LOCAL AND GENERAL

Taranaki Daily News, 30 November 1932, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Successful New Plymouth candidates in the electrical wiremen’s registration examinations held in September were M. T. Smillie in the written part and W. S. Auron and A. R. Taylor in the practical part.

A sitting of the Teachers’ Appeal Court was held at New Plymouth yesterday. The court consisted, of Messrs. R. W. Tate, S.M., W. A. Ballantyne and J. T. Griffin. Only one case was placed before the court.

A new affliction of potatoes in South Taranaki has been, noted by a Hawera . resident. It is a bacterial wilt known as black-leg and it is believed there is no method of control. Seed from infected plants should never be used.

An unusual sight on the main road near Wanganui was observed by a Stratford motorist. It was a farmer driving a cow in a tine hayrake. She appeared to be in full milk and, judging by appearance, was acting quite as well as a horse at the work. Investigations into the question of employment of boys leaving school made by Messrs. O. Johnson and W. G. Reid, registrar and secretary respectively of the New Plymouth Boys’ Employment Committee, reveal an interesting point. “During our interviews with employers,” they state, “we heard regret expressed that among the youth of to-day generally writing seems fast becoming a lost art and that a more intimate knowledge of the art of business letter writing is essential.”

The sum of £845, the amount of last season’s Government subsidy on the testing of cows in North Taranaki, was distributed over the week-end in accordance with arrangements completed at an executive meeting of the North Taranaki Herd-testing Association at New Plymouth on Friday. The executive also decided to contribute £2 2s to the North Taranaki Boys and Girls’ Agricultural Clubs and £1 Is to the Boys and Girls’ Clubs of South Taranaki.

Three Inglewood county employers, Messrs. . Goble, Raven and Williamson, had a narrow escape from injury when the lorry in which they were riding somersaulted over a bank at Pukeho on Saturday. The lorry, driven by Mr. Goble, pulled off the road to allow a car to pass, and rolled down a steep bank. Mr. Raven, who was riding in the back, was thrown clear and escaped wjth an injured foot. Mr. Goble received severe concussion and Mr. Williamson, but for a shaking, escaped unscathed. The lorry was not badly damaged and was later towed to Inglewood. Mr. Goble is showing considerable improvement but is still confined to his bed.

A large rat inflicted a severe bite on the finger of a two years’ old child asleep in his cot at Gover Street, New Plymouth, on Monday night. About 10 p.m. the boy’s screams attracted the attention of his mother, whose approach frightened the rat away. The wound bled profusely but luckily did not touch the bone. Many devices have been adopted to catch the rats which have completely gnawed away three inches of the corner of a door, but so far only the young ones have been trapped. It is supposed that the proximity of an open gully accounts for the numbers of rats which find an attractive home in this old wooden house.

That it was impossible to get men to go on to farms because of the conditions of employment was the statement made by Mr. A. Swinbourn, and endorsed by other speakers, at last week’s meeting of the Matamata Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Swinbourn said that many employers were offering only 15/- and £1 per week, and gave the hours of employment as being from 4 a.m. till 9 p.m. He had no motion to move, but just mentioned the matter to the chamber, Members remarked that such offers were fairly general, and men would not leave the towns for work under such conditions. It was decided to draw the attention of the Prime Minister to the matter.

City folk and others, who have so freely designated the Government’s tenacre scheme a failure would be well advised to visit Okahu, near Mititai, where one man, formerly an upholsterer in the city of Wellington, has been given his opportunity by the Government of owning his own little section, and well satisfying he finds it. In three months since arriving on the farm he and his wife have made for themselves a small but steady income, and, better still, happiness and deep content. These people, after a period when the husband was with the relief workers, are congratulating themselves on the move they have made. Whilst the work has been hard, they can see some prospect ahead. The bright house, the vegetable garden and panorama of rolling hills, is a sight worth beholding.

Discussing a statement by, the headmaster of the Takapuna Grammar School that many of his boys had sought interviews with business men and got their names placed on the waiting lists for Jobs, a young who holds a good position in a large local drapery establishment, reminded a reporter that it was practically useless to go once and rely on getting placed. In times like the present, when so many were after one opening, it was best to concentrate on securing one position and show your prospective employer that you really wanted to become part of his business. “When I found myself out of a job, she said, “I determined that I wanted to get into the firm that I happen to be working for now. Consequently, I told the manager that I wanted to work for him, and that I was going to get in. I called upon him every other day, and at last, probably because he admired my tenacity and because I would not leave him alone, he took me, and I hope he has not regretted it.”

More than 100 junior instrumentalists and vocalists, admirably trained by Miss Evelyn Dowling and Miss M. J. Fearn, will provide entertainment at St. Mary s Hall, New Plymouth, to-night. An outstanding programme has been prepared and as many of the performers have had considerable stage experience the concert should do much to enhance New Plymouth’s musical

. “Economy does not mean buttoning up money and sitting on it. It means spending wisely,” said Mr. A. Bogle at a public meeting called by the Wanganui and District Development League to discuss the afforestation of sand dunes.

While they were playing cricket in a paddock at Queenstown Road, Mount Roskill, Auckland, some boys found 12 bottles of whisky hidden in a hedge. They were searching for a lost ball when they made the discovery and promptly carried the bottles home in triumph to their parents. The whisky was later handed to the police. It is believed to be stoleri property.

“Accused paid me my fee when he was first apprehended by the police;, that, I think, shows there is some good in him,’ remarked Mr. Bryce Hart in defending a man charged in the Auckland Police Court with vagrancy. After hearing evidence given by accused, who stated that he earned a legitimate living as a side-showman, the magistrate, Mr. W. R. McKean, dismissed the charge. For three days no loading has been carried out on the steamer Tasmania in the Wanganui roadstead on account of heavy seas and a steady wind. During the week-end the Tasmania left the roadstead and took shelter in Guard s Bay, returning on Monday morning. Conditions were again unfavourable and she was obliged to shelter again. It is expected that the Tasmania will sail for Wellington to-day. Free labourers will carry out the work.

Rangers of the Internal Affairs Department report the presence of a specimen of that very rare bird, the North Island robin, on a reach of the Waitahanui Stream, about 16 miles from Lake Taupo. The New Zealand robin, a smaller bird, is not- common, but is not nearly so rare as the native North Island species, a bird about the size of a thrush with a dark red “waistcoat” very much like that worn by the dottrell.

Publicity to the fact that it is an offence for a person to drive a motor-car without being the holder of a driving license, even although a licensed driver is seated beside the unlicensed person, was given in the Napier Police Court recently by Mr. A. M. Olliver, a Napier borough traffic inspector. Mr. Olliver was giving evidence in a case where a defendant who had been guilty of driving without a license stated that she did not think she was committing an offence because her father—a licensed driver—was riding in the car with her. The bench took a lenient view of the breach.

A married relief worker, Norman F. Munro, pleaded guilty in the Onehunga Police Court to a charge of making a false statement in regard to his income. He informed the Labour Department that his earnings for six months prior to October 10 had been £45 12s, whereas they amounted to £123 6s Bd. An inspector of the Labour Department, in evidence, said that such cases were becoming common. Had defendant told the truth he would not have obtained employment. A fine of £5 was imposed. Three months were allowed in which to pay.

Crown tenants on hill country in South Canterbury have been granted a 50 per cent, reduction in rental, on condition that the other 50 per cent, is paid, according to a statement made in Ashburton by Mr. D. C. Kidd, president of the New Zealand Crown Tenants’ Association, who was addressing the _ MidCanterbury branch of the Association. He added that the reduction was the outcome of an assurance given some months ago by the Minister of Lands, Hon. E. A. Ransom, that temporary relief would be given until such time as prices stabilised.

Speaking to a deputation of the Whangarei Relief Workers’ Association at the annual meeting of the Whangarei Chamber of Commerce, Mr. J. A. Finlayson, who is a member of the chamber, and chairman of the Whangarei Harbour Board, said the Minister of Lands, the Hon. E. A. Ransom, had been very greatly impressed with the board’s reclamation of tidal lands scheme, the development of which was to be put into proper effect immediately. Mr. Finlayson said the work would be a full-time job and would affect the position of the unemployed in the district considerably. “I understand the scheme will take 400 men, which will absorb the local unemployed and others,” he said.

“How many dogs are there up at this place?” asked Mr. J. Hussey of a young Maori woman witness in the Wanganui Magistrate’s Court on Monday. “I can’t answer you that,” the witness replied. “I wish you would ask somebody who knows about the dogs.” Mr. Hussey: Were there about eight? Witness: There were too many altogether. How many dogs were there? (this to a witness who had given evidence and was sitting looking on). Detective J. Walsh: Here, you can’t do that. Do you know of your own knowledge how many dogs there are? Witness (proceeding to count): There’s “Queenie,” there’s “Tiny,” there’s “Poss,” there’s a wee pup a month old and. . . Mr. Hussey (hurriedly): Do you know where the fowls are kept?