THE TRIALS OF THE MOTORIST

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 146, 25 August 1941, Page 4

THE TRIALS OF THE MOTORIST

THE glamour and high sounding note struck by the more important events of the day often serve to detract from the so-called unimportant nature of the smaller affairs, and yet it requires but a little reflection to prove that it is trouble in miniature which invariably gives rise to happenings of the gravest (Joncern. In much the same way do we regard the construction and enforcement of road> and traffic regulations. the definite rules whereof have now become part and parcel of our existence. This is good, and exactly as it should be, yet in these rules of the road which the motorist must keep, and breaks only at his peril, the actions of thoughtless pedestrians appear to. be entirely overlooked. Before we became so used to motor traffic on the roads, no one would venture to brave a crossing without glancing up and down, even though one of the "horseless carriages was not within cooee. Familiarity, however, has bred to a certain extent a wholehearted contempt for danger in tins respect, and almost daily, even in our own town Whakatane, one sees otherwise responsible people practically woolgathering, or in easy conversation/in the very middle of the Strand. Quite oblivious to the traffic which is forced to make on occasions wide detours to avoid them, these people have the habit of remaining in their position for upwards to ten minutes or more at a time, to the great discomfort of all wheeled traffic. Then there are the wandering children who practically live on the streets, the hesitant users of pedestrian crossings, and the "learner/' Granted the Hon. Robfc Semple when Minister of Transport staged a much needed clean-up of the roads —almost in fact eliminating the "drunken driver" but there still remain the smaller and less obvious faults. These are the little things which appear so harmless at first sight, but which, unless they are. checked, or preferably eliminated altogether, lead to the direst results.

"Messing About."

When asked what a certain man was doing on his farm, a witness at a sitting of the No. 7 Man-power Committee in Wairoa replied: "Oh, messing about the place." "What do you mean by messing about?" asked the chairman, Mr G. A. Maddison. "Well," said the witness, "general farm work, you know."

Trout Fry Planted.

A consignment of 200,000 trout fry was sent on Friday to the Waioeka Stieam, Opotiki, by the Conservator •jf Fish and Game, Mr A. Kean, for planting there. In addition, planting is being carried out in lakes Rotoiti, Rotoma, Rotoeliu and Okareka. A further consignment of 700,000 trout ova arrived from the Tokaanu hatchery.