GENERAL NEWS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18554, 29 April 1930, Page 8

GENERAL NEWS

Heavy rain fell on the West Coast on Sunday night.

It is the intention of some members of the Timaru Rotary Club to pay a fraternal visit to the Oamaru Club on May 21.

The efforts of a band of collectors organised by the Rev. H. W. Monaghan, on behalf of St. Saviour’s Orphanages, resulted in a total of £430 being raised.

The opening of the shooting season on Thursday next has brought the usual crop of notices to trespassers. Gunmen who take out licenses this season should note that the legal limit of ducks per gun per diem is ten.

The congratulations of the Timaru Rotary Club were extended to Rotarian G. S. Cray at yesterday’s weekly luncheon, for the address he delivered at the Anzac Day commemoration service in Timaru. Rotarian P. B. Foote, who presided, said that the address had been an excellent one, and was very much in keeping with the sixth object of the Club.

A car proceeding from Kurow to Pleasant Point collided with a telegraph post at the Pound Corner, St. Andrews. The car was driven by Mr W. Cartwright, and the occupants were Mrs Cartwright, a lady friend and a chi.d. The child and the driver were cut about the head and face by glass, and were attended to by Mrs Edwards. The ladies received severe shock. The car was badly damaged, and the party were conveyed into Timaru by friends.

Several subjects of great interest to motorists, and also to the general public, were discussed at a conference of representatives of organisations concerned with motor traffic which was held recently in Wellington. It was held in camera, but it is stated that the motor regulations were reviewed and that the outcome will probably be that new regulations will be framed embodying more or less standard tests to be uniform throughout the Dominion.

At the fortnightly meeting of Star of Canterbury Lodge. 1.0.0. F., No. 10, held in the Foresters Hall last Wednesday, N.G. Bro. G. R. Park presided over a good attendance of members. A motion of sympathy with the relatives of the late Bro. Rupert Parry was passed. Four candidates were initiated into the Lodge. It was decided that next Lodge night, degrees would be conferred on a number of brethren. Sick pay and a number of maternity claims were passed for payment.

The value of a drum and fife band to a school was stressed by Mr A. E. Lawrence, at last night’s annual meeting of householders of the Waimataitai School district. There was a great amount of talent at Waimataitai he said, and he was sure that the formation of such a band would be a progressive step. The chairman (Mr G. Benstead) agreed that the suggestion was a good one, ar\d it was decided to refer the matter to the incoming Committee.

Meat prices in Christchurch are lower than they have been for some years. Mutton is especially cheap, and from the point of view of the housewife, is a more economical proposition than beef. Beef is iow in price, but not as low as mutton. Quotations are as follows: —Mutton: Flaps 2d a lb, forequarters 3d, shoulders 4*d, legs 6d, chops from 3d. Lamb: Large forequarters Bd, medium from 9d, large sides 9£d, large hindquarters lOd. Beef: Skirt steak 6d, beefsteak 6d, sirloin Bid, ribs 6id, gravy oeef sd, flanks sd, brisket sd.

“I’ve been 30 years at sea and I have never known times to be so hard,” said a ship's fireman in Auckland. He said that when a couple of men were needed “down below” in the Waiotapu there were 83 applicants, all fully qualified and reliable, and all union members. There were over 50 applicants for three seamen’s jobs on the same vessel. As an illustration of the effect of converting big ships from coal to oil fuel, he mentioned that in the old days the Niagara carried 57 firemen. Nowadays the stokehold hands, exclusive of engineers, number less than a dozen.

It was stated by Mr J. A. Norrie (one of the Timaru Rotary Club’s delegates to the annual conference held recently at Tongariro), at yesterday’s weekly luncheon of the Club, that one of the discussions at the gathering centred round a complaint that several headmasters of schools and colleges in New Zealand did not display sufficient interest in their pupils as far as fitting them for their future lives was concerned. This had raised a good deal of argument, and Mr Norrie said that he had stated that as far as Timaru was situated he was sure that Rotarian W. Thomas of the Boys’ High School, and Rotarian A. McFayden of the Timaru Technical College, had the welfare of every boy who passed through their hands at heart. (Applause).

The atmosphere in Timaru is frequently agitated by waves generated by different varieties of electric machines, and owners of wireless receiving sets experience considerable annoyance on this account. Yesterday a new and particularly disturbing noise was added to the list, a mixture of whirr, whine and whistle being in evidence for a good part of the wireless hours of the day. Many listeners apparently ascribed this to some change in the electric capstans at „the wharf, and the harbourmaster, himself a radio enthusiast, was the recipient of many complaints. The fresh disturbance, however, was not created by the capstans, but probably was caused by the installation of some additional plant in the business portion of the town.

In the course of an address at Invercargill, Mr W. J. Poison, M.P., Dominion president of the Farmers’ Union, criticised the policy of the Government in employing single men on relief work at a rate of 14/- a day. He said he considered that this was a gross and sinful waste of public money. If it was necessary to pay married men 14/- a day, surely single men did not require so much when working on relief works, or if it was necessary to pay single men 14/- a day, then married men must be greatly underpaid at that rate of wages. The effect of this payment for relief works was to put up the rate of wages for farm work, to create a scarcity of labour in the country, and to cause permanent unemployment, which was a dangerous and cankerous thing in a young country like New Zealand.

There are only two more days before the opening of the 1930 shooting season. Have you obtained your license? England, Mcßae’s will be pleased to hand you this, and to take your order for your requirements in ammunition. All the leading makes in shotgun cartridges, including C.A.C., “Long Range,” “Western Superex,” Nobel’s and Eley’s, “Grand Prix” are available there. England, Mcßae’s will also be pleased to show you double-barrel guns, best makes of rifles, duck decoys and calls; in fact everything necessary to complete your equipment for the opening of Che season. Call at England, McRae’s to-day

The quarterly session of the Supreme Court in Timaru will commence this morning. Four criminal cases are set down for hearing.

Quite a number of people in Timaru are in the habit of leaving washing out overnight, but it would seem that this is an unwise practice. Several complaints have reached the police of late of washing having been stolen. In almost every instance underclothing has been taken, and it is practically impossible for the police to trace the missing articles of apparel.

The final club run for the year of the South Canterbury Motor Cycle Club was held last Sunday to Kelland’s Bridge, near Cave. After lunch a suitable hill was found and an open hill-climb competition was staged. Although the number of riders who turned out for the run was disappointing, those who attended spent an enjoyable day in the fresh air and sunshine.

The early opening in Timaru of “The Little Playhouse,” was referred to at yesterday’s weekly luncheon of the Timaru Rotary Club, by Rotarian W. Thomas, M.A.. who stated that the building was being used by enthusiastic followers of drama, who intended to produce plays of community interest. The idea was not based on monetary gain, but was wholly for the establishment of good drama. Mr Thomas stated that now the “talkies” were so much in vogue, the legitimate stage was left principally to amateurs, and with the object of fostering talent in Timaru, the Drama League had come into being. From the young people's point of view the development of drama was an excellent step, as it was in this way that a feeling of confidence and power of adressing. groups was obtained.

Apparently .there is to be another war between rival bodies for the control of cycling in ftew Zealand. Until two or three years ago the Athletic and Cycling Union, the governing body of cash sport, catered in a mild way for amateurs. Then one of the periodical booms in amateur sport set in, and extended to cycling. The New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association seized the opportunity to establish a cycling section, but its government has not pleased the principal North Island Clubs, and a movement has beenMn foot for some time to form a New Zealand Cycling Council and to break away from the Athletic Association. The promoters had been more or less marking time for a few months, pending advice from the National Cyclists Union of England regarding affiliation. They have now been advised that there will be no objection to the formation of a Union in New Zealand, provided it undertakes control of cash as well as amateur sport, and the new movement will be launched on these lines. As a counter move, the New Zealand Athletic Association lias linked up with the Athletic and Cycling Union, a body which previously it had consistently ignored.

The speaker at yesterday’s weekly luncheon of the Timaru Rotary Club was District Governor C. J. R,onaldson (Christchurch), who delivered an interesting address on the business at the recent Rotary Conference for New Zealand at Tongariro. Mr Ronaldson said that there had been considerable debate as to whether the Chateau was the most suitable place at which to hold the conference, but he was certain that with all members present—some 250 —under one roof, both from a social and business point of view, the gathering was an unqualified success. The two Timaru delegates, Messrs J. A. Norrie and F. Lewis, had ably represented their Club, and had been drafted on to the different Conference Committees ,where they did excellent work. Although the business of the conference did not cause any eruption of Ngaruhoe, there was no doubt that a good deal of valuable work had been done, and that it was the most successful, from every point of view, ever held in New Zealand. Fellowship had been remarkable, ancf there was always evidence that Rotary, which at present was one of the finest institutions in the world, was firmly established in New Zealand. Mr J. A. Norrie, one of the Timaru delegates, also spoke, concerning the activities of the Committee with which he was connected.