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Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19661, 20 June 1938, Page 4

Evidence that the onset of winter has been accompanied by widespread sickness in Auckland, not only among children but also among adults, is furnished by depletion of school attendances and by the number of employees of city firms who are on si<-'k leave. About 000,000 cement bags were destroyed by a fire which broke out in the reserve No. 2 store at Wilson's New Zealand Portland Cement Company's works at Portland. The damage is estimated at possibly £II,OOO and the company is fully covered by insurance held by the New Zealand Insurance Company, Limited, and the South British Insurance Company, Limited.

Teams representing the Gisborne High School played in two fixtures in Wairoa on Saturday, suffering defeat in each instance by a narrow margin. The Gisborne High School senior basketball team was beaten, 14 —12, by the corresponding team from the Wairoa District High School, after a brisk and entertaining match; and the second Rugby fifteen from Gisborne wa s beaten, 11-9, by the Wairoa District High School's first fifteen, the latter game being played as a curtain raiser to the Prince of Wales Cup match between Eastern and Western Maori districts.

Severe internal injuries were suffered by a drover, Mr. Thomas Cook Paton, aged 39, married, Papakura, when he was attacked by a heifer at the Papakura dairy sale.

Proposals that a Maori, Samoan or other native house or village complete with inhabitants in traditional garb should be a feature oT the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition are receiving consideration. If anything of the sort is arranged, it will be as a part of the New Zealand Government's contribution to the exhibition.

In connection with the official opening of the Taihoa and Takitimu carved houses in Wairoa on Saturday, those who had an opportunity of examining the ceremonial keys handed to the acting-Minister of Native Affairs, the Hon. F. Langstone, expressed much interest in the workmanship displayed in their preparation. The keys were furnished for the ceremonies by Messrs. A. Stone ham and Company, Limited, Gisborne. Some unexpected excitement occurred at the National Dairy Show in Palmerston North, when a sideshow tent in which boxing kangaroos performed burst into flames as it was being waxed before being packed away. It is thought that benzine which was used to melt, the wax caught alight and spread to the canvas, which in a few minutes became a charred mass. The kangaroos were outside at the time. The owner, Mr. L. W. Fabre, estimates his loss at £33 10s. The tent was uninsured. The "fun map" of New Zealand, prepared by the Government Publicity Department for the use of next summer's" holiday tourists and people on pleasure cruises has been released for publication. It subtly combines entertainment and education and is a most attractive advertisement for the Dominion. Some 50,000 copie s have been sent overseas to agencies in every part of the world. Meantime, the map is in great demand for the adornment of offices, studies, and nurseries and as a rare example of departmental humour. "We have found New Zealand the most delightful country in the world," said M. Andre Pouquct, ConsulGeneral for France in New Zealand, addressing members of the Wellington Travel Club at a recent reception. "Even if we are very many miles from home, we don't feel' homesick at all, because the people are so hospitable and kind." M. Pouquet referred to the very warm welcome that had been extended to French sailors when French ships had recently visited New Zealand ports.

Chewing gum is apparently no modern invention. The Maoris made theirs in the old days out of kauri gum, according to Mr. H. C. Heays, Wellington, who gave a lecture on kauri gum to the Philosophical Society. The Maoris made it plastic in boiling water and then mixed it with thistle juice to give it softness, elasticity, and flavour. They also used the gum as fuel for torches and for burning under sheets of green bark in order to secure lampblack from which the tatooing pigment was made. Even the early European settlers, before kauri gum achieved commercial importance, used lumps of gum as fuel.

an interesting story of the eflect of the policy of Government relief work in the United States was told by Mr. Gordon Allard, of Los Angeles, in an address to the Christchurch Businessmen's Club. He saio that he had employed a man and his wife to act as chauffeur and gardener and cook respectively, but the woman was attracted by a Government relief job and left her position. Later the man also decided to leave for the same reason. He found, however, that he could not take relief work while his wile was also employed bv the Government. He decided, therefore, that although she did not earn as much as both of them it would be preferable for him to stay at home and look after the house.' Many others were doing the same thing, the husbands calling for their wives in automobiles after work.