Untitled

Evening Star, Issue 22449, 21 September 1936, Page 8

Members of the Wellington representative Rugby football team travelled to Invercargill this morning. They will play Southland on Wednesday and will return north on Thursday. The annual report of the Stores Control Board presented to Parliament shows the total expenditure on stores for the year ended March 31 at £3,251,814, as against £2,939,642 for the previous year. The highest figure over the past 10 .years was £4,345,030, in 1930.

In the Children’s Court at Wellington sentence on the steward’s boy connected with the theft on the Rangitane was deferred for two months. It was stated that there was a prospect of the boy leaving by the Hertford this month. i' ; • The figures in the Returned Soldiers’ Association membership, campaign are as follow: —Dunedin, 2,070; Christchurch, 1,843. The dates for the season at Milford Sound have been definitely fixed by the Tourist Department. The season opens on Saturday, November 14, and will extend until the end of March. _ Tbe manager of the Hotel Milford is at present making _ arrangements for stores for the coming season, but the 'staff does not go in until about the of October. Heavy bookings are being made by the local branch of the Tourist Department for the Christmas holidays, and during the last week Stewart Island has been much favoured. A number of reservations have been made for the Lakes district, and several local people have made arrangements for a round tour of the West Coast. Petty purloining of timber is a thing that has to he contended with by most contractors at work in erecting new houses, and the offence is all the more serious because of the difficulty in laying offenders by the heels. The theft of blocks is bad enough, though sometimes it may be traced to the small boy, but one builder told a reporter that, after preparing a good quantity of timber for a building on Saturday, he arrived on the job early this morning to find it missing. Apart from the value of the timber, the time lost is another factor causing considerable annoyance to contractors. The enthusiasm of West Coast Rugby followers is as much a byword as is that of the Southlanders, and for the Ranfurly Shield match between Otago and West Coast next Saturday—the final game of the season and Otago’s eighth defence of the shield —a big influx of West Coasters is anticipated. One special train has already been arranged, and there is a possibility of another if sufficient support is received. The train will leave Ross at 6 p.m. on Friday, leaving Greymouth at B.lo* p.m., and is due at Dunedin at 9.23 a.m. on Saturday The return train leaves at 8 a.m. on Sunday. In connection with the local trains, similar arrangements may be made to those in operation for the Wellington match.

The Government’s recognition of J. E. Lovelock’s performance in winning the Olympic 1,500 metres championship at Berlin is viewed with approval by local amateur athletic officials, in common with sportsmen throughout the Dominion. While it is generally recognised that his race at Princeton in October may mark his last appearance on the track, athletic officials are satisfied that tho Government’s action in bringing the Rhodes Scholar to New Zealand as its guest must give track and field athletics in the Dominion a wonderful stimulus. His tour is to be arranged by the Internal Affairs Department, but the view is expressed that no doubt the co-operation of the Council of the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association will be sought in arranging his itinerary. There will be special interest in the tour in Dunedin, for it was from Otago University that ho left New Zealand as a Rhodes Scholar, and it was as an Otago representative that _he competed in the New Zealand mile, championship at Wanganui in 1930 to gain fourth place, and at Dunedin in 1931 to gain third place, Gorse, in spite of being classed as a noxious weed, is one of the heralds of summer. At the present time hedges and hillsides in the country are a mass of golden bloom, while tho air is full of the sweet scent of the flowers. Wattle trees are also in bloom, as well ns the native kowhai, which all contribute towards the season’s bright background.

At 9.27 on Saturday evening the City Fire Brigade dealt with a hedge fire in Picardy street, Mornington.

The question of the provision of a swimming pool for the north end of the city has received the attention of the Dunedin North and Leith Amenities Society, which last year made arrangements for a site in the Woodhaugh Gardens. According to the annual report of the society, the Reserves Committee of the City Council undertook to construct the pool provided the society found £SO towards the cost. Before committing the society to that expenditure it was decided that the Reserves Committee be asked to supply a sketch plan of the proposed pool, and also what equipment would be provided. Up to the close of the year no reply had been received, and the matter was still in abeyance. The committee of the society was now pressing the matter, as there was a likelihood of a poll being taken for a loan for baths in the near future, and participation was advocated in that proposal to obtain up-to-date baths with proper equipment and conveniences.

The annual report of the Dunedin North and Leith Amenities Society states that a definite promise has been received from the City Council that as soon as the draughtsman can be spared from the waterworks scheme the plans for the new bridge at Woodhaugh will be undertaken without delay. “ The delay in getting this important work done is very exasperating,” says the committee,” “ but we hope the end is now in sight and that the bridge will be completed during the near future.” Although last year was not what might be termed_ a normal on© for potato growers owing to the heavy rain in the early autumn causing in some localities a good deal of loss through wet rot affecting the tubers, some excellent yields were nevertheless obtained in cases where genuine certified seed was planted. Crops that produced from 14 to 15 tons an acre were not uncommon, and at least one grower on the Taieri had the pleasure of lifting 18 tons an acre, while another at Stirling grew a “ 20-tonner.” It is opportune to advise growers who intend to enter their crops for certification next year that application must be lodged with the local office of the Department of Agriculture on or before October 3 to permit of samples being collected for inclusion in the official trials which are a feature of the seed potato certification organisation. Speaking at the Commercial Travellers and Warehousemen’s annual social evening on Saturday, Mr F. W. Mitchell stated that he was very sorry to see that the association’s “ Big Day,” in which an appeal is conducted in the city for contributions of goods for the unemployed, had been discontinued. It was a great pity, he said, as it had been looked forward to as an annual fixture. The assocition could take credit for an organisation that had been well worth the while, and one that had served the public well. The new closing times for petrol stations will come into operation to-night, and motorists are again reminded of the following times of closing. From Monday to Thursday of each week petrol stations will close at 8 p.m., Friday at 9 p.m., and Saturday at 8 p.m., while on Sundays they will close at 5 p.m. The business done by petrol stations after 8 p.m. is negligible, and it is proposed to try out these hours for some months, when they may be further curtailed. It is reported that fixed closing hours for petrol stations have been m operation at Invercargill for a considerable time, and has proved so successful that it was recently decided to close as early as 6 p.m. on week days (except Fridays) and at 1 p.m. on Sundays. An increase of 5s a week in t]ie subsidy given by the Labour Department towards the wages of the 100 fiveday men employed by the Christchurch City Council has been approved by the Government. This announcement was made on Saturday by the Minister of Labour (the Hon. H. T. Armstrong), who said that, together with an extra 3s from the council, this would enable the wages of the men to be brought up to the public works rate. A Wanganui Association message states that Peter Rzoska, for being in a state of intoxication in charge _of a motor car, was fined £25 and his license cancelled for five years. Mr Salmon, S.M., said he adopted this course in view of the fact that defendant had. an invalid wife and a young family of four. Coincident with the advent of shorter working hours, the Public Library lending department introduced improved borrowing privileges, and these two factors have been responsible for a 50 per cent, increase in the issue of books. At this time of the year a seasonal decrease in the attendance in the magazine room is looked for, but, on the contrary, the attendances during the present month have been greater than for the two preceding mouths. Only maintenance cases appeared on the list at the Police Court to-day, when the sitting was brief. Charged with wilful default of a maintenance order, John lliely was sentenced to 14 days’ imprisonment, to be released on payment of £3 10s. Separation and maintenance orders were made against John Bell Hughes on the grounds of wilful failure to maintain his wife, for whom Mr E. J. Anderson appeared. Maintenance was fixed at 15s weekly, arrears being fixed at £lO. Some excitement was caused shortly before 2 o’clock this afternoon on the Anderson’s Bay road, where the driver of a trotting sulky was thrown from bis seat when the horse became alarmed at passing motor traffic. Crossing the footpath and dodging the tram poles, the horse careered wildly across the turf of the Oval, sped up Melville street, turned right round when an attempt was made to stop him, and ran back into the Bay road, where a man was successful in bringing the animal to a halt. Eye strain—for eye comfort, for bettervision, consult Sturmer and Watson Ltd., opticians, 2 Octagon, Dunedin.—[Advt.l On a charge of obtaining a suit of clothes and £2 in money, of a total value of £lO, by means of a valueless cheque at Te Awamutu on August 22, Christopher Hood, aged 31, a greenkeeper, was remanded in the Police Court, Auckland, to appear on September 24. Bail in a surety of £2OO was allowed. Burglars on Friday night stole about £SO in cash from the Symonds street (Auckland) branch store of Marriott's Ltd. Entry was made through a rear window.