NEWS OF THE DAY

Taranaki Daily News, 23 May 1934, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

According to a booklet issued recently by Wool Publicity (N.Z.) roughly 3s 6d worth of wool is used in the manufacture of a suit of clothes. The son of a Christchurch relief worker who recently asked for “unemployment nibs” instead of “relief nibs,” has a counterpart in the Wellington boy who was sent to the grocer’s by his mother for a bottle of acetic acid. He forgot the name and asked for “sarcastic” acid. The grocer told him to tell his mother that he was sorry that he was out of stock, but would get a fresh lot in at the first opportunity. The methods of allocating relief funds by the Unemployment Board were criticised at a meeting of the North Taranaki Relief Workers’ Union last night, when the following resolution was carried: “This meeting is of the opinion that the very unfair method of allocating relief funds by the Unemployment Board should be abolished and in its stead a more equitable basis of distribution should be instituted.”

“The basis of the Rotary movement is friendliness amongst the commercial and professional men who comprise its membership, friendliness and helpfulness in the community, in the country, and internationally,” declared Rotarian T. C. List, Governor of Rotary in New Zealand, at Monday’s luncheon, at which the Prime Minister delivered an address on the country’s outlook. “So don’t be surprised if you are called by your Christian name before you . leave the room,” added Rotarian List. “That won’t be so bad; they call me by worse names than that at times ” interjected Mr. Forbes. And the audience was convulsed with laughter.

Another shipment of New Zealand timber is to be dispatched to England in September. It will consist of 22,000 feet of seasoned rimu foi - use in cabinetmaking, and is now being cut on the West Coast. The order is one of several which have resulted from a delegation to Great Britain of representatives of the Dominion Sawmillers Federation and the Government.

The report by' the engineers engaged on the survey of the new road to Milford Sound in regard to the location of the tunnel it is proposed to construct is now in the hands of the Minister of Employment, the Hon. Adam Hamilton, who is giving it his consideration. He stated while in Christchurch that it had not yet been decided whether the work was definitely to proceed, but. an announcement of the Government's intentions would probably be made in the near future. The engineer’s report covered both the practicability and the cost of the scheme. The two proposed routes for the tunnel are the Homer and Gertrude Saddles.

Senior pupils of the Central School lined the driveway into the New Plymouth cemetery yesterday at the f u P\ oral of Irwin Dick, nine-year-old child of Mr. and Mrs. T. Dick, Lemon Street, New Plymouth. Irwin, a pupil of Standard 3, died from tetanus on Sunday night. The intention had been to parade a large number from the school, but wet weather resulted in the senior pupils only being sent. The school committee was represented by Messrs. F. A. Coleman (chairman), W. H. Huggett, A. W. Holder, A. Feakins and F. S. Nicholson and the Education Board by the chairman, Mr. S. G. Smith, M.P., the secretary, Mr. H. W. Insull, and the architect, Mr. C. H. Moore. There were many wreaths, including a number from fel-low-pupils of the school. - The operations of the Fletcher Construction Company in its contract on the Dunedin Post Office building are daily watched with great interest by the public, states the Evening Star. The lower portion of the steel structure is going up apace. It began at the northeast corner, and will be in hand on the Bond Street frontage this week. The scaffolding that is in course of erection outside the steel work is for the purpose of enabling the fitters to get about aloft. It has nothing to do with the building of the stonework that is to clothe the steel. The stonework will not be begun until the steel frame is completed to the roof. The electric crane now in use is to be relied on for the upper lifts to the very top, but very shortly it is to be helped by a second crane. Pears so large as 'to appear almost freaks were brought to the New Zealand Herald office by Mr, G. H. Cook, of the Bay of Islands. They came from a tree planted 70 or 80 years ago at the old Cook homestead on the Waikare River, near Opua, and the heaviest of four amazing specimens weighed 31b 4oz when picked up from the ground recently. It was the size of a large coconut. The average weight of pears from the tree is over 21b, and it bears prolific crops. The tree was planted by Mr. Cook’s grandfather and originally bore eating pears. However, although the tree received very little attention by way of pruning and manuring, the fruit gradually increased in size and the yia'.d of giant pears has been proceeding for some years. The fruit is now too large for eating, but, according to Mr. Cook, the pears are excellent for cooking purposes. The tree is about 30ft high, with wide-spread-ing branches, and is in a fairly sheltered position,

Of every 100 people, 17 are born strongly right-handed, three strongly lefthanded, and the remaining 80 have equal capacity for either, states a writer in a Sydney journal. In the adult, however, out of the 80, only two, as a rule, are ambidextrous, the remainder having acquired the right-hand habit. Many theories have been advanced as to the reason for the predominance in the skill of the right hand over the left. They may be tabulated as follows: 1, Nursing and infantile treatment; 2, result of practice in writing and drawing; 3, acquired habit; 4, the outcome of war, education and heredity; 5, the result of internal organic structure; 6, instinct; 7, result of visceral distribution; 8, due to arrangement of blood vessels; 9, result of brain one-sid-edness. Left-handed people or people who have their left side well trained (thus training the right side of the brain) hardly ever suffer from aphasia. Thus ambidexterity is well worth cultivating for that reason alone, so, although lefthanded people should cultivate the use of the right hand as well, right-handed people should cultivate the left hand.

Research into markets for textile goods had shown that 750,000,000 people were only partially clothed, yet last year the United States Government had opened a restriction policy under which seven to twenty dollars per acre were paid to owners of cotton plantations for every acre ploughed up and not -planted either in cotton or other saleable commodities, said Mr. Walter Nash, M.P., when speaking at the Trinity Congregational Church in Christchurch. One difficulty that had arisen in carrying out the policy was that the mules had refused to plough up the cotton plants. The explanation was simple, said Mr. Nash. The mules had always been trained to walk in the furrows between the plants; now they were asked to walk on top of the rows, the one thing they had previously been punished for doing. They naturally “jibbed.” Maybe they were more sensible than the organisers of the destruction policy, observed Mr. Nash.

An instance of how the law changes with the years was given in the Supreme Court at Wellington during the hearing before Mr. Justice Fair of an originating summons seeking interpretation of the terms of the will of Miss Mary Agnes Harding, deceased, of Stratford. Miss Harding, whose estate was worth £8417, made a bequest to a priest in Ireland for the saying of masses on her behalf. It was mentioned by Mr. D. McGrath, ana confirmed by Mr. Justice Fair, that such a trust was legal, although prior to 1906 in Ireland, 1910 in New Zealand, and 1919 in England such a provision was regarded as illegal in that it was a trust for “superstitious uses.” In Ireland in 1906, in the case of O’Hanlon v. Cardinal Logue, the long-standing law was changed. In New Zealand in 1910, in the case of Corrigan v. Redwood, it was shown that the English law on that question did not apply to New Zealand, so such bequests were held to constitute a legal trust. In England in 1910 the law was changed by the ruling in the case of Bourne v. Keane.

Those who are awake to the perils and difficulties of our present economic situation will welcome the opportunity of hearing the addresses by Mr. Harry Atmore, M.P., at New Plymouth and Waitara, notice of which appears elsewhere in these columns.

The “Moorpark” Jersey stud, the property of Mr. J. F. Shepherd, Opunake. is particularly good for breeding and quality and its dispersal, by auction on Saturday should be of interest to Jersey breeders throughout the Dominion. It is the first sale in Jersey week and keen buyers should make a point of attending, for there are sure to be some bargains. See advertisement in auction columns. Mr. A. W. Martin, rupture specialist from Dunedin, will bring his 29th annual visit to New Plymouth to a close on Wednesday. May 23, at 5 p.m. at the Imperial Hotel. Hours daily, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Why suffer when you can get immediate relief from a treatment that has cured hundreds in New Zealand, without operation or detention from work.*

Mr. W. J. Polson. M.P., will address farmers in the Parish Hall, Inglewood, on Friday, at 8 p.m.