NEW ZEALAND NEWS

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 61, 23 May 1928, Page 5

NEW ZEALAND NEWS

NOTES fm-M ALL' PARTS. [.,,,. '. —-ii SCHE DOMINION DAY BY DIY. \ i The Government "Out of Ordetf*. The Government is to be reminded by the Napier Borough Council that iit is not abiding by its own Acts (states an exchange), because of the thirteen buses running between Napier and Hastings under the Railway Department not one is licensed as required by the Motor Omnibus Traffic Act, 1926. It was pointed out at the meeting that the' Government could not be compelled to license. Nevertheless, the Railway Department is to be reminded that it is required to comply with the Act. New ZeaJland Coal. The Railway Department's practice of using New Zealand coal in-/ stead of imported coal received the commendation of shareholders attending the annual meeting of Taupiri Coal Mines, Ltd., on Wednesday. ."This policy," said the chairman of "directors, the Hon. E. A. Alison, •M.L.C., "is of great benefit to New 'Zealand, as it gives employment to a large number of miners and other workers, enables the companies to .increase their output? to install better machinery, and generally improve the working conditions, while all the money paid for such coal remains in the country." ?.\ -\ ..# .* i f ,f' % Weasels Cause Bankruptcy. That weasels should be largely responsible for a man's bankruptcy seems incredible, but at : *- : a meeting of creditors in a poultry farmer's bankrupt estate in Invercargill (says an exchange) all present agreed that these destructive imported animals responsible for the insolvency. In his sworn statement bankrupt said that 600 of his-, pullets had been' killed by weasels. Later in reply to questions he said that in three days he had' killed 49 weasels on his farm. "I understand weasels migrate," said bankrupt's counsel, Mr S. M. Macalister. "You must have struck a migration." "A lerret can kill fifty fowls in an hour. , I don't ■know about weasels," said another creditor.

Reduction in Bate. The advantage of an early reduction of the bank rates have "persuaded the council ot the Auckland Chamber of Commerce to join with the Associated Chambers of Commerce in making : combined representations to the banking institutions, on the subject. Action, it was stated, had previously, been deferred until the banking statistics showed a return to normality. The president (Mr H. T. Merritt) stated that in view of the publication of the first !/4 , quarter's banking statistics, and in the light ot the remarks made at Cambridge by the Minister of finance (the Hon. W. Downie Stewart), there was no room for hesitancy, and the Chamber could associate itself #lth the agitation for an immediate reduction of the rates.

Rival Islands. "The Director-General of Health states that too much is being spent in the South Island in this" tuberculosis. institution's compared' with those in the North Island," said Mr W. Bryant at a meeting of the Ashburton Hospital Board last • week, "and that a commission of medical men would he set up to go into the, question. But where would he 'get better.men than' those .the hoards have now? Capital expenditure at Waipiata is almost complete, and what has been spent has been perfectly justified." The chairman (Mr F. W. Watt) said that not one board the North Island boards without paything in the, erection of a T.B. sanatorium (reports the Lytteltou Times). The Government had erected two, one for men and one for women, and had offered to hand them over to the A'ort Island boards witout payment of a penny. . The Government had provided for the North Island, but had never done anything; for the South Island, where the boards had had to do everything *'out of their own revenue, with some, assistance from the Government. 'lt was a • of setting one visjand against the other. Mr Bryant said patients had to be in the sanatorium for a certain period to become acclimatised, so that they could get new blood to • fight the disease. The chairman said the work done was absolutely justified. * * Oil from Whales. The whaler Hananui 11., which operates off the northern coast from the base at Whangamumu, is at present at Auckland undergoing annual overhaul (states the New Zealand JJerald). The vessel is berthed at \yestern Wharf, and this week will go on the slipway. She will sail for the north the following Wednesday to prepare for the winter whaling season, which begins in June. The past season's operations at ; Whangamumu we,re highly successful, and the catch, a total of 74 'whales, was one of the best ori re ~ cord. The whales caught off the northern coast are of the humpbacked variety, distinct from the blue whales, among which the Norweigians are operating in the Antarctic. The wbales travel from the breeding grounds in the tropics to the feeding grounds in colder seas and back again. The southward migration 'begins in September, and the whales are chased and caught as, they are sighted some 30 miles off th e Northern coast during October and November. It is during the northward run in Julie, July and August that the whales are most readily caught, and the bulk of the) yearly is takpn during the winter s«ason. This is because the wbales are fat, and find it more difficult to evade capture. {