IN TOWN AND OUT

Southland Times, Issue 21361, 6 April 1931, Page 6

IN TOWN AND OUT

NEWS OF THE DAY. Moa Bone: Discovered. An interesting discovery of moa bones in a swamp on his sheep run at Kuriwao was recently made by Mr A. T. Harris, of Clinton, a member of the Clutha County Council. Five skeletons were found, four being full grown and the other a small one. The skeletons were complete with the exception of the heads. # * * * Free from Serious Accidents. Despite an increased volume of traffic occasioned by’ the holidays, the Easter week-end was not marred by any of the serious accidents which so often are associated with such public holidays. A collision between two motor cars without severe damage to the vehicles involved occurred near the Roslyn Bush School on Saturday evening and an abandoned car near the New River Bridge over the weekend bore evidence of a minor collision. Otherwise there were no accidents of consequence. » # 1 * Week-end Anniversaries. The week-end just closed contained some notable anniversaries in the world’s history. April 4 was the date in 1774 of the death of Oliver Goldsmith, in 1880 of a revolutionary outbreak in Sicily, in 1897 of the publication of a report of the discovery of much gold in the Yukon, and in 1917 of the end of the German retreat. April 5 was the date in 1814 of the abdication of Napoleon, in 1876 of the raising by decree of the state of siege in Paris which had lasted five years, in 1899 of the obtaining of a lease from the Chinese Government of Weihaiwei, and in 1906 of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. * * * * Motor Cyclist Injured.

At the Riversdale sports meeting on Saturday, during the progress of the twomile motor cycle race one of the entrants, Albert Burrows, of Gore, came to grief. Burrows appeared to be having trouble with his machine in the first lap and when turning into the back straight he accelerated before he was out of the turn, causing the machine to develop a wobble. Burrows lost control, and the machine collided with a fence post against which its rider was thrown heavily. He was carried to the pavilion where every attention was given him pending the arrival of the ambulance from Gore. He was conveyed to the Gore Hospital where he was found to be suffering from shock and .abrasions.

Napier in L’lllustration. In a late number of the well-known French illustrated weekly, L’lllustration, there is an excellent account of the “tremblement de terre” that wiped out Napier. There is a good view of the town from Scinde Hill, and two maps of the locality. The information in the article is obviously drawn from reliable sources, and there is not a single mistake in the place names—even the Maori ones—which are so often a source of danger to the foreigner. The article concludes: “It is curious to recall that the great French seismologist, the late Count de Montessus de Ballore, drew attention more than 20 years ago to the dangerous situation of Napier from a seismological point of view, though he never believed such a disaster as the present one would occur.” * « * *

Rat Chase In Esk Street. Behind the dead body of a large rat which lay in the gutter in front of the Public Library all day yesterday is an interesting story of an exciting chase in the city streets the previous morning. When the rat left his permanent abode to venture into Esk street to see what the weather was like for Easter, he was observed by some taxi-men who at once gaye chase with disastrous results as far as the rat was concerned. He had not gone far before he was penned in a doorway where a well-aimed kick, which’would have won applause on a Rugby field, sent him flying through the air, an elderly lady just managing to avoid him in his descent. “Detained at the office on business” was not the reason for his failure to return home that day to his wife and family. The Graceful Houhere.

One of the prettiest of the New Zealand forest trees is now coming into bloom —the houhere, ribbon-wood, lace-bark, or Hoheria populenae, to give it some of the several names under which it is known, states the Auckland Star. Apparently the season has been most suitable, for the trees aYe so covered with their delicate white blossoms that it is difficult to see the leaves. Most of the New Zealand trees have incon. spicuous flowers, but the blossoms of the houhere are nearly an inch across and make a wonderful show. There is a South Island relation, the Gaya Lyallii, which has even larger flowers, over an inch in diameter. It is very’ abundant along the Milford Track and in the month of January this variety of lace-bark is rather like a flowering cherry. The houhere gets its popular name from its lace-like inner bark, which is exceedingly tough, and was used by the oldtime Maoris for making cordage and other articles. In the Urewera some of the natives even now use it for making baskets and bags. As the houhere is a very graceful tree, even out of flowering time, it is grown freely in gardens and parks. $ * * * Commercial Pilots. Containing 22 names, an official list of commercial pilots has been issued by the Director of Air Services, Wing-Commander S. Grant-Dalton. This list includes four pilots who were successful in the examination held recently, but does not include officers of the Permanent Air Force. A pilot is required to hold a B license before he can carry out flying for hire or reward, although an A licensed pilot, who has completed 40 hours’ solo flying, and who has had his license endorsed for passenger carrying, is permitted to take friends with him wherever he may want to go. He may not be considered a professional pilot, however. The full list of B licensed pilots is given below. The majority of these pilots are licensed to fly light aircraft only. In certain cases the license permits the pilot to fly other types, details of which are endorsed on the license. The names are as follows: G. B. Bolt, Christchurch ; J. C. Mercer, Canterbury Aero Club; W. F. Park, .Wairarapa Aero Club; F. D. Mill, Auckland; G. L. Stedman, Wellington Aero Club; J. D. Hewitt, Auckland; T. W. White, Dunedin; I. H. N. Keith, Western Federated Flying Club, New Plymouth; J. W. H. Lett, Gisborne; J. N. Chandler, Marlborough Aero Club; G. A. C. Cowper, Hawera; M. C. McGregor, D.F.C., Christchurch; J. M. Smith, Invercargill; D. M. Allan, Auckland Aero Club; S. A. Gibbons, Wanganui; I. C. Horton, Auckland; R. R. Money, Rotorua; E. G. Olsen, Dunedin; R. Matheson (Autogiro pilot); Miss P. A. G. Bennett, Blenheim; Mr A. V. Jury, Greytown; and O. Garden, Timaru. ♦ * * * Race Traffic.

Although it was generally understood that the convincing ground for the day was located at Riverton, any person travelling on the main road from Invercargill to the races on Saturday morning might have been excused for suggesting that the greatest contests were held on the highway between motorists whose great anxiety appeared to be to annihilate time and distance in making their way to the course. Traffic was very heavy and there was a steady stream of cars travelling to Riverton, but a number, in greater hurry than the rest, preferred to speed past the procession in the hope of reaching the course a few minutes earlier than the more sedate motorists. Such haste on the part of one driver caused a good deal of delay for more than 20 cars a few miles from the course. When bustling past a line of cars, this driver came suddenly on an approaching small car. Unable to join the procession, the driver appeared to he in a tight corner, but the driver of the solitary car proceeding in the opposite direction chose

to avoid an almost certain collision by going over the bank into a ditch. This enabled the speed merchant to proceed on his way wtihout loss of time, leaving behind him as quaint a traffic block as has ever been seen on a Southland country road One of the motorists in the procession feared that a collision of the other two cars would involve his own and stopped dead, to be run into from behind by a taxi The two cars were locked together and'the traffic was held up for several chains back. The taxi was the only vehicle to suffer damage and this was only of a minor nature, a blown out tyre being the principal item.

Penny Stamp Machines. How many of the people who daily make use of the automatic penny stamp machines in the Invercargill Post Office vestibule know whose brain was responsible for their creation? The inventor of Ihe machine, which has been adopted in most countries of the world, is Mr R. J.'Dickie, of Cheltenham Road, Devonport, who has just retired from the Post and Telegraph Department after nearly 40 years service. He was recently the recipient of a presentation at Auckland when opportunity was taken to express the Department’s appreciation of his invention. Mr Dickie invented his machine while in New Zealand in 1904, his first order being received from Canada in 1906. The machine was given its first trial in England in 1907, when omk was installed at the post office in the House of Commons. Mr Dickie gave demonstrations in England and other countries before his invention was made use of in New Zealand. The first machine in New Zealand was installed at the old Shortland Street post office, Auckland, on July 4, 1910. From then on the popularity of the device in New Zealand was ensured and the inventor received increasingly large orders from all parts of the Dominion. The patent rights were bought by the Government in 1917. Mr Dickie went to the United States in 1910, when his machine was the only automatic one operated by the law of gravity at an exhibition held at Washington. Several machines were installed in the States the following year, Mr Dickie later selling his rights to a company. Today the machine is in use in France, Sweden, Norway and many other countries. Germany employs an electric stamp machine, while Australia, although Mr Dickie gave a demonstration in Melbourne in 1909, has not adopted any system. Mr Dickie stated last week that during the past ten years 42 tons of copper has passed through the machines at the Auckland Post Office, representing 57 miles of stamps, or 4,500,000 pennies of a value of £lS t 750,