LOCAL & GENERAL NEWS

Marlborough Express, Volume LX, Issue 226, 24 September 1926, Page 4

LOCAL & GENERAL NEWS

The men. employed at the site of the hydro-electric works at Benopai erijoyed a half-holiday yesterday in honor of the visit to the works oftheir Exeellencies. The Dunedin Hospital Board adopted. the reeomme.idation of the committee in regard to filling the position of medical superintendent, rncated by Dr Falconer, that the salary be £1000, with £100 house allow ance. Oharged at Wellington with having stolon sums totalling £251 9s 8d from Kirkcaldie and Stains, a female clerk, aged 26, wa.s remanded till Wednesday. Chief Detective Ward said that £130 had been restored. Tlie liamo of the acoused was suppressed in the meanwhile. Baal was allowed at £100. During th© luncheon at the Waihopai electric power works yesterday, His Excellehoy the GovernorGeneral was informed by Mr R. F. Goulter, ihe chairman of the Power Board. that about 95 per oent. of the materials used in. connection with the scherne were of liritisk manufacture, the Power Board being determined, as far as possible, to trade within the Empiro. "How d'ye do mum. 1 am pleased to see you sd nice J.ooking." This was the greeting which Her Exeellency tlie Lady Alice Fergusson reoeived from oue of the old men at the Old People' s J lorne at Amersfoote. Her Exceliency was delighted and so was His Exceliency. "That,'' he remarked to Her Exceliency, "is tho best compliment von have had to-day." Exoollent progreas is being made with the ej'ection of th© steel towers which are to carry the ©lectrfc lines from the power station at Benopai to Blenheim. Already the towers have been completed as far as the Delta, and it is anticipated that within a few days the work of ereetion between Rcnwicktown and Springlands will be well in handi; At a bankruptey meeting yesterday, the Offieial Assignee intimated at the outset that any employee, clerk or aiccountant, represelrting -a ereditifr must bold a. proxy or he would not be eiu.it led to vote. It was a roquiremeiH that was not generally known, but should be uoted for the future. A manager of a business was not in the sanie catecategory, however. A pleasing incident occurred when the Harbor Board's launch Waitemata was returning from her trip to Tiritiri Islaiid (states our Auckland correspondent). When nearing Rangitoto beacon the launch siglited the Melanesian Mission steamer Soutbern Cfoss outward bound on a three months' crjiise. As the two vessels passed the Waitemata signalled "bon voyage." The missionaries on the deck of the steaimer acknowledged the good wishes with a waro of farewell. The visit to Renwicktown yesterday oi His Exoellency the GovemorGeneral and the Lady .vliee Fergusson marked the flrst oocasion for 66 years 'on which vice-royalty has visited the looality. The previous visit was made by Governor Gore-Browne in, 1860, when he was accommodated at Langleydale. Present at. yesterday 'sgathering at Renwick was MrS. Bary, Senr., the sole survivo r of the party wlio welcomed the Governor of 66 years ago. "My father-in-law, Lord Glasgow, used to say that a tour through Aew Zealand nearly killed him, tne people's kindness. and hospitality being ovoVwlrelmiiig,'' remarked His Exceliency the Governor-General in responding to oiie of the many welcomes tendered to him in Blenheim, "in the southern paris of New Zealand," added His Exceliency with a twinkle, "tHeir kindness manifested itself in Ihe sliapo of wlusky and bagpipes. I may say that I am glad that yours does not take that shape. ' ' — ;(La ughter ) . Seven laborers ernployecl by the. Vacuuin Oil Oompany were finedl at Wellington, to-day £1 each for working at their calling on Sunday. The defen.ee was that th© company was notified at short not ica of the arrival of ari oil-tanker. There was 110 time to applv for a, permit to work on Sunday. The work was necessary to enable the pipes to be laid aoross the road to the oil-tanks. Althoaigh the wTork was not work on a, ship nor, strietly speaking, a work of necessity, i't was pleaded that it was not, an' ordinary case of the violation of the Statute. Mf W. J. Girling, M.P., has hcen advised that two members oi: the Crown will be visiting Blenheim on Tuesday next. The Hon. R. A. Wright, Minister for Education, nrrives from Wellington on. Tuesday morning and will be met at Picton by Mr Girling and Mr D. McGailum of the Education Board. Tbe MinistCjf's visit being to do with the Picton school, the Marlborough College and Junior High School and ,the rew infant school at Blenheim. In the evening the Hon. (I. .1. Anderson, •Minister for Marino, arrives by ear from Christchurch. The IMinisters will pass horej" Mr Wright going on to Christchurch, while Mr Anderson makes his way to Wellington. There was a rather amusing 06.11tretcmps at St. Patrick's Hall yesterday, where tho Conveht schools children were assembfed to welcdme their Exeellencies. Mr \Y . J. Girling, M.P., arrived just ahead of tlie Viee-Regnl party, and as he entered Ihe hall was greeted with the singing of "God bave the King." "Really, you flatter ms," remarked Mr Girling, blushingly, but the Very Rcv. Dean. Holley observed that after ali ooming events east their shado'ws bei'ore ! His Exceliency, w ho was not l'ar away, was evidehtly well aware of what had happened, for he remrfrked a little later that he had mueh enjoyed the ehiklren's singing, even if Mr Girling had tried to steai "God Save the King" from him.— (La ughter). The Lands and Survey Department is fenc-ing an liistorical spot marked by a stone in, Hongi's Track, between Rotoiti and Rotoehu, says the Rotorua Chronicle. The stone is concerned with Hongi's raid, for at this spot he captured an Arawa cliief named Kanewa and decapitated him. He hook the head with him on his trip to Mokoia, where a large number of the Ara was were massacred. The head of ihe chief Kanewa was recognised by the people of Mokoia. Realising from the J remarks which he overhearrl that Kanewa liad been an important chief, he sent men back, with a siriister motive, no doubt, to recover the body. However, a fellow chief, Te Manu, who while in hkling, witnessed tlie execntion, took cliarge of the body aiicl left promptly for Maketu, where the remains were i-nteired. The fence is to:be erected to protect tlie stone, which has already been .somewhat tle,faced through carelessness.

"II seetns a pity to me that we cannot all see tooth to tooth,' was the novel variation of Ihe old saying perpetrated b.y a member at a meeting of the Hawke's Bay Harbor Board. A working week of forty liours with no work 011 Saturdays was aj.piied for by tlie Dominion motor mechanics bsfdre the Cbnciliation Cbuncil at Ohristchurch. The minimum rato of wages asked for mechanics was £6' 10s a wreek and assistants £5. Every law-abiding motorist is justifiocl in taking action against a fel-lowr-motorist wlio commits a .serious breach of tlie bv-laws, , said M;r Macintosh, ohief traffic inspeotor of Christchurch. Action against offenders was not confined to th© inspeetors and the poliee, and he oonsidered such evidence in a, proseciition would carry equal weight with that tendered by tlie regular officials. In lact, inspectors and the polioe frequently took action on outside inforrnation . Not the least of tlie many duties of tlie poliee is in looking after stray bicycles (reports the*' Lyttelton Times). So far this year about 860 machines have been handed in or recovered by the poliee. At the present time there are about 100 cyoles of various rhakes awaiting ownere. They are all carefully checked and packed away in a special room. Periodically the unclaimed machines are sold, but not until they have heen in seclusion for about two years. The starcli ed collars and cuffs of uniforans of the sisters anxl niurses of the Auckland Hospital are to become a thing of the past. As a rebulit of a decision made by the Board on Tuesday the sisters a.n,d nnrses will in future wear a soft collar attached ito ,th.e uniforni and turned-back cuffs on short sleeves. "What will the nur.ses say about it?" asked a member of the board when. the re e 0 mjnrendati on Was made by Ihe medical superintendent, Dr Maguire. "They will welcome it, " replied Mrs Kidd, the only lady on the board. "They have been wanting a cbonge for years1. " .\n endeavor is being made by the militairy authorities to infuse new and younger blood into the Permap©nt btaff. To this end, applicatioiis W'ere invited recently for nine vacancies on Ihe instructional staff, and fhere were some forty aspirants for the positions. These have been reduced . to sixteen, and the selected men are noiv under a cour.se oi "bullring" instruction at Trentham Camp with, a view to the best being picked out for duty. Many of the Territorial instructors have been a, long tinxe in the service, and advancing years are telling upon their stamina and depriving them of that "pep" which anyone who wrns with the Expeditionary Forpes in che Great War associates with the offico of army instructor. Headquarters is airning at tho selection of young men oi about twenty-five years of age, wlio are keeu 011 their work, and have the ne'cessary alertness to enable them to q-ualify as good instructors. A request to Freemasons to rnaintain the traditions of their order was made by the Governor-General,. Sir Charles Fhrgusson, grand master for New Zealand, when speaking at the laying of the foundation-stone of a new lodge at Kilbirnie on Saturday. "Let nr>e remind you that a temple, however magnificent, is not in itselr a sign of genuine Masonry," he said. "It is merely the covering which enshrines Masonry. Our most splendid ceremonies are of no value exoept inasnmeh as they lead us to practise the principles whicli they ineulcate, and the most fitting jewels and furuiture of this lodge are the active principles of virtue, morality, and brotlierly love. By this professiion of Freemasonry you are ehallenging the rijgard of your fellowmen, and you must he prepared for an even closer serutmy tlian in the past. "I beg you to look upon this stone as the altar upon which you renew your pledges, and I ask that the brethiwi practise clnarity, not only in the material form, which gives assistfinoe to the needy, but also in the greater form, which thinketh n,o evil and thinketh no ill." A fire which totally destroyed a dw efli n.g in Upper Hutt 011 Saturday last was duly reported to tlie Upper Hutt Borough Council. The fire, it was stated, broke out m the front bedro'om, and was thought to have origiiiated through the fusing of electric wires. Tlie Mayor (Mr A. J. McCurdy) said that anyone who thought wires oould fuse when protected by galvanised tubing and serewed 'steel piping "didn't know wliat they were talking about." Gouneillor W. Greig: "All the same your. Worship, nearly every fire in the district is being put down to the same cau.se. The public are getting a little uneasy." Mr McCurdy stated that tlie' pipes up in the roof wero examined by inspectors, and if an nperture were cut it oould not be closed until an inspector had heen through. The inspectors were very coniscientious. A11 inquiry had been held into tlie nre, but ncither a representative of the fire brigade nor tlie Hutt Valley Power Board had been asked to' attend, and he thought it rather a lax way to carry out an inquiry. Oouncillor Greig saul that "a. shocking stfeani of water that wouldn't drown a spider" had very mueh handicapped tlie fireroen, and ho gave them eredit for saving the next house. The fire brigade eaptain's report having been reoiived, it was decided to write to the Hutt Valley Power Board asking for someone to be sent to investignte, and to report upon matters in connection with the fire. The fact that one ship which went away from New Zealand laden with frozen meat was never heard of a.gain was recalled at a social gathering at Islington last week, in honor of Mr James Leslie, for 32 years works manager for the New Zealand Refrigerating Oompany. In traeing the early history of the industry at Islington, the chairman, Mr Morgan Evans, .said that in the late eighties the Provision and Produce1 Oompany embarked in the ireezing business and engaged three ships, the Edwin Fox. which was the freezer, and the Marlborough and Opawa, which Were to carry the produce. Killing commexrced at Islington at the rate of 300 a day. and nothing but the primest Oanterhury was iselected. It took nearly six months to fill the boats at Lyttelton. The Opawa eventually arrived at London, but the M aribo rough was never lieard of aigain. Mr Evans said that evidently tlie Opawa' s shipment turned out satisfactorily, for a new company was floatqd later witli the idea of increasing tlie capacity of the works. Tlie Edwin Fox has for many years been used as a coal hulk at the Picton freezing works.