Manawatu Herald TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1930. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume LI, Issue 4499, 2 September 1930, Page 2

Manawatu Herald TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1930. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Percy ’Coleman, Elio represented Yen' Zealand officially at [he Tourist. Trophy motor-cycle races in the Isle of Man in June last, has returned to Auckland, and there is every possibility that In l will be in attendance at the local sports meeting next month. A .11 nd of what is Ibelieved to be ambergris is reported from Ur Bons Bay (reports the Christ church Times). The piece, which was picked ui - ) by Mr. A. E. A illinms, a farmer, weighs two ounces, and has an estimated value of £SO. If is understood that a city commercial house is shipping it Dome on Mr. Williams’ behalf.

Nineteen shillings and eleven pence is the price of a wide range of Ladies’ and dents’ Footwear, still being- offered in the special department at Mrs. Ball’s Boot Store, Main Street. 'Call in and see these.*

The postal authorities of New Zealand last year had to deliver 274,583,396 letters, postcards, parcels and other articles, out of which letters totalled nearly 100,000,000. This vast number of deliveries included the handling' of all mails received from places overseas, and shows an increase for 1929 of 4,250,000 over the preceding' year.

There were 44 industrial disturbances during' the year ended March 31, according 1 lo the annual report of the Labour Department. Between A(pril 1, 1922, and March 31, 1930, there were. 320 industrial

disturbances, and of these 133 involved shipping' and waterside workers, 129 involved miners, and 28 concerned freezing' workers. These three classes of workers were responsible for 90.0 per cent, of the disturbances and the remaining- 9.1 per cent, took place in fourteen other industries. 1

Ada Smales, aged IS, daughter of Mr. George Smales, of the railway staff at Waipuk'urau, was fatally injured when run into by a motorcar on the main road between Whipukurau and Waipawa on Sunday afternoon. Deceased was walking with a girl friend, when a car driven by Mr. 'J. Tinni, of Te Hauke, coming round the corner and overtaking them, startled -the girls, who .pimped toward opposite sides of the road. Miss Smales slipped practically in front of the ear, and the driver was unable to pull up. She was picked up unconscious and died on the way to the hospital.

One hundred and twenty-three Test matches have 'been played between Australia and England since they were inaugurated in 1888 of which Australia has won 50 and England 40. Twenty-seven games have, been drawn. Australia with eight- wins in 1920-21 lias the host number of wins in succession; England in the 1885-3 888 games notching seven wins in succession. There have been some very close games; Australia in 1902 at Man-chester-winning lliy the narrow margin of three runs. England has the honour of the biggest win, for at Melbourne in 1942 she won by an innings and 225 runs.

For a limited period a 31/9 department is 'being maintained at Mrs. Ball’s Boot .Store, Main St. Call in tind see the lines being offered at this price.*

The Levin Borough “clean-up” week terminated on Friday last when the morning was devoted to (lie collection of refuse from the business area. This year a motor lorry was used instead of two drays (says tin l Chronicle), and it greatly expedited tile v-oik, which was put through in eight actual days, us compared with a term of nearly three weeks for the last “clean-up,” which took place, in September, 1929. A considerable increase in the rubbish put aside by ■householders and business people for removal was recorded this season, the lorry taking away 42 loads, (lie equivalent of 195 dray-loads, whereas only 88 dray-loads were called last year.

The wanderer’s song', ever gay and glad, Still cheers the way when his heart is sad; With tightened belt as he trudges along, He lifts his 1 soul in The Wanderer's Song. it voices his challenge and Haunt at fate, As hungry and chilled he halts ;by your gate— The Wanderer’s Song * gratitude pure, For warmth and Woods’ Great Pepppennint Cure. —20.

“Whal are you going to do tonight, dear?” “Oh, write a letter or two, read a bit, listen to the wireless, and so on.” “Well, when you come to the ‘sew on,’ don’t forget my shirt buttons.” —London Opinion.

A meeting of the local Unemployment Cbm mi t tee was to have been held last evening hut lapsed for the want of a quorum. There now remains only £SO odd to be expended and it is possible that this amount will he spent on work' on the borough reserves.

Mr. Eric 11. Booth, Whyte Street garage, who consistently follows a policy of progressive improvement to his garage plant, has now installed an up-to-date gas heated still for the purpose of providing an ample supply of distilled water for ear and radio batteries. The device is designed on scientific lines, and for that reason is comparatively simple in construction, while giving a maximum of distilled liquid for the amount of heat (gas) applied. Distilled water is the only water that may safely be used in hal.l cries, and with this addition to his plaid Mr. Booth has taken a furl her atop in ensuring that his clients shall enjoy all safeguards for the protection of their property entrusted to his care for repairs or upkeep.

Ladies’ and Gents’ fashionable footwear is just now malting an ntti'ael.ive display in the window of Mrs. Ball's Boot Store, Main Street. The new styles are smart. The prices are right.* In these hard times £lO notes are few and far between, and it is rarely that one is tendered a tram con - ductor in payment of a fare. An Auckland woman committed this er-ror-recently, thinking that she was

asking' for Die ■■change-of 'a 10/- note of similar size. The conductor did uoi notice the mistake either in the Irani or when he cashed up in the evening. A teller in the employ of Ihe Transport Board made the discovery that an error had been made, and imeediately reported the matter. Almost simultaneously Ihe rightful owner of (lie “tenner” round that there-was a shortage in her cash, and communicated with 'the hoard’s officials. When bona tides had been established, the mistake was put right. The woman had i on.sou to he gratified at her good fortune, for her £lO might have fallen into less honest hands.

The fact that 45 per cent, of the occupied land of Mow Zealand is supporting less than one animal per acre is mentioned by Mr. F. R. Callaghan, assistant-secretary of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, in a recentlypublished article. He. states that 3(i per cent, of the occupied land supports from one to two sheep per acre, and only about 5 per cent, can maintain over two sheep per acre. The highest capacity, 4118 animals per 1000 acres, occurs in the fertile Waimate West County, which embraces the rich dairying land in the vicinity of Hawera and Manaia, Taranaki. The adjoining Hawera County also possesses a high figure, 3405 animals per 1000 acres, based almost entirely also on dairy cattle. At the other extreme figure the Stewart Island and Westland counties with 157 and:(180 animals per 1000 acres respectively.

The number of deaths from accidental causes in New Zealand last year was 725, as compared with 744 in 192-8. Death from motor vehicle accidents have increased from 108 in 1925 to 17S last year. These figures are. exclusive of accidents where persons have been -killed in collisions between motor vehicles and trains or trams. In 1929 there were 19 deaths from such accidents, and two from collisions between motor cycles and horsedrawn vehicles, bringing the total number of cases in which death occurred where a motor vehicle was ail agent up to 199. The -corresponding figure for 1928 was 188. Auckland records the highest number of deaths from motor vehicle accidents, the rate per 10,000 of poinulatiou being 1.49. 'Comparatively few tramway -accidents occur in New Zealand. Trams claimed only five lives in 1929.

In the matter of low coal consumption in relation to speed, the Swansea steamer Bryuymor, which arrived at Port Chalmers last week with hardwood and sleepers, is -re-mark-able (says the Dunedin star). .The vessel is on her maiden voyage, and her chief engineer (Mr. A. S. Ha 11a m) is lbe builder’s (Donald 'Cowan, of Glasgow) guarantee man. The Bryuymor was built to steam nine knots on 18 tons of Welsh coal. She is actually doing that, speed on ISA tons of Australian coal. This exceptionally low rate of fuel consumption is attributed to the YYjyndham patent heaters which supply the boilers with water practically at boiling point. The various factors in the proposition provide a pretty problem for •engineers, and the machinery is in the ship at the wharf to demonstrate it. -New Zealand engineers will probably wonder What she will do when her bunkers ai'e replenished with Westport coal. The steamer will bunker at Westport before leaving tile Dominion.

More than 13,000 omnibuses pass through Trafalgar Square, London, every day.

Seagulls continue to cause trouble and anxiety to sheepmen in some parts of the district by thenravages amongst the new-born lambs (states the Hawke’s Bay Herald). In most cases the lambs are attacked almost immediately after birth and their eyes are picked out. One farmer in the Crownthorpe district, who has -been particularly troubled as a result of the gulls’ activities, recently noticed blood around the mouths of lambs attacked and, being curious to find the cause of this, set a watch in one of his paddoc-ks, as a result of which he found that the seagulls were picking the tongues as well as the -eyes out of the lambs. This condition of affairs in regard to seagulls is, so far as is known, unprecedented in Hawke’s Buy or elsewhere in the Dominion. To the visitor from New Zealand to the United States the hotels are a revelation, according to a remark made to a Christchurch Press reporter by Air. 11. L. Bowker, who has just returned from a visit to the Pacific States. He stayed in hotels which had from 500 to 700 bedrooms, each with its own bathroom and conveniences. For a double room from 10 to 12 dollars a day (say from £2 to £2 8/-) was charged, hut this included no meals nor any extras of any kind —no morning lea, or even cleaning of boots. A friend of Mr. 80-wker’s left his boots outside his bedroom door, and they disappeared entirely, the passage cleaners evidently thinking the owner had no further use for them and had discarded them.

The following interesting item appears in the “New Zealand News,” published in London. “It is ample evidence from Hie financial review made by the lion. G. W. Forbes) that the railways are largely responsible for New Zealand’s present financial difficulties. Drastic measures lor culling expenses and meeting road competition- are proposed, but it will he. a difficulttask to decide what branch railways should be closed down. It must be remembered that many of these lines serve a useful purpose even if they do not pay interest. The present generation seems lo be reaping the result of lavish expenditure. in the past, over-capitalisa-tion, over-staffing, and general inclination to use the railways as a means of relieving unemployment. The commission to inquire into the present- position will have, a heavy task.”

Five hundred years before Egypt’s pyramids were built, a redwood seedling, of the family Sequoia. seiiipervirens, mightiest of all -trees, thrust its bead above the mossy turf of Del Norte County, California. Until nearly the dawn of the Christian era the tree flourished. Then, perhaps overcome by a gale, it was uprooted and crashed to the forest floor. For more than 2500 years the fallen redwood has lain upon the ground, half buried and covered with moss -and ferns. Upon it. another redwood seedling grew, and its roots encompassed the original tree. Of the second tree nothing remains but- an 13-f-oot stump. This page of history was revealed when a construction crew, clearing for approaches to a new bridge, came upon stumps of the two trees. Cutting through the fallen tree, the workmen found the wood to be in a perfect state of preservation.

“If nicotine could be extracted from tobacco, smoking would be as harmless as fresh air.” Thus wrote an eminent English scientist some years ago. Since then science has discovered that toasting' the tobacco leaf —an elaborate process—eliminates so much of the nicotine that the balance is of no consequence, so that smoking can ’be indulged in even immoderately and leave no ill •after-effects. That discovery is of the first importance, because nicotine, one -of the deadliest poisons known, if absorbed even in minute quantities into the system daily through the pipe, must, sooner or later, affect heart or nerves. Now the quantity of nicotine in the imported brands of tobacco is invariably large, while the toasted Now Zealand tobaccos contain next to none. Note that there are only four brands of toasted: “Biverhead Gold,” “Navy -Cut- No. 3,” “Cavendish,” and “Cut: Plug No. 10.” All four are harmless to smokers. All are remarkable for their unrivalled flavour and peculiarly delicious fragrance. But ’ware imitations!—• Advt. 141.

“In respect to television, there did not appear to have been very much progress made, and from what 1 saw in the laboratory there is yet little of any practical value to market-,” said Air. A. R. Harris, of the Radio Broadcasting Company, on Wednesday. “As a novelty, development te date is certainly very interesting, but many difficulties naive still to be overcome before television becomes a commercial factor, and then it is more than likely that it will be marketed as an adjunct only to the sound transmission and receiving equipment already on the market.” In reply to -an inquiry Mr. Harris, stated that he had spent some time investigating ways and means of reducing interference, ibut that the subject was too big- a one to deal with in the course of an interview. He would like to say, however, that he found that the matter was being successfully -combated in the United States, and there was no reaaon why the same could not jbe done in this country. He found that the most serious forms of man-made interference could be done away with, but it was impracticable to expect any department or company to undertake it alone.

The contractors for- surface sealing the main highway’ between the Pox ton borough boundary and Himatangi have made a start with the preliminary work.. Charitable bequests amounting to £7750 were made under the will of Samuel William Miller, bootmaker of Ponsonby. The individual amounts range from £IOOO to £SO.

A meeting of representatives of various Palmerston North bodies met yesterday to discuss proposals for the holding of celebrations to mark Palmerston North’s elevation to the status of a city. A subcommittee was set up to bring down a definite proposal. The power of local bodies to levy full rates on buildings that have ■been unoccupied was strongly criticised by the council of the Auckland 'Chamber of Commerce recently. It was decided to forward a remit to (he forthcoming conference of the Associated Chambers of Commerce urging the enactment of legislation which would provide for the payment of half rates in such cases. Mr. T. Macindoc characterised the present law as amounting to “almost confiscation in some cases.” ■