NEWS ITEMS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 16212, 24 August 1923, Page 6

NEWS ITEMS.

I At a recent meeting of the Whakatane Borough Council it was decided to raise a loan of £2OOO for the purpose of building two dwellings, one for the borough electrical engineer, and the other for a member of the electrical staff at Karaponga. A girl 18 years of age was charged at Pukekohe with having opened a postal packet while connected with tlie post office in an official capacity. Accused pleaded guilty, and was committed to the Supreme Court for sentence. Speaking at the complimentay dinner given to the Prime Minister by the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, Mr. .T. Myers, president, advocated am appeal to the merchants of M cllington to raise a thousand pounds for the purpose of advertising Wellington at the Empire Exhibition. Steady progress is being made with the extensive scheme to control the flood waters of the Manawatu river from Linton to tho sea.. The scheme has for its principal object tho protection of some 70,000 acres of low-lying. land, which during high floods is all subject to inundation, but it is also hoped that by taking the flood waters direct to the sea great improvement will bo possible to tho shipping facilities at Foxton. In order to advertise New Zealand lamb arrangements! have been made by tho N.Z. Meat Producers Board, through its London office to deliver sinsrle carcases of prime New Zealand lamb to any address in Great Britain for the sum of £1 13s. per carcase. The board urges farmers and others to take advantage of this offer, t and help to advertise and encourage the consumption of this prime article of produce. During tho hearing of a manslaughter charge at Tirnavu, the point was raised as to the time which a car travelling at the rate of 25 males an hour would take to cover ten yards. Mr. Justice Reed said an easy means of computation was to halve the number of miles at which the car was travelling per hour, and this would give tho number of yards, approximately, which the car travelled per second. Thus (says tho Herald), in the case of a car travelling at twenty miles per hour about ten yards would be covered in one second. ' An Opotiki stock-driver was taking a flock of sheep to Mr J. 11. Reid’ssfarm at Toa Toa a few days ago. reports the Herald. Unfortunately he had omitted to have liis horse ancl dog sprayed, and consequently he was “held up” by the roadman at tho Meremore Hill. If he went on it meant a fine and costs, so he tied up his horse and dog at the borderline, and completed tho journey on foot, fortunately only a short distance. Our stock friend reckons New Zealand is becoming far too civilised or there is too much red tape used. Whether by assisting in the delivery of milk a farm hand brings himself under tho dairy employees’ award is • a paint the Arbitrtaion Court will be called upon to decide. In a case brought before Mr. J. E. Wilson, S.M.. it was contended that a youth employed as a farm hand was entitled to assist in retailing milk, as it was incidental to his work on the farm, and was also a purely voluntary act on his part. Mr. J. Hollows, inspector of awards, submitted that a farm hand by assisting in retailing milk came within the meaning of the dairy employees’ award. His Worship decided to state a case for tho opinion of tho Arbitration Court. , “I am indeed l proud of tho manner in which the Christian forces, are leading the way in industrial evolution in tho East,” said Miss M. A. Dingman, addressing members of the Auckland Rotary Club. “I believe that China and Japan are tho only countries where the church people have said: ‘Wo have a- great responsibility in regard to these things, and we will lead tho way in rousing tho public conscience.’ ” As a result, tho Christian people are now doing splendid* work in supporting improved industrial legislation, the three most important measures brought forward being the abolition of child labor in factories, one day’s rest in seven instead of two days a month, and better sanitary conditions , After paying an official visit to the Rongotea. school, tho chairman of the Wanganui Education Board returned (with an unfavorable impression (says the Wanganui Chronicle). Although tlie district is noted for dairying and its succulent pastures, the chairman could see no reason why grass should be allowed to grow in tho gutters on the roof of tho building. “The committee said that they had no funds,” said the chairman at a mooting of the board recently, when giving his impressions of the visit, and, lie addod, “I pointed out that the boys could do the work.” It was mentioned that the site of the Rongotea school was not satisfactory, and an endeavor is to be made to secure another site.

The Rotorua Borough Council has decided to submit to_ tho ratepayers a proposal to borrow £30,000 for roads. A three-storev property in Highstreet, Auckland, has. just changed hands at a price approximating £II,OOO. The Hawke’s Bay Coufcy Council has started in four or five localities the planting of trees suitable for bridge timber. The influenza epidemic in Napier is now a thing of the past, and for over a week no notification has been received by the Health Department. Lady Jellicoe, accompanied by the . Hon. Lucy Jellicoe, will leave Wellington for Sydney on September 14, and they will then embark for Japan. Tho first fishing trawler to make an appearance in Whangarei, left on her maiden fishing trip on a recent morning to commence trawling operations in the vicinity of tho Three Kings. Mr. Walter Averill, eldest son of Bishop Averill, formely Bishop of Waiapu, has been offered the position of assistant-clergyman to the parish of Cambridge (N.Z.), The Inglewood district was visited by a very severe thunderstorm and electrical disturbance last week. One resident had several windows smashed, while a neighbor’s cow was killed by lightning during the height of the storm. The house requirements immediately in view by tho Railway Department under its housing scheme are 1200 dwellings, and it is state'd in the annual statement of the Department that these will keep the Department’s house factory fully employed for at least four years'. When not required for house-building purposes,, tho factory will be utilised in connection with car and waggon construction, for which the equipment is suitable. • , On account of its wonderfully picturesque situation, Dunedin may well bo called “The Pedestrian’s Paradise” (says the Otago Daily Times). There is a great choice of fine walks in its immedirato vicinity, and it has the additional advantage of a climate which makes a tramp over the hills enjoyable all the year round. It is felt that if those who indulge in this form of healthy recreation were to organise much could be done to still further poularise it. An important phase of the Railway Department’s ■ operations touched on in the Minister’s annual statement is its policy of purchasing its requirements in the Dominion wherever possible. During the year £1,865,212 was expended in purchasing stores and other material, of which amount £1,245,477 was circulated in tho Dominion. Generally speaking, a \ very large proportion of the total expenditure of the department in. wages, stores, etc., is circulated', within New Zealand. An amusing misunderstanding .arose in a divorce case which came before Mr Justice Stringer in the Supreme Court at Auckland. Mr Singer, for one 1 of the co-respondents, when cross-examining the petitioner, asked whether, at a certain period, petitioner and the corespondent had arrived- at a stage of bibulous intimacy. At once Mr Leapy, on behalf of petitioner, raised a protest, saying he objected to the term “bigamous intimacy” —« which he erroneously thought had been Mr Singer’s, phrase. The comprehensive nature of tho task of supplying electrical Current to the I residents of* Southland, as undertaken by the Electrio Power Board, can be gathered by the fact that to traverse the roads along which the service lines have already been erected will take,five days hard driving by motor car (says the Southland* Times). During the past week the chairman, and engineer of tho board have been visiting various parts of the district, inspecting the work already completed or in course of ereestion, and they have .not yet been able, owing to pressure of other urgent'work, to 1 complete their inspection. * • . ’ > N A new “silent inspector”, has been installed in Hastings at tho intersection of 1 Heretunga ; street’and Karamu road. The new “inspector, 4 * which is larger and much more imposing than its predecessor, is a groat advertisement for Hastings, being tho first of its kind to bo installed in New Zealand. It consists of an obelisk on a concrete founda- , tion, surmounted by a four-sided flash- ; ing light, which is charged with sufficient compressed acetylene to remain! alight night and day for three months without attention. “Slow—Keep Left” is the wanting on each side of the inspector and in addition it possesses “indication arms” which can be used in heavy ‘ traffic. It stands about seven feet high and is quite “hefty” enough to mako any vehicle driver realise that its instructions must be obeyed. Similar inspectors are in use in America, England and France, and it is understood that in the near future about six will be in-, stalled between Hastings and Napier.