Local and General News

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21154, 29 September 1938, Page 8

Local and General News

A Difficult Task A rather difficult task, the shifting of a bridge 150 feet long and standing 140 feet above the stream below, is being undertaken by the Masterton County Council staff. On account of earthquakes causing the cliff to slip away, it has been necessary to shift the bridge on to new foundations. The bridge is being moved about seven feet to the south of its present foundations. Missing: One Organist When everything was ready for the service to begin, and the organist had failed to arrive, no little consternation was felt by the congregation at a Napier church on Sunday. A search was immediately made and the organist was eventually found making •her way to church in a leisurely manner in the belief that she was early. When she was informed that it was then well after 11 o’clock, she suddenly remembered that daylight saving had come into force and that her clock was half-an-hour slow. Old Man At The Wheel "Surely a man 83 years of age Is too old to be driving a car," observed Mr J. Miller, S.M., in the Waipukurau Magistrate’s Court, when Ole Hansen, of Waipawa, retired farmer, aged 83, appeared before him charged with negligently driving a motor vehicle on the Waipukurau-Waipawa main road. Hansen pleaded guilty. His license was suspended for a year and a fine of £2 was imposed. “His license must be cancelled for the benefit of the public,” said the magistrate. “The time comes when elderly people should not drive at all.” More Than 15,000 Houses Houses and dwellings within the city boundaries of Dunedin number 15,848, states the annual .report of the city building surveyor for the year ended March 31. The next most numerous class of building is the garage, there being 2,866 private and 55 public. Shops are third in the list, there being 1,545 of these. The figures show there are 466 flats, 406 offices, 176 factories, 263 glasshouses, 248 stables, 304 stores, 104 warehouses, 163 workrooms, 139 workshops, 75 churches, 50 restaurants, 39 hotels, 57 schools, 43 byres, 59 bakehouses, 23 boarding houses, 56 halls, 21 foundries, 14 gymnasiums, 43 pavilions, 88 tennis courts, and 10 theatres. Novel But Effective Face powder and chewing gum, thanks to a quickthinking colleague, solved the first aid problem for a New Plymouth golfer during the week-end. After visiting a country club he returned to his car, and, finding a flat tyre, proceeded to change the wheel. However, just as the wheel was raised sufficiently off the ground the jack slipped, sprung from beneath the axle, struck the owner on the side of the face and rebounded on to the radiator, making a neat but disconcerting puncture. Another New Plymouth visitor, seeing the predicament, borrowed a woman’s vanity case and successfully smothered the wound on the victim’s face with powder. He then turned his attention to the thin stream of water running from the radiator, and distributed packets of chewing gum among the onlookers, asking them to chew as rapidly as possible. The gum was then placed in the punctured radiator, and the car and driver were able to go on their way little the worse for the incident. Optimist Club Illustrated by a number of fine drawings of various Maori chiefs and Maori villages, connected with the battle, a very interesting address on “The Seige of Orakau” was delivered by Mr G. Griffiths to the Optimist Club last evening at "its weekly tea. In introducing his subject Mr Griffiths explained the grievances of the Maoris which led up to the wars in the Waikato and culminated in the seige of Orakau. Dealing with the various chiefs interested in the wars, Mr Griffiths presented illustrations of each and explained the relationship existing between the various tribes and the attitude taken by the different chiefs. The courteousness yet fierceness with which the Maoris fought was eclipsed only by the fortitude which they displayed when three hundred of them withstood the attack of two thousand Pakehas on the Orakau Pa for three days before retreating, At the conclusion of his address Mr Griffiths was thanked by Chief Optimist R. Wilson.