NEWS OF THE DAY'

Taranaki Daily News, 11 April 1935, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY'

Siren Sounds But No Fire. The wail of a siren at 7.50 o’clock last night brought many New Plymouth people to their doors to see the fire. There were reports that at least two cars were hastily brought out of their sheds for the search, but the alarm was a false one. The'fire brigade was merely engaged in testing out a new siren.

Grey Hairs Guaranteed. “I have not enough grey hairs on my head to entitle me to become a member of the management committee,” commented a nominee for a seat on the committee at the annual meeting of the Hamilton Rugby Union. “You go on the committee and you will soon get grey ’hairs,” interjected a delegate. Absent Once in 12 Years.

After serving 12 years as secretary of the West End School Committee and mjeering only one meeting during that period, Mr. H. J. Abram at the monthly meeting last night announced his retirement as member and secretary. His colleagues expressed regret at Mr. Abram’s decision and acknowledged his splendid work for the school, particularly during the recent jubilee. Mr. C. O. Berg, chairman, said he also would relinquish office after the annual meeting of householders at the end of the month. Spilt Sugar.

Rushing out of a New Plymouth shop yesterday with a 61b. bag of sugar tightly clasped in her arms, a small girl tripped and fell on the roadway. The bag split and its contents whitened the pavement. The child, with barely a backward glance, ran to the shop, obtained another bag, and in a few minutes had shovelled back most of the sugar, with a fair proportion of gravel. Whether the parents appreciated this type of overweight was not discovered. Altered Circumstances.

The story is told of an unemployed ex-serviceman w£io applied to his association to have his name placed on the list of men receiving relief under the scheme by the R.S.A. in conjunction with local" bodies, states the Wellington Post’s Palmerston North correspondent. Asked if he was married, his reply was that he was a widower and that he had no children. He was then told that he would have to be treated as a single man. A few weeks later he was back again in support of his application, this time a married man—he had married a widow possessed of a large family. He was duly enrolled as eligible.

Shipping Delayed. Heavy showers prevented the unloading of the vessels Kiwitea and Hauturu at the port of New Plymouth yesterday. The Kiwitea, which has a cargo of coal, was to have sailed yesterday, as was the Hauturu after discharging general cargo.

Motor’s Influence on Roads. “Great Britain’s highways have improved more in the last 30 years than they had in the previous 300 years, while Germany is now putting in hand one of the world’s biggest road building schemes—all because of the realisation of the importance which the motor vehicle bears to national development,” said Mr. W. A. Sutherland in an address to Rotary members at Wellington. “In our own small country there has been B tn increase of 7000 miles of rural roads over the past twelve years,” he added.

New Sunspots. After an intervals of over ten days without any sunspots, a new group of spots broke out on the sun on Monday between 9.40 a.m. and 5 p.m. The group is situated in the sun’s southern hemisphere, not far from the central’ meridian. It consisted of only two small spots, but on Tuesday morning at least three were visible. The length of the group was about 40,000 miles.

Testing of Fleeces. The farmers of the Gisborne district believe that the fleece-testing scheme initiated by Massey Agricultural College and to be brought into operation in Poverty Bay this month, will be of great value. At a meeting of the general committee of the Poverty Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Association the matter was discussed, and it was agreed to commend the scheme to all breeders whom it could benefit. Too Hurried? A declaration that the business at the recent municipal conference at Christchurch had been far too rushed was made by the Mayor of Lower Hutt, Mr. J. W. Andrews, at a meeting of the borough council. Seven remits dealing with unemployment, he said, had received 12 minutes’ discussion, in the hurry to get away for, a drive. It was safe to say that four-fifths of the delegates did not know what they had voted for. No check, continued Mr. Andrews, had been kept on the way delegates voted. On one occasion 12 more votes had been recorded than there were members present. Woodland Bulbs. ,

The woodland running along the bank of the Avon River, Christchurch, on the south side of the botanic reserve, where daffodils bloom in profusion during early spring, is to be more beautiful than ever in the coming season. The planting during the past month of 39,240 additional bulbs has brought the total number of narcissi that have been bedded in. this area during the past three planting season to 108,240, and the passing of the 100,000 mark was a fact which the curator of the Botanic Gardens, Mr. J. A. McPherson, recorded with pleasure in his report to the Christchurch Domains Board at its last meeting. “Printer’s Error.”

A good story against himself was told by the Rev. J. A. Asher at the gathering held in his honour in St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church, Napier. “It has been suggested that during my retirement I sho'uld write a , book,” he said. “I have done literary work in the past, but before very long I received a communication from the editor of the publication to which’ I was contributing stating that he would be unable to accept any further articles from me in the meantime because the typesetters could not read by writing. I once wrote an article for a publication,” Mr Asher went on. “The heading at the top of it was ‘No Cross, No Crown,’ but when it came back from the printers it bore the heading, ‘No Cows,' No Cream.’ ”

Injury in Sawmill. A worker in Ellis_and Burnand’s mill at Mangapehi, George Eastlake, was very seriously .injured on Monday, receiving a compound depressed fracture of the skull. He was taken to the Te Kuiti Hospital. He is still in a very serious condition. No one saw the accident. Just before noon Mr. Eastlake was waiting outside one of the pits in the sawmill in order to mend a belt when the machinery stopped. Other workers heard groans and Mr. Eastlake was found seriously injured at the bottom of the pit while the machines were' still running. Mr. Eastlake probably used a hammer that he had in his hand to ease the belting over and off the pulley. It is surmised that when he was doing this the broken clips on the belt caught the hammer and took it round the pulley and threw it back at his head. A further fracture of the skull was probably received through his falling on to a shaft. Mr. Eastlake is a very old resident of Mangapehi.