General News

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22510, 19 September 1938, Page 8

General News

Presentation of Electric Clock An electric clock was presented to the Lyttelton Street Baptist Church on Saturday afternoon by the Canterbury Baptist Ropeholders in appreciation of the work being done at the church. The Hon. -J. K. Archer, who welcomed the visitors, explained that the ropeholders had taken their name from words of the pioneer

Baptist missionary society in. England, which asked, people .at home. to “hold the .ropes” for those who risked their lives in pioneer work. 1 Petrol Prices Fixed “In furtherance of the Government’s policy to introduce regulations fixing the price of motor spirit, regulations have been gazetted for the Whangarei district,” says a statement by the Minister for Industries ap'd Commerce (the Hon, -D, G. Sullivan). “A strong representation was made to me by resellers in the district to stabilise prices, as price-cutting was disrupting the trade. The maximum margin of profit allowed a reseller has been determined at 3d a gallon. In those districts where resellers have expressly signified their wish to sell at Whangarei prices and absorb the oil company differential charge, the margin of profit will be slightly less.”—Press Association. New Rail-car on Trial Run

The first trial run of the new standard railcar Aotea was made at the week-end. The car travelled from Wellington to Napier, 200 miles, on Saturday, and returned yesterday. Its performance was completely satisfactory, the railway authorities say. The Minister for Railways (the Hon. D, G. Sullivan) and the General Manager (Mr G. H. Mackley) were passengers in the car. The outward trip was made in six hours (actual running time, four hours 54 minutes), and the return trip in five hours (actual running time, four hours 36 minutes).- The car seats 52 passengers' weighs 32 tons, and is driven by motors with a total horsepower of 260. It will be one of three on the New Plymouth run which are expected to begin the service in October.—Press Association. New Zealand’s Prosperity?

“It is often said we are very prosperous in New Zealand just now,” said Sir William Hunt in Wellington. “The question is, are we?- If you see a young fellow earning £250 a year come in for a legacy of £2OOO, and while keeping his £250 a year job proceed to live at the rate of £750 a year, you will have to admit that he looks prosperous, but you don’t want the mantle of Elijah to fix approximately the date when his prosperity will end. Are we not doing something like that in New Zealand just now?” New Zealand’s “Gift” Warship An alternative to the Government’s policy of spending money on air defence, which he described as the most efficient and effective method, was referred to by Mr W. J. Lyon, M.P. for Waitemata, addressing a meeting at Kelburn. “We could spend another £1,500,000 on a new H.M.S. New Zealand,” he said, “but we could not do it honestly, because we have riot paid for the old one yet.” (Laughter.) Fitness and Modern Transport

Modern living conditions dulled the urge to achieve physical fitness, said Mr E. Willis, physical instructor at Rongotai College, in an address at a meeting of the Wellington School Committees’ and Educational Federation. Transport was cheap, and as a result the amount of walking done was steadily decreasing. Among the many benefits to '>e gained by physical exercises were the eradication of a sense of inferiority, improved carriage and respiration, and co-ordination of mind and muscle. Healthy or Unhealthy Work? “This is very unhealthy work, and I think we are entitled to reasonable holidays,” said an employees’ assessor in the North Island boxmakers’ dispute in Conciliation Council at Wellington. “I have yet to attend an industrial dispute in this country in which the employees have admitted that their work is healthy,” said Mr A. W. Nisbet, the agent for the employers. “It would appear that all work in New Zealand is unhealthy.” (Laughter.) Maori Relics Discovered From ati ancient Maori midden on a beach near Invercargill Mr J. H. Sorensen, curator of the Southland Museum, has recovered a big.. number of interesting, relics which will provide, valuable material for research work: Several of. the tools in the collection are roughly fashioned from pieces of moa bone, and considerable' skill has been shown in utilising' the natural curve of the bone for thumb grips. This is well illustrated in .the bone drills. The best piece, of the collection is a whale ivory pendant —ah excellent piece of workmanship several inches long and fashioned in a sweeping curve. It was found among human remains. A small quartzite saw is the only piece of stone that is foreign to the locality, and must have been carried there from a distance. Several adzes, one with a perfect cutting edge, are included in the collection. The midden also contained a complete skeleton of a porpoise. New Zealanders and Maoris “The relation between the New Zealand people and the Maoris is something from which we could learn a lesson,” said Dr. Ralph Harlow, director of sociology, Smith University, Northampton, United States, during an address to the Wellington Optimists’ Club. Dr. Harlow’s rfemark was made when he was speaking of the negro problem in America.

The British Farmer ' “What a lot of labour there is attached to farming at Home; so much provision for the winter,” writes a New Zealand farmer at present on holiday in Britain. “The summer is so short and the winter so long, stock have to be housed for six or seven months, and this entails a great lot of labour. We found a lot of the English farmers severely pressed. They said it was almost impossible to make farming pay. The prices of sheep here have been much lower than was the case a year or so ago; lamb at about lOd per lb, .beef at 8d to 9d per lb deadweight. But then-those, who are fattening cattle are giving them a lot of oil cake, even in the summer time. We have seen some places where they can keep up to 160 head of cattle inside all the winter.” New Zealander in Scotland Writing from Edinburgh to a relative in Te Awamutu, Mr D. V. Bryant, the well-known founder of the Waikato Land Settlement Society, states that he and his party are thoroughly enjoying a tour through England, Scotland, and Wales. “We have been about five weeks travelling round Scotland,” he writes, “and have found the Scots people a delightful race; they show us every possible hospitality, and in'many places we have been invited to stay with folk as guests. Because we have come from New Zealand they want to show us extra courtesy. We find that both English and Scottish people have a very high regard for New Zealanders, perhaps higher than we actually warrant. These Scottish people have a wonderful dignity and are particularly modest. I like their art of making one feel at home as soon as one meets them.” Wild Dogs at Whangarel

A band of wild dogs roaming the slopes of Parahaki Mountain, on the outskirts of Whangarei, has caused annoyance to residents in the vicinity, and a suggestion has been made that the Whangarei Acclimatisation Society should organise a party of sportsmen to hunt down and exterminate the pack before it increases to a large band, when it would probably be a serious menace. Even at present parents living in the vicinity fear that the dogs may attack their children. Three Aeroplanes for New Plymouth . Within a few weeks the New Plymouth Aero Club will have a fleet of six aeroplanes. At present there are three Gipsy Moth machines in the air;.a new Tiger Moth is expected this week, and a Rearwin sportster machine from Canada is on the water. The club has also bought the parts of another Gipsy Moth from the Hawke’s, Bay Club for reassembling at New Plymouth, which will provide the sixth machine, The Tiger Moth is now at the Hobsonville air base, Auckland. The two new machines will be useful- for training purposes during the summer, and with the three Gipsy Moths at present in commission and the fourth to be assembled from the parts acquired in Hawke’s Bay the club should be splendidly equipped to meet all demands, which are naturally heavier in the summer than at other times of the year.