated on the most favourable sites. If that had been done, the glory of the "roa/ng seventies " might have been restored.

Mortality in Tobacco Plants An indication of the difficulties of tobacco growing in the Auckland district (says the Star) is the mortality among the plants of various varieties of tobacco at the plant research station, Mount Albert. The plants were obtained from Motueka about the middle of the spring, and a sheltered part was selected for them. After a time it became evident that they were suffering considerably from the ravages of the tobacco virus, and in some of the rows, which originally contained several dozen plants, only about half a dozen remain. Unlike the ordinary tobacco varieties grown in New Zealand, these plants are exceedingly rich in nicotine. The purpose is to produce nicotine sprays for the control of insect pests. Smaller than "plants used for producing smoking tobacco, they also appear to be more susceptible to the attacK of the virus.