NEWS AND NOTES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3691, 15 September 1927, Page 1

NEWS AND NOTES.

Last year nearly one person in .'every 10,000 living in New Zealand died of cancer. Deaths from cancer totalled 1341 in 1926, an increase of over 100 compared with 1925.

The strains of music coming from a car being driven through the business portion of Hawera attracted attention. A wireless set was installed in the car, which belonged to a local electrical engineei’. A woman who was granted maintenance and separation orders at Christchurch told the Court that she sat up sewing until midnight, working 17 hours a day, while her husband went to bed at 7 o’clock.

During the year ended 31st March, 1927, there were 40 industrial disturbances in the Dominion, and according to the annual report of the Department of Labour, 27 of them could be classed as unimportant or trivial. The disturbances were confined to coal-miners, \freezing works employees, and waterside workers, and in only one instance did the dispute relate to main question's such as the wages of the workers in the industry generally. •

Each year the influenza scourge seems to present some variation of the older forms of the disease. The latest type, which is fairly prevalent just now is one that affects the glands of the neck, and in certain cases is responsible for swellings in the head. Sometimes the trouble becomes localised in the ear, even necessitating surgical attention; and in all instances the symptoms are of a very painful nature. Apparently, the same disease is associated with a form of . neuritis, in the upper part of the body, which is common at present.

In the course of the excavation work for a carrying company’s new ♦building at Wellington workmen last week unearthed a boat, about 35 feet long and 15 feet beam. It is built of heart kauri, and although it has been buried for about 70 years, it is little the worse for wear. Right alongside the boat is the wooden retaining wall which was used for the first reclamation of land in Wel'lington carried out in 1852 by the New Munster Government. This is of heart totara, and is as good as the day it was put in. It is the intention of the contractors to send a piece of this wall to the Museum as an illustration of the fact that New Zealand timber can be buried for seventy years and yet remain intact. A little to one side of the wooden wall is a brick retaining wall which was used at a later date to reclaim further land. The original Wellington waterfront was along Lambton Quay, Willis Street, and Customhouse Quay. The area of land reclaimed in that vicinity is about 250 acres.

The Timaru Presbytery received the following letter from Mr. C. W. Isitt, of Fairlie, at its meeting on Tuesday,, says the “Ashburton Guardian:” —“Some time ago I received a request from a Presbyterian lady in the local hospital to christen her apparently dying baby. Our minister was away on his Mackenzie Country round. The Presbyterian Prayer Book I use says: ‘Christening shall not be performed by a common person.’ Is an ordained ruling elder a common person? To get over the difficulty I got an Anglican clergyman to perform the sacrament of baptism. The child lived, and I presume, now as an Anglican.” Members .present expressed the opinion that had they been in the position of Mr. Isitt they would have performed the oeremony. The Rev. A. Begg: “All the same, I do not agree that the child is an Anglican.” (Laughter). It was decided to reply to Mr. Isitt to the effect that the presbytery had no power to answer the question. Two young sportsmen who were pig-hunting on the wooden peaks of Wknganvoa, near Nelson, had an unenviable experience recently. While on a lofty crag a dense fog suddenly descended and they were afraid to stir from their norrow ledge of abont 5 feet square, whoic they happened to be at the time. Darkness soon coming on, they had to spend the night where they weic. It rained in torrents, and the night was bitterly cold. They had no means of lighting a fire, as everything was soaked, including their clothes. Later their dogs found them, and the two men were not only glad of their company, but of the warmth coming through their furry coats. When daylight at las appeared a clear drop of 50 feet was revealed just below them. ne of the men in the night had a very narrow escape. Somehow he par - ly got over the ledge, but his mate got him back. The two men subsequently regained their camp, abou two miles distant, not much the worse for their experience.