NEWS OF THE DAY

Taranaki Daily News, 10 February 1934, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

The industrial dispute between the Taranaki creamery and dairy factory employees’ union and the employers will be heard at New Plymouth on Thursday.

The swarm of flies which invaded the Moturoa Oilfield’s works at No. 4 well on Thursday returned yesterday causing so much of a nuisance that they had to be burned off with a flare.

An inspection of Pukekura Park and Brooklands was made by members of the New Plymouth Borough Council and the Pukekura Park committee yesterday morning to assist in the discussion of the policy to be adopted by the controlling authorities in the future.

The subscription list of the North Taranaki Farmers’ Union totalled 1141 at the end of January, according to a notice received from the secretary of the Dominion body at the North Taranaki executive meetings yesterday. This represented a decrease of 27 on the figures at the end of December. Since then there were 31 resignations and four new members.

A magnificent show of Stuart’s desert pea (Cleanthus Dampierii) is a feature of Brooklands, New Plymouth, at present. The desert pea was one of the late Mr. Newton King’s favourite flowers. The display of begonias is also pleasing. Mr. T. Boulton, head gardener, considers that the begonias growing in hanging baskets with maidenhair fem are better than they have ever been. Though the growth was not as fast as that of the tropical jungles which are reputed to wipe out man-made changes in six months, weeds encroached widely upon the two basketball grounds at. the East End reserve, New Plymouth, since the conclusion of last season. The growth was almost luxuriant and several men have been engaged in clearing it in preparation for the coming season.

Growing in a glass box in a classroom at the Fftzroy primary school, New Plymouth, two French runner beans have attained a height of about seven or eight feet and appear in good health, though there js no sign of their flowering. A careful tally of the water that was given the plants during the holidays was kept and it was found that as much as seven pints was used in six weeks. The box contains only about 250 cubic inches of soil.

Nearly 1000 miles were travelled by two New Plymouth High School boys, R. E. Sole and W. R. Geddes, who have returned from a cycle tour of the central portion of the North Island. They left New Plymouth on Boxing Day and experienced favourable conditions for the greater part of the trip. The boys carried a small bivouac tent and pitched camp each night. Their route included Mokau, Hamilton, Tauranga, Rotorua, Whakatane, Opotiki, Gisborne, Napier, Lake Taupo, Tongariro National Park, Taumarunui, Tangarakau Gorge and Stratford.

One of the things that struck him m Sydney was the almost entire absence of radio aerials, Mr. A. H. C. Orr, who is visiting Christchurch after spending some time in New South Wales, told a representative of the Press. The people in Sydney were quite satisfied with their local stations, and did not go to the expense of erecting aerials to bring in outside stations. The alteration in the wavelengths of the New Zealand YA stations had affected reception in Australia, and both Wellington and Christchurch were difficult to get on the air.

According to an Auckland resident who returned from an extensive tour, Taranaki is looking exceedingly 'fresh and green. Hawke’s Bay also is losing its bumt-up appearance, except in the area near Hastings and Napier. What struck the tourist as surprising was the condition of the districts round about the Waikato. He said that the country was looking bleak and depressing, in striking contrast to the other provinces mentioned, However, he concluded by remarking that the present rains should brighten up the pastures in the Waikato districts, and mentioned that the Bay of Plenty would welcome a period of steady rain.

A comprehensive scheme for the beautification of main roads leading to Wanganui from the Waitotara county is in hand. The Maxwell Women’s Institute is one of the live units in the undertaking. After carrying out a splendid scheme of beautification to the . county war memorial at Maxwell, the institute has turned its attention to the roads. Public spirited citizens and settlers have assisted by donating trees, shrubs, seeds, and bulbs. A very fine bed of gladioli was planted on the roadside south of Maxwell, and at various points along the road there are plantations in the making. Similar work is proceeding on the river bank road above Aramoho, Mr. C. C. Rasmussen having donated hundreds or trees to enable the task to proceed.

What the greatly increased price for wool means even to small farmers was exemplified in Christchurch recently by a person in close touch with farmers financial affairs. He said that one farmer, who received £72 for his small wool clip four years ago, had about the same amount of wool in at the second Christchurch sale of this season. His cheque from that sale amounted to £325. Another farmer on higher country obtained £2BOO for his clip in the boom times before the depression, and in the depth of the slump received only £2OO for approximately the same amount of wook

Several ’planes coming and going at the New Plymouth aerodrome yesterday made the day a busy one. Flight-Lieu-tenant E. S. Olsen, flying the Otago Aero Club’s Waco ’plane, which has been acting as a tender machine to the Southern Cross, stopped on the way from Auckland to Dunedin to refuel, arriving at the ’drome at 7.30 a.m. Mr. J. Franklin flew the Western Federated machine, ZKACZ, from Wanganui to allow the ground engineer, Mr. A. Salter, to make some engine adjustments. On completion, he flew the ’plane back to Wanganui- Mr. C. Linn, pilot, took Mr. S. E. Nielson, secretary of the New Plymouth Aero Club, to Auckland in ZK-ABP. They are expected to return early this morning.

A remarkable display of courage combined with a spirit of independence was shown by a returned soldier with one leg, who was stranded at Christchurc and set out to walk to Dunedin on Friday on crutches. He had covered t e first 16 miles of his long journey of 243 miles, and, apart from calloused hands, showed little effects from the trip when he was picked up at Rolleston. by a passing motorist who gave him a ride to Ashburton and directed him to communicate with the Ashburton County War Relief Fund Society. The traveller’s- only request to the society was for a pair of new rubbers for his crutches, but the case was considered worthy of more assistance, and the man was placed on the south express on Saturday morning and given his ticket to Dunedin. He served with the Main Body in the Great War and had his left leg amputated following an accident in New Zealand.

A serious view of the possible effect on the New Zealand clothing trade of the importation of cheap clothing produced by sweated labour in Europe is taken by Mr. J. Roberts, secretary of the New Zealand Clothing Trades Federation. Mr. Roberts was handed three samples of men’s trousers, which had been manufactured in Poland, and could be sold retail at prices much below the cost of production of similar articles in New Zealand. The articles consisted of a pair of blue overalls, sold in London at Is 41d, and landed in New Zealand at 3s Id; denim trousers, costing Is 5d in London and 3s 3d in New Zealand; and sports trousers, landed in Nev/ Zealand at a cost of 5s 9d and costing 2s 6d in London. Mr. Roberts stated that the New Zealand clothing manufacturers could not stand up to that sort of thing, and he intended to bring the the notice of the Minister of Customs and the Minister of Industries and Commerce, with the request that steps be taken to prevent these goods coming to the Dominion. The lowest price at which overalls similar- to those imported from Poland could be manufactured in Christchurch was 5s sd, and if this class of imports was to come into the Dominion it was probable that a large number of girls now working in clothing factories i would become unemployed.