General News.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19160, 17 November 1927, Page 8

General News.

At Taumarunui, on Tuesday night, David Isaacs's drapery store was entered by burglars and £IOO worth of goods stolen. Entrance was gained by breaking a window at the rear of the premises.—Press Association. In the House of Representatives today Mr Burnett drew the attention of the Minister for Pensions to the case of a Maori widow with five children who had come from the Chatham Islands to live at Temuka, and who could not get a pension because she had been married according to Maori custom only. The Hon. Mr Anderson replied that section 26 of the Act of 1924 overcame that difficulty. The Department had drawn the attention of the Magistrate to this clause, but the latter had not so far replied.— Press Service.

"On account of the increased use of oil as fuel for steamers, and the electrical power available," said the chairman of the New Zealand Coal Mine Owners' Association, at the annual meeting in Wellington, "the outlook in regard to the coal-mining industry does not warrant the investment of further capital in opening np new mines, as the supply from the mines already developed is a long way in excess of the demand. Granted, some of the mines are paying, there* are a great many, however, that are not."

The maximum load at the Lake Coleridge power house during the week ended November 13th, was 15,480 k.w. (previous week, 16,100 k.w.) and was recorded between 11 a.m. and 11.30 a.m. on November Bth; at the Addington sub-station the maximum load was 11,420 k.w. (previous week, 11,980 k.w.) recorded on the same date and during the same period as the power house maximum. The lake level was at 1668.14 ft, previous week, 1668.33 ft; the average inflow from the Harper river was six eusecs; previous week, five eusecs.

The grocpry shops of D. Herriott and Sons, at the corner of Bealey Avenue and Bealey street, was broken into on Tuesday evening, and a quantity of gods' stolen. Entry was made by, a thief who bored into the panels of the shop door.

The road giving access to the Lake Sumner runs, in the Hawarden district, which has provided work for a number of the unemployed, will be finished, it is anticipated, by Christmas. The road works at Parnassus will not be finished for some time yet.

Operations connected with the extension of the high pressure water supply are being concentrated on Woolston. A twelve inch main has been laid along Ferry road to Elisor's road and from that point a ten inch main has been laid to beyond Woolston Park; it will be extended to the Post Office.

An unsuccessful attempt was made on Tuesday evening to force the safe in the office of H. J. Otley, Ltd, timber merchants, Tuam street. Thieves forced an entry through a back window, and the night watchman, when' on his rounds, discovered a burnedout fuse attached to a gelignite detonator.

The last stretch of concrete decking on the Selwyn bridge was laid yesterday. Twenty-eight days will be required to dry the concrete surface, so that the bridge will be open for traffic some days before Christmas. The approaches -will be finished in plenty of time for the opening of the bridge for traffic. The first pile of the bridge •was driven shortly before last Christmas.

At the last meeting of the Wellington School Committees' Association a letter was received from the Association for the Advancement of Education asking it t amongst other educational bodies, to supply a statement regarding the educational position as they saw it today, and what progressive means they would advocate for its betterment. "That's a big order," remarked a member. It was decided that the executive should prepare the statement to be laid before the next meeting.

The seventh Summer School, in connexion with the Canterbury Centre of the W.E.A., is to be held this year at Methven from December 26th, 1927, to January 7th, 1928. The Director will be Professor J. Shelley, assisted by Dr. A. G. B. Fisher, Director W.E.A., Otago University, and Messrs H. G. Miller, J. Johnson, and Lloyd Ross. The subject will be: "The problem of the contact of Western civilisation with other cultures." This year the Summer School has been organised in conjunction with the Otago District Council of the W.E.A., and is, therefore, a South Island organisation. The number of students is limited to 100. ■

A discovery of two skulls was made on Sunday evening by Mr G. Jackson, of Devonport, Auckland, at the corner of Cheltenham road and Beach road. The skulls had been embedded in a rock-bank on the beach. The waves and wind have removed some of the rocks and the sand haa gradually filtered down. Several similar discoveries have been made in the locality, and, as there was an old Maori pa at the foot of North Head, residents hold the theory that the place whore the skulls have been found was either a Maori burial ground or the scene of some forgotten tribal conflict. Both' the skulls found on Sunday appeared very old and were not complete.

Kerr's road, a boundary road between the City and the Heathcote County Council, has been for the past year or two the subject of negotiations between the two bodies, the question of its improvement or reconstruction engaging the attention of both !■■ Hitherto no progress has been possible as the County Council had no funds available, but recently agreement was reached between the two bodies, on the basis of scarifying, re-grading, and tar-sealing the road. The bad weather experienced has-not permitted the work being put in hand, but the City Engineer (Mr A. R. Galbraith) told a reporter yesterday that a start will be made as soon as the weather permits.

Encouraging results have been, obtained by the Government entomologist, Mr D. Miller, in his experiments in combating the pear midge, the ravages of which have resulted in serious loss to orchardists in recent years. Last year two varieties of flies, the grubs of which were expected to prey upon those of the parasite, were bred in cages and liberatod in an affected orchard at Henderson. On a recent visit of inspection Mr Miller was gratified to find the experiment had apparently proved highly successful, and little evidence of the presence, of the midge was to be seen on the pear trees.

A precaution against the erection of dangerously-built and supported wireless masts has been taken by the Lower Hutt Borough Council by the passing of a by-law which forbids the erection of any mast without a permit. The permit will not be charged for, but every applicant will nevertheless have to pay a fee of ss, charged for investigating the plan of construction. The regulation, which is included in the council's consolidated by-laws, was adopted. The only opponent at the meeting was the Mayor (Mr W. T. Strand, who expressed the opinion that it was too drastic.

At the business session of the Methodist Synod of Otago and Southland at Dunediu, states a Press Association message, the Rev. H. E. Bellhouse, who presided, expressed disappointment at the rejection of the Religious Exercises in Schools Bill. The speaker confessed that he shared to a large extent the feelings of another chairman whJch had been regarded as a breach of Parliamentary privilege. It was difficult to account for the sudden enthusiasm on behalf of the Nelson system. There was no need for intense disappointment, however, as the battle would be carried on, and if the present Pariamcnt failed, then a new Parliament would be elected which would carry out the will of the electors. "Lot Methodists be known as the people who do things good," urged the Rev. Professon H. Ranston, president of the annual synod of the Auckland district, in the course of his opening address yesterday morning. Professor Ranston said that Methodists wore naturally against drink, gambling, and other evils, and he thought that sometimes people got the idea that Methodists were mainly against things, femetimes the Methodists laid so much stress on things they were against that people got the impression that their religion was mainly negative. There were some things Methodists must condemn, but on the other hand they should lay stress on the things they stood for and not merely negative things. Methodists stood for loving sen-ice and self-sacrifice, and they should show by their actions that they did so. They should be positive, not merely negative.—Press Special. The Hotel Federal's new and up-to-date dining-room is now completed with accommodation for 200 guests, and specialising in casual luncheons from 12.30 to 2 p.m. Six courses (including grills), 2s 6d. 'Phone 1040 to reserve tables. —6