NEWS AND NOTES.

Hokitika Guardian, 29 December 1923, Page 1

NEWS AND NOTES.

■— That New Zealand trains ou many routes should he provided with obsers cation cars is the opinion of Mr IT. ,T. jlanson, New Zealand Trade Commissioner from Victoria, which lie ex. pressed to a Christchurch “Sun” representative. Mr .Malison said that in \ ictoria such a ear was provided at the rear of a train. It was glass enclosed, so that- passengers had a complete view of the scenery, As passengers travelled the whole way in the observation ear, and paid for the privilege, it could not be considered as an extra car on the train. This information was imparted when travelling oil the .Midland line amid magnificent scenery. Mr Munson pointed out that passengers missed a good portion oi the view when in the usual type of carriage, and the observation ear would add greatly to the attraction of travel. It would add much to the popularity of the Midland route. Wonder) id scenery was also present in the Otago purl ion of the line to Dunedin, but ibis, under the present system of navel, was not fully appreciated.

"I suppose •damn’ has ceased to lie a swear word now?” said the magistrate at Wanganui the other day. .Mr t elicit : “Yes : it is tt classic word now, and often used in the pulpits.” Tin. Magistrate: “It always was there, hut used with special license.” Mr Cohen went on to say that farcical comedy nowadays would be considered very tame without a few damns, fie referred to the lirst time the word was used on the stage in England, and (lie, audience was awfully disgusted, and the play had to he withdrawn.

A new cement of French origin lias been lately discovered which reaches nearly to its full strength in twontybnir hours: and not only docs it possess this advantage, hut it is much stronger than Portland cement. Tests io show the strength of cements are made upon small blocks which measure exactly one inch square in cross section. These blocks are pulled apart to give the tensile strength. Larger blocks are sometimes squeezed until they crumble to iind nut what is the i power of resistance to crushing. Ae--1 orbing to a paper read before the !n----slilutinn of Engineering Inspection by Mr Herbert J. Davoy, .M.8.E., who lias made tests on the new cement, it is eanable of withstanding a pull of more than KOOlh per square inch when only one day old, the strength increasing lo over 1,00011) in seven days. Some blocks of Port land cement tested by Mr Davoy showed an average strength of only 01 lb per square inch in one day. In seven days a good English cement might have a tensile strength of 7bolb per square inch. Mortar made from the new cement broke under pulling tests at an average of of.'lll) after one day’s setting, and fiitllb in seven days. Blocks of Portland cement one day old failed with a pull of “ill). A crushing test on concrete made up from the now cement showed a resistance of close on s .t)tl(llb per square inch after twenty six hours, while another lilock failed; at o,loolb after ninety daw. A crush-'

ing .strength ol’ o,0tlt)!b per square inch •"Her ninety days is an exceptional!’! good result, Iruni Portland eemeiii cunorele. Tli.' chief constituents of the now cement, to which ilio name f’mont Koiulu line been .given, ate .lay. lime, iiml silica, tlie.se being present mi tin limestone and bauxite found in a ■ '-l Lain district in Pratin'. •'There is more real liberty to the square yard under tin* Ciiiott .Tack than there is to the square mile tinder the Stars and (stripes," exclaimed an American Ira roller who had formerly lived in Dunedin. Ho was impressed with the up-to-date methods and enterprise ol the citizens of the United Stales, and said that from them mum eon Id advaiitageciusly be learned, but in many oilier things England wits ahead of America, particularly in her standards of justice and of domes!ir felicity. "Taranaki Daily Notv®."' The Scotch fisher girls at Yarmouth arc an interesting feature of ihe Kast Coast ports all through the autumn. To see their nimble finders preparing ii-.li lor the hriiie is a revelation in human quickness, line snick of the sharp steel and the herring' is opened, cleaned, and passed on to the barrel in less time than it would take an ordinal'.- individual to pick up a fish front ll:e basket'. On a bright. morning il I , a pleasant scene and a not unpleasant occupation: hut early and late com.' raw. cold days, and the work is almost cruel. The girls are at- the call of the tides. Whether the trawlers come in early iii the morning or later in the day; whether it he wet or fine, or fog obseuie the scene, they must he there to "gin'' and pack the catch with speed. With many of thorn this work is hereditary occupation. For generations certain families have "followed the boats." In the ofl season they are generally found in some coast village around the Moray l'irih. The real work begins at Stornoway in

April, when the licrriiißs first begin to coi no inheres. Tlioncc down to Peterhead. Fraserburgh. the Shields and Scarborough. and down Id Yarmouth and Lowestoft, where, ii ihe season holds {rood, they will he until tlr middle of November. —"Daily Chron-

I’arents frequently inrpiired for ad

vice concerning tlio future occupations of their girls, said the head mistress of the Auckland Girls' Grammar School in the course of her annual repair A great mam "iris turned te teaching as the most obvious career: hut it was not every girl who had either the iasle or the capacity for this Work. The addition of journalism to the university subjects offered a possible opening to a few. The head mistress also suggested that architecture, in some of its branches, might prove a possible and congenial profession for women. There was an in creasing demand (or teachers of pity sical culture, hut there was. unfortunately. no training school in New Zealand, and certificates weic not oh tninable. Miss Picketi declared that she would like to see some more definite recognition of t;is work in New Zealand.