Local And General

Chronicle (Levin), 17 November 1949, Page 4

Local And General

Motor Mechanic Examinations. The following candidates in the practical examination for trades' eertiftcates in motor mechanics, held on October 8, have been successful: — J. S. Brooks (Woodville), E. D. Blackmore (P.N.), R.. G. Hewald (Pahiatua) , P. G. M. Lockett (P.N.), and G. R. Spencer (Levin) . Youtht'ul Tliief Charged. Sequel to the chase by neigh- : bours of a youth who on October j 24 toroke into a house at Weraroa I about noon and stole a small sum cf money, was the appearance of j a youth in the Children's Court at i L evin yesterday. He was placed ; under the care of the C'hild Welj fare Offlcer by the magistrate, Mr. ■ J. Hessell, S.M. ' New Justices Swcrn In. j Five new Justices of the Peace, ; appointed recently by the Govi ernor-General, were fo'rmally' ! sworn in by Mr. J. Hessell, S.M., at ' ye'sterday's sitting of the MagisI trate's Court, Levin. They Were : j Mrs. O. T. Webstejr (Otaki Railv/ay) and Messrs;L. Moffatt (Waii tarere), K. G. G. Henderson (Otaki | Railway) , T. Taylor (Levin) and W. R. J. Benning (Waitarere) . Domesiic Competence. Some prospective wives did not know how to cook potatoes, but there were others who did not ! know how to boil water without jburning the bdges, said Mr. J. i Ward (Ngaio) , speaking in a de- ' bate on the Church's attitude to ■ divorce at the General Assembly ' of the Presbyterian --"Chutch at j Timaru. He considered that cer- ! tiftcates of domestic" competence i should be obtained by wives before they married. Crown Tax Liability. Crown land 'being used for rehabilitation purposes was . -being farmed at a handsome profit, but the Rehabilitation Department refused . to pay catchment board rates, said Mr. J. B. Carruthers at, a meeting of the Manawatu Catchment Board. As a result a subj stantial amount in rates was being lost to boards. It was decided to investigate the matter and refer it to the New Zealand Counties' Association. Magistrate's Waming. ln entering a. conviction and imposing a fine of £5 against a motorist for using an unregistered motor vehicle in a case before him in the Magistrate's Court, Foxton, Mr. J. R. Herd, S.M., lssued'^a warning to owners of suoh vehicies. '.'In future," he said, "I intend to impose heavier penalties for this type of offence. An unregistere'd wehicle is a potentiai menace. Where such a vehicle vis used t'here is no third party insurance and a person is liable to be injured and have no recourse to compensation. It behoves owners of all motor vehicies to register them promptly because oi t'his particular danger. I w'ill not treat future offenders who come before me leniently."

Aurora Australis. The frequency of the Aurora Australis appears to be decreasing says the latest .circular of the Oarter observatory. This trend has been noticed since - March. Between April, 1947, and March, 1949, the displays recorded by the observatory appeared to be- inoreasing. While there is evidence that the're is a connexion between sunspot activity and aurorae, the circular ppints out t'hat when there is high sunspot activity the probajbility that there will be big displays is slight. It is.only when monthly or yearly averages are compared that the relationship toecomes- apparent. "This is one of many paradoxes "in the relationship of sunspots to aurorae whieh icannot he explained as yet.