NEWS OF THE DAY

Taranaki Daily News, 12 April 1935, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

“Talking to Myself."

“I have just read it through; you could not have been listening so I must have been talking to myself,” remarked the chairman of the Ohura County Council on Wednesday when, after he had moved the adoption of the engineer’s report, a councillor stated that he had not yet perused the report.

Nuddea Leaves Anchorage. Boisterous wind and heavy seas on Wednesday night forced the steamer Nuddea, which had been lying at anchor at New Plymouth awaiting orders from her owners, to put to sea. It was reported by telegram from Wellington last night that the vessel had arrived there. Basketball Indoors.

Heavy Rain prevented the New Plymouth Y.W.C.A. Basketball Club from playing on the Convent ground yesterday evening. Games were therefore played at Community House, where a general meeting of hockey enthusiasts was also held. Both groups joined later in ping-pong matches.

Gift to Seamen’s Rest. A donation of £3 3s towards the funds of the Seamen’s Rest committee was made by the New Plymouth Harbour Board yesterday. A letter from the committee asking for assistance expressed appreciation of the help given by the board in the past. The board had done much to keep the institution on a sound financial basis, it was stated. Clock that Lied.

Returning home at five minutes before midnight after a tedious meeting had finished, a young woman at New Plymouth recently unfortunately woke up her parents as she came in the door. “Burglars'.” thought her mother and her father jumped out of bed to catch them. Finding they were only his daughter he frowned upon her. “What do you mean by coming home at this hour?” he asked. “Half past five!” and he indicated the clock he held in his hand; but the clock was upside down. Result of Initiative.

It was because of the initiative of the town clerk (Mr. F. T. Bellringer), the Hons. James McLeod and S. G. Smith and other New Plymouth men in bringing the matter before local bodies at Auckland and Invercargill, said Mr. T. P. Anderson at last night’s New Plymouth Airport Board meeting, that strong support for a national route for the proposed trunk air service had been secured in evidence before the board. On his suggestion appreciation of the work was placed on the minutes. Trees for Paritutu.

The planting of trees on the property controlled by the Paritutu Scenic Committee will be continued and efforts will be made to replace those damaged by fire recently. Advice to this effect was given the New Plymouth Harbour Board yesterday, when the chairman, Mr. C. E. Bellringer, asked the board to allot £lO towards the purchase of trees. The request was acceded to and the Work will be done as soon as the conditions are suitable.

Responsibility for Slums. “We are impatient with slums, but we should be impatient with ourselves,” said the Rev. Charles Gordon (Ralph Connor), during his sermon at Trinity Congregational Church, Christchurch. “It is a disgrace to civilisation when people are allowed to be unclean in their bodies, minds, hearts or lives. It is a curse to a country when the Church tolerates uncleanness.” Dr. Gordon emphasised that it was not the victims of these conditions that were to be blamed. The Church and everybody should assume the responsibility.

Killer’s Game on Tramline. A death drama in Devon Street, New Plymouth, was played out yesterday before groups of pedestrians whose astonishment kept them from their business and caused congestion on the pavements. Moving with feline caution along the tramlines in the middle of the town, a young but bloodthirsty kitten was stalking a bewildered mouse. Time and again it sprang, caught its prey, released it and, with its paw, urged it to make the hopeless effort to escape. Completely at ease, oblivious of the rushing traffic, it revelled in the torture until the mouse lay still, dead or broken in spirit. Regretfully the kitten picked up the little body and, prouder than any king, it walked across the road. Not an eyelid flickered as a motorist jammed on his brakes, the wheels within an ace of crushing it.

Dog and the Mushrooms. A Gilbertian situation was created in a Dunedin home recently by a mishap connected with an evening meal of mushrooms. Prior to the meal the mushroom basket was upset by the family dog, which had eaten a fair portion of the mushrooms before being detected. Enough was left of the delicacy, however, to provide a dish of mushrooms for the family/ who were just finishing it off whei) the maid burst into the dining room and declared, “Oh, Miss, Fido is dead.” Consternation, a call to. the doctor, explanations, and a rush visit in his car to the hospital. All the family were pronounced “safe” after stomach pump treatment. They had not been long home again when the maid once again entered the room, her face this time wreathed in Smiles. “Oh, Miss,” she said, “Fido isn’t dead after all. The car only ran over him, and didn’t break his back!” Wool Stealing Penalty.

“In view of the fact that wool stealing is a serious offence, this council considers the Minister’s reply unsatisfactory, and trusts that as Minister of Justice he will take the matter up and give it further consideration.” The foregoing motion was passed by the Waipukurau County Council following discussion on a reply received from the Minister in answer to a protest from the council against the lightness of the penalty imposed in a recent wool stealing case. The Minister stated that the question of penalty was one entirely in the discretion of the Court that heard the case, and necessarily the magistrate or justices in imposing the penalty had to be guided by the circumstances of the particular case. It was not a matter on which the Minister could give directions to magistrates. Carried Ladder 430 Miles.

A walk from Wellington to Opotiki, approximately 480 miles, that lasted two years and involved the carrying if a ladder, is a unique chapter in the service record of Mr. James MacKenzie, a former Post and Telegraph Department linesman, who is now living in retirement at Tauranga. Although the journey was made about half a century ago, when Mr. Mac-. Kenzie was a young man, it is still remembered and quoted in the service as a striking example of devotion to duty. The circumstances in which Mr. MacKenzie made the journey were related by him to Mr. L. L. Macey, superintendent engineer of the department at Auckland. Mr. Macey said that the superintendent at that time, Dr. C. Lemon, required an inspection to be made of a special type of insulator then in use, and this task, to which Mr. MacKenzie was assigned, involved walking from Wellington to Opotiki, and stopping approximately every four chains to climb to the top of each post and make an examination. Bunting at the Port.

The port of New Plymouth will be decorated and illuminated in the first week of May to mark the silver jubilee of the reign of King George V., it was decided at the meeting of the Harbour Board yesterday. The decision followed a request from the Department of Internal Affairs that the board should observe the occasion in a fitting manner and declare Monday, May 6, a general holiday. The matter of making the necessary arrangements was left to the chairman, Mr. C. E. Bellringer, and Messrs. J. L. Campbell and J. H. H. Holm. The chairman said the board would no doubt co-operate with the Borough Council. He thought the port should be illuminated, particularly as the letter from the department stated that all companies were asked to “dress” ships during the week. It was hoped an overseas vessel would be in port at the time. The inter-colonial ship Omana is due on May 3 and the Kartigi is set down for arrival early in May, while the New Zealand Star on her maiden voyage is due at the port from April 30 to May 4.

A general meeting of members of the Cape Egmont Stock Dog Trial Club will be held in the Pungarehu hall on Monday evening, when the balance-sheet for the recent trials will be submitted and general matters of interest will be discussed. ■ _