In Town And Out

Southland Times, Issue 23716, 14 January 1939, Page 6

In Town And Out

Main Highways Board The Main Highways Board will tour Southland from January 31 to February 2 and, if desired, will meet representatives of the Automobile Association (Southland), the Southland County Council and the South Invercargill Borough Council. This information was conveyed in a letter to the Southland County Council yesterday from the board’s representative (Mr W. G. Pearce) and it was decided to meet the board. Friday The Thirteenth

No sailor likes to leave port on a Friday, and it js even less likelv that he would view with enthusiasm a proposal to sail on Friday the thirteenth. The fact that yesterday was Friday the thirteenth may have accounted in a measure for the fact that all ships at Bluff remained in harbour without a thought of venturing forth on such an unlucky day. In spite of its evil reputation. however, the day passed uneventfully, and the weather was indeed very much more pleasant than on Thursday the twelfth or on any of the preceding days this week. The last time Friday fell on the thirteenth was in May, that being the only occasion last year when the day and the date coincided. There will be one more Friday, the thirteenth this year, the second occasion being in October. Half Holiday in County It was decided at a meeting of the Southland County Council, yesterday that Wednesday be the statutory half holiday for shops in the Southland County. Reconstruction of Edendale Comer Work is to begin soon on the reconstruction of the “blind” comer on the main highway at Edendale, _ the land having been presented by Wright, Stephenson and Co., Ltd., to the Public Works Department for the purpose. It is proposed to shift the wooden store further round the corner towards Brydone, and when that has been done and the road reconstructed the vision for motorists will be increased from half a chain to five chains. Tenders for the work close on January 24. Compensation for Strikes A resolution was carried at a recent meeting of the Auckland provincial executive of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union asking the Government to investigate all strikes. The resolution urged further that the party responsible should be compelled to pay compensation for resultant losses. Timaru No Longer “Sunny” With a rainfall of 40.05 inches during 1938, the heaviest annual fall since recordings were commenced at the Timaru Gardens in 1897, it is no wonder that the once popular slogan “Sunny Timaru” has dropped into disuse (says The Timaru Herald). The previous highest annual fall was 31.03 inches in 1902, but 1936 was also excessively wet, 30.80 inches being registered. During December rain fell on 16 days for a total of 6.72 inches, the maximum falls of 1.54 inches and 1.23 inches being recorded on the 16th and 21st respectively.

Expectations Exceeded “I expected a great deal when I arrived in your country, but what I have already seen has surpassed all my anticipations.”' This was how Dr F. Naegeli, the leader of a party of Australian tourists, expressed his admiration for the scenic beauties of Otago and Southland, when speaking at a reception in the Tudor Hall of the Savoy, Dunedin, on Thursday night. The country down south was beautiful for grazing, he said, while the profusion of flowers and trees and the mountains and streams truly earned for New Zealand the name of “God’s own Country.” Referring to the close kinship between Scotsmen, Dr Naegeli said that he could not “put it over” ,in Invercargill. The people knew when he spoke that he was not Scottish, and he had to confess that he was born in Switzerland.

Telephone Call from Brisbane Telephone conversations with persons overseas are becoming common, with the large number of radio telephone channels now in use, but seldom are calls of this nature put through to a bowling green. This happened in Christchurch on Thursday when a call was received at the Canterbury Bowling Club’s green from Brisbane for Mr W. Mason, one of the Australian bowlers, who is visiting the Dominion. In an interview with The Press Mr Mason said he was playing in a rink game when the call came. “At first I must confess I was quite alarmed,” he said, “but I was relieved to find it was only my son ringing up to ask if I would be willing to sell my car during my absence, as he had a buyer. I was pleased to accede, and I am now looking forward to buying a new car when I return.”

Charred Remains of Mail The charred remains of a quantity of mail matter is taken as conclusive proof of the destruction of the mail bags which were taken from a van travelling between Napier and Gisborne on Saturday night. The discovery was made in the hills near Morere as a result of an intensive search of the district since the theft was committed. A police party on the Gisborne side of the Morere Hill, found traces of an open fire, round which were scattered the charred contents of one of the mail bags Near the fire was found a halfburned letter, which is understood to be a portion of the registered mail which the bags contained. Metal rings and the remains of a mail bag were also found. Evidently all the letters in the mail bag were taken and, having been opened and the valuables removed, were burned in the fire. It is not known whether .any trace has been found of the other missing bags. Four or fiye mail bags were removed from the van somewhere between Wairoa and Gisborne, and their contents were registered letters and parcels from districts south of Napier.

Inquests Last Year During the last nine months of 1938 24 inquests were held in Invercargill, an unusually big number for this city. The biggest number in one month was six, in May.

Railway Finance The recent failure of the Railways Department to meet its current expenditure out of the income for the same period suggested more vividly than is actually the case (says a Wellington correspondent) that railway finance has gone back seriously. The ! reverse will be demonstrated as successive four-weekly returns are published, and there is a confident feeling in administrative circles that the end of the financial year will demonstrate that the railways can pay the total interest for which the Minister of Finance budgeted at the beginning of the year, and with such a balance as will demonstrate that this was possible without making allowance for the increases in fares and freights. The revised tariff, however, was justified in the light of rising costs, and is in line with experience of many railway administrations all over the ' ’