NEWS OF THE DAY

Taranaki Daily News, 30 January 1934, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

The first meeting of the newly-copsti-tuted New Plymouth Airport Board was fixed by the Borough Council last night for Thursday. The bank of the Huatoki stream on the Baines Terrace side was affected by the torrential rain and flooding of the stream yesterday. The stream was a raging torrent soon after midday and hy evening the swiftness of the current had undermined and caused erosion in several' places along the bank.

The heavy rain yesterday seriously affected the ditches in the sewerage construction to Vogeltown, New Plymouth, particularly in Gilbert Street. The ditcher used in the construction had made a ditch 15 to 20 feet deep. The soft ground had in many cases fallen in, and stays had been put up to strengthen the sides. Yesterday a considerable amount of earth from between the stays caved into the ditch, though so far the roadway has not been affected. A great deal of work will, however, be necessary before the pipes can be laid.

A coupe car belonging to and driven by Mr. H. Honeyfield, of the Kiwi Bacon Factory, Palmerston North, and wellknown in Taranaki, was extensively damaged yesterday morning when it collided with a lorry belonging to Hooker Bros., New Plymouth. The accident occurred at the Rugby Road bridge, near Inglewood. Mr. Honeyfield was proceeding south to Palmerston North. The car was pushed into a ditch at the side of the road. A mudguard was torn off and other damage suffered. Mr. Honeyfield was uninjured. The car was brought to New Plymouth, Mr. Honeyfield proceeding to Palmerston North by train. The Port Hunter brought to New Zealand a large shipment from Sweden of White pine for butter boxes. Many people at Auckland watching a portion of the shooks (parcels of the tops, bottoms and ends for the boxes) being removed from Queen’s wharf shed and stacked on a punt for transportation to Te Aroha, must have thought that the business was another’ example of “carrying coals to Newcastle.” New Zealand grows white pine, and it is satisfactory to know that the foreign timber article has met a serious rival in a factory now operating in Auckland.

Ragwort is flourishing in the Cambridge district this season as much as ever. The Waipa County Council is concerned at the general apathy of land owners, and it has decided to take action by appointing its own inspector, to inspect properties, more especially those with infested road frontages. At the' monthly meeting of the Cambridge Farmers’ Union the problem was discussed, and it was decided to congratulate the Waipa body on its action. The hope was expressed that other local bodies would follow the Waipa Council’s example.

The Tasmanian P. and T. Department on letter postmarks in urging its public to aid in combating one of the terrors of the current summer in the island — bush fires. Latest envelopes from Hobart are stamped, “Prevent Bush Fires. ’ Cabled news in the past fortnight indicates that the damage wrought by this menace has exceeded £50,000. In reply to a communication from the North Canterbury Provincial Council of Unemployed the Minister of Education, the Hon. R. Masters, has advised that provision is made for the supply of school books free, in necessitous cases, to children in primary schools. Some of the country unemployed organisations are meeting the school committees and acquainting them with the needs of the children of relief workers. Gisborne sweltered on Friday, when the temperature was above 90 degrees for more than two hours. The maximum reading, 93 degrees, was the hottest for some years. The temperature reached 90 by eleven o’clock, and rose at the rate of one degree per hour until 93 was recorded at one o’clock. At that time the wind changed to south-east, and by two o’clock the temperature had fallen to 75, and it continued to drop slowly during the afternoon. Coal mining by unusual means was seen by the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes, when he visited Coal Creek, near Roxburgh, Otago, where! sluicing is employed to remove the coal from the hillside. Three huge jets of water are played on the cliff, bringing the coal down to the flat, where it is allowed to dry and is then carted away. This coal is also remarkable for the fact that it is claimed to be the only coal in New Zealand which can be made into briquettes without binding material, pressure alone being sufficient. A dry spell is being experienced in the country immediately north of Gisborne. Scarcely any rain has fallen in some parts of the district for nearly two months. Thousands of sheep are on the annual trek on the coast, some being for Gisborne, while others are making for the railhead at Taneatua. Motorists on the coast pass flocks of sheep every few miles, jn numbers ranging up to 3000 in a flock. For the sheep, drovers and dogs, conditions have been particularly trying, owing to the dust clouds. On the Motu Hills route, which is now used almost solely for stock, there are at present from 10,000 to 15,000 sheep on their way to the railhead at Taneatua. Sixpences of the Dominion’s new special silver coinage arrived at Wellington from the Royal Mint on Friday. These will be placed in circulation almost immediately. The new coins are of a more attractive design than the half-crowns. The obverse of the coin bears the image of the King that has already been made familiar by the new half-crown, while on the reverse is a representation of the huia. Simplicity is the outstanding feature of the new coin, which was designed by Mr. Kruger Gray, London, one of the artists who does designing work for the Royal Mint. His initials “K.G.'' appear in minute letters on the reverse side of the coin. The first batch of new florins is expected to arrive in the Dominion next month. Supplies of other denominations will be shipped to New Zealand as they are completed by the Royal Mint. As the new coinage is placed in circulation the Imperial and Australian silver coins in New Zealand will gradually be collected by the banks. Ultimately they will be melted down and used for re-coinage. There is danger even in boiling the apparently harmless picnic biUy. What nearly became a serious accident Was narrowly averted recently by a resident of Invercargill, who,, with his family, was picnicking at Lee Bay, Stewart Island (says the Southland Daily News). Ha had set the billy to boil, over a hot fire. The lid was rather tight, and no steam escaped to show that it was boiling. Thinking the billy would not boil for a few moments, the picnicker moved over to get the tea, He was almost halfway back when a loud explosion roared above the wind and surf, and the billy lid was hurtled into the air amidst a cloud of steam and boiling water, where but a few seconds before he had been bending over the fire.

Those university students who sat for examinations last November in honours, third stage, and engineering subjects can expect their results by cablegram from London within the next few weeks if nothing unforeseen occurs to delay them. In a letter to the Press, Christchurch dated December 19, Dr. A. J. Harrop, representative in England of the University of New Zealand, says that there is no reason to fear that English examination results will not ]ie announced each year at least four weeks before the beginning of the university session, except in very extraordinary circumstances. Last year the results were printed on January 31. When Dr. Harrop wrote the scripts had not arrived in England, but the main hulk of them was due in a few days, “Christmas rush and fog in the Channel permitting.” Two or three weeks were expected to elapse before the engineering 15 days’ drawing papers would be received. Provision is made in the Poultry Runs Registration Act, which was passed last session, for the setting up of a New Zealand Poultry 'Board. As requested by the Minister of Agriculture (the Hon. C. E. Macmillan), the twenty-third annual conference of the New Zealand Poultry Association, which opened in Wellington on Wednesday, after devoting considerable time to the subject, has recommended for submission to his Excellency the Gov-ernor-General the names of four producers’ representatives to the new board. Each of the four provincial councils of the association nominated one representative, and the nominations were adopted unanimously by the conference. The names were not released for publication. In a letter to the association, Mr. Macmillan asked the association to exercise the utmost care and judgment in making Its selection, as the success of the. board would largely depend upon its initial operations being conducted on sound and efficient lines. The first ballot taken at the conference was found to be irregular, and before taking another, which gave the same result, there was a long discussion on domestic matters. At the end of yeserday afternoon a long list of remits still remained for consideration. The guano which the German fourmasted barque Magdalene Vinnen has brought to Auckland was gathered by the natives of the tiny island of Assumption, a lonely spot in the Indian Ocean about 600 miles south-west of the Seychelles group. Although only three miles long and a mile and a half wide, Assumption Island has enormous natural wealth In its guano deposits, which were estimated a few years ago at over 250,000 tons. The island is of volcanic origin, and the guano is found in huge depressions around the shore and also inland. Describing the task of loading, Captain Peters said hi? ship had to anchor about a mile from shore, and the natives brought out the guano in large canoes, each carrying about seven tons in 1001 b bags. These are hoisted, about 20 bags at a time, and emptied in the hold. The crew of natives is under the command of the helmsman, generally a very talkative individual and much impressed with his own importance. “They were always in s great hurry, urging us to unload as quickly as possible, so that they could dash back to the shore,” said the captain. The Assumption Islanders, an excellent type of native, subsist mainly on turtle flesh and boiled rice. Nearly all of them speak French, the language brought to the Seychelles by the first; settlers. It was after the defeat and banishment of Napoleon that the islands became a British possession,