NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 85, 12 April 1937, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Cycling Without Lishts. \ J "I have been imposing very rate fines on these cyclists who ride without'HeMs," said Mr. J. H. Salmon. S.M., .in the. Magistrate's ■ Court, at Wanganui recently, when a case came before him for•; decision.. "I think the! fines • will have \to , be stiffened ''up again." Defendant; was fined £1, with costs: ylOs, L a penalty "equal to that imposed on ; a .motorist, who drove a" car without lights. ;.'/i '■;■■: '■:'. ■] ■■■:■■ Deerstalking in Otaki Forks. '■':■■ "-.. Good . hunting','was ; had by a party comprising Messrs. !; M. Chancy,f W. Chancy, and Hill, who returned yesterday afternoon from a week's deerstalking in the.;Otaki Forks. The party went up. .'to;the 'saddle,' and then: up the Otaki Valley . between Mounts Crawford ; and Kelliher. ' Five ,stags were shot, including a 12-pointer and a 14-pointer. All surplus provisions were left, in the Hutt Valley Tramping Club's hut as emergency rations for trampers in difficulties. . Shark Caught in Harbour. ■ The* three, sharks which have been seen recently in the vicinity of Oriental Bay were again- sighted last evening, and yachtsmen put out in a boat and wer£ successful in shooting one of them ■with a rifle, after which it was gaffed and brought.ashore.' It was only three or four feet long,'but the yachtsmen were of the opinion that the others were bigger. ~-. ; '. Cockayne Memorial. • . , The construction of the Cockayne Memorial Rock Garden has been commenced , in , .the:; Christchurch Botanic; Gardens. (states the "Press"). A miniature scree for the growing of different:, alpine : and native :, alpine shrubs .and plants .will ,be obtained. The; scree will; consist of metal clips and spaghnunvmoss. At a meeting of the Domains Board on Friday, a gift was acknowledged from the rock garden of the late Mrs. Boulton of 440 plants gathered from different parts of the , world by Mrs. Boulton. A; request that the, plants should be used in the building of the; memorial to Dr. Cockayne was granted. ~;, , Productive Land. ,■- ' ."I was: most forcibly: struck," said the Hon.,: E. J. : •Mackrell, Minister of Labour 'in : Victoria, at Hamilton on Friday, "by the way in which,land ofno "commercial value whatever, after being cleared'of gorse and blackberry, and ploughed, is, within two years, carrying : six , sheep to the acre ■; and, after three or four years, when the pasture is developed, ten to twelve sheep to the acre. It is phenomenal." Mr. Mackrell has returned from an inspection of the Waik'ato Land Settlement Society's land at Whatawhata. "That such apparently waste land can, by the expenditure of possibly £8 to £10 an acre, spring into such a high state of production, is amazing," said Mr. Mackrell. "It must be the very high rainfall and the liberal application of superphosphate and lime that bring this about." '. New Cook Strait Cable. It is expected that the new Coo~k Strait cable will be in New Zealand in a few weeks. Good progress is being made with the erection of the new pole line between Blind River and Seddon, to carry the new circuits, although it has been found that because of : the dry, season the task of digging the six-foot holes is extremely difficult (states,the "Press"). Workmen found the clay in some places almost, as' hard; as' cement for about five feet. Three beacons have been erected on poles to guide the survey boat when mapping the new cable route. These beacons, 25 feet high, are: surmounted, with red and white squares which can be seen from a great distance out at sea. One beacon is on a high hill overlooking the sea at Seaview, another at Blind River, and another two miles south towards Lake Grassmere. Tenders have closed for the contract for the erection of the repeater station at Blind River. Motorists and Cyclists. "I stood in your Square today for fully half an hour, watching motorists dodge cyclists, and I recalled Melbourne to mind, where the boot is distinctly on the other foot," was the comment of a Victorian visitor, Mr. F. G. B. Winslow, to a representative of the "Press" on Friday. "In Melbourne," he said, "one sees comparatively few cyclists on the main streets, as they are frightened of the motorists. I was astounded with the way the cyclists of Christchurch ■ break every known traffic rule. and the infinite pains exercised by obviously scared motorists to avoid colliding,with them. As a result of my;observations this morning, nothirjg would persuade me to drive a motor-car through the busy sections of Christchurch." Power-driven Plant. '.'■•• With the arrival at Gisborne on Friday of two Diesel-powered compressors for tunnelling work, two Diesel locomotives and a mechanical loader, also powered by a low-grade fuel engine, the major requirements of the Public Works Department in- connection with railway construction', operations . between Gisborne and. Waikokopu are understood to be filled so far as mechanical working equipment is concerned (states a correspondent). The compressors are "of a mobile type of 600 cubic feet capacity each. They will be used for driving rock-drills and other compressed-air tools employed in tunnelling operations. The locomotives will work in conjunction with power-shovels and the special loading device landed today, which is of the bucket-loading type, "equipped with discs for directing the spoil and rubble into buckets. This attachment makes the machine operable by one" man. Further items of plant are still to be deliver^ including, it is believed, small loading tools for use in confined spaces and another and larger air-compressing machine for the Kopuawhara face of the main mile and a' half tunnel under the old coast road.

Maori Relics. Maori implements still continue to be found here and there in the course of the South Island Main Trunk construction work along the Marlborough east coast, reports the Aniseed correspondent of the Marlborough "Express." A party of Blenheim men, for instance,: while working on contract at Meriburn, turned up seven or eight relics in a sand cutting. The find comprises a couple of axes, five chisels, and an anchor stone. Spectacular Accident. ■ / A spectacular accident occurred on the Hutt Road about 7 o'clock last evening when a baby car, returning to town with four occupants, swerved and capsized as a result of a defect developing in the, steering gear. .The mishap occurred when the car was about a 1 quarter of a mile on the Hutt side of Ngahauranga, and the vehicle came to rest upside-down.> A crowd quickly gathered at the scene of the crash. Fortunately none of the occupants was seriously injured, although the road was littered with ■■ broken glass.". ■ ■'■ '■ ' " ;, : .■'"■■■ i "You Watch Your Step." "Why did you make that signal: to your husband when he ,was giving evidence?" asked Mr. Justice Callan' of a witness in the-Auckland Supreme Court on Friday (reports; the: "New Zealand Herald"). The witness, who had a very imperfect command of English, denied that.; she had made such;a signal when her husband was asked a certain question.;,"But I saw you," said his Honour. Witness's counsel suggested that her action was.probably entirely automatic. "I know what it ; was," his Honour said. .. "It was 'No' as said in all: the languages of the world, as plain as possible. TThis was a signal to the husband,■... 'You watch your step.'" ■; • ■; Bowling Green Damage. ' ! ; ••Considerable . damage -to a newly laid out: bowling green' on: the Tauranga Domain was done late on'Thurs- ; day night by- two; meh.;using an iron bar about 4ft long arid curved at one end (states. a Tauranga correspondent). With it holes up to:'4in:in: depth were torn, all over the green,; and the new grass, which had struck '■ well,- was torn: out by .the1 roots. :The caretaker, who was sleeping in .the, - pavilion, heard a noise and, on,looking out, saw. two men on the green, He ran; up; as fast as: he could, but the. men-saw, him and escaped towards, the .south, where they were able to hide among, the trees. The work of filling the holes and resowing grass will1 be a long process. _ . ' ; . , . Surprise for Australians. Australian tourists by the .Marama, on her arrivalat Bluff last week from M"lbourhe, saw, what was for.them, an unusual sight, a -boatload of, ■; muttonbirders leaving for the Mutton Bird Islands. 'The schooner Britannia, carrying a full load of Maoris, their wives and families,. chugged down : the harbour just as the passengers,,were disembarking from the Marama. "Fishermen over here must be great family men. They take wives and children along when they go out to make the day's,1 catch," ■said one Australian visitor. A native of Bluff quickly co»-, rected this impression, .however, and explained that mutton-birdirig entailed, weeks:of absence;from home, i;; ■'. Garden Suburb Proposed. ; ; fi,'■} . ';:; Afterexamining several vacant-areas in .Hamilton with: ajView to ascertaining what land.was available:for a housing scheme, Mr. J:."A. Lee.M.P., Undersecretary in Charge of Housing,- said that there was an abundance :of land suitable' for. housing in Hamilton, re-' ports a Hamilton .correspondent.: He was particularly impressed with the ad-;, vantages of-Hayes' Paddock; East, as a site'for.a model' suburb. Mr. Lee ; expressed . the .hope■ that the. Borough Council would co-operate with his Department in assisting in the selection .of ■ sites and in1 \ promoting ' the housing scheme. The 'idea was to create an attractive suburb, rather than to build houses here;arid therein the ■town. ■ He added that the-.Department was : awaiting 'the . decision 'of the Borough. Council with' respect' ;,to. a housing scheme for Hamilton before taking further action. - . ; .'. Church Weddings. > A motion advocating an amendment to. the Marriage Act to provide for marriages being performed in every, case by the Registrar, all religious communions being free to hold what form of service they deemed fit, was submitted by Canon A. Neild (Waiapu) at General Synod on Friday (states a Hamilton correspondent).:, The mover said there were some marriages/which' were a joy and an inspiration; to everyone : attending -them, but, there were some which' were a horror and a degradation. Many pe»ple wanted to be married in -. church because' of its. social and the opportunities given for decorating the building. These people, he said, .had no more Christianity than a rabbit, ."and should not be married, in church. Synodwent into committee to . discuss the , question, and finally adopted an .amendment referring ■ the questions of1 marriage arid divorce to a committee for; consideration. ; ■ '.''"'. . ■ Artillery Practice. Parades and artillery drill by Wellington batteries were carried out at Fort Dorset on Saturday afternoon, and were ■ witnessed by former officers of the Royal New Zealand .Artillery;-., who are members of the Wellington Artillery Mess. ■'■'.The.-.-15th Heavy' Battery was in camp undergoing annual training, and half-day parades ■ were held of the. 'sth Field Battery and the 17th and 19th Medium Batteries. In addition, a complete mobile anti-aircraft gun unit was assembled at "action ready" by Permanent Force men, of the anti-aircraft group of the Royal New Zealand Artillery. An inspection was made of the permanentlymounted coastal defence units, and then the ' officers observed anti-gas drill, six-inch, howitzer drill, and demonstrations by mechanised and horse units of the Field Artillery with 18-pounder guns. The visitors spent an enjoyable and instructive afternoon, an.d, were, much, impressed by what they saw.. Old Wool Sold. A line of slump-time wool from Gisborne has just been disposed of in London at rates that were Very satisfactory to the owner, when compared with the average of £7 or £8 a bale which was being realised when it was shorn (states a Gisborne correspondent). The results'of the January-Feb-ruary series of sales in London just to hand contain details of the sale of this wool. ' Although it had been baled for seven to eight years, it opened up in particularly good order and reports on it received by the farmer were very satisfactory. It was stored on the farm/and when prices began to rise three years ago. the grower sent it to London, together with the accumulations of the intervening,years, By the time the wool reached its destination, however, prices were receding again, and the farmer decided to hold it in store pending the recovery of the market. The wool comprised A crossbred, and sold at from .14Jd to 15d. After paying storage charges, the net return was about the same as that which the grower would have received had he been able to sell it three years ago. Corresponding wool sold by this farmer at the Napier sale on Thursday realised about 18jd. When exchange is added, the price received for the seven-year-old wool in London will not be very far behind .that of the line which was sold in Napier at the highest rates of the New Zealand season.