LOCAL AND GENERAL

Timaru Herald, Volume CLIII, Issue 22473, 7 January 1943, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

i'imaru Customs Revenue The total Customs revenue for the Port of Timaru for 1942 amounted to £154,102, compared with £147,388 in 1941. an increase of £6714. Details were as follow, the figures for 1941 being given in parentheses:—Customs £65.996 (£98,512); sales tax £21.543 (£19,195); war charge £66,563 (£29,681); totals £154,102 (£147,388). Fall From Dray Mr Joseph Giddings, a married man, of 12 Elizabeth Street. Timaru. was admitted to the Timaru Public Hospital last evening, suffering from injuries received in a fall from a dray. Fast Shearing A splendid performance was achieved at Te Miro by Mr A. Pratt, of Cambridge. when he sheared 321 ewes on the Glentui Estate of Mr W. 8. Harbutt in nine hours. A fair average for nine hours is 220 sheep. Church’s Rent Claim A claim for £3543 by the General Trust Board of the Diocese of Auckland was received by the Auckland Hospital Board, the claim being on behalf of the Native Schools Trust on account of annual rental of St. Stephen’s Auxiliary Hospital, Bombay. The board decided to ask for details of how the rental was assessed. Hospital Staff Badge The provision of a distinguishing badge for members of the hospital staff has been approved by the Wellington Hospital Board. Explaining the purpose of the badge at a meeting of the board, Mrs Knox Gilmer said that it was to prevent staff members from being asked what they were doing to assist the war effort. A Valuable Asset Planted somewhere about 15 years ago, as an "investment for the future," the Mangaroa forest reserve is now to make its first contribution to the funds of the Hastings Borough Council, for arrangements are now undei- way for the thinning of 30 per cent of the trees, which, it is estimated. will produce 166,000 board feet of timber. Gardens and Dogs Destruction done at night by wandering dogs in vegetable plots was men- | tloned feelingly by speakers at a meeting of the Wellington Suburban Local Bodies' Association, when the need for uniform by-laws compelling proper control of dogs in suburban areas was discussed. Even speakers who admitted being dog-lovers agreed that a leashing restriction was needed. Lighting of Trams With the easing of the lighting restrictions, the cardboard light shades which have been a feature of Auckland tramcars since the inception of the blackout regulations, are being removed. Passengers in trams equipped with a single row of lights will welcome the change which will enable them to read in comfort once more. Tire headlights and platform lights have also been adapted to normal strength. Costly Tram Ride Evidence that a man previously employed as a conductor on the Wellington tramways had several times travelled further than his fare permitted was given by a tramways inspector and two conductors, one of whom was a woman, when Ronald McGowan Kennedy was charged in the Magistrate’s Court, Wellington. Defendant did not appear, but had written a letter to the Court which Mr J. L. Stout, S.M., described as misleading. A fine of £2 was imposed. Theft from Post Office A charge of stealing £ll5/12/9, the property of the Post and Telegraph Department, was preferred against William Lewis Jones, aged 35, storekeeper and postmaster at Onetangi, Waiheke Island, when he appeared before Mr J. Morling, S.M., at Auckland. Accused for whom Mr Wilkin appeared, pleaded guilty and was committed to the Supreme Court for sentence. Bail was allowed at £lOO on accused’s own recognisance. Horse Racing and the Maori A passage in a judgment issued by the Native Appellate Court contains a little dry humour. The judgment relates in part to an area of former mudflat now above tide level and claimed to be “native customary land.” “The fact that the land was used for horse racing seems to be relied on quite largely by the claimants,” states the Court, “but we do not think it could be suggested that horse racing could be part of Maori custom or usage, and at the best it relates to modern times, as the Maori had no horses.” Marked Coin Taken Sentence of 30 days’ detention has been imposed by a Wellington district court-martial on Private Lawrence Reilly, Guards Vital Points, for stealing 2/6 belonging to another soldier and committing a civil offence, namely, the theft of spectacles belonging to a civilian employee at Army Headquarters. The evidence showed that a soldier who shared a hut with accused left a marked half-crown there which accused subsequently presented at the canteen. It was stated that accused was 19 and had been a year in the Army. “Dive Bomber Mosquitoes “Talk about mosquitoes!” wrote Bombardier M. J. Healy from an island in the Pacific, in a letter to a Temuka resident. “They say they are not as bad here, as further up the island, but I doubt It. They are as big as dive bombers, and there is a story here that one pulled into a bowser the other day. They filled it up with gasoline and it flew away before they realised that it was a mosquito. Taking it all round though, we are quite happy and have little to complain about. We are losing a lot of surplus fat, but are getting as fit as fiddles.” Pitcairn’s Legal Code Not long ago a Native Lands Commissioner was sent from Britain to revise the Island constitution and legal code of Pitcairn Island, and recently his suggestions came into effect. In future no Pitcairn family may keep more than four breeding she-goats, and it is forbidden for anyone under 21 to smoke. Every man between 16 and 19 will be liable to man public boats, and to assist In the building and repairing of a public boat. All people on the register to vote must do so. Anyone heard shouting “Sail-ho” will be liable to a fine, but as a kind of compensation local officials will for the first time in the island's history receive salaries—£36 a year for the chief magistrate and 10/a month for the two policemen. Horses Fall Into Slit Trench Considerable excitement was caused in the goods yards at the Auckland railway station when two draught horses pulling a heavy cart broke away while it was alongside one of the loading platforms at the Inward goods shed. While the cart was unattended one of the animals apparently became frightened and both of them bolted for the gateway in Shore Road. A small car which blocked their way was knocked over and the force of the impact was sufficient to break the harness. The car was slightly damaged. Free of the cart, the horses continued on over the kerbing on to the grass near the fence and fell into a slit trench near the edge. An hour was required to extricate the animals as most of the struts had to be removed from the trench. Eventually some soil was poured into it at one end to form a ramp and they left the trench little the worse for their experience.