NEW ZEALAND NEWS ITEMS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 143, 20 June 1939, Page 6

NEW ZEALAND NEWS ITEMS

Napier Operatic Society. The Napier Operatic Society made a profit of £63 from its recent production of "The Belle of New York.” which it staged at Napier and Hastings. It has decided on "Rose Marie” for its next production. Protest Against Sugar Tax, "It is just too hot altogether said a speaker at the conference of the National Beekeepers' Association in Hastings, protesting against the tax on sugar. The tax was the subject of remits from 11 branches of the association. Another speaker said that to save the cost of sugar the president of one branch had destroyed 50 of his hives. The conference adopted unanimously a motion that the Government' again be approached for remission of the sugar duly. “Hostile’’ Taxpayers. Large numbers of people in Auckland have become liable for the penalty of 6d for failing to pay the social security registration fee of 5s by June 1. and those making their payments at the Auckland Chief Post Office last week have totalled about 150 daily. Complaints against the penalty have been numerous, and. as one official put it, “Some are pretty hostile.” Under the Act the penalty is increased a further 6d each month until it reaches a maximum of 2s 6d. An Elephant Strays. "Have you seen an elephant about?” was the unusual inquiry made at several residences at Claudelands one evening last week. One of four elephants connected with a circus which is wintering in the Claudelands showgrounds had wandered away from its keeper while grazing on the road near the grounds. The animal was shortly afterward found in a side street. The Murchison Earthquake. The Murchison earthquake, which, apart from the Napier disaster of 1931. was the most serious recorded in the history of the Dominion, occurred 10 years ago on Saturday. Heavy shocks were felt in both North and South Islands and property damage amounting to many thousands of pounds was done in the arca between Nelson and Westport and Greyniouth. The earthquake was most severely felt in Murchison, where there were 10 deaths. The total death roll was 17. Sparrows :ui<l Noise. The first impression that a visitor to the Otahuhu railway workshops receives is that of terrific and earshattering noise. In one shop particularly men are using riveting machines. Yet, apparently, birds do not mind the noise. In one of the shops, where there wa< considerable din. half a dozen sparrows were grouped within 3ft. of two men at work and within 6ft. of an implement, which apparently existed for the noise it could make. The birds did not turn a feather as the workmen passed within 2ft. of them, while they seemed to be unaware that there was any noise. They were concentrating on a piece of cake which one of the men had purposely dropped for them. Sleep Disturbers “Bombed.” A novel but effective method of reminding a talkative couple in Oriental Bay. Wellington, in the early hours of a recent morning that there were some people who preferred to sleep at night was taken by a householder who had apparently been disturbed by the chatter below his window. The conversation in the street, interrupted by occasional bursts of laughter, had been maintained for nearly half an hour with no apparent attempt to speak quietly, when suddenly the opening of a window in a nearby building was followed by a mild explosion on the street alongside the conversationists. The effect was immediate, and silence reigned. An inspection of the locality the next morning revealed that the “bomb” was en old electric light globe.

i Farmers on the “Dole.’’ ■ 'ls a farmer without any income ! entitled to the dole?” asked a meml her of the audience al a meeting at I Orel i. Southland, addressed by Mr. W. |W. Mulholland, Dominion president of •Hhe Farmers' Union. The question | provoked some laughter and Mr. Mui-' Holland remarked that officially there was no dole. The only provision which could be called a dole was for unemployment relief. “I don't think you could class a farmer as unemployed even if he had no income," Mr. Mulholland said. 167,000 for Nur>es‘ Home, ' A loan of £67.000 is to be Healed [immediately to finance the building ui 'three more storeys to the nurses'] i home at the Christchurch Public Hospital. The additions are part of ■the reorganisation plan undertaken by I the Norm Canterbury Hospital Board. The work will probably take about I two years, and w hen completed w ill j provide accommodation for 150 more • nurses, making the building six- ’ storeys in all. a height for which proI vision was made when the foundation- were laid. Trees Instead of Swimming Baths. Because of an apparent lack oi interest by the general public and the difficulty of raising the necessary 'money, the Tarada le and Greenmea|dows Centennial Committee has abandoned its proposal to establish swimIming baths for the district as a Cen--1 tennial memorial. In place of the [swimming baths proposal it was decided to plant an avenue of trees, and la sub-committee was set up to [arrange the details of the scheme. Yield t om Beer Duty. | Surprise at his discovery that in one [year sugar yielded as much in excise luuly to ihe Slate as beer, and tobacco [more than beer, was expressed by Mr. ]T. N. Gibbs, during an address to the Canterbury branch of the Economics Society. "I had no idea we were taxiing sugar to that extent.” he rem-rk-led, and suggested that it was a politi- ; cal and trac e phenomenon that the I return of beer duty was always 1 singled out for mention in official returns. "Il probably pleases both parities,” remarked Professor A. TocKer, i who was appealed to for an explanation. "It probably pleases the prohibitionists, too.” Bequests to Napier Institutions. Several public bequests to Napier i institutions, totalling in all £2680, are made in the will of the late Mr. G. F. Morley, formerly a well-known Napier resident, who died in London in April. Mr. Morley was formerly managing clerk to the legal firm ot Sainsbury, Logan, and Williams, and had been associated with the firm for more than 45 years. The bequests are: Hawke’s Bay Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, for the general purposes of the Napier Hospital, £800; Hawke’s Bay [Children's Home, £600; Napier branch of the New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and children, £400; Napier branch of the Salvation Army, £400; Vestry of St. John’s Cathedral Parish, for general church purposes, £160: vestry of St. Augustine’s Cnurch Parish, for general church purposes, £160; Napier Secondary Education Board, for purposes of school library, £l6O.