The Guardian AND EVENING STAR, With which is incorporated “The West Coast Times.” SATURDAY, JULY 30th., 1921. THE WEEK.

Hokitika Guardian, 30 July 1921, Page 2

The Guardian AND EVENING STAR, With which is incorporated “The West Coast Times.” SATURDAY, JULY 30th., 1921. THE WEEK.

An important announcement lias been made by the Hon. J. G. Coates, Minister of Public Works on the i|iie— Lion of arterial road communications. In the course of bis statement lie said the development of motor Ira Hie in recent years lias greatly altered conditions of travel and created the necessity of improvement of our main highways. Formerly rapid traffic by land whether of passengers or goods, > affected solely by means of railway facilities and the objective in road construction and maintenance was to provdo ways sufficient for horse-drawn wheeled traffic feeding the railways

where railways existed, and providing means of conveyance within and Ittween localities. It has now become clear in all parts of the world v.iii -li are closely inhabited, that to a huge extent the rapid traffic of the future will be conducted by motors equipped with rublxT tyres, requiring, therefore. much higher class construction and more extensive maintenance of the road surface. The original policy of constructing arterial railways must, therefore, now Ije supplemented by tV construction and maintenance to a higher degree of perfection of arterial highways. Railways were, and with few exceptions still arc, constructed

and maintained wholly out of Dominion funds without subvention from local finance. The present exceptions to that rule are that local bodies now are permitted to construct and maintain out of local (inance light, railways to feed and supplement the main arterial railways. The policy to he regarded in the future and be adopted as far as is possible for the present with respect to roads, should, be upon the same general linos as the policy of roads and railways in the past.

Main arterial roads should b ( , constructed. reconstructed and maintained by the Dominion as a whole. while roads of purely local interest or county interest must lie constructed and maintained wholly by local body fin-

' since, with such assistance from the Go--1 vornment in the way of grants for consti nction and subsidies for mctn'lling sis the financial circumstances of the Dominion will permit.

Thu principal details of the proposal which the M(lister will embody in a Bill before Parliament have been canvassed and discussed ill motoring circles for many months past. Mr Conte* must he given credit not only for initiating a very desirable principle in the matter of mail communications and on which may be expected u> become of increasing benefit as the years go by but for having consulted the opinions of those most, vitally concerned before giving his proposals their final shape. The suggested first “arterial roads” so far as this Island is concerned, at anv rate, are obviously the most

important, while the vesting of control in a non-political non-local board is a -dep which should commend itself to everyone who has studied the reverse metmnl, as illustrated in the alloea-

tioit of other Public Works expenditure. We are, comments the Lyttelton '‘Times” particularly pleased that the Minister has rejected ti.. proposal to revive th ( . toll-gate system. A« he says, that system is ‘•inconvenient, obsolete and often unfair in its incidence,” the success of the Taranaki experiment notwithstanding. The needs of the future require free roans and good roads. The use of motors for goods carriage in New Zealand. though only in its infancy at j resent, is a very healthy infant, and growing every day. With the main roads of communication removed from the hands of a multiplicity of local authorities, and the way open for an extension of the principle that the highways are a national and not a parochial concern, New Zealand will have made good preparation for the new era of motor transport which experts in these inahkys sav is shortly to arrive. Footii.w.i, lias been a general topic during the week. The Springboks have come to the Coast and conquered continuing their unbeaten tour of New Zealand. The manner in winch they defeated the combined Coast team left no doubt as to tlieir superiority. Of course there has been plenty of criticism after the games, but it resolves back to the old well-known axioms us

to the course of play. The Coast team [gathered from Butler and West Coast j showed no combination whatever. ! There were occasional Hashes of indij vill ii:i 1 play, but as a whole the unit 'was a most divided one, while nearly jail the players failed to tackle in a manner that the play demanded. Though the Springboks had the ball in play as they willed in the first spell it was very noticeable that they did not put the finishing touches to their work and their passing rushes were stopped mostly hy their own failure to cut in ami go straight up the field with the result that the wing three quarters were continually being jammed oil the line. The forwards wen* a burly lot. and in the scrum and line out shone to great advantage, but the Coast forwards especially in the first half had a great advantage in tile loose rushes which at times gained much ground. Tim visitors are a good combination but it will he interesting to watch the result of the play when they meet teams that will lie able to test their capacity for defence thoroughly.

In connection with the play of the Springboks, the following criticism of tlier play in the Wellington match will bo of interest, a writer stating: “After Saturday’s exhibition, it will be conceded that tho visitors’ hacks are not a good scoring combination, but excel in defence and spoiling tactics. They assist each other in defence in a manner that is meritorious. There is a soldivrity that is hard to break down, but their attack is patchy, and not well sustained.. They are not clever,

from a football point of view, but play the game by “rule of thumb” exceedingly well. The only instance of real brain work that was displayed by tbo

Tin* Railway Department notify holiday excursion tickets in connection with 1 the Grand National races at Christ- } church.

visitors hacks throughout the match was when Alichau gave the “dummy and outwitted Roberts.” Similarly a correspondent of the. Lyttelton Times telegraphed from Greymouth on A\ednesdav evening to the following effect. ‘•T-ikiim the play all through, and re.Jrdingit as a fair sample of the S iiiilifv the fact is very XfX namely, condition and team work. They are not really a fast team, but their solidity in the forvjgLl ranks enables the pack to indulge in occasional periods of what may he termed “holding work,” preparatory to a fresh link between forwards and backs. The forwards play to the backs

Tenders are invited in this issue for 11 )(> erection of the Little Wanganui r j ver ro;u l bridge. Tenders close on 9,3 th August. ~• ii„i The conference oi lo*. bod c Red for yesterday afternoon at lie County Cl.nmbors in connection with the p.oposed Grey Harbour rating area was *»• T uesd "- V "L wri "* to tha sn.all attanda.K, ymeat. Tlle funeral of the late Mr Robert ],) oug ] ati of Woodstock took place yester(j°y afternoon and" was followed to t] , e l as f resting place by a large munj )e| . 0 f friends The Rev P. B. Eraser y| _v., conducted the service at the graveside.,

nnd the backs are always in position, with the result that the ball is thrown about with a freedom that bespeaks perfect confidence In each other to be ot the appointed spot when called upon. The forwards cannot be regarded as first class when judged from the highest standard of New Zealand form; but they are solid, reliable, resourceful and dependable. They will keep up their end of the contract, leaving the scoring tel the able and skilful men behind them. The team plays on a system. There is no such thing as one man for himself. Each player lias an object; the ultimate success of the whole. Tt is this thorough understanding, the essence of ]>erfect team work, that sjiells success for the visitors.” Intkrkst in the tour of the Australian cricketers during the week mainly centred on the fourth test match, played

at Manchester. Unfortunately tin* weather took a hand and only allowed play on two days, a draw resulting, that was considerably in England's favor. The match was noticeable specially for an incident in connection with the declaration by the English captain. Tim rules regarding declarations 53. The side which hats first and leads by 150 runs in a three days’ match or by 100 runs in a two-days’ match shall have the option of requiring the other side to follow their innings 54. _ The in-side may declare their innings at an end in a three-days’, match at any time on the second day; in a two-days’ match, the captain of the hatting side has power to declare his innings at a close at any time, but such declaration may not be made on the first day later than one hour* and forty minutes before the time agreed upon for drawing stumps; in a one-day match at any time. 55. (passed in 1914) —When there is no play on the first day of a three-day match laws 53 and 54 shall apply as if the match were a two-day match, and if in a three-day match there is no play on the first two days laws 53, 54, and 1 (one-day matones) shall apply as if

the match were a one-day match. Whore the rules of a two-days’ match apply, ari in the present case, the Eng-

lish captain was entitled to “declare”

not later than one hour and forty minutes before the time of drafting

stumps. Apparently Tennyson delay-

ed too long before declaring, and Arm. strong’s objection was upheld.

The death took place at the Grey River Hospital yesterday of Mrs Eliza Jane Barnes, eldest daughter of Airs Gordan (of Camerons) and the late Mr J. Butcher (of Rutherglen). The deceased, who leaves no family, was 06 years of age, and had been in ill-health for some years. She was born in Nelson. There has been a considerable division of opinion among the Kiwi and Diggers teams over the selection of the ieferoe for to-day’s game, objection being made by the Diggers to the selecticni made. Tlie SnLUnion met last evening and decided not to alter the selection made and there was some talk of the Diggers forfeiting the game. However better counsel prevailed and it was decided hv mutual consent to ask Air D. R. Dowell to referee and this'course was approved.

The inangiilma Times referring to last Wednesday’s announced railway excursion fares says--“ The advertised excursion fares proved to he a reduction of one shilling only on the ordinary return fare and we think that it would he more satisfactory to excursionists if the fares wore advertised instead of leaving the increased price to he found out on arrival at the Railway Station.” Reefton were hotter off than Hokitika for the fare charged, hxyursion fares from Hokitika were. first class 8/-.* tin 1 usual charge and second class 5/6, a notably saving of two pence on the ordinary fare. 7 The special attraction for next Wednesday evening is the grand plain and fancy dress ball in the Drill Shed in aid of Westland Hospital. The ladies committee have been busy completing arrangements and their efforts should trive every satisfaction. We hear that there are going to he a very large number of fancy costumes and they will be of dainty and special design so that the floor should have a most gay and attractive appearance. On the following evening a juvenile fancy dress dance will also he held. I ho music fo: the hall is in capuhle hands and everything points to a very distinct success

Ukcknt excavations at Pompeii give a new and different idea of the anci<

Further particulars show that a disastrous fire occurred at Baxter’s Siding . Otira line) yesterday morning between midnight and one o’clock, when Messrs Baxter Bros’ large? sawtnili was completely destroyed by fire. The work of cleaning out the tubes was in progress on Thursday and judging froiii the position where the fire started, it is thought that some embers left lying about were responsible. When the outbreak was discovered, tin- flames had a good hold and nothing c .•'•il l be done to save the mill. The total o:: cut of the damage is not yet known, but includes t'c buildings and running gear. The loss is partly covered by insurance.

city and its life, according to Mr Edwnrd Robinson, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, who has recently returned from a. visit there. Previous excavations were in the western part) of the city where was tho forum, the centre, of public life. The new investigations are along the Strada dell’ Abbondanza, which ran from the forum, to the extreme, southamphitheatre was situated. This work was begun by Professor Spinazzola, Director of the Museum in Naples, and has been carried on more carefully and more scientifically than previously. Professor Spinazzola has proved that the houses were two-storey structures, wh 1 it was previously supposed that Pompeii was a one-storey town, and that the occasional two-storev buildings shown in the old excavations were exceptions. He has also shown that there were little balconies overhanging the street, little loggias opening on to the streets, as seen in many Italian, towns of to-day. The new discoveries show that the shops were usually closed on the street fronts by large wooden shutters made of .slats, which opened and closed like modern blinds. When the shutters were closed they were fastened on the inside with a. long bar. In most of the buildings only the front part has been excavated—the shops and the entrance leading into the residences. In many of the shops they found the things that had bden on sale. The aim has been to restore the shops and dwellings as they were before the eruption. In the interior of many of tho houses Professor Spinazzola has ’discovered, in addition to the central court with the peristyle, a little garden,” says Mr Robinson. “Some of these are hardly larger than the top of a good sized table. From the flower designs in tlie frescoes on the walls he has learned the varieties of tho flowers tho inhabitants of Pompeit knew, and has replanted the gardens with the flowers that decorated the beds nearly 2000 years ago. The resurrected Pompeii before was dead. Professor Spinazzola is making it a living thing.”

Children’s tweed coats and warm jerseys are now being cleared at the ridiculous price of 10s each. Ladies’ mackintoshes 12s (id and 15s each. For one week only at Schroder and C’o’s, where you can get model hats at less tban half price. —Advt. Commercial travellers of cheerful voice and sunny countenance are much in evidence throughout New Zealand now, thanks to “Keep Smiling” Floor Polish.—Wm Perry and Co., wholesale agents for K.S. Floor Polish. North British Rubber Hot Water Bags, with the “Unique” never-leak stopper, have the North British Rubber Co’s trade mark stamped on the neck tlie emblem of quality. You’ll derive the greatest benefit from taking SIiAItLAND’S REEF, IRON AND WINE. If you are rundown ’twill make you fit; if you are well Twill keep you fit. For Children’s Hacking Cough, ’\.,od ’ ('/cat Peppermint Cure.

Schroder and Co. are now holding a one week clearing sale of all their millinery, coats and scarves. These goods are now marked at less than cost price to ensure an effective clearance for cash only. Come early so as to get the pick of them.—-Advt.