LOCAL & GENERAL

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 33, 2 November 1937, Page 4

LOCAL & GENERAL

Hbnesty jn Business.. "When it comes to land transactione , I am afraid honesty is run on strict business lines and it then becomes quite a different thing from the dictionary definition," said Sir Apirana Ngata, in his address to the Hastings Historical Society last night. Occupation of State HOuses. The first seven or eight State houses being erected at Brooklands road, New Plymouth, are expected to be ready for occupation within six weeks. The tiling of the roofs of five is now well advanced and three more will be started shortly. Some delay has been caused through difficulty in obtaining. sufficient supplies of bricks. Reward Notices Posted. Notices ofi'ering a reward for attempted murder in connection with tho bomb outrage jn Auckland some months ago >vhen a solicitor, Mr. Richard ArivolA Singer, was injured, have been posted at police stations in the districr. A reward of £250 is available for information leading to the conviction of the person concerned, to be open until January 31, 1938. •'Coid and Dismal" Wellington. "Wellington to the Maori mind was a famous placo for shellfish and it was the abundance of these delicacies that made the Maoris live in that cold and dismal part of the earth,". remarked Sir Apirana Ngata, speaking to the Hastings Historical Society last night. "It was not until much later that'the fame of Wellington as a city was bruited about as a result of the extension of Pan-American Airways." Good Fishing. Several excellent haula were obtained by parties of fishermen in launches off Cape Kidnappers during the week-end. "There was a great supply of big fish about and most of us had big catches," ,said one member cf a party .of four. The catches comprised mainly groper and schnapper and aboard all launciies there was a.heavy load for the return trip. In ohe instance 10 good-sized groper and 22 schnapper were caught. Another party returned with. a very fair catch of fish and a sack of crayfish.. Building Up the Countrv, Reference to the work of building societies in building Up a country was raade by Mr. E. P. Webster at tho annual meeting of the Taranaki Land, Building and Investment Society at New Plymouth. They assisted people, he said, to provjde their own homes and in England such societies advanced enormous sums of money for that purpose and he thought they could do more in New Zealand. Mr. Hugh Baily said the largest society in England was the Halifax Society which had iuvestments totalling £120,000,000. A Prlze "Guy." " Many and varied are the effigies of tii© famous, or rather infamous Guy Fawkes, that are being taken round from hoUse to house by enterprising youngsters in acoordance with their traditional custom on the eve of Guy Fawkes Day. The gem exhibit surely must be the "guy" taken round by two five-year-old kiddies. Their very age naturally makes housewives rather suspicious but any inquiry is met with a definite assurance that "Mum says he's the best . Guy in all the world." Further inspection rather justified the claim, for "Guy" is a bonny year-old babe that would take a prize in any baby sliow. Tlny Methodlst Church. The smallest church in New Zealand, aud in all. probability }the smallest church in the world, is situated in the little village of Wai-iti, about 100 miles uortli of Auckland. It was built by the very early pioneers who landed in the far north of New Zealand in 1850. The kauri tree from which it was built was felled by the pioueers themselves and hand pit-sawn. It is an octagon in shape, havjng eight gideg, with a single roof. It is still in good repair. It seats twenty people, The only instrument used to lead the singing is a violin, played by one of the members. The quaint little church is a great attraction to tourists who visit the nortb of Auckland. Problem In Psychology. Here's an unusual liappening, with a still more unusual sequel. A farmer who lives a few miles from Auckland was driving home in his car on a recent aiternoon, when, coming in sight of his homestead (at a distance of approximately three-quarters of a mile), he saw* that the chimney was on fire. Naturally, the first impulse of. any man or woman under such circumstances would be to get to the scene as quickly as possible. He obeyed that impulse, not by "stepping on the gas," but by stopping the car, jumping out, and running home. Afterwards he could not account for his action. When the matter was mentioned to a student of psychology, an interesting train of thought was begun "The man was obeying a primal impulse," he said. "So urgent a call as that-— threatened disaster to his home, the shelter of his family, and centre of his worldly possessions — impelled him to discard artificial aid in reaching the spot.

Small Ust of Cases. Threq cases of negligent driving came up for hearing at the weekly sitting of the Hastings Magistrate's Court this morning. There was only two other cases on th© police list, and of these one was a traffic offonce. Fast Flying. Two exceptionally fast trips between Hastings and Palmerston North were made by Mr. E. A. Barker in the Hawke's Bay and Ehst Coast Aero Club's new Hornet Moth machine. The plane covered the down trip yesterday afternoon in 45 minutes and this morning Mr. Barker clipped 10 minutes off that time, bringing with him as passenger 1 Mr. E. V. West, o.f Palmerston North. It is believed that Mr. Barker' s time of 35 minutes for the jourUey is a record. Healtn Stamps. Little response has been noted in Hastings to the annual appeal regarding the sale .of Health Stamps and according to the Postmaster, Mr. G. Clark, saies to date have been very slow. "There is very little inquiry as yet for them," he said. "and we are not pushing the saies to the same extent as we have done during the past few years. However, towarus the end of this month there will be ladies selling the stamps in the public corridors antl we hope to reach our quota that way." \ "Cets Thlngs Dorie.'' Discussion had centred round a proposal to persuade the Minister oi Public Works, the Hon. R. Semple, to have a particular matter reConsidered at the meeting of the Hastings Golf Club last evenjiig. One executive ofiicer raised a good laugh when, in his eli'orts to emphasise the futility of asking the Min--ister to change his mind said:— "When you get a notice signed by the Minister and its this particular Minister, who boasts that he gets things done .... well — er — that's all there is to it."