In Town And Out

Southland Times, Issue 23000, 21 September 1936, Page 8

In Town And Out

Summer Time Again Soon.

On Sunday next, September 27, summer time comes into operation again, and the advancing of clocks by thirty minutes will have the beneficial effect of lengthening the hours of daylight after the day’s work _ is done. Summer time will continue in operation until the last Sunday in April. Captain Cook’s Map?

A map of New Zealand 200 years old has been offered for sale by an American collector to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce. No indication is given of its origin, but if the age claimed is anywhere near the truth, it was drafted by Abel Tasman or Captain Cook. Tasman was here in 1649, nearly 300 years ago, and Cook was next to chart the coasts, in 1769, rather less than 200 years ago. Publicity for New Zealand.

The activities of the Tourist Department extend far beyond the knowledge of the average New Zealander. One interesting item occurs in the annual report of the department recently released. It states that a talking film, “New Zealand’s Scenic Charm,” was completed and a special copy was presented to the liner Queen Mary for inclusion in its movietone entertainment equipment and display while crossing the Atlantic. Bands Parade. Invercargill was well-catered for with band music over the week-end. On Saturday afternoon the boys’ band of the Ist Battalion, Southland Regiment, played at the Southland Hospital, while yesterday afternoon the Battalion Band played in the hospital grounds and the Civic Band entertained many hundreds of people in No. 2 Gardens. Warm sunshine on both days gave people every opportunity to enjoy the welcome outdoor entertainment. Historic Pair of Handcuffs.

A pair of handcuffs of historic interest has been presented to the Canterbury Museum by Mr J. Houlden, of Christchurch. They were issued to his grandfather, who was a special constable during the “wool riots” in Yorkshire during the ’thirties of last century, when there was considerable agitation because of the introduction of machinery in the wool industry, which, it was thought, would lead to unemployment. The handcuffs show that there has been practically no change in pattern during the last 100 years.

Calculations Upset. A rattle of firearms in the Drill Hall in the early hours of Sunday morning might have caused some people to think uneasily of civil war. But inside the hall all was well. An unexpectedly large number of entries had upset the calculations of the officials of the Southland Miniature Rifle Association, with the result that their first annual rifle meeting, which began at 6 o’clock on Saturday night, did not end till some seven hours later. The competitors, however, were undismayed. They cuddled their rifle butts, squinted carefully at the targets, and allowed their enthusiasm to wage a winning battle with sleepiness.

Where Tourists Come From. The main sources of tourist revenue in New Zealand are disclosed in the annual report of the Tourist Department. It shows that 57.7 per cent, of the tourists come from Australia, 18.4 from the United Kingdom, 6.6 from the United States, 1.8 from Canada, 10.3 from other British countries, 0.9 from European countries and 3.4 from all other countries. During the year ended March 31 last, the greatest number of overseas visitors ever recorded made New Zealand their choice for a holiday. The Dominion had visitors from practically every country of the world, including Persia, Java, Peru, Jamaica. Denmark, Burma and Belgium.

“Toughest Yet.” “I have to admit that Otago was far too good for us,” said J. R. Lamason, the Wellington captain* after the Ranfurly Shield match at Dunedin on Saturday. “In my opinion it is certainly the best team in New Zealand at the present time. We have absolutely no excuse to offer. We have met some tough teams this season, but Otago is the toughest so far.” It was very gratifying to have won the penultimate Shield match, was the remark made by J. Hore, the Otago captain, who expressed the view that “if the boys keep up their present form they should be able to make a good showing against West Coast next Saturday.”

“Coronation” Souvenirs from Japan. A prominent Wellington commercial firm has received a letter from one of its representatives drawing attention to a curious feature of the manufacture of “Coronation” souvenirs and their importation into New Zealand. Preparations are being made by manufacturers in England to cater for a big demand in various parts of the Empire in May of next year, in time for the King’s Coronation. The writer states, how<*ver, that large orders from all over New Zealand have already gone to Japan These orders include, among others, thousands of Union Jacks and New Zealand flags for school children at ridiculously cheap prices. For some time past there have been in English trade and other journals illustrations of English-made souvenirs of all kinds. These ffeve been copied by Japanese manufacturers, and most of the British national Coronation souvenirs of many classes of goods will therefore come from Japan. These goods can be bought at less than half of the price of the English goods. Growth in Air Mail.

Monthly figures show a steady increase in the carriage of mail by air in New Zealand and new records are regularly established. For instance, letters posted at Christchurch in August for carriage by air numbered almost a thousand more than the previous month, which also showed an increase of more than two thousand letters on the preceding month. To date, there is every indication that September will set a new record, for the daily average has been 464, which is 43 more than the August daily average, which was the previous highest figure. Since the service started, the monthly totals have been; April, 11,836; May, 9186; June, 10,214; July, 12,092; August, 13,065; September (to date), 7893. In the South Westland area, the amount of mail carried by Air Travel, Ltd., continues to increase. The weight for August was over -3001 b greater than that of July, which showed a huge increase over June. In passenger traffic, August was one of the best months experienced by Union Airways, the total being 176, compared with the record of 195 established in May.

Ear Troubles. A considerable amount of ear trouble is being experienced among sufferers from the apparently common form of influenza rife at present and which has considerably' reduced some shop and office staffs (says The New Zealand Herald). Some of the cases of ear and associated trouble are said to be severe. The Health Department has been informed of very few notifiable cases of influenza. Invariably cases re-

ported are not true pneumonic influenza, but of pneumonia supervening on influenza. Dr T. J. Hughes, district health officer, said he had heard of many sore throats. There was always a mixture of different germs in the throat, and when resistance was lowered by influenza, these had the opportunity to increase and become virulent. Thus what was generally called influenza often covered a multplicity of things. Dr Hughes said a good proportion of the diphtheria cases recently reported were set aside after investigation as not being diphtheria. These cases were, of course, definitely associated with throat troubles.