LOCAL AND GENERAL

Taranaki Daily News, 1 November 1930, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Electric power was off for about 15 minutes in New Plymouth yesterday morning, owing to the fusing of a switch on the main line. The damage was quickly repaired and little disorganisation caused.

Six bankruptcies were registered in New Plymouth during Octolber, 1930, compared with one for October, 1929. The comparative figures fox- September of 1930 and 1929 were exactly the opposite.

Cars in the New Plymouth tramway service were running about 20 minutes behind time-table yesterday morning and some people arrived late for work. The service was delayed owing to the difficulty of coping with the heavy traffic and due to the rain.

“It may interest you to know that a seaman's locker is never locked,” said Air.’ T. Holmden when addressing the jury in defence of a seaman in the Supreme Court at Auckland. “It is the custom to leave them open, and I am instructed that, this trust is never abused.”

An exceedingly large group of sunspots, visible through smoked glass to anyone with keen eyesight, was observed on Thursday by science students at the Auckland University College. The group was first seen on Wednesday, but Professoi’ F. Burbidge stated that it was more clearly visible on Thursday. The largest outburst appeared to be a fusion of two spots, he said, and associated with it was a group of small spots, almost in the form of an archipelago. At the rear of the group was an interesting collection of small spots in rows, directed in general towards the large spots.

“We are apt to think that the railway can .run without visible means of support,” writes Air. Ken. Alexander in the New Zealand Railways Magazine. “We are like the parsimonious parent who is surprised that ho cannot rear hundred-per-ceniters on fobdless meals. Yet, if the railways locked the stable doors on the ‘iron horses’, for a day or two the populace would rise in its wrath and demand that the rollingstock be immediately unrolled and started on the role. Such is the mentality of man that he can only realise that white is white by seeing black. A land without railways would be ns dry as an empty bottle of champagne jvithout the bottle.”

The New Plymouth Beautifying Society will continue work on Baine 1’ Terrace this afternoon. This will be the last working-'bee for this year.

‘’There is a great deal of snobbishness between mental training and manual training, but no man should be incapable of putting his hands to good use,” said Mr. McGregor B. Wright, chairman of the Christchurch Technical College'-Board of Governors, • to a meeting of parents of pupils. That the tui was a much better singer than the nightingale was one of the

re-marks of the naturalist, Mr. Johannes Andersen, at the South School, Dannevirke, recently. He eaid many had heard the nightingale on a gramophone record, but after -hearing the tui he did not ’ think much of tihe nightingale. The tui was more of a singer in every way. ‘'There is a feeling of prosperity all through the North Island. In Taranaki people were deploring the, price of butterfat, but were looking forward steadily to an improvement,” said Mr. C. E. Jones on his return to Christchurch from a 2260-mile tour of the North Island. "The spirit, of optimism is present everywhere,” he added.

A lady who left her car lodked outside the United Bowling Cluib’s tennis courts, Christchurch, last week, happened to glance over at it, and noticed a man trying to prise open the door with a gardening trowel which he had the

effrontery to borrow from one of the •gardeners in the grounds. The caretaker and others gave chase, but the thief got away, leaving a number of scratches on the paint-work a<s a reminder of his visit.

Mr. A. D. Kerr stated at a meeting of the. council of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce that as a result of a round table conference with the Minister of’ Labour, the whole scheme of dealing with fihe workers compensation question was postponed till next session. Mr. Kerr said he thought that had the conference, which included members of the -Chamber of Commerce, not taken place the Bill might have been passed during the past session. The extraordinarily rapid rate at which wh-ite'bait grow was evidenced by some specimens and photographs which Mr. D. Hope, curator of the North Canterbury Acclimatisation’s gardens, showed a Christchurch Sun reporter.The small size of the whitebait as it reaches the market is well known, yet in a very few weeks the tiny fish attains a length of seven or eight inches and proportionate breadth. The growth is most rapid during the first three or four weeks, and in about 12 weeks the whitebait has become the adult inanga or common minnow.

The extent to which Japanese people go in for physical culture was referred to by Air. R. J. Terry, who recently returned to Auckland after a tour of the East. He said many factories in Japan ceased work for brief periods every morning and afternoon to enable the workers to exercise themselves. The exei’cises can-led out consisted largely of bending and stooping, and were calculated to promote suppleness. Up-to-date baths were to be found everywhere in Japan, even in the midst of slum areas, and admission to them cost about one penny.

The State Forest Service recently despatched two of its employees, Alessrs Joseph and William Rippingale, wellknown shots and guides, in to the back country in the Hanmer district on a deex 1 destruction expedition. They will shoot, says the Christchurch Times, over the country into the head waters of the Boyle and Nina Rivers, and are not expected to return before Christmas Eve. Under arrangement with the Department, two other men are engaged. in a similar capacity in the Clarence River watershed, adjoining Hanmer.

The many experiments made by the Department of Scientific q.nd Industrial Research in the subject of cheese-malk-ing naturally result in the cutting-up fox- examination ox- testing purposes of quite a number of cheeses. Each cheese represents a certain amount of money —in the aggregate, quite a considerable sunx. The problem has been, says the Wellington Post, how to of these experimental 1 cheeses. Mer- ’> chants naturally do not care to handle cheese that have been cut, and obviously the experimenters cannot consume all of them themselves. The suggestion has been made that the cheeses can be disposed of to the Government Departments, and steps are being taken in this direction. Which Government Departments are the cheese-eating ones does not transpire from the report, but perhaps mouse-traps are common to all State Departmexxits. Some people say that they find travelling in America expensive, while others see the country fox- a very modest expenditure, states the Christchurch Press. A Christchurch .boy Who is at present at college in America wished to see something of the country in his term holidays, so he bought a secondhand motor-car and travelled some hundreds of miles in it, through cities > and towns, seeing a good deal of Canada, as well as of the United-States. For the car he paid I's dollars (£3 2s 6d), and expended only 4s 6d on it fox- repairs. -Throughout his long journey he did not have the slightest trouble with the cax—not even a puncture—and on 'the journey the sold it fox- the same amount that he had given for it, delivery to be given in January next, when he will be leaving America on his return to New Zealand.

The nightingale’s song has been heard again in Auckland, says the New Zealand Herald. A resident of Mount Eden, who claims faipiliarity with the bird’s song and appearance, by reason of long residence in England, reports that while he was on Mount Eden on a recent evening he heard the distinctive notes and, as it was not quite dark, he was able to approach near enough to identify tlie bird. Foxxr nightingales were released at Tamaki by Air. Angus Wilson on Christmas Day, 1927, and, in 1928 they were heard at St. Heliers. Definite identification was again established last year at Mount .Eden and IRemuera. Their reappearance in Octo'bex- this year supports the belief that the birds have become acclimatised.

“The display of Jerseys at the Royal Show at Hastings was no bettei- than can be seen at the Taranaki district shows,” remarked Mr. G. H. Bell at the meeting of the New Plymouth Jersey Cattle Club yesterday. This, he said, was borne out by the fact that the champion cow and the reserve champion cow were both bred in Taranaki, and the champion bull was imported by a Taranaki breeder. The champion cow wixe J. Murray’s Te Ngutu Irene, bred by Air. Fred. Hoskin, Alatapu, and was a .cow that was giving 7-01 b of milk a day with perfect vessels and a typical Jersey. The reserve champion was Pinewood’s Viola, which was purchased by Mr. J. A. Mitchell at Air. G. H. Bell’s clearing sale. The champion bull was Brampton Coy Volunteer, imported by Air. F. W. Cornwall. J. A. Alitehell also won the dry cow class with Ivondale’s Gold Box, bred by P. J. Petersen, Brixton. ’ A three-year-old heifer bred by Mr. A. H. Western was also placed. Pinewood’s Viola was the toppriced cow at Ajlr. G. H. Bell’s sale, realising 275 guineas. She is a halfsister to Pinewood's Goldexx Beauty, winnex- of tjie championship at tlie Sydney Royal Show.

Air. Burrows, the young man who was injured in the collision between a car and a motor-cycle at the corner of Carrington Road and Pendarves Street on Thursday afternoon is an employee of Alessrs Nixon and Anderson, New Plymouth.