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Otago Witness, Issue 3855, 31 January 1928, Page 47

The Railways Department will shortly bring into operation a selector telephone system for the control of all trains between Christchurch and Oamaru. A single copper wire line has been installed between two stations, and communication has been etablished between the two towns, reception being very clear. The fierson in control will be stationed in the District Railway office in Moorehouse avenue, Christ church, and he will have charge of all trains and. tonnage, will arrange crossings and alterations where necessary, and win watch (he quick despatch of live stock, perishable goods, and so on. Particulars will be supplied to him from each station, and if special trains are necessary, be wi' make all arrangements. It is hoped tha.’ the new system will ensure nr'xcd and pas■songer trains running up to time, leaving the goods trains to do all other work Under the system Christch'Tch can call tip Timaru, for instance, without any other station receiving the ca.’l, and the same applies to all other stations, which in turn can only communicate with headquarters. Ihe system represents a new departure in the method of controlling the running -it trains, and is also being installed on rhe section of line between Wellington and Marton. It is not known exactly when it wih be put into operation, but its inauguration will not be long decayed. A telegram from Mastertrtn states that the new St. I‘a"viek« School, which was erected by the parishioners if Masterton to commemorate Monsignor M Kenna s 40 years’ continuous service as parish priest in Masterton, was opeuvni yesterday by Archbishop Redwood, assisted by Archbishop O'Shea.

Ihe following public bequests have been made under the will of the late Mrs H K Wt.kinson ;—Karitanc-Harris Hospital. •m-5 ; Dunedin Presbyterian Social Service Association, £25: Y.M.C.A.. £25; Y.W.C.A., £25; Knox College scholarsh'D fund, £25; Knox Church Youths’ work, £25. Die Grey District diamond jubilee wih be held at Greymouth from February 26 to March 3 of thi 3 year. An invitation io be present has been extended to the -chairman of the Taieri County Council «.r J. W. Blair) and to the Mayor of Mosgiel (Mr J. P. \\ alls), who have also been asked to endeavour to convey a similar invitation to any former residents of the West Coast who may now be living in the district they represent. An alarming experience thot was welcome in its subsequent result befell a Bell Bock (laranaki) farmer, a few days ago (savs a northern exchange). He had been engaged for several days sinking a well, lor water on his property and when a depth of 65ft w>a s reached without any apparent satisfactory result the farmer reluctantly decided to abandon the shaft and try m another locality. Suddenly the ground began to tremble and lift beneath his feet in a most alarming manner. Hurried calS were made for a bucket and the farmer, without waiting to collect hi s tools, was hauled out. Before he reached the surface, however, water began to pour into the well and in a few minutes it was estimated it had reached a depth of 40ft. The following day it wa s within sft or 6ft of the lop. A party consisting of Messrs F. N. Adams. R. M. Adams, D. Haslam (U.S.A.), R. L. Wigley and A. E. Horwell, a few clays ago. made the first trip by motor car over the new road from the Hermitage to the Blue Lakes (says the Timaru Herald). This road is under construction by the Public Works Department, and at. present the completed portion is seven miles away from the Hermitage, just undernea’h the Blue I-akes. The new road is to lie taken to the Tasman Glacier, and the Glacier trip, which, in existing conditions, occupies three days, will, on completion of the work, be accomplished in the one day. An interesting tour of the world has just been completed by Mr and Mrs F. J. White, of Whangarei, who returned io Auckland by the Ulimaroa from Sydney on Tuesday. They spent two years in England and on the Continent, and visite-i Egypt and Palestine. In addition they visited Norway on the summer cruise ma la by the Otranto. Mr White was greatiy impressed with the excellent motoring roads of England. He said one could go for mileg and inile s without a bump and the wear and tear on the car was almost negligible. As a member of the Whangarei and Auckland Racing Clubs, Mr White was greatly interested in racing in England, and with Mrs White attended two Derbys and two Ascots. “ Eng and leads the world in the high breeding and beamy of her racehorses,” he stated. ” 1 attended the great horse shown in Irelaml and there saw 1000 purebred horses. 1 never thought I could s ee such a sight and shall never forget it. The jumping was. wonderful.'' The secretary of the Post and Telegraph Department has received a letter sent l-> the chief postmaster, ‘Wanganui, by Mr A. G. Chesswas, of Makakaho, in which bo states that between 9.25 and 10 p.m. ou January 10 he and his wife heard what they considered could not be anything elso but an aeroplane, both having heard aeroplanes before. They live 40 miles inlaa-l from Waitotara railway station, ami the only road passing the house is a bridle track, so that it would hace been iniftossible for it to be the sound of a motor car or any other vehicle. Tlie statement tallies with that of Mr MetcaT who, it was reported on January 17, sa'd t-hat he heard the engine of an aeroplane in the same local.'tv.

The Secretary of the Otago Harbour Beard points out to us, in connection with the statistics contained in the annual report by the chairman of the board, that the value of the exports from the port in last financial year were nearly £19.090 above, not below, those of the previous year. lie directs attention also to the fact that during the 12 months the board was able out of general account to help loan account to the extent of £15.923, thn s sav-iig the necessity to issue d oentures—and pay interest—for the amount.

Mr A Leigh Hunt, ctuiirman of the Wellington branch of the English-speaking Lnion. has received a letter from ex-Presi-dent W. 11. Taft, Chief Justice of the United States, thanking him for a letter sent to him expressing the branch's apprcciatian of Mr Taft’s remarks made at the beginning of September when welcoming Lord Hewart. Lord Chief Jitstice of England, to a gathering of the American Bar Association at Buffalo. On that occasion, Mr Taft, in the course of felicitous remarks on British justice, said that the debt America owed to Britain for her law and form of government could never be repaid. Mr Taft writes to Mr Hunt as follows: —

” 1 thank you very much for your letter of November 19, in which you speoh of my address in welcoming Lord Hewart, Lord Chief Jitstice of England, to a gathering of the American Bar Association at Buffalo. It gratifies me much to know that you approve the sentiments therein expressed. The English Bar had given the Amer can Bar in 1921 a wonderful and most hospitable reception in London. There never will be such another feast of appreciation and worship of the Common Law as there was in that centre where the common law flourished, and we in the American Bar in 1927 were only attempting in some small way to express to our English hosts ol 1924 our high and grateful appreciation of what they had done for us. I am delighted to know that you arc preserving the English-speaking Union successfully in New Zealand, and that you feel the real necessity for cordial co-operation between the British Commonwealth of Nations and our country.”