WARSHIPS FOR SALE

Shannon News, 10 November 1925, Page 3

WARSHIPS FOR SALE

THE CHATHAM AMONG THE NUMBER. In continuance of their programme of naval economies ,the Admiralty has deciled io close down the coastal motor boat base at Haslar, and to dis. pose of a number of vessels, states the “Daily Telegraph.” This announcement follows upon the decision to dispose of the destroyer depot ships Hecla, Dido, and Woolwich. Ih. eluded in the seven vessels which are now to appear in the sale list are several which have distinguished* re. cords. The full Admiralty list as as tollows: H.M.S. Diligence is to be sold . H.M. ships Sandhurst and Green, wich will cease to be destroyer depot ships, and one of these two ships will bo sold. H.M.S. Blenheim is to be sold. H.M'S. Southampton is to be prepared for sale. H.M.S. Dublin is to be prepared for sale. . H.M.S. Chatham is to lie placed on the sale list on her relief by H.M.S. Effingham, and return front the East indies station . H.M.S. Boadicea is to be prepared or sale. His Majesty’s ship Diligence is i«-dost rover repair ship of the Atlantic Fleet. Sandhurst and Greenwich are •it present attached to the Mediter. cancan Fleet Destroyer Flotillas. Blenheim is depot ship of the Cen. iral Reserve of Mine.sweepers, Sheerness. She was employed in the operation®, at the Dardaneelles before and at the landing of the Expeditionary* Force at Gallipoli on April 25, 28, 11)15. She was launched at Blaekwal] on July 5, 1910, and com. missioned fuor years later for service in the Channel Squadron.

His Majesty’s ship Southampton, until she was replaced by Chatham’ early last year, was flagship of Rearadmiral Richmond, East Indies Station. Laid down at ' Messrs. John Brown’s, Clydebank, in April, 1911, and commissioned in the following November, Southampton took part in the action in the Heligoland Blight, resulting in the sinking of the cruisers Mainz, Ariadne, and Koln and several destroyers on August 28, 1924, and again served in the action, off the Dogger aßnk on January 24, 1915, when- the German cruiser Blueher was sunk. H.M.S. Chatham was laid dowli at Chatham on January 3, 1911, nd launched on November 9 of that year. She was the ship of Captain S. R. Drury Lowe'in the blockade of the German cruiser Konigsberg in the Rufiji River, German East Africa, October and November, 1914, and is well known in New Zealand waters, where'she .was several years the dominion flagship until replaced by the Dunedin this year. Cruiser Dublih, until recently, was on the South Afri. can station, and was relieved by Lowestoft this year.

“It is extraordinary tire number of letters that go astray according to what one hears in court,” said Mr J. W. Poynfon, S.M., during the course of hearing a case at Stratford on Monday. “I have been using the. Post Office for forty years and have never known letters to goi astray. Apparently, they do, however, and more so when it suits a defendant.”—Post.

“You might ask me the name of the man I Work for, digging spuds,” said a Maori witness in an action in flie Supreme Court at Auckland, “and I will tell you.” Counsel had been cross-examining the witness at great length, and the latter appeared to be tired of it, as was His Honour Mr Justice Herdman, who, on a number of occasions’ reproved counsel, and pointed out that the questions had nothing to do with the case.

Stocks of wheat, held at, present by the poultry associations, are still very low, and although wheat is entering the country duty free there will be no material reduction in price until the new season’s crop is harvested, It is being contended by some poultrymen that the market is being manipulated by the Australian merchants owing to the threatened drought in 'New South. Wales, which necessitates conservation of supply. Na substantial reduction in price is expected, therefore, before January.

An English and his wife have planned to see New Zealand in “caravan” style. They are the Rev. Alan B. Portman, .of Wheatsheaf, Shirborne, Dorset, and Mrs Portman, who intend to leave Auckland for Rotorua and the Taupo district this week, states the Star. Mr Portman has bought a complete camping outfit, and will follow the old English custom of caravan life, which he considers is the best, way of viewing a country, and at the same time affords the best opportunity for a pleasurable holiday. He intends to spend six months in the Dominion, and hopes to visit all the resorts and places of leading interest in both islands.

Complaints come from all over the Dominion in regard to the abuse of the “absent voters’ ” privilege on Wednesday. The Returning Officer' in Christchurch, states he believes no fewer than 1000 absent votes were re-,; corded in each of the three city elec-'' torates. Abuse of the privilege arose" when a vioter recorded a vote outside his own district merely to save himself a short walk or a slight inconvenience. He added that the principle of the new rule was a good one, inasmuch as it facilitated voting, but it should not be applied to contiguous city electorates, or steps should be taken to prevent any abuse of it in those electorates. Several returning officers were somewhat alarmed at the demand for absent voters’ papers that they had to meet suddenly.

The Halcombe correspondent of the Wanganui Chronicle writes; A glorious week-end from a weather point of view induced a good number of people to'visit Tangimoana (at the mouth of the Rangitikei river) on Saturday and Sunday. The visitors are easily picked out from the permanent dwellers. The former dress themselves up in boating costume—that is the men do—and stroll along the foreshore, and smoke and watch the boats, the other sex wear saucy hats and gay parasols, and silken cloaks, and dainty white and pretty coloured dresses. The permanent inhabitant is satisfied with old clothes—the older the better—disreputable boots, and a battered hat, which after all, are the more serviceable. It utterly spoils a boating trip if you have folk in the boat who are thinking all the time a good deal more of their dress than the trip. The river affords a good opportunity for a day’s holiday, and on a fine Sunday Tangi-' moana is one of the gayest sights near this dull old village. The only drawback, according to one resident, is that it is miles from a “pub,” and as to the river—what is the good of the river if everyone who goes on it dies of thirst!

An interesting and beautiful astronomical spectacle will develop during this month. There are in the western sky after sunset two bright stars, the upper one being the planet Jupiter and the lower one the planet Venus. They are far apart just now, but will gradually approach each other, and on the 26th they will pass within five moons’ breadth of each other. Prior to that, however, on the 20th, the young four days’ old crescent moon will be close to them and the three luminaries will show up well. On the 28th Venus reaches its widest distance from the sun, after which date it will begin to close in to the sun, increasing in brightness for some time. After the 26th, Jupiter will be llie lower of the two planets, and will tend to decrease in brightness. On the evening of the, 22nd, the planet, Mercury will be very close to its widest distance from the sun, but as it sets very shortly after sunset a sharp lookout will have to he kept for it. The two planets Saturn and Mars are not well placed for view during the month, the former becoming a morning star on November 10 and hidden in the sun’s rays. Mars is a morning star, and may he seen just before dawn in front of the sun, low on the eastern sky, towards the end of the month.

Considerable interest in. commercial circles during the last few weeks has been centred on the movement of New Zealand Breweries shares, lhe result of Wednesday’s licensing referendum naturally brought renewed confidence in these shares, and two. sales took place on the Auckland share market yesterday at the price of 60s. This is 8s 6d above the price realised on Tuesday. The shares which are of a nominal value of 20s were fairly steady at a little over 40s until the beginning of October, but durino- the last month prices rose to 45s 6d, 47s 6d, 50s, and finally to 50s 9d Although the licensing poll was only a few days away this week’s prices have been 51s 6d and 60s.

The Lyttelton Times republishes the following interesting paragraph from its columns of fifty years ago; “A Good Example.—A correspondent writes: The proprietor of the Canterbury Steam Sawmills, Whateley road, Mr James Goss, has initiated a rule in his establishment which I hope will be followed by the numerous employers of labour in Christchurch and its suburbs, viz., paying his numerous staff of workmen on a Friday night. This, coupled with allowing them to have the hall-clay on the Saturday to themselves, is a good boon, as it enables them to go a-sh-opping in daylight, and lay their earnings out to'the best advantage. If all employers of labour were to adopt the same rule it would not only be a benefit to their own men, but would tend to shorten the hours of labour of that numerous class, the shopkeepers’ assistants, whose hours of work are now extended till nine and ten o’clock on Saturday nights.”

An accident which happened at Katikati a few days ago, resulting in the electrocution of six milch cows and aiso some damage to a telephone circuit was reported by the engineei of the Tauranga Electric Power Board. He stated that in an endeavour to get supply through to a milking machine plant belonging to the owner •of the cows, a line was livened up before sufficiently completed. This apparently resulted in one of the Board’s telephone wires coining in contact with a low tension wire, and as the end of the telephone wire was on the ground the animals were able to come in contact with it. lhe line was livened up for 1J- hours only before being switched off and though the accident occurred in a not much frequented corner of the paddock the number killed was apparently due to the habit of animals in gathering round when one of their kind is in trouble. Experience shows that farm animals are very subject to electric shock, and the danger to human life in such an affair as this, though serious, is not as great as might be supposed. The Board decided to make an offer of compensation.

What is probably a world’s record for continued wakefulness was established recently by two experimenters who remained awake for five days and four nights—lls hours—in order to study the effects of long lack ot sleep on the human body. Two assistants attended the subjects of the test to keep them awake (says a writer in “Popular Science.”) Both of the experimenters were tested periodically while they remained awake and after they had begun to make up their lost sleep. Blood pressure, respiration, and reflexes, and temperature were some of the things tested, and the results of these observations have been summarised by Dr. Kleitman as follows:—Sleep comes as a result oi complete muscular relaxation. You can help to bring on sleep by relaxing the muscles —you can ward it oft by muscular contraction. But after you reach y-onr limit of latigue your muscles will relax automatically, and sleep will come whether you wish it or not. Nervous fatigue produces muscular contractions that prevent sleep. Complete “thoughtless” relaxation, then, is the goal to be sought by those who suffer from nervous in somnia.