NEWS OF THE DAY

Taranaki Daily News, 31 January 1934, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

“Twenty-four hours a day and 12 hours a night are a bit solid for one driver and one lorry, you know,” said an applicant before the No. 5 Transport Licensing Authority at New Plymouth yesterday. The applicant spoke quite seriously. He was seeking a license for an additional vehicle to meet the demands of his goods carrying business.

The mishap to the Faith in Australia at Muriwai Beach on Monday is not likely to make any difference to the proposed excursion flight from New Plymouth to Kaikohe, Bay of Islands. Provided the central propeller, the only one damaged, is replaced, the flight will be made most probably on Friday, starting early in the morning and returning late in the evening.

A unique plant is in the possession of a Waitara resident. Known as the swan plant, it bears pods that grow in the shape of stately swans, even to the curving lift of the tail, and hang from bentover stalks which, when cut, form the stately neck and head of the bird. Hairs grow all over the green pods like feathers and the little “swans” ride easily and prettily in an ornamental floating bowl. Work on the motor-ship Orari, which will arrive at New Plymouth from Wanganui to-day, will not start until tomorrow morning because of the watersiders’ excursion to Patea to-day. For the same reason the coastal vessel Hauturu, which normally leaves Onehunga on Tuesday, arriving at New Plymouth on the Wednesday, has been purposely delayed on this occasion till to-morrow, to permit more facile working when she arrives.

A bee was the cause of a motoi' accident on Monday, and because of the mishap a cricket match had to be abandoned. The bee alighted on the arm of Mr. R. Binmore, Onehunga, and distracted his attention for a moment, resulting in a sedan motor-car he was driving leaving the road near Te Kauwhata and running up a bank. The five occupants of the car were all members of the Ponsonby Cricket Club’s senior team and were going to Cambridge to play a match. Although the side of the car was tom the passengers escaped with a severe shaking. The remainder of the team had left for Cambridge in another car earlier in the day, but the match had to be abandoned on account of the accident. _

A fracture of the ankle was suffered by Miss Cylvia Dobson, Junction Road, when she was thrown by a horse. Miss Dobson was riding on her father s property at Kaimata and when crossing a bridge her pony slipped and fell, pinning Miss Dobson’s foot. “We are living in a rapidly changing world; with Communism in Russia, Fascism in Italy, Hitlerism in Germany, and Rooseveltism, which seems to be a clumsy combination of Douglas and Dick Seddon, in U.S.A., it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep pace with modern economic and political developments,” said Colonel Closey at the Douglas Credit conference at Palmerston North.

The heavy upkeep expenses incurred by transport firms with services off the main roads were indicated when a witness was giving evidence before the No. 5 Transport Licensing Authority at New Plymouth yesterday. The witness’ firm sent a motor lorry along Waikawau Road, north of Awakino, daily for seven months of the year. The firm was now using its third complete set of tyres for the year. Maintenance was much more costly for work on that road than for work between Awakino and New Plymouth. Unemployment figures, a representative of the Christchurch Press learned on Saturday, had shown a marked decline recently, and it was stated that this, although in part due to harvesting and other seasonal occupations, also meant that a number 6f men were being reabsorbed into industry. The building scheme of the Unemployment Board had given work to many men, but an important factor was that the great and maintained increase in wool prices had spread a feeling of confidence. “I expect that I will be able to announce the personnel of the Royal Commission of the Native Affairs Department shortly after I return to Wellington,’’ said the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes, at Christchurch on Saturday. Mr. Forbes said the Cabinet had not had a chance of discussing the personnel of the Local Bodies Commission, but the question would have to be dealt with shortly. A similar state of affairs existed in regard to the select committee to inquire into monetary affairs. An invitation has been received by Mr. D. G. Sullivan, M.P., Mayor of Christchurch, to attend the celebrations at Waitangi as a chief of the Ngai-Tahu tribe. He received a letter from Mr. Te Ari Pitama conveying the invitation in the most cordial terms, and urging him to “leave his pakeha designations in Christchurch.” Mr. Sullivan will visit Waitangi with other members of Parliament, and will probably wear the badge of chieftainship presented to him by the Ngai-Tahu tribe on a previous occasion. “The traffic system in Melbourne is an eye-opener,” said Mr. L. J. Brabin, a Wellington business man who has returned from a holiday visit to Australia. “All the traffic, pedestrian and vehicular, is controlled by lights, and you cannot cross the street against the lights, otherwise a policeman will collar you,” he said. The system of lights, continued Mr. Brabin, gave pedestrians plenty of time to cross the streets. The same system was to be adopted at Sydney from February 1. At the present time Rafferty’s rules prevailed there, and it was difficult to get across the street.” North Taranaki pastures appear in remarkably good order as the result of the rainfall experienced during the past two or three weeks. The countryside presents a verdant appearance in marked contrast to the sere and yellow appearance customary at this stage of late cummer in a normal season. The unsettled weather has interfered with haymaking to a considerable extent, hay in some cases being out over a week before it could be stacked, but as one farmer remarked, any loss in feed value in that respect had been more than made up by the stimulation of pasture and root crops.

Mr. C. Drader had an extraordinary experience while driving a buck-board on a mud road near Tahora. Mr. Drader was proceeding up an incline when a fall of papa, apparently loosened by the recent heavy rain, frightened the horse. The horse bolted and drew the buckboard at great speed, ploughing through the mud for about half a mile until a sharp bend brought both horse and waggon to a sudden stop. Evidently the horse ran too close to the bank while taking the bend, as one shaft was forced against a rock and broke off at the middle. The horse < and buck-board went down and the occupant was deposited comfortably in the mud. Both horse and driver escaped injury.

A model, domplete in every detail, of a full-rigged three-masted ship is well under way in a fire-wood splitting camp on the slopes of the mountain. The model represents the interesting way in which one of the members, a young man of 22 years of age, who has had considerable experience as a sailor, is employing his spare time at nights and on wet days. His only tools consist of an ordinary bushman’s 6ft saw, a pocket knife and a spokeshave. With these he has already fashioned the hull complete with galleys, deckhouse, portholes etc., stepped the three masts, which are equipped with all the yards, and he is now about to tackle the intricate task of rigging, the ship. The construction of the ship is being watched with interest by the other residents in the camp, who are proud of their mate’s handicraft, particularly when handicapped by such a limited choice of tools.

A Taranaki resident who has just returned from Queensland states that conditions in that country have improved considerably in recent months, though under the surface there is still much want and distress and financial difficulty. The easing of Federal taxation has had a great deal to do with the changed spirit of the people. Then there ■was a great lift given by the wool prices. One thing he particularly noticed in the Australian was his cheerfulness in adversity. He was a good loser as well as a good winner, a condition probably due to the sunny nature of the country. In contradistinction when he left New Zealand a year ago he thought there was altogether too much. grousing over conditions, but since his return he had seen a greater philosophical acceptance of his fate by the New Zealander.

A creature seldom seen nowadays in Taranaki or elsewhere in New Zealand is the bat. Two species have been noted in the Dominion, the short-tailed and the long-tailed. A few nights ago a Vogeltown resident heard a noise in an adjoining room, and upon investigation found that a bat of the short-tailed variety had fllown in through the open window. Turning on of the electric light caused the bat to flutter blindly around, and eventually it made its escape through the window. In the early days of settlement bats were plentiful in most districts. In Taranaki fifty or sixty years ago they were seen in large numbers, and settlers of those days still remember seeing . bats in the evening or summer days flying around in large numbers as they fed on moths, flies and beetles that were on the wing at that hour. .The bat seen last week was about two inches in length, brown in colour above, shading to a paler tint underneath. It is probable that it came from Pukekura Park, where the dense shade of some of the bush would provide excellent sanctuary in the daytime when the bat sleeps. The opinion has been expressed that bats have almost disappeared in New Zealand since the introduction of trow, which feed very largely upon winged insects that are born in water or fly over water surfaces. In former times these provided the bat with food in plenty, with the result that there were bats in great numbers. , z -‘