LOCAL & GENERAL

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 63, 1 April 1937, Page 4

LOCAL & GENERAL

Overseas Shipping. The New Zealand Shipping Co. advises that its m.v. llangitiki, which left Wellington on. March 16 en route for Londoii, radios that the weather is good and that all is well. s.s. Rotorua sailed from Colon and the s.s. Remuera avrival at London during the afterooou of March 28, Rangiotu Motor Fataiity. Though almost satisfied that there was no otber person in the car in which Mr A. E. Sexton, of Himatangi, niet his death when it plunged into the 1 * ma River at Rangiotu at midnight ludb Tuesday, the police have not ceased their investigations in this direetion, and steps to prove the question beyond doubt are still being t'aken at tbe scene of the accident. Trawler Towed to Pdrt. The trawler Mahuta, usual'ly stationed at Napier but at present fishing Gisborne waters^ had to be towed into Gisborne yesterday, following an engine defect. The vessel was operating in the Bay, six or seven miles to tbe south-east of Gisborne, at about five o'clocls, when a cylinder head blew out, and she. was unable to proceed.- Her pligjfit was iioticed by the crew of the fishing lautich Taupo t which went to her "assistance and passed a line. The two vessels reacbed the wharf about seven o'clock. Oil in South Westland. The report from Dunedin of the discovery of oil in South Westland recalla tlie discdvery made by a settlef of Okuru maiiy years ago, He made periodical vis'its to the Sounds region. While on oue of these visits he Was struck by the ever-present smell and appeai'ance of oil on the water. He found that the oil substance was coiUing through the surfaee o water and mu&t have been coming from the rocky forination at the hottom of the Sound, Regwort Pest. 'T know that there is a lot of ragwort in New Zealand, particularly in the North Island,'' Temarked the Hon. W. E. Barnard, Speaker of the HouSe of Representatives , in an address in Invercargill. "But I was astonished hy what I saw coming from Dunedin to Invercargill to-day. On both sides of the train there was gjood and olosely settled land, but I have never seen so much ragwort- on such good farming country. Is nofi that a small indieatiOn that we neefl a larger population, that the farmers now are not able to keep weeds and pests in cheek? Ragwort is not an immigrant that should be encouraged !5' Mitk in Schools. The initial distribution of the daily half-pint of milk to school children in Wellington was scheduled to take plac© this moming. The scheme is heing launched by the Smith Family in conjunotion with the Wellington Education Board, ihe Department of Health and the Corporation Milk Department. Nearly 1000 gallons of milk, in approxiniately 16,000 half-pint hottles, will be required daily. New Colf "Record." A new record for the Hastings golf links has been acbieved, and the ' 'hon-

our'' falls to a woman player, who in the course of a competition gaine early this week recorded in her card the fact that 'She took 25 strokes to hole-Out where bogey is three, After this effort she called it a day, and members are now endeavouring to aacertain hoW long it would have taken, and how m&ny strokes would have heen recorded, hajl the jTjayer continued her display of tenacity and determinatioh. by finishing the round. Eiectrioal Fisb BarTier. f The electric fish barrier which is to be placed on the diyersion race of the irrigation schejne at the Levels, South Canterbury, will be eompleted in anoiher fortnigb't, Mr T. G, Beck, tesident engineer to the Publio Works Department at Temuka, said that the barrier— the only one in New Zealand — is Operated by an increasing electric potontif^l trliieh is designed to preveni fisb from passing down the races. Part of the material for the electric grid has arrived, and the department hopes to assemble and test the barrier shortly. The barrier will then he installed and power lines to operate it will be- erected later. Narrow Escape. A remarkable escape from very serious injury was experienced by a echoolboy of Kairanga recentlyj An electric power line came doWn ttear the gateway leading into the r6sidence of Mr and Mrs L. G. Millward. Their eldest boy passed through the gate and over the wire, cycliitg on his way to school, and the fact that he was wearing rubber sh'oes and that the oycle tyres were of rubber in all probability saved him from disaster. He prooeeded on his way oblivious of the danger. A valuable sheep dog, however, came into contact witb tho line and was immediately electrocutcd. The dog was found dead a shorb timo later by Mr Millward, who had occasion to proceed to the gate, and he immediately notified the Manawatu-Oroua Power Board of*ficials, who out off the power.

New caledonia Display, There is in the Hawke's Bay Museum at Napier at tlie present time an interesting exhibit on loan from the Dunedin Museum. It is designed to illustrate the life of the natives of New Caledonia by a display of their vario'us weapons, tools and personal adornments. Several coloui;ed drawings by the museum staff give a good idea of these various articles, and th© general ett'ect of the display is most attractive and is typical of the modern methods of museum display as opposed to the old "dry-as-dustn ways. It is interesting to jNew Zealanders to see that New Caledonia apparently abounds in nephrite, or greenstone. Lights Burn Late, Lights were burning brightly in a number of commercialj professional and other offices in Hastings until a late hour last night. The reaSon was that yesterday was the last day of the financial year as far as these business enterprises were concerned and the allimportant "balance" had to he arrived at. If figures in red ink did not tally exactly with those in blue there was a determined search for the elusive deficiency, and eventual rconciliation brought forth a profound sigh of relief, Easter Weddings. EaBter weddings kept officiating ministers in Hastings busy for the holiday period, it being estimated that approximately 25 marriages were performed. This meant additional work for taxidrivers, florists, tearooms, photographers and organists, and the total amount of money involved reached a subStantial BUm. Eetimating each marriage at a figjure of £35, they Would entail a gross expenditure of some £900. Easter weddings have always been popular, but this year the Easter period has been even more favoured by brides. Remarkable Temperature Orop. Details of the weather statistics for the past month as compiled by Mr H. Nelson Fowler, the Government meteorolog^st observer at Hastings, reveal that the weather last Sunday was ptobably the most remarkable that has been recorded in' Hastings for many years. The temperature during the day reached 85 degrees in the screen, and, though this is not exceptionally hot, it is Well abdve the avbrage. But before the 24 hours under review were com- | pleted there was a sudden break in the | Weather and the temperature dropped by just over 40 degrees. Building of Dwellings. The erectiop of dwellings in Hastings at the beginning of the year wai the subject of much comment, the halfyearly returns showingi that on an aver&ge there were about eight or nine houses built every month. However, this deveiopment in the building trade did not prevail during the latter half of the year, where there was a definite slump in the construction of new .houses. In his annual review of building activities in Hastings, the borough building inspeetor, Mr C. O- Oarrelh repotts that during the year ended yesterday 80 new dwellings wero erected, compared with 94 the previoUs year. There has, however, heen an interesting development in provision of homes for the people in the form of fiats, and during the past year provision has been made for 14 families in this direetion. s

The Big Dividend. Among the fortunate backers of Unworthy, which returned a huge dwidend at the Hawera trots, was a Hawera car salesman who actually "iluked" a 10/- ticket on the horse, He had decided to back Biworthy in the event but did not notice the horse had heen seratehedj and, walking up to the totaliSator, asked the girl at the window for a ticket ott" Biworthy, not etatiiig the nutuher, as is custoruary. Noticing that Biworthy had been Withdi'aWn, the girl glanoed through her hook and saw Unworthy and iiinnefSiateiy thought he had mistakon the nanio, eo she handed him a ticket on No> 5, Luworthy. Although he rcalised that an efror had been made, the man retaitted the ticket with happy rosults, and his first Uction en colleoting his dividend was to proceed. to the windcrw at which he purchased the ticket and present the aeller with a £5 Rote. Only five 10/- wih tickets wero Sold on tjnworthy, and as far as could be aieertained the owner and his son both had one of these, a young factory hand and his hf other shared One, , while an elderly friend of the latter . pair had the remaining ticket.