NEWS OF THE DAY

Taranaki Daily News, 2 April 1934, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

Daylight-saving time will be continued in New Zealand for another month, the clocks being put back half-an-hour on April 29, the last Sunday in the month.

Two hundred and fifty applications were received by the Tauranga Electric Power Board for the position of a male clerk in the office. An applicant from Auckland was appointed.

One of the sights of New Plymouth at the week-end was a tailor’s dummy which had been placed in too close proximity to an electric light lamp. The result was a softening of the noble head of the dummy. •

“If any of you ever get a chance to go abroad, take it, even if you do not know how to get back. It is well worth it,” said Mr. A. M. Richards, travelling secretary of the New Zealand Students’ Christian Movement, in a lecture to the pupils of the Hamilton High School. April Fool’s Day has gradually fallen into disuse as a day for playing pranks and has been relegated to a place in the very juvenile mind which makes it a trial to patient, and impatient, fathers. If there were any outstanding pranks played yesterday they were kept very quiet. Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Mace, New Plymouth, and a friend achieved the unusual by sleeping overnight in the crater at Mount Egmont on Saturday. They climbed on Saturday afternoon, taking sleeping bags and a small tent, and had their meals nearly 8260 feet above sea level. They spent a comfortable night and cams down to the North Mount Egmont hostel yesterday. Although Saturday was the 93rd anniversary of the landing at. Moturoa of 120 passengers from the William Bryan, the event marking the definite establishment of Taranaki as a province, no public celebrations cf the anniversary were held. Prior to the closing of the schools on Thursday reference was made by teachers to the event.

Of considerable nuisance to players in the Taranaki golf championships at the Waiwakaiho links on Saturday were swarms of sand flies. The flies were persistent in their attentions to all, and not even the most violent waving of hat or hand could remove a cloud of the insects from one’s head.

' Although most bathers have put away ' their togs until next summer, there still remains at New Plymouth a goodly number of enthusiasts prepared to brave the rigours of mountain wind and cold water in pursuit of health and happiness. At the Fitzroy beach yesterday at least 50 bathed during the afternoon, and all appeared to enjoy it. Good numbers also swam at MotUroa and other beaches. Running down the incline out of control, and missing a new car parked on the side of the road by inches, a truck owned by Mr. Thomas James, farmer, Hurford Road, crashed through two large plate glass windows on the Liardet Street side of Scanlan’s Ltd. at about 6 o’clock on Thursday evening. The truck was parked near the top of the rise by the Whiteley church in reverse gear and with the handbrake on. Mr. James’ son, aged 10, the sole occupant, possibly released the brake and gear and the truck, gathering speed, swerved across the road before turning into Scanlan’s and breaking a wooden verandah post as it mounted the footpath. The child, beyond suffering severely from shock, was uninjured. The truck was damaged to the extent of a crumpled mudguard | and a burst tyrd.

The upward trend in the wholesale price of eggs at Wanganui continues, and the Wanganui Poultry Association reports that eggs are now selling for Is lOd a dozen or 22s per gross wholesale.

During a visit of inspection made by members of the Harbour Improvement Committee at Lyttelton, one member was impressed by the hardwood piles being used in the construction of the oil wharf. Some of the piles measure 70ft in length, and those present received a shock when they were informed by the secretary of the board, Mr. C. H. Clibborn, that they cost £2l each.

Good work is being done at the Wanganui Airport by some 200 relief workers engaged in levelling sandhills and providing a turf surface, says the Chronicle. When the work is completed it is anticipated that the airport will rank among the best in the Dominion, as it will be suitable for accommodating all types of aeroplanes, including planes engaged in the trans-Tasman service. It is understood that more men may be engaged at the airport shortly. One of the despairs of an average golfer’s life is that the more he learns about the game the worse he becomes at it. To several at the Taranaki championships on the Waiwakaiho links on Saturday who, by the expenditure of energy and money had patiently reduced their handicaps, it must have been galling to watch several of the caddies. With no great knowledge of the game the boys nevertheless swung different clubs with perfect timing and swing. The fine weather during the Easter holidays has attracted many motor campers, and on Saturday night there were 36 parties at the Belt Road camp, New Plymouth, and the numbers were well maintained last night. The Fitzroy Seaside Park’s camp has also been well patronised. Several golfers from outside the province arrived at the New Plymouth club’s tournament equipped with their outfits and have pitched their camps on the links at Waiwakaiho. Startling to visitors at the Taranaki golf championships at the New Plymouth club’s course on Saturday were the variations in the wind. In the morning the wind blew directly from the south, but by afternoon it had changed to the west and a light breeze was blowing. As dusk fell the wind once more changed, this time to the south, and blew fairly steadily. Though the wind was light throughout a perfect day, visitors expressed themselves as bewildered by its changes.

The meaning of the words, “a twothirds majority” was argued by delegates to the Canterbury Football Association, at the annual meeting. Thirtyfive persons with voting .power were present, and when a motion was submitted to the meeting 20 voted for it and nine against. The rules of the association provide that a motion should be carried by a two-thirds majority, and the chairman ruled the motion carried by two-thirds of a vote. Several of the delegates contended that the majority, which was 11, would. require to be twothirds of the total number of votes, and they still argued the question long after the meeting was adjourned. Residents in Edinburgh Street, Pukekohe, were puzzled on Monday by the repeated mewing of a cat, which began in the early hours of the morning and continued incessantly until about 8.30 a.m., when the whereabouts of the cat was discovered. It was found that the cat was at the top of an electric-power pole it had climbed in the street, and was walking miserably back and forth on the cross-arm. A kitten was waiting patiently at the foot of the pole. The power board was advised by telephone and a linesman with a ladder was soon able to bring the cat back to earth. The Japanese boats recently reported off the north Australian coast were believed to be smuggling Japanese into the northern part of Queensland, Mr. A. N. Stephens, of Brisbane, told a representative of the Christchurch Press. Japanese were fairly numerous in Thursday Island and Northern Queensland, and were good farmers and fishermen, but the Commonwealth Government had placed a check on their immigration. It was generally believed that the boats seen off the coast were engaged in smuggling additional immigrants. “There is no doubt that the production. of sodium chlorate in New Zealand is commercially practicable,” stated Mr. W. J. Polson, M.P., speaking at the Counties’ Ragwort Conference in Hamilton. Mr. Polson said it had been established that if the Government could reduce the cost of electric power sodium chlorate could be manufactured in New Zealand at a price considerably below £25 a ton. He understood a company was at present exploiting the commercial possibilities of local manufacture of the product. Rubber estates in the Malay were controlled largely by Japanese, who employ Chinese labour, said Mr. A. N. Campbell, when addressing the Wanganui Rotary Club this week. The Japanese, however, could never be trusted, he said. When a magistrate was moved to a new district in Malay it was not uncommon for a present of champagne and various other beverages to be sent him by a Japanese, who would appear a day or two afterwards seeking a favour. While the Chinese were harder to bargain with, they always remained true to their agreements. This was not the case with the Japanese, and unless an agreement were in black and white, they would not observe it. The fact that only 25 per cent, of the scholars at one of the primary schools in Hawke’s Bay are able to swim has been brought to the notice of the Hawke’s Bay branch of the Royal LifeSaving Society, and at a meeting of the committee of that body it was decided to form a class for school teachers, and that the holders of bronze medallions for life-saving should be asked to sit for their instructors’ certificates. The view was expressed that until greater interest in swimming was fostered among the children there could be little hope of an increased interest in life-saving. The need for instruction was stressed by the chairman, Mr A. W. H. King, who stated that there was a general belief that instruction in swimming formed part of the school curriculum.

The urgent need for reform in Parliamentary procedure was stressed by the Hon. J. A. Hanan, M.L.C., states the Christchurch Times. “Nearly all Parliamentary forms of government are passing through the furnace of criticism,” he said, “and the question deserves attention in New Zealand.” Mr. Hanan passed through Christchurch on his way to Wellington to attend a meeting of the University Senate. Unless there was less delay and less cost, he said, public opinion would ultimately direct its attention to the question of reform in order that it might be made a more fully effective agent of government. “While believing in giving freedom of debate, at the same time all those with Parliamentary experience know that the privilege is abused, and sei-ves no useful purpose from the point of view of public interest,” he declared. “Conditions are changing all over the world. We see it in business and other walks of life, and there is no reason why. Parliament should not consider whether the machine and its methods of working cannot be improved.” The subject had been taken up in Victoria, and leading politicians had recognised the need for some action. Mr. Hanan suggested that a select committee of both Houses should go into the question in New Zealand with a view to effecting improvements that would enable the work of Parliament to be more efficiently and expeditiously performed. 1