NEWS OF THE DAY

Taranaki Daily News, 6 November 1934, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

Tangible evidence of the truth of an angler’s story was on hhow yesterday in the shop window of a sports depot at New Plymouth. It was a fine trout weighing 81b loz, which had been caught by Mr. W. Hellier in «the Waiwakaiho River.

The New Plymouth Borough Council last night decided to refund to the chief borough inspector, Mr. R. Day, the sum of £2 8s paid by him as legal expenses in the court case in which two New Plybouth women took unsuccessful action against him for alleged assault at Te Henui cemetery during the progress af a burial service.

On the recommendation of the finance committee the New Plymouth Borough Council last night decided to inform the Fitzroy Ratepayers’ Association that it is not prepared to grant a discount on rates paid before the date due on the grounds of unwise discrimination between ratepayers of different financial positions and budgetary and other economic difficulties.

The reference in to-day’s News to the memorial to the late Sir Maui Pomare brings back to memory some of the flashes of wit of that. Minister in the House of Representatives. He had a habit of sitting back in his seat with his eyes closed. One night a Labour member passed some sarcastic remarks concerning this attitude. He said he did wish that the Minister of Native Affairs would take notice when the affairs of his department were being discussed and not go to sleep. Sir Maui did not open his eyes but his reply was short and s crushing.: “The Minister of Native Affairs,” he retorted, “is more awake when he is asleep that the honourable member for is at any time.”

Reports had been received of bullocks wandering on the Dover Road, Okato, at night, and an early morning visit to the locality proved the reports to be correct, as he had found five bullocks owned by two people and four heifers owned by a settler, at large, reported Mr. R. Aroa, Taranaki county inspector, at yesterday’s meeting of the council. He added that the owners had received previous warnings, so that prosecutions would follow.

It has been suggested in several quarters that after the centenary Melbourne will have a problem in absorbing a large number of its visitors who expectedly or unexpectedly will have to remain there. The officer in charge of an employment bureau at Christchurch remarked that some employers had experienced difficulty in obtaining domestic labour because a number of women and girls had saved up a little money and travelled fairly cheaply to Melbourne for the centenary. It was doubtful whether they intended to come back or whether they would be able to do so if they wished, and it was likely that Melbourne would have the burden of finding them work,

A motorist who attended a dance in New Plymouth last night left his car soon after 8 o’clock in Devon Street between Liardet and Currie Streets. When he returned to the car again at 12.30 he found that four gallons of benzine had been taken.

When Mr. Fred. Everfield was cycling along Kelly Street, Inglewood, at a good pace the front forks of his cycle broke and he was thrown over the handlebars on to his face on the road. He suffered slight concussion as well as a severe cut and bruises. After attention he was able to go to his home. . The number of Maori children attending schools at the end of 1933 was 15,939, and the average attendance was 90.5 per cent. It is estimated that over 90 per cent of Maori children of school age are to-day being educated in primary schools, which must be an important factor in the future. The estimated Maori population for the whole Dominion to-day is 72,883, of whom 69,734 reside in the North Island. The roads had been very free from unlighted vehicles at night, only one unlighted bicycle having been observed, reported Mr. R. Aroa, county inspector, at yesterday’s meeting of the Taranaki County Council. Motorists as a whole had not caused any trouble, regulations having been observed fairly well. He had noticed a number of motor vehicles without tail lights at night, a fair amount of neglect being shown. He intimated that unless an improvement was noted, a raid would have to be made. Under the heading “Where the Telephone is Really Used,” The Electrician (London) gives a comparison of the telephonic business of various countries: — “In 1932 the people of Canada made 224.5 telephone calls per capita, followed by New Zealanders with 205.8, and the citizens of the United States with 204.6. No European countries approach these figures, the number of calls in Denmark being 151.8 and in Sweden 137.6 per capita. In Great Britain and Germany the figures were 33.0, and in France 20.5. Canada has 21.22 telephones per 100 inhabitants in cities of 50,000 and over, being second to Sweden, which has 22.45. The United States follows with 19.52. In the case of smaller towns and villages the ranking is:—United States, 10.17 per 100 inhabitants; New Zealand, 9.62; Canada, 7.96.” "As celebrities are valued to-day, £5OOO is a modest sum to bring Scott and his Comet across the Tasman,” stated the Christchurch Star in a note on Scott and Black and their Comet. “It should not be necessary to have a street collection or a subscription list, or even an art union to raise it. A wide-awake entrepreneur, given the whole of New Zealand for his field, ought to be able to secure sufficient “gates” to make the venture profitable. Next week the public of Christchurch will be paying fancy prices to see five-legged sheep and fat women, and the Comet problem is fundamentally one of showmanship. Scott, even in a waxworks, would have a value to-day, and in the flesh with his machine he ought to be a real attraction.” “That this conference dissociates itself from the findings of the Tariff Commission on the question of a right of appeal against decisions of the Minister of Customs, and urges the establishment of a properly representative appeal board dealing with disputes arising under the Customs Act.” That remit from Auckland was put forward by Dr. E. P. Neale at the conference of the Associated Chambers of Commerce of New Zealand. It met with considerable opposition, mainly on the ground that it entailed setting up another board. It was stated by several speakers that they had always found the Customs Department quite fair in dealing with disputes. The remit was lost. “Before long, half the workers of this Dominion will be under superannuation schemes, and the other half not, and we shall have one half working to pay the other half that is not. That’s what is coming, unless you have universal superannuation," . said Mr. E. J. Howard, M.P., chairman of the Lyttelton Harbour Board, at the conference of the Harbours Association of New Zealand. The conference was discussing a remit from Otago that the Government be requested to pass legislation prohibiting public bodies and harbour boards in particular from engaging the service of Government or other superannuated officials who are in receipt of a pension of over £3OO a year. The remit was lost. Two requests made recently by the Fitzroy Ratepayers’ Association to the New Plymouth Borough Council, one for the construction of a new road to the beach from East End to Fitzroy and the other for the surface sealing of Paynter’s Avenue, southward from Devon Street, were refused last night. The raising of the footpath at the south end of the avenue is, however, already being done by council workmen and the works committee will inspect the bridge over the Te Henui Stream at Waiwaka Terrace with a view to improvement of the approaches. The association requested originally that a footbridge be attached to the existing bridge but the committee did not favour the practicability of the idea.

A start is to be made almost immediately by the Public Works Department with the completion of the metalling of the Carrington Road between the Momona and Timaru Streams and the work should be finished in a few weeks, giving through communication between New Plymouth and the Kahui Road. In order to have the Plymouth Road metalled while the men are employed in the district, the Taranaki County Council yesterday decided, subject to the approval of Cr. Carey, to offer £l5O spread over two years, to the Public Works Department as the council’s quota" towards the cost of the work. There is 75 chains of metalling from the Carrington Road to link up with the present metal on the Plymouth Road and it will give all the year access from the Upper Carrington Road to the Main South Road near Oakura.

A suggestion that the unemployment levy on incomes should be placed on the same basis ss income tax is now being considered by the Government. Advice to this effect was received at a meeting of the executive of the Canterbury Sheep Owners’ Union from the Minister of Finance (Mr Coates). The president (Mr. E. Hay) said he hoped it might be found possible to remove the anomaly. No objection could be made to paying unemployment tax on real incomes, as assessed for income tax, but it was felt to be an injustice that unemployment tax should be levied on paper incomes on which it was not considered equitable to levy income tax. Instances were quoted where income tax was not payable owing to heavy losses incurred during the two preceding years, but the unemployment tax was payable on the paper income shown.

When the revaluation work in Taranaki, to which the Valuation Department is already committed, is out of the way, it is intended to proceed with the revaluation of the Taranaki county. Notification to that effect was received by the county council at its meeting yesterday from Mr. W. Stewart, Valuer-General, in reply to a letter from the council last June asking him to reopen the question of revaluing the county. He pointed out that the department had received a number of similar applications from local bodies, from which a selection had been made of the most urgent. It was impossible to say definitely when the revaluation could be made. In view of the number of private revaluations that have been made and the uncertainty as to when a general revaluation of the county would be put in hand, the council discussed the question of rating next year on 75 per cent, of the valuation but action was deferred until next meeting.