Centennial Exhibition

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23885, 12 August 1939, Page 12

Centennial Exhibition

The Minister of Industries and Commerce (Mr D. G. Sullivan) will speak on the Centennial Exhibition from 2YA on Monday at 7.5 p.m. This talk will be rebroadcast from 4YA. Contrasting Freight Charge*

“ Doesn’t this indicate that the press is pampered at the expense of the sheep farmer? ” was a suggestion made, perhaps not in all seriousness, at the meeting of the Otago Provincial Council of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union by Mr James Begg. He was discussing freight charges from New Zealand to Great Britain. The cost of landing a bale of wool from his property, Bendigo, at London was £2 I2s 2d. “Yet,” he said, "I can send the same weight (3501 b) of second-class mail matter from Bendigo to 350 different addresses in Great Britain at a cost of £1 9s 2d—a difference of £1 3a.”

City Fire CalU j Several calls were responded to by , the City Fire Brigade yesterday. At i 11.24 yesterday morning the brigade was called to a wooden dwelling and I shop at 139 Dundas street, where a : pan of fat in an oven had caught fire. Slight damage to the paint on the ! mantelpiece was caused. Seventeen minutes later the brigade was called to a seven-roomed wooden dwelling at 48 Highgate, which is owned and occupied by Mr J. O'Driscoll. Minor j damage to the woodwork round a firei place was caused. At 3.33 p.m. the ] brigade attended to a chimney fire ' in Lonsdale street, North-East Valley, and at 8.41 it received an automatic false alarm from the Town Hall. Technical College Election The poll taken yesterday to debt a representative of urban school committees on the King Edward Technical College Board of Managers resulted in the election of Mr H. H. Johnson. The voting was as follows; —Mr Johnson 53 votes, Mr H. R. Hunt 23, and Mr G. A. Burtenshaw 21. The following arc the members of the board who had l previously been re-elected: —Mr C. J. Hayward (local bodies), Mr F. L. Lawrence (employers), Mrs A. Herbert (employees), Mrs M. E Morris (parents), Mr L. Sanderson (Education Board). Mrs Morris was elected in place of Miss L. Sullivan, who recently resigned from the board.

Community Singing The presence of the country girls taking part in the educational week and of members of the Bush Rugby football team assisted in making the weekly session of community singing in the Strand Theatre yesterday a great success. The theatre was filled to capacity and those present joined whole-heartedly in the singing, which was led by Mr H. P. Desmoulins, who was assisted by Messrs J. F. Himburg and H. Marsden. Mr A. Pettitt was at the piano. Mrs W. Annan, Otago provincial president of the Women’s Division of the Farmers’ Union, and Otago and Southland representatives of the country girls thanked the committee for its invitation to attend the sing. Messrs S. Oliver (manager) and A. Mahoney (captain) returned thanks on behalf of the Bush team, and Mi; P. Twentyman played a mouth-organ solo that was well received. A knitted patch quilt, sent in by pupils of the NorthEast Valley School, was sold to the team for £l. The collection amounted to £37, but a portion of this money is being given to last week’s cause, which was the raising of funds for the occupation school for mentally and physically crippled children. The total amount collected for this cause is now about £6O.

No Koran for Witnen When an Indian witness was aoout to give evidence, in the Supreme . Court at Hamilton the question arose as to how he should be • sworn. On Mr Justice Blair inquiring whether he was a Christian, the Indian replied that he was of the Mahommedan faith, and wished to be sworn on the Koran, As no Koran was available, the witness, with the consent of the other counsel, made an affirmation. Struck by Lightning During a severe thunderstorm In the early hours of Wednesday morning, a tall pine tree, nearly 100 ft high, standing on the roadside at Otaika, near Whangarei, was struck by lightning. Striking the top of the tree, the flash travelled down the trunk in spiral fashion, stripping the bark for about one foot wide. Running into the roots, the flash tore up the ground round the foot of the tree. Part of the force travelled along a fence attached to the tree.

Transport Committee Probably the report to be submitted to Monday evening’s meeting of the Dunedin City Council by the Tramway Committee ■ will be the last to come forward under that name. Included in it is a recommendation that, in view of the recent decision of the council to change the name of the department from the Dunedin City Corporation Tramways to the Dunedin Corporation Transport, the designation of the Tramway Committee should be altered to the Transport Committee. * Duty of Pedestrian* “In my opinion, this was a piece of. swank, but it fell flat,” remarked Senior Sergeant Claason in the City Police Court yesterday, when Nicholas John Montgomery was charged before Mr H. W. Bundle, S.M., with having loitered . on a pedestrian, crossing. When accosted by a constable, the senior sergeant said, the defendant admitted that he had done a silly thing, but added that he did not know the law. “The duty of the motorist toward the pedestrian is strict,” the magistrate observed, “ and that of the pedestrian is just as clear—he must not unduly block the motorist.” Hts Worship added that the present offence had apparently been committed deliberately, and imposed a fine of 15s and costs (10s). Municipal Organ Recital The city organist, Dr V. E._Galway, has arranged a very interesting programme for the next after-church recital to be given in the Town, Hall to-morrow evening. Special mention might be made of Bach's beautiful Choral Prelude “ Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” (request Item); “The Morning Star” (Dallier), which is being performed for the first time at these recitals; and the “ Ride of the Valkyrie” (Wagner). Other items ofmj terest are “Chorus from Samson” (Handel), Introduction and Fugue (Rheinberger), “Clear as the Sun” (Dallier), and “The Holy Boy (John Ireland). Dr Galway will be assisted by Miss Mavis MacDonald, who will play the Concerto in E minor (Chopin), Romance and Rondo, the orchestral accompaniment being played on the organ. This item is being played for the first time at these recitals. There will be no charge for admission.

Refugees from Vienna “All our correspondence does not come from tourists,” said Mr J. J. W. Pollard, director of the South Islands Travel Association, at a meeting of the association’s executive in Christchurch. “This week we received from a Viennese refugee in Shanghai an appeal for aid to gain admission to New Zealand. He is a window-dresser and an instructor in alpine sports, as well as a builder of ‘gum canoes.’ His wife is described as a ‘lawyers secretary,’ capable of correspondence in English, French, and German. They saw a copy of ‘ Discovery,’ the association’s annual bulletin, and decided to seek our aid.”

Judging a Second A method of judging a second was wivcr by Mr Justice Blair in the Supreme Court at Hamilton during the hearing of a civil action. Counsel had suggested that the time in which one could say “Jack Robinson” denoted the length of one second. “ That is not correct,” commented his Honor. “ Those words are too long. If a person wishes to count three seconds he should say, ‘ One-one, two-two, three-thres.’ ” ,

“ Wide of the Mark ” “I don't know what the position is with the dairy farmer, but I do know that as applied to the sheep farmer depending on returns from wool and surplus store sheep, the Minister is Very wide of the mark,” said the president (Mr E Hay), commenting, at the annual meeting of the Canterbury Sheep Owners’ Union, on the statement made by the Minister of Housing (Mr H. T. Armstrong) that the farmer’s income was to-day four times what it was in 1935.

Pavilion at Exhibition One of the most striking structures within the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition building at Rongotai (states the Dominion) will be the pavilion of the Roman Catholic Church in New Zealand. Mr Edmund Anscombe, architect, has designed a building extremely modern and yet bold and dignified—one that none could possibly pass without noticing. Its severe lines, devoid of the parapet or cornice extend to a structure designed in three sections. The main object of the interior displays will be to illustrate as far as is possible the history of the Catholic Church in New Zealand during the last 100 years or more, and the work of the Church throughout the ages. Military Display

With the object of securing the cooperation of the sports and athletic bodies in this city in connection with the military display which will be given by the various Dunedin units in the Kensington Drill Hall on August 31, a meeting of representatives of those organisations is being called by the Mayor (Mr A. H. Allen), on behalf of. the Territorial Association. The meeting will be held in the City Council Chambers at 5.30 p.m. on August 17.

Rattray Street Taxis As a result of representations made by the Otago Taxi Proprietors’ Association, further consideration has been given by the General Committee of the City Council to the position of the vehicles occupying the taxi stand at the Bank of New Zealand, Rattray street. The present position of the cars, facing east in the; direction of traffic, has been in operation for a period of one month, and information supplied by the association is to the effect that loss of income; has occurred by reason of the change, due primarily, according to the association, to the cars facing away from prospective customers. The committee is of the opinion that there are good grounds for the representations, and therefore recommends that the position of the cars be reversed —that cars now face in the direction of Princes street. This recommendation, however, is subject to the operators on the rank taking out a special insurance policy indemnifying the council against any claims due to accidents caused by taxis moving into the traffic from the wrong side of the road. The committee is further of the opinion that steps should be taken to gradually eliminate this stand. Place of English Language

“An observer in the East can find little evidence of co-operation between the Japanese and the Germans,” remarked Dr William A. Johnstone, professor of political science at the George Washington University, Washington, D.C., to an Otago Daily Times reporter last evening. Dr and Mrs Johnstone are returning home after some months of study of the conditions in the Far East, and he mentioned that one of the most amusing observations of their trip was that German agents and Japanese had to carry on their negotiations in the English language.

Oamaga by Frost Though he was unable to give an estimate of the damage, an orchard inspector, Mr G. H. Macindoe, said in an Interview at Hastings that fruitgrowers In Hawke’s Bay had suffered fairly substantial losses as a result of the recent rigorous weather. Last week a number of lemons from local orchards which had been rejected in curing houses in Wellington were returned to him for inspection, and all the fruit showed traces of severe frost injury. The damage was not confined to any particular locality, but orchards in the vicinity of Havelock Norm, where frosts were not usual in a normal winter, probably suffered most extensively. The loss is twofold, as not only has the fruit now ready for picking been injured, but the crop which will mature about December will also be poor as a result of the damage to trees.

Deer Stalkers Indignant “Deerstalkers throughout New Zealand will resent very much the allegations made against them at the annual meeting of the Canterbury Sheep Owners’ Union,” said Mr A. H. Hamilton, secretary of the New Zealand Deerstalkers’ Association, yesterday, referring (says a Press Association telegram from Invercargill), to statements made by Mr John Murchison in Christchurch on Thursday. Mr Hamilton said one of the objects of the association was to secure close co-opera-tion among sportsmen, runholders and the authorities. The association had many members in Canterbury and North Canterbury, responsible citizens who were certainly not the type to antagonise the landowner in the manner described by Mr Murchison.

“A Bad Shock ” “ Ministers will get a bad shock if they Eisk the young people to sign the pledge, I think,” said the Rev. J. D. Smith, discussing the formation of a total abstinence society, as recommended by the assembly, at a meeting of the Auckland Pre'sbytery. Mr Smith said that one minister had made the request, but not a single person would sign, and he himself had also had poor response from his congregation. He urged that ministers should try It and see, and he said that it would bring home to the church how much it had slipped in the matter. Bullet Enter* Room

Narrowly missing Mrs R. MacDonald, a bullet entered a room in Cover street. New Plymouth, on Thursday morning, struck the wall and fell to the floor. The bullet, thought to be of .22 calibre, was picked up and handed to ' the police. The incident occurred in the bedroom of Mrs Helen McKechnie, who was ill in bed, and was being visited by Mrs MacDonald, a neighbour, The window was raised by Mrs MacDonald so that the sashes were opposite one another, and she was standing near by when the bullet penetrated the two panes of glass and whizzed past her head.

Accommodation Bureau The decision to establish an accommodation bureau during the Centennial celebrations and to restrict its functions to private homes has been made (says our special correspondent in Auckland) by the Centennial Entertainments Sub-committee. The Junior Chamber of Commerce is to be requested to undertake the compilation of the necessary register, and the offices of the chamber are to be the headquarters for the work. It has also been decided that when the register has been completed the Government Tourist Department shall be asked to establish and maintain the offices for the Bureau.

. The Railways Department advertises in this issue that a relief express train will leave Christchurch for Dunedin at 9.10 a.m. and one will leave Dunedin for Christchurch at 10.50 a.m. on August 19. Particulars of the altered running of the usual 8.56 a.m. Dunedin-Oamaru train on Saturday next are also advertised. Vacancies exist in the New Zealand Naval Forces for stokers, seamen, boys and short-service seamen, also for assistant cooks, assistant stewards, artificers and shipwrights. Particulars are advertised in this issue. A. F. Anderson, Dentist visits Middlemarch, Waipiata, Patearoa Thursday. August 3; Ranfurly. Friday July 21 and August 4,

See the fine selection ol electric toasters, irons healers etc., ai Barth Electric. Ltd.. 36 George street. Dunedin; also inspect their new shipment of elec, light fittings of all d'.scriptions —Buy now from Barth Electric. Ltd,. 36 George street. Duneiin.—Atlvl.