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Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 18918, 21 January 1936, Page 4

With a view to securing the Auckland Harbor Board’s dredge, Hapai, for use in the development of the Breakwater harbor at Napier, a committee of the Napier Harbor Board is shortly to pay a visit to Auckland.

The Napier Harbor Board has let a contract for the supply of 1200 tons of steel to Messrs. R. Holt and Sons, ol Napier, the sum involved being approximately £15,000. The steel will bo used in the construction of the first of the new deep-sea wharves, which are to be constructed in connection with the harbor development works. The preliminary dredging of the area for the first wharf is now nearing completion, and the driving of the piles will be started as soon as the piles have been manufactured and seasoned.

The present season is rather a remarkable one, by reason of the large number of Australians who are spending their holidays in the Dominion, states the Wellington manager for Messrs. Thomas Cook and Son. A curious sidelight on the situation was that a large proportion of the visitors came from the most distant State, Western Australia. People from that State were invariably delighted with their experiences, and the scenery of New Zealand, which presented such a very complete contrast with their own country. Still, 5000 miles.—from Perth and back—was a long holiday journey.

One of the largest land sales transacted in the Wairarapa for some years took in Master-ton recently, when Mr. 11. (!. Toogood sold his well-known property, “Te Whanga,” of some 3700 acres, to Mr. P. J. Borthwick, of Masterton. Mr. Toogood bought the property from Mr. D. Buchanan, of “Tupurupura,” some years ago. It is understood that the price paid for the property! and stock complete by Mr. Borthwick was between £30,000 and £IOO,OOO, or, roughly £25 per acre, taking the stock, plant and buildings on the station into consideration.

The Napier Harbor Board yesterday received a letter from the Hawke’s Bay Farmers’ Meat Company,’ Limited, and Nelson’s (N.Z.), Limited, protesting against increased berthing charges made by the board, which had had the effect ol causing Messrs. Richardson and Company, Limited, to increase their lighterage rates on meat and general cargo. This, it was pointed out, involved an additional payment by the freezing companies, and the companies protested against the imposition, asking the / board to reconsider its decision to increase the berthage charges. Otn the suggestion of the chairman, Mr. Trevor M. Geddis, it was decided to invite representatives of the freezing companies to meet the works committee of the hoard

The phenomenal change that has taken place in Japan during the past 60 years lias been made possible only by the desire and the ability of the Japanese people themselves to learn and lollow the methods of Western civilisation. One of the essentials to learning is a knowledge of the various languages) of the world. English being the principal spoken language, it has become the ambition of most Japanese to acquire at- least a superficial knowledge of it. Last, week, two Japanese vessels, the Sydney Mara and the Manju Mara, arrived at Auckland and the crews of both have shown their pleasure when given the opportunity of conversing in English. Many have Japanese-English dictionaries, and are constantly in search of new English words to'add to their vocabulary. The greater efficiency with which the railways, in common with other services iri New Zealand, were being conducted at the present, compared with a decade or more ago, was commented upon by a railway official in Auckland. Formerly, especially at rush holiday periods, he said, it was the usual practice to accommodate increased passenger traffic in very large trains, which were difficult to operate and which could not possibly adhere to their time-tables. To-day, trains at holiday time were smaller and ran more frequently, and, as a result, delays and late arrivals were comparatively rare. The official, added that on a trip ‘to Wellington during the recent Christmas period he had 1 passed five expresses, none of which was. more than a few minutes behind schedule.

An acknowledgement of Christmas gifts totalling £SOO and 80 cases of goods from New Zealand for the Makogai leper station, Fiji, is made by the medical superintendent, Dr. C. J. Austin, who stated that an increase in the amount over last year was very acceptable, in view of the increase in numbers at the station resulting from admissions from the Gilbert and Ellice Group. In spite of 45 discharges and 27 deaths, the numbers at the station rase from 466 to 580. “The new patients from the Gilbert Islands,” the letter added, "were particularly pleased to be here, and were contrasting their present good fortune with their previous experiences of Christmas in their own leper station. They were astounded to hear of the generosity of people iti New; Zealand and elsewhere whom they had never seen.”

After a year’s work, the four municipal croquet lawns on Rutene read reserve are now almost ready for play, and two of the lawns will be brought into i-.se on Saturday next, the official opening day. The Mayor, Mr. I). W. Coleman, M.P., has agreed to officially open the lawns, while invitations to be present at the function, which takes place at 3 p.m., have been extended to the borough councillors andi their wives and also to the members of the varipus bowling elubs and their wives. On Saturday the Turanga Croquet Club, which up to the present has had the use of the miniature lawns adjacent to the Macrae baths, will transfer its interest to the new lawns on the reserve. Although only two of the lawns are to be brought into use immediately it is expected that in a short time the other two lawns will also be ready for play.

A horse on the road was the cause of a motor-lorry plunging over a 40ft. bank in the gorge near Te Whaiti. Mr. J. Moulder, the driver, attempted to dodge the horse on a bend in the gorge, road 1 , and the loaded truck, which is owned by Mr. J. Pittar, sawmiller, of Te Whaiti, ran over the edge of the bank and somersaulted 40ft. before, coming to lest. The driver received severe cuts from Hying glass.

As the result, of having her hair caught round the revolving rod of a milking machine, ’Valerie Holstter, ao-ecl ,six, daughter of Mr and Mrs G. ifoLtcr, of I’oroti, near Wlmngarei, was admitted to the Wlmngarei Hospital. She had lost a considerable amount of hair and was suffering from shock. Her condition was reported to be not serious.

Dissatisfaction with the. standard of the doctors’ degrees of the University of New Zealand other than those in medicine and dentistry, is indicated in a notice of motion given to the University Senate at Auckland by Professor 11. G. Denham. The motion that Professor Denham proposes is that the Academic Board be asked to report upon the steps necessary 1 for raising the standard of doctors’ degrees other than those in medicine and dentistry. The work of forming the road on the New Zealand Broadcasting Board’s property at Titalii Bay, Wellington, where the new 60-kilowatt broadcasting station is to be located, is now well under way. The board’s next, step is the calling of tenders for the buildings, and it is expected that operations in this respect will be started in two or three months’ time. The apparatus for the new station is now being manufactured in Australia. The station will be in operation before the; end of the year. The necessity for young men to have some disciplinary training was emphasised by Vice-Admiral J. E. T. Harper in an address to the officers and men of the Canterbury Division of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. He" said that only by learning discipline could a man control other men when he grew older. Mr Harper also praised the valuable disciplinary training provided for the Royal Naval Volunteers.

“How much is charged by the hostel?” asked the Minister of Education, the Hon. Peter Fraser, when the Girls’ High School was being discussed by him with members of the Napier Secondary Education Board. “£54 per year, full board,” was the reply by the secretary of the board, Mr \V. L. Dunn. “There, straight away, is one factor which leads to fewer boarders,” said the Minister. “It is obvious that there are hundreds of farmers who would be unable to pay that amount,” lie added.

The number of tourists from abroad who havo visited Southland this season has shown a considerable increase over previous years. This is dfle, in great measure, to tho Marama being in the Bluff-Melboume service and the vessel’s passenger list has been an exceptionally heavy one on recent trips. The manager of the Invercargill Tourist Bureau stated that the business transacted up to the present this season was practically three times as great as that for the similar period last year. Surprise that so few Wanganui residents had seen the scenic beauties of their river was expressed by an Australian visitor to Wanganui. Most of the people he had met had not been more than a few miles up the river and their only knowledge of its fine scenery had been gained from publicity photographs. Australians, and many New Zealanders, lie said, had no conception of the grandeur of the river scenery, especially in the upper reaches. The season has not been a good one for lilies at Arthur’s Pass, for although 'the leaves have developed fully, the flower stems are wanting in most of the plants, probably because of the lateness of the season. The lilies continue to suffer from the attentions of deer and chamois; but the work of deer-stalkers during the holidays has done' something to counteract this. The mountain daisy is showing to better advantage and most of the other members of its family are doing well. Blooms have been very profuse on the mountain beeches, and the ribbonwoods and wineberries promise well. It seems likely at present that berries will be plentiful later. Four local body members and officials in 'the Tnumarunui district were involved in motor-car accidents in the district within the space of a few weeks. Mr P. Joyce, foreman of the Taunuirunui County Council, had his car badly damaged when it went over a steep bank near Taumarunui. Mr J. 11. Delvis, traffic inspector, collided with another ear near 'the county boundaries on the TaumarunuiStratford main highway last- week, but no one was hurt. The Mayor, Mr C. A. Boles) was involved in an accident when his motor-car collided with the New Plymouth service car near Te Kuiti, and the deputy-mayor, Mr E. Managh, had a collision with a motor-truck near Itaurimu, after a trip in which he travelled 900 miles without a mishap.