LOCAL & GENERAL

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 45, 16 November 1937, Page 4

LOCAL & GENERAL

Display Week. Sugges'tions regarding the staging of a Home and Empire Display Week, commencing from May 23 next wero received by the Hastings Chamber of Commerce last evening from the British Empire League. The circular is to be forwarded to the Hastings jRetailers' Association for consideration. ■Prayers for Kain. Congregations in Boman Catholic Churches of the Christchurch diocese prayed for Tain on Sunday. If there is still no rain the prayers, will be continued for a month: This action has been planned becanse of reports from country parishes that farmers are sui> fering considerably from the seareity of moisture on the plains. Prayers for rain have often been said in jthe vpast. Dust from Bluff Hill. Steps are to be taken by the Napier Harbour Board to minimise the dust nuisance to residents on Bluff Hill arising from the work that the board has in hand in making the face of the cliffs safe. The chairman, Mr T. M. Geddis, said that the board had no alternative but to proceed with the work which would take about 10 months to complete. In windy weather, work, as far as possible would be carried out at the bottom of the cliff. , Training Crippled Children. "I am sure that we are only too pleased to do that, and 1 move that the association be advised to that effect," said the chairman of the Napier Secondary Education Board, Mr J. H. Edmundson, at last evening's meeting of that. body, when a remit from the Technical Education Conference urging all boards to co-operate with the Crippled Children Society in providing specialised educational and vocational training for Crippled Children' was read. The motion was carried unanimously. The Peak Boad. The Te Mata Peak on the Havelock Hills is gradually taking on a new appearance as a landmark when viewed from the main Toads leading to Hastings from the south, as a restilt of road-making operations in progress on the hill. The road, which is being cui out of the side of the hill, is now vlsible for miles as a white line winding round the hillside broken at -intervals by heaps of white clay which havo been turned over in cutting the road. Surmounting this are the many peaks along the top of the hill, resembling Minarets. The heaps of spoil, when first seen from' a distance, look like buge scars on the face of the hill. Plooded Markets. "Foreign countries with- depreciated currencies and cheap labour fill the market with very .attractively-packed soft fruits, in fact so well packed that no country paying a living wage conld alford to imitate them," said Mr H.\ Turner, London manager of the Fruit Export Control Board, in an address to Hastings fruitgrowers last evening.' "Tariffs seem to have missed their objective as far as curtailing supplies of foreign fruit is concerned and it is generally recognised that in many casea the only objective is the accumu- , lation of sterling balances, irrespective of market values or cost of production, which means that the fruit really belongs to the foreign Government and not the actual grower." China's Need of Belief. An appeal for help is containe'd in a letter to Mrs T. H. Lowry, president of the New Zealand Red Cross Society from Miss Tsi-Dsi Irene Ho, |deputychairwoman of the Hong Kong branch of the National "Women 's Relief Asso'ciation. "We have been driven to put up a Tesistance against our aggressors who have launched a terriblo war against us — undeclared, it is true, — but rivalling all others wars in brutality and inhumanity," says the letter. "Our national honour demands that we defend ourselves, even if it cost the lives and suffering of many of our so.ldiera and airmen. We are trying to look after our wounded, but as our means are naturally limited, we appeal to you in the name of humanity tv? come to our assistance." Seismlc Dlsturbance. The seismic disturbance felt in Hastings yesterday afternoon was experlenced in all parts of Hawke's Bay from Dannevirke to Wairoa and Taupo. No real damage has been done, though it is reported that a chimney was "cracked at Porangahau while one or two minor craeks appeared to have been opened up in the outside classroom at the Hastings West Sehool, but there was not the slightest cause for alarm. Following the shake yesterday it was noticed that a tile on the ridge of the main building at the Hastings High School had broken and it was assumed at the time to have been done by the earthquake. An examination this .morning revealed, however, that the damage was done some time ago, and thai a blackbird had made its nest in the opening. Mr H. de Denne, Government seismograph recorder at Hastings, reported this morning that the reading was between five and six dogrees of intensity on the Rossi Ferrl scale and he was of the opinion that the disturbance was well out to sea, about 100 miles from Hastings.

Application of Emergency Brake. The application of the emergency brake brought the New Plymouth ex> press to a Btandstill one day last week as the train was approaching a station near Hawera. An examination by tbe guard showed that a passenger, when lifting his luggage from the rack, had knocked the handle down. A humble apology was offered by the passenger and the incident was closed. Kauri Gum Eevival. There has been a decided revival in the kauri gum industry, and large quantities are being shipped from the Far North. New washing plants have been installed, and one acre in the area at Te Hapu, which was considered to have been worked out, yielded £100{V worth of gum chips, and it is stated that there are liundreds of acres of equal value in the district. Factor for Feace. "Everywhere in the United States there is a genuine desire to foster friendship with Great Britain and the Dominions, and this feeling is growing very rapidly, ' ' said Mr J. Seabrook, of Auckland, on his return from a visit to the United States. "The people oi America, p.articularly the thinldng people, realise that one of the greatest factors for the preservation of peace is a link between the two great Englishspeaking nations." Jitmp in Freight Kates. The effect on the lumber industry of the generahincrease in shipping freight rates were referred to by two prominent British Columbia timber exporters, Mr J. H. McDonald and Mr A. R. MacFarlane, who were through passengers to Sydney by the Aorangi. 3t was stated that an increase of 100 por cent. had been made in the past year in timber rates from . Canada to Australia and New Z ealand. As the rate to New Zealand in the past had been higher than that to Australia the increase was felt to a greater extent in trade to the Dominion. Live Sto.ck Diseases. The need for continued research iu animal diseases is mentioned by Mr W. C. Barry, director of the live stoelc division of the Department of Agriculture in his annual report. He says the satisfactory position so far as animal diseases are concerned is being maintained and the Dominion is still free from the more serious tfoubles. However, it is recognised that thq present ailments of stock, particularly those of dairy cattle, call for still more intensive investigation and the intention ia to increase the staff of veterinary tcsearch officers as soon as^suitable men can be secured. Deilnquent Children. "It is no use putting all responsibilityb for errant children on the State; it is far better to compel parents to look after their own children,'1 stated Mr Wyvern Wilson, S.M., in prcsiding for the last time before his retirement at the Children 's Court at Auckland. Mr Wilson considered that the Child Welfare Act should be amended to provide for greater parental control. "It has been very close to my heart, "because I know from my own experience in other courts how many criminal careers have started in childhood,", said Mr Wilson. "It is the effect of a bad home influence, and sometimes of bad hereditary tendencies. This is the place where these inliuences may be guided, and the tendency cheeked, and in that' way the : Children 's Court is a Oourt of the ufcmost importance." '