LOCAL AND GENERAL

Taranaki Daily News, 13 June 1932, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

An aeroplane piloted by Mr. B. Haybittle flew over Mount Egniont yesterday from Hawera. Mr. T. Lay, Hawera, was a passenger.

Subject to certain considerations yet to be determined, music festival week in New Plymouth this year will commence on August 14, according to a decision made by the festival committee A tentative programme has been arranged. A motor-cycle ridden by Mr. C. Ward collided with a car driven by Mr. W. J. Chaney near the entrance to the fertiliser works, New Plymouth, on Friday afternoon. Mr. Ward was thrown off the road and received abrasions to his face and legs. Uninformed readers of the toast list at the annual reunions of the Legion of Frontiersmen, one of which took place in New Plymouth o- Saturday, are often mystified at the toast, “The Nine Thousand,” which almost invariably comes first on the list after “The King.” The toast is a solemn commemoration of the fact that of the 15,000 members of the Legion of Frontiersmen who fought in the Great War, 9000 were killed.

For the first time within the recollection of auctioneers and land agents, a licensed hotel in Auckland has been offered for sale at public auction. The hotel is the Windsor Castle, in Parnell Road. The auction took place on Friday afternoon and the hotel was bought in by Mr. M. L. Gleeson, a mortgagee, for £12,350. The Windsor Castle is a two-storey building of brick on freehold property. It was sold about eight years ago for £20,000, and, subsequently, changed hands for £20,000. Questioned regarding licensed premises having been previously offered at auction, well-known agents staled that they had no recollection of any within the past 25 years,

A Maori woman, residing on Normanby Road, Manaia, was knocked down by a motor-car on Saturday night while walking along the South Road. She sustained serious injuries and was taken to the Hawera hospital. It is stated that tho accident occurred while two cars wore approaching each other and tho vision of the drivers was affected by dazzle.

Dodging a Star player who was struggling his way over the line, the referee *(Mr7 J. S. King) at a Rugby match at Pukekura Park on Saturday, sat down and signalled the try from that position. A little later a Star player who was thrown into touch by an opponent came in contact with a small boy and went to earth with the boy clasped in his arms. The boy was not hurt, but it was noticeable that he did not approach the side-line again. That the concentrated preparation for the New Plymouth Music Week festival definitely raised the standard of music in the schools which participated, in the festival last year was the opinion expressed by Mr. G. A. Lyall at the last meeting of the festival committee. If the festival did nothing else, said Mr. Lyall, it was worth while for its benefit to music in schools. The. work of preparing for the festival raised the standard of singing in the schools appreciably, and last year the. singing in the schools was better than it had ever been before in New I’lymouth.

“The proportion of extractions to fillings in England is 271 to 10(\ whereas in New Zealand the ratio is 37 to 100, said Mr. A. D. Brice, district dental superintendent for the South If land, at a meeting of the Canterbury School Committees’ Association. In answer to a question, he stated that the figures did not indicate that there were better teeth in one country than another but rather that there were more dental attendants available in the Dominion.

With his car more or less tied up by a loose electric light wire, a motorist on Iris way from Sumner io Christchurch had the unpleasant experience of almost finishing in the Heathcote River near the Tanks, Woolston. The wire, which was fortunately “dead,” as the street, lights were off, ripped the sidescreen off the car and then wound itself round the back axle and brake rods. When the driver tried to apply the foot brake he found it would not act, and only some rapid work with the hand brake prevented the machine from continuing on into the.river. A cold five minutes in the driving rain and wind followed while the motorist cut away the entagled wire.

“It seems to me that the Government is trying to throw upon the social workers of the city the burden of providing relief for necessitous unemployed, so as to save itself as much money as possible,” said the Rev. F. T. Read, chairman of the benevolent committee of the Returned Soldiers’ Association, in Christchurch. He said that the officer in charge of the Government Labour Bureau had stated quite frankly that only the most necessitous cases would be assisted by the Government. The benevolent committee of the association took the view that its grants should be in the nature of assistanco additional to that given by the Government, but under the new ration scheme the more the committee gave the less the Government would give.

Boys leaving school are advised by the Hon. R. Masters, Minister of Education, to take the first job that comes their way. Speaking at the opening of the ■ Otahuhu Junior High School, Mr., Masters said that the present was not’ the time for Jioys set hearts on a particular occupation. His advice to them was to take the first job that offered and to look for others afterwards. Opportunity, he assured them, would come in time. There had neveribeen a time when the necessity for a good education was greater than at present. He had realised the seriousness of boys being allowed to wander the streets out of work, and because of that danger arrangements had been made for them to remain a year longer at school. He was convinced that a boy was better at school than out of work.

The ruins of Dr. W. W. Moore’s hospital in Napier, between the Marine Parade and Byron Street, are gradually disappearing. The efforts of the demolishing gang engaged on their removal have been responsible for the clearing ot the greater part of the site. The men are at present working on the Byron Street frontage of the building, which is the last portion to bo removed. The spoil is being tipped behind the municipal baths building for the formation ot a wide pathway, which will be continued northwards outside the paddling pools until it finally links up again with Coote Road. Only a few hundred yards away another extensive filling job is being carried out, ) opposite the end ot Emerson Street, where debris from the demolished Technical College building is being tipped to create a parking area for motor-cars.

Careful efforts to keep abreast of the times and provide its listeners with the progress of the polling in the New South Wales State elections were made by station 2YB, New Plymouth, last week. A reception station was established in the private home of one of the members of the station staff. There results were taken down as they came over the air from Australia on Saturday night, and marshalled. Unfortunately, reception conditions were extremely bad, severe static being experienced almost continuously. However, by using special filters the 2YB engineers were able to get reliable reception and kept in close touch with Sydney all night. A special line enabled results to be transmitted with a minimum of delay from the “listening post” to the studio. The station remained on the air until 12.30 a.m., and though the results as given by the Sydney stations were later than expected, within a comparatively short time they were again on the air through station 2YB for the benefit of Taranaki listeners.

Of all public organisations the world over, the Legion of Frontiersmen is surely the most cosmopolitan. An excellent illustration of this is afforded by the ranking of members. A man may be a major in the Army, but only a lieutenant, or even just plain “Frontiersman” in the Legion. This is on the principle that all the members of the Legion are considered equal, except that certain ranks have to be awarded for organisation and administrative purposes. But even in this matter a member may be “here to-day and gone to-morrow.” The late New Zealand commanding officer of- the Legion, now a resident of New Plymouth, who enjoyed the title of “Lieutenant-Colonel” while he filled the position, is merely “Frontiersman Bertrand” this year. At the same time he is commanding officer of the Taranaki Regiment, w’ith the military rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. Another officer of the Legion resident in New Plymouth is a lieutenant in the Legion, but a major in the Taranaki Regiment.

Greater bargains than ever. Stocks must be cleared. The Melbourne’s closing down sale: Babies’ warm woollen shawls, 9/6 for 5/11; ladies’ warm woollen vests, 4/11 for 3/6; charming crepe de chine scarves, 8/11 for 4/6; cot down quilts, 15/6 for 6/6; cot Kaiapoi rugs, 12/6 for 8/11; Manchester and dress department remnants less than half-price. Model frocks originally 3 to 5 guineas, clearing prices 10/- to 35/-.*

A farewell to Air. and Mrs. T. Brunsden and family will be held at the Warea hall (not Puniho) on Wednesday evening, .

On a farm near Blenheim 60 early lambs have already made their appearance. An abundance of grass and tho favourable weather are combining to keep them in excellent condition. Ono of the proposals placed before the Minister of Native Affairs, the Hon. Sir A. T. Ngata, by Natives during his northern tour, was that a native newspaper, to be printed in tho Maori language and to be circulated from Wliangarei, should bo started. Seou on a moonlight night, a large iceberg that was sighted in the Southern Indian Ocean by the motor-ship Karamea had a beautiful silver appearance. Officers on the Karamea, which arrived at Auckland from Liverpool, via Capetown, last week, estimated the berg to be 500 feet long and 100 feet high.

As an instance of the mildness of the season in North Otago, it is possible to pick flowers at present that represent the four seasons of the year, A number of spring flowers are already in evidence. Especially is this tho case with auriculas and polyanthus, which are blooming profusely. One fruitgrower lias gooseberries as large as peanuts. Mr. H. S. S. Kyle, M.P. for Riccarton, lias telegraphed to the Prime Minister asking that steps should be taken to prevent the importation of potatoes from Australia. The action was taken on behalf of the Canterbury growers, ho said, because there had been persistent rumours that merchants had expressed the intention of importing from Australia in the future. An unusual prosecution was heard in tho Magistrate’s Court at Rotorua, when alleged damage to the Rotorua-Whaka-tane main highway by a tractor was the cause of an action brought by the Alain Highways Board against a Rotorua contractor. Plaintiff was awarded £27 15s 8d as cost of repairs to 90 chains of road which the contractor had traversed with his tractor, with the grips insufficiently protected. The 20 per cent, reduction in rents is said to have a very wide interpretation. It not only applies to private residences, shops, hotels, etc., but is said to be applicable to the rents of halls and theatres. Already tho reduction of .20 per cent, has been made to local societies renting the Town Hall and Concert Chamber in Auckland. Societies in other towns are looking for a similar concession.

“Rotarian Charlie Norwood, there were two babies born to the city during your term as Mayor,” was the arresting announcement of the president of the Wellington Rotary Club, Air. Herbert Teagle, at last week’s luncheon. “One was the milk department and the other was the free ambulance, and I am happy to say we have the heads of both organisations here. Those two babies wjll cost you Is each.” “I am proud to "pay it,” said Air. Norwood.

A few chips of strawberries, described by the auctioneer as out-of-season freaks, were sold at the Auckland city markets on Friday. The fruit,'which was of fair quality, came from Birkenhead, and realised Is 6d a chip. It is most unusual, says the New Zealand Herald, for strawberries to be offered at the local market at this time of the year, as the season does not commence until October.

Experiments are being carried out by the Railways Department in. the Raurimu area to test the possibility of using briquettes on goods trains travelling over the heavy grades on the spiral. Supplies of briquettes have been dispatched from Huntly, and should they prove successful on engines making heavy hauls it is likely that they will be used extensively elsewhere. The cable steamer Recorder has commenced operations in the Tasman Sea to lay more than 250 miles of cable to fill the gap between the buoyed end oi the Sydney-Wellington communication and the 80 miles of cable already laid from Muriwai Beach, according to a recent message received at the Pacific Cable Board’s Auckland office. When the work is completed the cable will be used as a reserve in transmitting messages from Auckland to Sydney.

A rat put the telephone out of commission in the office of the Papatoetoe Town Board last week. The animal, which had apparently entered the buildinc during office hours, had made attempts in the night to gnaw a way oat through the doorway. In doing this it chewed a strip out of the floor matting and completely severed a six strand flex wire connecting the telephone. A wellbaited trap disposed of the intruder the following evening.

Two divorce cases in which the parties belonged to Palmerston North were heard before Air. Justice Herdman in the Hamilton Supreme Court last week. His Honour asked counsel why the .proceedings had been brought in Hamilton instead of in Palmerston North. Counsel replied that the proceedings could nos be prepared in time for the Palmerston North sessions. Further, the parties desired to avoid publicity in Palmerston North. His Honour said that another time he would refer the papers back to the Court from which they were issued.