LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 57, Issue 244, 27 July 1937, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Three hinds were shot' by three Aphburton. deer-stalkers who . visited Double Hill, in the Rakaia Gorge. Deer were not plentiful in that locality beyond which the cullers in the employment of the Department of Intelnal Affairs were working a few months ago. ( “Unless there are some peculiar or unusual -circumstances, offenders will not get’off so lightly in the future, said Mr W. H. Woodward, S.M., in the New Plymouth Police Court recently, when dealing with some motorists who were charged with irregularly pai king motor cars in Devon street by allowing part of the vehicle to extend beyond the white line. The work of installing two new turbines at Arapuni is rapidly approaching completion, and within a fortnight a trial run of No. 7, the first of the two new units, is to be held. I lie completion of No. 8 generator will follow within a few weeks. When both are in operation the Arapuni station will be in a position to meet the increasing demands of the Auckland, Taranaki and Wellington provinces for several years. A statement in favour of the commercial development of the sardine fisheries was submitted by Mr F. S. Petrie to the Sea Fisheries Investigation .Committee at Auckland, reports the “New Zealand Herald.” Representatives of signatories to a petition recently presented to the Government praying for the prevention of monopolistic control of the fishing industry also gave evidence. Other matters covered in the evidence were the provision of adequate local supplies, the control of export by the Government, the fixation of retail and wholesale prices and the easing of restrictions on boat building. The decided return to popular favour of concerts was noted in Australia by Beno Moiseiwitsch. the Russian-born pianist, who arrived at Auckland from Sydney by the Mariposa for a concert tour, embracing the four main centres (says a Press Association telegra'm). Known as the poet of the piano, he spoke of the appreciation shown by Australians in orchestral work. More writing was being done for orchestras than individual instruments. He also noted a great improvement in the quality of the music, the outlook for which was generally promising. This is Ins' first visit to New' Zealand as a British subject, he having been naturalised recently. Excitement prevailed at the Ashburton Silver Band room last evening when members handled and played the new instruments for the first time. The trial was carried out in the presence ot Mr James Dixon, of Messrs Begg and Co., Dunedin, who conducted the band in the playing of the march “Ravenswood.” A cornet duet, “The Harlequins,” was played by Lieutenant W. H. Osborne and Bandsman C. Leslie. The tone of the instruments was found to bo excellent. Ashburton residents will have the. opportunity of hearing the band play on the old and new sets on August 4, when the instruments will be officially handed over by the Citizens’ Committee cf the band. A number of pieces have still to arrive to complete the band’s order.

Fire caused considerable damage to a tractor belonging to Mr A. J. Nicoll, of Beach Road, on Sunday evening. The machine was valued at £l5O. it is understood that an employee lighted a match near the tractor, some benzine being ignited. A heavy hailstorm was experienced at Tokora, about three or four miles from Hawera, the other morning. The sound of its approach could be heard a long way off, and the ground was covered to a depth of about an inch, while in drifts on sloping ground the hail piled up to the depth of a foot or more. The hail was of peculiar formation, being an ice core with an outer covering of soft snow. At the first meeting of the New Zealand Poultry Board for the current registration year, Mr A. E. Knowles (Auckland) was elected chairman and Mr A. J. Severn (Upper Hutt) was appointed producers’ representative on the board. Tne board completed arrangements for the publication of a new poultry journal, the first issue to be available in October or November. Mr J. N. McLean (secretary to the board) was appointed editor. An Auckland Press Association telegram states that after being two nights and days under tow from near Torere, in the Bay of Plenty, the fishing boat Waiwera arrived at Auckland last might, with a broken thrust block. Morse signals from the Waiwera on Friday night were observed by the fishing boat Coastguard, which towed the Waiwera to White Island for shelter. On Saturday they set out for Auckland, encountering heavy seas. A brief call was made at Mercury Bay yesterday morning. The announcement that Mr G. H. Pownall had been successful in securing sufficient money to enable the league to publish its coloured topographical map showing Wanganui as the gateway to the tourist attractions of the North Island, was made at the last meeting, of _ the executive of the Wanganui Tourist and Development League. Wanganui, said the president would secure a considerable amount of publicity in the map, and was featured on' the front page. In answer to a question, the president said that 10,000 copies of the map were being published, and would be issued to tourist agencies and the railways and hotels of both Australia and New Zealand, and further abroad. Authority has been received from the Director-General of Health (Dr. M. H. Watt) for the supply of milk to schools in the Auckland education district for the making of cocoa. The conditions under which approval had been given were that the milk should be produced under hygienic conditions and obtained from registered dairies. Moreover, the milk was to be boiled when preparing cocoa, facilities to be available at school for obtaining boiling water for sterilising drinking vessels and also for clean storage, or, as an alternative, children to bring their own cleansed cups daily. It was made clear the only charge to be borne by the Government would be for the supply of milk at schools. Can a dog smell a golf ball buried in a foot of water or an equal depth of swamp mud? It can ; at least, Ring, a dog well known at the Sentry Hill (New Plymouth) golf links, can. He scents the ball from a distance of several feet, feels in the mud with his paws, and then dives in, up to the shoulders if necessary, and unerringly produces the ball. Ring demonstrated his prowess recently by finding a dozen balls in the swamps on the course. His owners said; modestly that he had not done so well that day, but then he had produced 23 balls from the same swamp the previous day, so that there should not be so many to find. Ring’s work is not confined to his home course. Fie was taken to the Nframotu links, and in a casual run through the rough and swamps found 79 balls! A by-law prohibiting the hawking of meat in the city is to be prepared by the Christchurch City Council. This decision was made "by the council last might on the recommendation of the Abattoir and Reserve Committee, which considers that the sale of meat in this manner is not in the interest of public health. Mr G. Manning said he would ask the committee to act cautiously and with discretion. It was of great convenience to housewives that they were able to buy meat at the door, and if any change was intended he hoped that the public would be given adequate notice. The acting-chairman of the committee (Mr J. Guthrie) said that the committee fully realised the difficulties that would be involved in any decision to prohibit the hawking of meat, and very careful thought was being given to the matter. The report was adopted. Some popular fallacies die hard, and one of them is the belief in benefit from chain letters. Another of these is in circulation in Ashburton, and it bears the alluring title, “Easy Money.” The system is perfectly legal, the letter states, as there is no central organisation, and the benefits promised within three weeks (if everyone follows instructions) are £7B 2s 6d. All that the person receiving the letter has to do is within three days to make five copies of it, adding his own name to the bottom. These five copies are to be sent to five friends, and sixpence in stamps sent to the name at the top ot the list received. Mathematically the letter claims a distribution of 3RJo, with the result what would be a most embarrassing accumulation of postage stamps. There is said to be anothei letter in circulation, with tea towels as its benefits, and one person claims to have received 27 tea towels as a result of it. Others have, of course, not received any. Under an arrangement made recently between the Health Department in Auckland and outlying hospitals, four cases of infantile paralysis were brought by bus and train from Kaitaia and were taken to the Auckland Hospital for further treatment. They are among the first of the patients to be brought to the city under this scheme, which lias been arrived at in order to relieve the smaller hospitals of what Ts in the nature of extraordinary work to them and to give the patients the advantage of the wider range of equipment possessed by the Auckland Hospital. One of the patients brought to Auckland was a boy of about four years, one a girl of seven, another a Maori boy aged four, and the fourth a Maori woman. All were positive cases, and three were in splints. Although they had to go from Kaitaia to Otiria by bus and make the remainder of the journey by train, all four were very patient and stood up to their discomforts bravely. They were accompanied by a nurse, and when they reached Auckland were taken to the hospital by taxi. 1

“People are at last beginning to realise that New Zealand is not part of Australia, although they still ask how often the ferry runs there,” said Canon D. Haultain (vicar of All Saints’ Church, Nelson), who returned recently after a. visit to England. “The term ‘colonial’ is much less used, and New Zealand, along with Australia, Canada, and South Africa, and other parts of the overseas dominions, is recognised as a vital unit in the British Commonwealth of Nations,” he added. How easily a fire can happen was demonstrated at Foxton one day last w&ek. An employee had been cleaning the front window sills of shop premises with benzinje. • He took the container to a shed at the rear of the building at the completion of his job, washed it out with water, and, after drying his hands, lit a cigarette. There was an immediate explosion, and 1001 bof kapok in an adjoining room, which is separated from the other room by a flimsy partition, burst into flame. The fire brigade suppressed the fire before any serious damage was done. The desirability of making a free distribution of fruit among school children was mentioned in the annual report ot the New Zealand Fruitgrowers’ Federation, which was received at a provincial conference of producers in Auckland, it was stated that apples, as well as milk, were a very necessary diet for children, and the directors of the federation had approached the Minister of Finance, the Hon. W. Nash, with object of making free fruit available in the schools. The Minister had received the suggestion favourably, and promised to give it careful consideration after the free milk scheme was-4'ully established. It was considered that such an outlet would greatly assist the industry. During a heavy thunderstorm last Thursday afternoon, two young men (Mr Jeff Harnett and Mr Norman Bluck), who were working on Mr W. Bluck’s farm at Otorolianga (Auckland) with a team of horses, sheltered under a tree. While there they were struck by lightning and rendered unconscious. Mr Bluck was the first to recover. He foutid that Mr Harnett had been dragged a short distance by the reins of the horses and was still unconscious. Both wore rubber boots, which saved their lives. The greater part of Mr Harnett’s clothing was burned off. He received burns all over the back and legs. He was carried to the farmhouse, where he was attended by a doctor, and was later taken by a St. John ambulance to the Waikato Hospital. Mr Bluck, who was scorched down the side and suffered from shock, is now able to get about.