LOCAL AND GENERAL

Taranaki Daily News, 9 March 1932, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

There have been over 10,000 visitors to the fernery in Pu'kekura Park since March 31, 1931. They represent a revenue of about £250. Members of the board last night expressed keen satisfaction with the figures. The financial year has still some weeks to run. A fair crop of potatoes for distribution among families in necessitous circumstances has been obtained from Rugby Park, Westown. It was reported at the meeting of the North Taranaki unemployment committee yesterday that so far about 100 sacks had been dug and distributed.

Motorists report having seen, a number of men tramping the roads in search of work in Taranaki during the past few days. Many of them have applied to the Taranaki Hospital Board for relief. “Most of them are genuine seekers and would be glad to do anything for a few shillings,” a reporter was informed yesterday. Several sales of northern dairy farms to Taranaki farmers have been made during the past week, according to a report in New Plymouth. A land agent said the buyers had been attracted by the easy terms and prospects. The average size of the farms acquired was 100 acres, and they were mostly situated on improved swamp lands. When visiting the Koru pa on Sunday Mrs. Frank Amoore, New Plymouth, slipped, or tripped on one of the paths near the river and broke her right arm above the wrist. Mrs. Amoore had put her arm out to save herself. It was a simple fracture but the limb will have to be kept in splints for some time. The New Plymouth branch oi the Waterside Workers’ Federation of New Zealand has passed a resolution placing on record its appreciation of the public servants’ committee’s report upon wage cuts, and calling upon the Government to give speedy, effect to the proposals outlined by the committee, Believing that the proposed measures would lessen the effect of the world depression as affecting New Zealand. In view of the comparatively few unemployed men in the district , and the large number of farmers requiring the services of the men, making it extremely difficult to decide who should be given the men, the Egmont County, engineer favours unemployed men being given relief work on the roads instead of “over the fence.” By the men working on the roads the ratepayers as a whole receive the benefit indirectly, he states.

In accepting re-appointment as one of the representatives of the Egmont County Council on the west committee of the Egmont National Park Board yesterday, Cr. J. S. Tosland stressed the importance of seeing that members of the committee were interested in forestry. He emphasised the value of forests in maintaining the fertility of the country—the most important .actor in production.

Making assurance ■ trebly sure would seem to be the motto of a wicketkeeper in a cricket match at New Plymouth yesterday. The bowler delivered a fast ball which the batsman reached forward to and. snicked. Thus deflected the ball touched the off bail, removed it and lodged in the gloves of tlie wicket-keeper, who appealed for a catch and then,' seeing the batsman was out of his crease, mowed down the stumps. I As there appears to be no probability of the Main Highways Board authorising the construction of any new bridges for some time the Egmont County Council has .authorised its engineer to take steps to repair the Okahu and Punehu bridges and make them safe for present day traffic. The Highways Board, which has to pay a portion of the maintenance, will be applied to for authority. The Okahu bridge was constructed over 50 years ago and several of the joists required renewing. A silver cup was presented some time ago to the Wellington-West Coast Regiment by its allied regiment,, the Ist Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment, the trophy to be devoted to competition in the regiment. It has not yet been decided on what grounds competition for the cup will be held,. but that may be finalised and the cup handed over to the commanding officer during the camp at Waverley Racecourse for the Wellington-West Coast Regiment in conjunction with the Taranaki Regiment.

There had been no difficulty in securing the six men required for fatigue work at the military trainin o bivouac at Waverley this week, reported. Mr. C. P. Smith (secretary) to the North Taranaki unemployment relief committee yesterday. He said a misunderstanding had occurred when the matter was previously placed before the committee. It ■had. then been stated, that the men would be required to work for their keep without wages, whereas actually they would be paid 20s. The duties would not be arduous, nor would the hours be long. That a traffic inspector should wear some visible badge of authority in order to avoid resentment or misunderstanding on the part of motorists -horn he stops on the highway was the opinion expressed by the Taranaki Automobile Association in a letter to the Egmo.ut County Council yesterday. Members of the council pointed out that they could not afford to employ an inspector especially for that work, but that the county inspector, one of the road foremen, carried a badge of office, though possibly at times he might not have it on his working suit. Cr. Tosland did not hold with the inspector wearing a distinctive uniform, for if he did some motorists were inclined to “go past him like lambs,” and possibly 'break the regulations once they were out of sight. The county Inspector did not carry out his work in an obnoxious way.

Did you ever think what the last few days of a sale mean to you. Sensational bargains mean big savings. See our 1/-, 2/6, 5/-, 9/11 windows at McGruer’s, New Plymouth.*

At the Inglewood sale to-day, a large entry of back-country sheep will be offered and in the cattle section a special feature will be the yarding of 150 well-bred steers and bullocks.

The most charming model frocks, costumes, coats, cardigans, jumpers and lingerie etc. from the world’s fashion centres, lovely goods, are now being sold at prices but a fraction of their cost at the Melbourne’s sensational Closing Down Sale. By order of the official liquidator, everything must be sacrificed to turn them into readj" cash and speedily wind up the company-*

“She gave me a blind hit,” said a Maori witness in the Magistrate’s Court at Wanganui on Monday morning. “What do you call a blind hit?” inquired Mr. Salmon. “A hit that I did not see,” was the reply.

Climbing in Switzerland is far easier than the ascent of Mount Cook .or Mount Sefton, according to Sir William Ellis, a member of the Alpine Club (England), who has returned from a visit to Mount Cook. There he encountered bad weather, which placed climbing out of the question. However, he was able to gain an idea of the country, and his comparisons were made when speaking last week at the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the ascent of Mount Cook.

It is hard to conceive that the trouble which has been caused by the cabbage butterfly amongst Hawke’s Bay rape and cabbage crops this season is directly attributable to the careless handling o vegetables brought from the Homeland by some ship’s cook, says a Hawkes Bay exchange. This is the theory to which scientists appear mainly to subscribe in respect to the introduction of the post. In whatever manner it was introduced, there is no doubting the propensities of the cabbage butterfly for rapid spreading. “The British Fleet in the Far East would be in a very parlous position should serious trouble develop there at present,” said Mr. J. J. Dougall, chairman of the Navy League committee, which met at Christchurch on Thursday/ reports the Times. “The British Fleet is inferior in strength to that of the United States, and hardly superior to that of Japan. This is an excellent reason for work to be continued on the Singapore Naval Base.” It is just over four months since the brutal murder of Mr. Arthur James Blomfield, chemist, at his. shop on. the ground floor of the Pacific buildings, Auckland, about 5 o’clock on a busy Friday afternoon. So far the mystery is unsolved. Although no date has yet been fixed, it is expected that the inquest will be resumed within the next two weeks.

“These men should not get married when they know they have prior obligations. I frequently have these cases coming before me and I will not make an order. They cannot expect to trans,fer their responsibilities to another, stated Mr. J. L. Stout, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court at Palmerston North when dealing with an application for the variation of a maintenance order for a child on the grounds that the. father had since married and was now in penurious circumstances. “They have no right to marry unless they can afford to .meet all their obligations, in cases such as these,” added the magistrate.

The Egmont County Council yesterday received a letter from the Prime Minister, Mr. G. W. Forbes, in reply to the council’s representations regarding the price of benzine. Mr. Forbes stated that from inquiries it would appear that the lower price at which the Government was able to obtain benzine was on account of the relatively large quantities purchased. He added. that an investigation had been made into the landed cost and distributing charges connected with the commodity, and it would appear that the present high cost of petrol was due largely to the excessive number of distributors and other factors which were dealt with in the report, a copy of which was forwarded.

In connection with the aviation scholarship which the New Plymouth, Aero Club offered to the most promising user of the Curtis instruction machine, the following were the six finalists selected yesterday: Messrs F. Grundy (free flight), B. Blackhall, R. Brewster, W. Yates, K. Gray (all of New Plymouth), and S. Pilkington (Stratford). On Monday the following six qualified: J. Palmer, Sentry Hill (free flight), C. P. Millman, K. Ferry, G. White, V. Yates and J. Bakewell. Six more finalists will he chosen to-day and six more to-mor-row. The semi-finals and final will be decided on Friday.

Through a junior’s mistake a number of invitations issued by an Auckland local body to some professional _ people of both sexes got mixed up, with the result that sedate males found themselves addressed as “dear madam” and demure females as “dear sir.” The telephone calls that sought an explanation suggested that the women thought little of the mistake, but that the men, or at least some of them, suspected that there might be something sinister in being addressed as ‘‘dear madam.” In commenting on the women’s attitude, one young woman doctor laughingly mentioned that they could hold their own with the men any day,* but that the men appeared to be afraid of the women.'

Advice that the date of filling the Arapuni Lake had been advanced was received at a meeting of the Auckland Electric Power Board on Monday.. The general manager reported that it was now suggested the board should take over the whole of the Waikato loading, as previously arranged, about Easter, during the change-over process. This would enable the Public Works Department to close the Horahora plant entirely, and use the whole flow of the river for filling the lake, which would, therefore, be accomplished in the shortest possible time. A novel method of raising money, which was devised by King Henry Ilf. in 1252, was mentioned by Sir John Hanham, Bt., in the course of an address to the Numismatic Society last week. Raising money was always a difficult business, said Sir John, and in 1252 Henry announced that he was going on a Crusade. One-tenth of the ecclesiastical revenues were set aside for this purpose, the design of a crescent and star appearing on coins from this source. Henry, however, found a better use for the money and remained at home. It was only fair to add that in 1269 his son, Edward 1., did go to the Holy Land.

“Looking at these islands as they are placed on the map of the world, lying in the waters of the South Pacific a thousand miles and more to tile eastward of the Australian continent, they do not look very big, yet including outlying islands and dependencies, New Zealand is larger in area than Great Britain by more than 16,000 square miles,” said Mr. Richard Wedderspoon at a Wanganui Rotary Club luncheon. “It is more than three times the size of Portugal,” he said. “It is ten times as large as Belgium, it is more than eight times the area of Holland, and it is half the size of Germany.”

Seven people, representing three generations in one family, are at present occupied in harvest work on a farm in Ashburton county, says the Guardian. This unusual state of aflairs has been necessitated by the lack of finance in the family coffers, but it has proved to be a satisfactory method of harvesting and stacking about 40 stacks of wheat and oats. The first and second generation representatives have carried out the heavy work, while the third generation have been engaged in the more congenial task of carrying the lunches to the fields, varying this task on the hot days by frequent plunges in a nearby pond. This is the, first time in 40 years that outside labour has not been engaged on this farm.

The annual meeting of the Star Football Club is to be held on Tuesday, March 15, at S p.m., in the Mon Desir Tea Rooms, ■New Plymouth; a good attendance of all interested is anticipated.

Some of the orohardists in Otago are disappointed as to the fruiting of apple and pear trees, which it was oped would recover from the late spring frosts. The fruit is dropping, states the Daily Times.

During the cross-examination of a doctor in a claim for compensation heard at the Arbitration Court at Auckland, counsel for plaintiff asked him how long he had been in practice. Mr. Justice Frazer, who presided, ruled the matter out as being of little importance, and said: “We will not blame Dr. -— for his youth. That is a complaint that he will get over in time.”

“I would ask that the price of but-ter-fat never goes above Is Ojd a pound,” said Mr. D. Bryant, at a meeting of the Hamilton Rotary Club. “It would be very good for the country. If butter is produced at a reasonable cost the consuming public could buy more and sales would consequently increase. I believe the price of butter-fat will settle at Is a pound.”

Ants are particularly prevalent in Napier at the present time, particularly on Bluff Hill, where, says the Hawke’s Bay Herald, many housewives are finding it difficult to keep food from being made unusable by the insect. The story is told of one lady who placed a turkey in a safe as a dish for a meal on the following day, but during the night swarms of ants found their way to it, with the result that by the morning it was unusable.

The Diggers’ Art Union resulted in a net profit of £13,000, two-thirds of which goes to the Wellington Returned Soldiers’ Association and one-third to the Soldiers and Sailors’ Hostel, The Terrace, Wellington. The result of the art union is regarded as particularly gratifying, especially when it is considered that £3400 had to be paid to. the Government by way of tax on ticket sales. The R.S.A. will invest its share of approximately £8660 for the purpose of a building fund.

The Bank of New Zealand has informed its Australian shareholders that dividends will be payable in New Zealand currency. This will affect the final dividend and bonus of last year and the interim dividend declared, last December for . the current year. In the first case Australian shareholders have, by this decision, received an additional £lB for each £lOO of dividend payable in New Zealand, and in the case of the interim dividend £l3 additional for each £lOO of dividend.

The case of a householder who suffered in two different ways when a burglar broke into his home was mentioned in the Supreme Court at Auckland on Monday when the thief came up for sentence. The question of returning stolen property was raised by the Crown Prosecutor, who remarked that he did not suppose the stolen revolver would go back to its owner. It was unregistered and the police would deal with it.- “It is pretty hard to have your place broken into and then to have it discovered that you have an unregistered revolver,” said Mr. Justice Reed.

Numbers of dead sheep are seen from time to time on the beach between Wanganui and Kai Iwi, the animals having wandered too close to the edge of the cliffs and fallen over. A tramping party recently noticed several carcases on the beach, while quite a number of live sheep and lambs had fallen from- the top of the cliffs and broken their fall by landing on small ledges, with no hope of getting back. These stranded animals must either die of starvation or fall to the bottom of the cliffs and be killed, or, should they survive that ordeal, be washed out to sea. During last spring large numbers of young lambs were lost in this way.

There were seventeen Chinese passengers, travelling third class, on the Makura when she arrived at Wellington on Monuuj morning from San Francisco. There are, says the Post, very many Chinese residents on the island of Tahiti, the port of which is Papeete, a port of call of Union Company liners on the Sydney-Wellington-San Francisco run, and when en route from Hong Kong’ for Papeete the Chinese travel via either Sydney or San Francisco, and also return to Hong Kong via the same ports. The Union ompany is the only company whose ships call regularly at Papeete, but the ships of a French line call there several times a year.

“1 threw my hymn book at her and we started to have a row,” said a Maori witness in the Magistrate’s Court at Wanganui on Monday morning, sort of message of goodwill?” observed Mr. J. H. Salmon. The case was in connection with a squabblei' between two Maori women at a pa. Several witnesses gave their different opinions as to the progress of the fight. One man decided that it was a woman’s affair and that they should be left alone. Another man said that he had seen a few rows in his day but he had never seen anything like that one. It was not good enough for any man to see such a fight so he grabbed “the hand that was doing the work.”

For the second time within a month the pavilion of the Northern Bowling Tennis and Croquet Club at Palmerston North was entered by a thief or. thieves during the week-end and a considerable quantity of spirting gear, club equipment and foodscuffs was stolen. It i 8 stated that every locker was found open, with the damaged locks on the floor. Blazers, shoes, racquets, women’s coats, foodstuffs and tablecloths had gone. The thieves made a complete sweep except for- the club’s silver trophies. . The loss by the previous theft was estimated at £l5, and this time it is thought to be greater.

Although the law of tapu was in the past a very strong force in the lives and customs of the Maoris, it would hardly be thought in these days, says the Nelson Mail, that it could be the mean's of stopping an industry and closing down works. Such is the case, however, at the Chatham Islands, where the freezing works at Kaingaroa have dlosed down owing io an adjoining fishing ground being declared tapu. This tapu is because of the loss during the winter last year of a launch with 11 Maoris —most of them fishermen —who met their deaths in the vicinity. That portion of the sea was declared tapu, and this will remain for about another eighteen months, when the tapu will be lifted. In the meantime nothing can induce the islanders to fish there. The other fishing ground and the freezing works at Owenga are, however, carrying on as usual.