LOCAL AND GENERAL

Taranaki Daily News, 17 July 1929, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The management of New Plymouth Pictures have •decided to instal the latest speaking-picture apparatus in Everybody’s Theatre. It is expected the installation will be completed by the end of next month. 1

Following a report that the Main North Road between Mahoenui and Te Kuiti is in a very bad state and lacks metal, the Taranaki Automobile Association has decided to write the Highways Board on the matter.

The works committee of the New Plymouth Borough Council agreed yesterday to undertake the kerbing and channelling of Pioneer Road from Breakwater Road up the first hill, when the matter was put before it by a deputation from the Moturoa Ratepayers’ Association headed by Mr. R. Glengarry, the chairman.

The Whangamomona County Council proposes to strike rates of s|d in the £ in the Strathmore riding, 8d in the Pohokura riding, in the Central riding and 7d in the Taliora riding. The rates are levied on the unimproved value and, with the exception of Strathmore, where- there is a reduction of Jd) are same as last year.

The Wanganui Technical College Rugby team to play New Plymouth Boys’ Hio-h School this afternoon arrived in New Plymouth last night by the mail train. The team, which was in charge of Mr. G. Holgerson, was enthusiastically welcomed by large numbers of High School boys and by Mr. A. J. Papps. The visitors were billeted with the New. Plymouth boys and will return home tomorrow.

Writing to the sporting critic of the Southland Times, Mr. W. Robison, a member of the Southland Rugby Union, who is touring with the All Blacks in Australia, says: “Mr. McLeod’s (the manager’s) wife travelled with the party, and Kivell (one of the team) has his wife and twin babies with him. The twins will be two years of age on July 21. I think he (Kivell) has a big heart and deserves a game in any All Black side to take on a trip in these circumstances. However, all of the boys helped to look after the. twins on the way over.”

The Auckland Acclimatisation. •Society's onslaught against hawks is meeting with great success. At a meeting of the society the secretary reported that over 7000 pairs of hawks’ feet had been sent in so far. A resident of the Morrinsville district had sent in 461 pairs of feet, for which he received a substantial cheque.

The danger of wandering stock on the roads was stressed at the monthly meeting of the Whangamomona County Council on Wednesday. The chairman ana other members stressed the menace, particularly on the main road between the Whangamomona township and the saddle. It was resolved to instruct the riding surfaceman to impound any stock wandering on the main road throughout the county. A visitor to Te Awamutu on Thursday had occasion to make a small payment at a local shop, and, being short of silver, he tendered a, half-sovereign. To his surprise and amusement, the shop assistant refused to accept the coin, considering it not legal tender. The visitor then produced a £1 note, and this was promptly accepted and change given. Gold coins are rarely seen nowadays, and probably the shop assistant thought a joke was being perpetrated. During June building activities in New Plymouth progressed to an appreciable extent. Permits to the value of about £30,000 were issued and in all cases work is well under way. The New Plymouth Savings Bank and McGrucr’s new building are the chief undertakings in Devon Street, but perhaps the largest construction is the addition to the Taranaki Producers' cheese cold-storage plant at Moturoa. Giving 16,000 square feet of extra floor space, this will be a large three-storeyed concrete building, reinforced in such a way as to withstand the shocks of a moderate earthquake. Owing to the depth of the gutters and the camber on the roads in New Plymouth, it is considered by the executive of the Taranaki Automobile Association that there are considerable difficulties in the way of observing the by-law that cars shall be parked as close to the kerb as possible. A deputation will discuss the matter with the borough council. The subject was raised as a result of a letter from a member who had been warned by a traffic inspector ?that his car was parked too far out from the kerb in Devon Street. The motorist said he appeared to’ be observing the regulations, but not the by-law. “There are boundless opportunities for New Zealand to attract more tourists, and money spent in advertising the Dominion’s attractions in the United States would be amply repaid,” said a Californian visitor who arrived in Auckland recently. Thousands of Americans made annual holiday pilgrimages to England, Europe and the Far East. They went there year after year, generally to the same places, and drawn there by the power of advertisement. If some other place, .equally attractive, was brought before their notice in a compelling manner, they would change their custom.

“Do you consider that the children are being forced through the primary schools under too big a strain?” was a question put to the director of the Division of School Hygiene, Dr. A. J. Paterson, by the chairman of the Southland Education Board. “I would not like to express a definite opinion as far as the primary schools are concerned,” replied Dr. Paterson, “but I am quite satisfied that secondary school pupils are being subjected to far too much strain. Many pupils do over three hours’ study each day outside of the actual school hours, and I consider that this is affecting the health of these pupils in no small measure.”

,Soine months ago Venetia Dillon, married woman, of Cottlcsloe, Western Australia, was arrested on a charge of having written abusive letters to her neighbours, Elizabeth Dyer and Denzil Wlson, who, it was alleged, had received several letters a day over a long period. Mrs. Dillon was remanded for mental observation, and was later committed for trial, but the Crown filed a nolle prosequi. The case caused much public discussion, and Mr. Justice Draper was appointed a Royal Commissioner., to investigate the matter. In his report he expressed the opinion that Mrs. Dillon was not the writer of any of the letters, and that the order sending her to hospital for observation should not have been made by the magistrate. Food of various kinds, including pork, ham, brawn and potted meats, may contain bacteria, without showings signs of putrefaction, which cause poisoning. The form of poisoning called botulism has symptoms chiefly nervous rather than gastric. Double vision, great weakness and difficulty in swallowing are common. There is little fever, and the mind remains clear. There have been only two or three cases in Britain. In 1922 eight persons were affected and died at Loch Maree. Botulism is due to a specific germ which has great heat resistance, which forms a very poisonous substance. Fortunately it is ’rare and botulism is one of the rarest of diseases. The botulism toxin, unlike the germ, is destroyed by boiling.

A large shipment of motor-cars for New Zealand arrived at Auckland from New York by the steamer Port Gisborne. In the total of 340 automobiles of numerous makes, the shipment included 102 for Auckland, 109 for Wellington, 67 for Christchurch and the balance for Dunedin. The Port Gisborne had, in addition, a heavy consignment of automobile accessories and rubber goods. Much of this part of the shipment was for Wellington, where it will be delivered to manufacturing plants established in connection with the motor industry in ’this Dominion. Although the shipment does not rank as the largest of the kind from America, it is an indication of the high rate of motor absorption by New Zealand that sue i shipments should be arriving with comparative frequency. Mr. A. W. Martin, the well-known rupture specialist, from Dunedin, is now on his twenty-fourth annual visit to the centres of New Zealand. He will be in New Plymouth on Wednesday and Thursday, the 17th and 18th of July, and may be consulted free at the Criterion Hotel. Hours: Daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Will be at the Central Hotel, Hawera, on Friday and Saturday, the 19th and 20th of July.* The Farmers’ Co-op. Society draws attention to the entry of dairy stock to be offered at the Hawera sale on Thursday on account of Mr. S. C. Tonks, 100 choice 3-year-old Jersey heifers, specially selected as calves, bred and reared by the vendor; also on account of Mr. F. Reardon 100 guaranteed sound dairy cows. These cows have been wintered well and are close up to profit. They are mostly Jerseys and all carry Mr Reardon s guarantee of soundness. Purchasers of these cows may have same delivered free to them at Manaia, Okaiawa, Kaponga or Eltham. Full particulars appear in auction •»'J 'i