The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. FRIDAY, JULY 11, 1930, TRAFFIC DANGERS.

Hokitika Guardian, 11 July 1930, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. FRIDAY, JULY 11, 1930, TRAFFIC DANGERS.

Tub eonferen-e called last month by -dr Veiteh, the Minister of Transport to consider ways and means of reducing the toll of motor accidents in the Dominion has 'produced recommendations, says the Otago Times, which are presumably the best which the representatives of the various interests participating have been able to evolve, rather colourless though they may well appear in view of the necessity of bringing about some elective remedy for the present serious state of affairs. But that only illustrates, perhaps, the difficulty of the problem which has to be dealt with. In opening the conference Mr’’-Veit eh spoke of the “appalling situation,” involving the loss of about one ,life per , day, which ended for consideration, Why an “appalling situation” in the matter of road accidents was ever permitted to develop is a question that might well be asked, and tliore is no answer that would acquit tne community itsieff of igenon.l; responsibility. Ad communities seem to have too passively acquiesced in the gradual introduction of a now menace to life and limb, which might be likened to a Frankst-ein monster out of control; at best there is a comparatively feeble compromise with facts which furnish the statistician with a new field of inquiry, It is not easy to be sanguine nbout the effect of the recommendations of the recent conference, if adopted in reducing the tod of the motor, but it is a case of Imping for the best. It is something, at all events, that at last official notice should have been taken in this manner of ad the killing and maiming that are going on upon the roads of the country and consultation instituted with the object of seeing what can be done to keep the scandal in check. Many considerations prompt the view that effective counter-notion will never be .taken until public opinion is sufficiently aroused to demand it, Tim conference has Tecom month id some in pease in the severity of penalties applicable to motorists who drive in a manner dangerous to the public, and there is certainly room for that. The impression must frequently be created that the penalties that are imposed are often

far from being a sufficiently strong deterrent to those who cannot be trusted to use the roads with due regard to the safety of others. The recommendation that there should he a. national and uniform system of traffic law enforcement seems to have much to commend it. The conference was not •satisfied with the present system under which some three hundred local authorities in the Dominion are responsible for enforcement in their own areas, and if uniformity in the traffic law and its enforcement be feasible, it would no doubt oe attended with distinct advantages. Probably there will Do argument over the recommendation by the conference that 'an absolute speed limit of 45 miles an hour should he fixed for rural localities, and one oi ’25 miles an hour for urban localities. The contention will no doubt be heard that it is strange that such restrictions should be necessary in New Zealand when there has been abolition of the speed limit in a country like England, With its far greater volume of traffic. There can he no suggestion of hardship to anybody in the imposition of speed limits such as the recent conference at )Vellington has recommended. In the interests of safety they must indeed appear very desirable. The question that does seem to

emerge is that of how enforcement can be secured. The principal reason for the inclusion of prm'isn ,n for the abolition of the speed limit for private motor cars in the road traffic measure recently introduced by the Home Government was apparently that the speed limit was not being observed.

An international question of some interest to Australia and New Zealand has been raised by the introduction of a. motion in the United States Senate to authorise the Secretary of State to claim the Antarctic territories discovered by. Rear-Admiral Byrd and other American explorers. At the Imperial Conference of 1926 extensive ’•Antarctic areas were defined as British by right of discovery and a formal proclamation of the title, was subsequently issued by the Imperial Government. In.luded in this territory is the region known as Wilkes Land, claimed to

have been discovered by an American naval officer in the nineteenth century. In' 1924, the then United States Secretary of State announced that “in the absence of any Act of Congress assertive, in. a domestic sense, of dominion over Wilkes Land, this department would be reluctant to declare that the United States possessed a right of sovereignty over that territory.” When the Byrd Expedition was organised, the British Foreign Office reminded the United States Government of the pro'lamation of 1926 and received a reply asking that the matter be left open for further discussion. Tile imoending discussion in the American Senate may result in a . reversal of the Hughes formula of 1924 _in respect to Wilkes Land. There is', however, considerable doubt whether Wilkes actually discovered land. Sir Douglas Mawson declares that Wilkes Land consists of ice . trad water. Even so, water, in the whaling season, has a commercial value, and in these latitudes, is now too precious to be parted with lightly, considers an exchange.

Reef ton Poultry Club’s entries close on Saturday, July 12th, The Club is receiving a groat number of entries. Your support is invited,—Advt,

jNomi'nathi.is fortfthe West-'Coast Boing Championships at Greymouth on August 2nd. close with Mr F. W, Bail lie on Saturday, July 20th. i

There was a change in the weather yesterday evening, clouds bnnking up, and during the night there were light showers, There was no frost and the atmosphere was much warmer during the night and this morning. As the ciay wore on further rain fell and the enditions were cold and bleak,

Sea bathing at night is enjoyable enough in the months of January and February, but not in July, and the man who fell into the harbour wricn attempting to step from a ferry steamer to the Devonport wharf half-an-hour after midnight on Saturday must have found the water more cold, than cooling, Hef was pulled out l beu»r« the chill of the water got into his bones, and he took his ducking philosophically,

During the course: of the hearing of a maintenance application at the New Plymouth Court, in which the complainant’s position was that she had divorced her husband on the ground of desertion, counsel for the husband’s father (who was tlm defendant in the maintenance proceedings) referred to complainant’s spending of money on the divorce petition as an unnecessary waste of money on what was really a “pure luxury,”

Should a motorist swerve, or pull up to avoid a dog? This matter has been argued times without number by ( motorists, because dogs are one of the common obstructions. Most motorists t of experience take the negative view 1 : (states the ‘‘Dominion”). Two more ' were added to those who uphold that , side of the argument on Saturday af- ] ternoon, through a collision that cans- ,1 ed a, good deal of damage to a motor- ; car and a motor-truck. The ear was i going through Lowry IJny (towards the ( ] Hutt) closely followed by a motor- i truck. Suddenly a dog took possess- ] ion of the track; the car pulled up 1 suddenly, and the truck in swerving to i avoid the car, struck the hack of the < car violently, and skidded across the : road. An axle of the truck was bent, j j the mudguards broken, and the wind- j i screen smashed, while the body of the car was crushed in. Still, the dog was uninjured.

Book July 30th for the Hockey Club Ball.—Advt.

The ordinary Presbyterian Church .service will be held at Kokatahi oil Sunday.

Turners notify special values in fruit, which should prove of interest to housewives.

S. A. Clarke, painter and paperhanger, Upper Sewell St., Hokitika. ■All work guaranteed. Town or country.—Advt.

Rev. W. Bell, Cobden, has accepted St. Stephen’s parish Iteefton for a period and will commence his duties shortly.

Men ! If you want reliable working sox, it will pay you to visit our store. All-wool sox Is 3d to 3s 6d pair. \V. H. Stopforth’s.—Advt. t

In this issue the Railway Department advertises particulars of 'altera?' tions to it® train services which operate on and after 13th. July.

A colossal cabbage exhibited at the Te Kuiti District Winter Show by Mr A. P. Moerua, turned the scale at 781 b.

(sst. 81b.)

The order of Masses and Devotions in St, Mary’s Parish on Sunday, July? 13th. will be as follows; Kokatahi 10 a.m., Kanieri 8.30 a.m., Hokitika 8 a.m., 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Unusually large hauls of fish have been caught this week over the Grey? mouth bar. One of the trawling boats ,'haß lavorngjed catches of over a ton a day since the beginning of the week.

i Petone working flannels, absolutely the best on the market : in shades of: brown, Shetland, Orkney, navy and i grey. Prices from 6s lid to 12s 6d at W. H. Stopforth’s.—Advt. | The following will represent the Old ' Girls’ Basket Ball Club v. Convent at Cass Square on Saturday at 2.30 p.m. Misses M. Rowe, M. and N. Thompson, M. Gooch, E. Paterson, F. and , L. Evans, R. Greaney and H. Perry.

On Sunday next Rev. G. Knowles Smith will conduct services at Ross Methodist Church at 11 a.m., Wuitahai Hall at 2.30 p.m., and in the evening at 7 p.m. in St. Paul’s, Hokitika, will make reference to the passing of the two New Zealand Statesmen.

, Only twelve days more to the “Black Hand Society’s” Public Ball and then “What ho for a good time.” Do you remember the Ball last year? Well you will never forget (one. and better than ever. Girls, get your pretties ready. Boys, attend to those creases, you’ll- need to look your best,: The Highmaster promises; you all .a. gay night. Cheerio till the 23rd.

A remarkable instance of the growth of a savings bank aoount is reported from Puriri Avenue, Green Lane. Mr' C Wafrem, who is now well on in life, left Hastings, Hawke’s Bay, 47 years ago, and had then Is 4d tp his .credit in the local branch of Hie Post Office Savings Bank, His bank book was lost, and after 47 years has been found, As a result, the depositor, on returning to Hastings, has been informed tha-t his bank balance now stands at £l4;

The'Committee of the Poultry Club . were busy yesterday preparing the Drill Hall for the annual show,- which opened to-day, The number of entries constitute a record, being about 60 in excess of last year. The exhibits include some interesting novelty classes suoh as Chinese, Polish, Seabright, etc. Pigeons are very well represented, 111 birds being the entry. Mr Bradford is again the judge and commenced his duties at 8. o’clock this morning:

The third test cricket match between England and Australia commences today at Leeds and the result of the first day’s play will be available tomorrow morning. Two tests have now been played and the honors are even. In both the former games the English captain won the toss and batted. Leeds wicket is stated to be one that wears, so the winning of the toss is of special value. The English team is acknowledged to be ft stronger side than that which played in the second test, while the illness of Fairfax will tend to weaken the Australian bowling. There will be wide interest in the progress of the present game, and the result of the play will be awaited eagerly by supporters, ' It is reliably reported at Palmerston North that a strike of gold has been made in the Tokomaru district. For some years it has been known that traces of gold have been found in the Tokomaru Stream, which, runs through a deep gorge in the Tararuas just north of the Mnngahao hydro-electric works. It has remained for Edward (Ralph Martin, a man with some geological knowledge, to go further with the matter. Having found quartz-bearing rock at the mouth of the gorge, he put a charge of gelignite into.it, and the result was better than he anticipated;' The owners of the property, Messrs J. R. Moody and Roy Kelly, gnve him permission to follow up his investigations and he he has now staked out a claim. A “Post” representative was unable to see the prospector himself, but Mr Kelly produced a sample of the' quartz, in which were traces of gold. Mr Kelly was imbued with Mr Martin’s optimism, pointing out that tests in Wellington had revealed a return of gold well above the recognised payable minimum. It was confidently expected that when the"! ode was opened up it would prove better still.