LOCAL AND GENERAL

Taranaki Daily News, 10 March 1932, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

A refresher course for teachers was held at the Stratford primary school yesterday and was attended by over 50 teachers from various parts of Taranaki.

A further remand for two weeks, a renewal of bail, was granted when Albert R. Sefton appeared in the New Plymouth Police Court yesterday charged with the theft of £l3 from Coal, Oil (N.Z.), Ltd. The transport licensing authority for th© Taranaki area will sit at th© Stratford Courthouse to-day and to-morrow and at New Plymouth, on Monday. Mr. P. Thomson, Mayor of Stratford, is chairman. The other members, Major A. R. A. Wilson (Bulls) and Mr. J. C. Rolleston (Te Kuiti), arrived at Stratford on Tuesday. “If you are genuinely unable to get work you may rest assured that you will not be deprived of your sport so far as this club is concerned,” Mr. W. A. Britten, chairman, told members of the Sydenham Football Club at its annual meeting. He said that the club would be ready to meet half-way any player who was unable to meet his full liability for subscription. Six babies who were born in Christchurch on February 29 will not have a birthday anniversary on the exact date until 1936, when leap year comes round again. For official purposes the birthdays of these babies will be March 1 in each year, as that date completes the period of 12 months since tlje previous aniversary. Four of the six babies born on February 20 ai’e girls. “A supplier had remarked to him that his cowshed was cleaner than the dairy factory,” remarked Mr. Singleton yesterday during his address to the Taranaki dairy factory managers’ conference, when stressing the influence of th© condition of the factory and its utensils on the quality of milk. He added that he believed the supplier was right. Needless to say, that incident did not occur in Taranaki, where the managers took a pride in their factories. An X-ray examination has established that the bone of his right leg was fractured when Guard A. Hayward was jammed between a? truck and a waggon in the New Plymouth railway yards on Saturday. He was pulling the .truck along the track between two sets of rails, on one of which was a stationary train and on the other a train moving into the station. Th© moving train caught the back of the truck and twisted it round so that it impinged the guard against the waggon. In order to indicate the level of the water in the race leading from Lake Mangamahoe, a special contrivance is being installed in the power house at Mangorei. A pipe placed in the race contains a float that is not subject to the influence of the current. This float is connected to a wheel, and as it rises or falls the wheel turns and works an indicator needle. This is connected with the indicator in the power house, to which are automatically communicated changes in the water level in the race.

The number of hawkers operating in Waitara came under discussion at the meeting of the Waitara Borough Council last night. Councillors were relating their experiences to prove that many men who were unlicensed canvassed the householders attempting to sell their wares, and the discussion began to attain undue proportions when the Mayor (Mr. J. Hine) terminated it suddenly by remarking: “Two came to my house, but they did not have anything to sell. All they wanted was tea, bed and breakfast.”

Strong southerly winds have delayed shipping during the last few days. The Northern Company’s Hauturu, which left Onehunga for New Plymouth at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, did not arrive until after 9 o’clock last night, thus taking, in the teeth of the wind, 24 hours for a trip usually accomplished in 17 hours. The Union Company’s Kaponga left Auckland at 5.30 p.m. on Monday and is not expected at New Plymouth until six o’clock this morning. The voyage from Auckland to New Plymouth is usually estimated to take about 31 hours,

The aviation scholarship tests were continued at New Plymouth yesterday when the day’s six finalists selected were: R. W. Stanton (first and free flight), F. Grundy, L. Palmer, E. Dallinger, W. O’Malley and B. Jury.

Fire totally destroyed a five-roomed house and its contents on Richmond Road, near Inglewood, about 2.30 a.m. yesterday. The house belonged to Mrs. M. Gilbert and was erected five years ago to replace a house that had also been destroyed by fire. There were policies of .:500 on the building and £2OO on the furniture.

.The Waikato Racing Club has received a very generous offer from the mortgagees of the property on which the club has its racing headquarters at Te Rapa, says the Times. Under certain conditions, the mortgagees have remitted interest for the past 12 months and have agreed to forego interest for 193233. The club will meet the debentureholders and guarantors at an early date with a view to placing the finances of the club on a sound basis.

A report that there was a shortage of wool in Soviet Russia prompted Mr. D. Morrison to ask at a meeting of the Palmerston North Chamber of Commerce if there were not prospects of a profitable export trade for New Zealand, the Dominion to receive Russian benzine in payment. Mr. Morrison urged that if New Zealand crossbreds wools eould be brought up to Is. per lb. in this way it would be a splendid thing for the country. The chamber decided to pass on the suggestion to the Associated Chambers and the Department of Industries and Commerce.

A returned soldier pensioner, Mr. J. E. Chinnery-Brown,. of Ngaruawahia, has registered in Auckland a limited liability company to further the development of a man-powered flying machine. Mr. Chinnery-Brown stated that by means of his contrivance a man would be able to fly without the assistance of mechanical power. His machine was not a glider in that it was independent of directional air currents. Its action was based upon the flight of the albatross and was the result of 20 years of study. He had not made a model, for the success of the machine depended on four separate sources of thrust, which could be given only by the man operating it. Sixty years of married life will lie behind Mr. and Mrs. John Brown by next Monday, when,’ says the Christchurch Sun, they will celebrate their diamond wedding at their home at 80 Tennyson Street, Beckenham. In those 60 years they have seen Christchurch a village; stirring events—the Franco-Prussian war was just over when they married—have become history; and the world has gone on. But Whether it is better or worse Mr. Brown for one won’t guess. “If you want to go to a theatre 'you have to line up in a queue. You don’t have to do that to get into a church,” he says. He has been to a theatre twice, once to hear Harry Lauder, and that still makes him chuckle. *

A remarkable instance of canine intelligence of instinpt was witnessed at the week-end by a Herne Bay family, states th© Auckland Star. The dog, a halfbred cattle dog, had changed hands three or four days previously, and during that time had been kept tied up. His previous home was on the Pasadena Estate, Point Chevalier, and th© dog, which had never been further afield than a few hundred yards from th© house, was conveyed in a closed car. However, he escaped from his new home on Sunday morning at 11 o’clock and could not b© found. At 4.30 p.m. a telephone call informed the Herne Bay owners that the animal had arrived at his old home.

An electric clock, the time of which exactly synchronises with that of a master ©lock in the Mangahao power station, has been installed in the office of the borough electrical engineer at New Plymouth. Th© power for th© clock is drawn directly from the system. No winding is required and the cost of operation is only sixpence for 1000 hours. The object of the contrivance is to ensure that local authorities drawing power from Mangahao—among which is New Plymouth—shall use a time coinciding with the source of supply at Mangahao.. Later on other similar clocks will probably be installed in the power house and other parts of the local system. They are already being used at Wellington and other towns. « To a casual visitor to Sydney there is very little sign of depression and no noticeable poverty in the streets, according to Mr. A. Paul, Collector of Customs at Wellington, who has returned after, a holiday visit to Australia. Mr. Paul told a Post representative that people seemed to be well dressed, but he was told by residents of Sydney that want was real. “I was told that there had been a slight improvement in business the last two months, but it is hard to say how people will get on in the winter,” he said. “In the main streets of Sydney there are numerous barrowmen selling fruit—in places the stands are no more -than 30 feet apart —while on many corners one comes across street musicians.”

When welcoming a party of Otago lady bowlers this week the Mayor of Invercargill said he had doubts about the wisdom of women playing bowls. “It has been said,” he remarked, “that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. Well, whoever is ruling the world now is making a bad mess of it. If bowls is keeping the women from ruling the world they had better give up the game and get back to their job.” Mrs. Adess, president of the Otago Ladies’ Bowling Association, had something to say in reply: “I can assure you,” said she, “that women are far better to be on the bowling green than sitting in the drawing room talking scandal.” Monday was the last day for the payment of fees at Canterbury University College without the imposition of the late penalty of ss. a subject, gays the Press. It was stated at the registrar’s office that fees had never been so slow coming in. Apparently it is another sign of the harder times which are being experienced this year. The decrease in enrolments also probably is a result of this, for so far only about 900 students have enrolled at Canterbury College, as against 9'70 at the corresponding time last year. Of these there are between 150 and 200 who have not yet paid their fees, and most of these will have the fine imposed. Enrolments of “freshers’ ’this year are about 160, a very considerable decrease from last year’s numbers, for in all there were about 350 new enrolments last season.

The oft-attacked word “Australasian” has a new opponent in Mr. C. H. Fagge, vice-president of the Royal College of Surgeons, England, who is visiting Auckland. In the course of an interview he paid New Zealand the compliment of saying that he disagreed with the authorities of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons regarding its title, which, he felt, should be “the Royal College of Surgeons of Australia and New Zealand.” He had been told that such a title would be unwieldy, and that the English college might raise difficulties over' the use of the letters “F.R.C.S.” after the names of fellows of the other body. He believed that the apprehension was groundless. The title might be long, but it would overcome the disadvantage that “Australasian” did not convey anything definite to the minds of most people on the other side of the world.

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.*

Early last month the Commonwealth Bank of Australia announced that it was prepared to buy full-weight sovereigns and half sovereigns at 33s 6d and 16s 9d respectively. These prices are in Australian currency.

“The way out of the farmer’s difficulties does not lie in cheap labour, but in highly-paid, highly-specialised labour,” said Mr. L. C. Walker, speaking at Christchurch on Saturday evening. “It lies in larger farms, with the assistance of the chemist and the biologist and other technical experts to run those larger farms efficiently.” Heavy traffic hi manures for autumn top-dressing has been experienced at the Frankton Junction railway station during the last few days. The fertilisers have been distributed over the Waikato, King Country, Bay of Plenty and Thames Valley districts. Other goods traffic on the railway has also been heavy. A total of £O6 18s 9d has been contributed by lawn tennis associations in various parts of New Zealand toward the fund for the restoration of the Hawke’s Bay clubs. The amount will be subsidised pound for pound by the New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association, so that the clubs in the area damaged by the 1931 earthquake will benefit to the extent of £193 17s 6d.

“The Chinese realise that we have better habits of living, and they would adopt them if it were not for the aggression of Western countries,” said Mr. J. E. Strachan in an address to the Canterbury Fruitgrowers’ Association on Saturday evening on “Eastern Markets.” It Avas pointed out by the speaker- that the raising of the standards of living in the East ° offered New Zealand great trade possibilities. “One of the jokes of New Zealand is that she is trying to run things by committees. There is only one way to get democratic government as we understand it and that is to elect an autocrat. You have not got a democratic Government now. Power to recall the autocrat would, of course, be necessary. That is the only way to do things expeditiously and to plan,” said Mr. L. C. Walker, speaking at Christchurch on Saturday night.

In the course of an address to the Numismatic Society at Wellington on early English coinage, Sir John Hanham mentioned that on the florin of 1840 (coined in silver for the first time in Queen Victoria’s reign) the letters (Dei Gratia) were omitted, and the coin was accordingly known as the “graceless,” or “Godless florin.” It was in 1840 that a great potato famine occurred in Ireland, and for want of a better cause the famine was put down to the ommission. , •

An amusing “hit” at American tourists is given in the British film “The City of Song,” now being screened, in Hamilton, states the Waikato Times. In one Scene a grand opera singer is seen and heard singing to th© girl he loves in the ruins of the huge theatre at Pompeii. Suddenly a number of American tourists appear on the romantic and inspiring scene, and the first remark one h ars from them is, “When do we eat?” Excited questions follow as to th© nearest restaurant, and then the tourists pass on, dead tb beauties around them. Many motorists have been unfortunate enough to run over a dog, but, says the Christchurch Press, it is seldom that three such animals ar© accounted for at the same time. Such an occurrence took place recently, however, in Colombo Street, Sydenham, when a- motor-car left a trail .of three dogs behind it. One animal was killed outright, and a second one was so badly injured that it had to be destroyed. The third animal picked itself up, but, before it could escape from the danger zone was run over by a second car. The dog got up on the three sounds legs left it and limped away. The Christchurch Drainage Board will benefit considerably from the reduction in interest charges to be made in New South Wales, for, says the .Times, the board will shortly have to pay interest on £50,000 worth of 5J per cent, debentures to holders in that State. In accordance with Australian legislation, the board will not be z required to take a full 4s 6d from every pound, but the reduction to 5 per cent., as provided by th© legislation, means a reduction in interest payments' of 15s in every £5 15s, which is the present interest on every £lOO invested.

The Melbourne’s Closing Down Sale presents housekeepers-'and others with an opportunity of replenishing their stocks of blankets, sheetings, quilts, towels, napery etc. at prices below wholesale landed cost prices. This is no ordinary sale.*