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Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 182, 3 July 1937, Page 8

The Dominion’s Coronation contingent returned to-day by the Rangitiki, which reached Wellington this afternoon.

A meeting in Wellington yesterday of the executive of the Associated Chambers of Commerce of New Zealand decided to convey to the Government a resolution, expressing the hope that success would soon crown the efforts of the Gocvernment in its negotiations with the Commonwealth Government to promote a greater flow of trade between Australia and New Zealand.

Struck by a slowly moving goods train at the Queen Street level crossing in Levin, yesterday, a delivery van owned by the Levin and District Co-operative Society was carried across the road but the impact was not sufficient to overturn it. The van was driven by Mr Stanley Wilson and was proceeding toward the business area. Little damage was done to the bodywork of the van and the driver was unhurt.

Very void conditions were experienced on a recent night in the back country of Canterbury and many hot water cisterns and pipes could not stand the strain. Most of the houses at Avoca were without hot water the following morning, but the position was worse at the Bealey Hotel. The proprietress reported that practically all the bottles of beer and soft drinks had burst, leaving the broken glass lying round (lie frozen drinks. All the motor-lorries in that district had to be thawed out with hot water before they could be started.

The 70tb anniversary of the assumption of Dominion status by Canada fell on Thursday.

A branch of the National Blood Transfusion Council had been formed in Napier, and an appeal ia being made to citizens to enrol and so assist in the humanitarian work.

Within the past few weeks a number of sheep in the Pukekohe district have been killed under mysterious circumstances. In every instance the animal’s neck has been broken (says an exchange). Police officers are at a loss to account for the killings. On the surface there anpears to be no reason for the crimes.

The hope that young men would have an opportunity in the not far distant future of learning a trade was expressed by the acting-Ministcr of Employment (Hon. P. C. Webb) at the conference of local bodies held at Masterton yesterday. 'I he Minister said he had convened a conference for the purpose of trying to evolve a scheme by which they could go to young men. hand them their opportunity and take them in and teach them some trade. “I believe that can be done,” he said. Injuries to the forehead and fhe left thigh were suffered by William Kerrison, a factory hand, of Kairanga, when the motor-cycle he was riding was involved in a collision with a car leaving a garage in Rangitikoi Street yesterday afternoon. The Free Ambulance attended the case, and after stitches had been inserted both in the forehead and the thigh the injured man was taken home by the ambulance.

The total value of the building permits issued by the Auckland City Council last month was £63,406, which exceeds that of May by over £22,000, and is well above the average of the first five months of the year. Expenditure on new buildings for the first halt of this year has leached , a total of £355,494, which, although greatly in excess of that for most of the depression years, falls short of the aggregate for the first six months of last year by £63,897.

Herr Hitler is a great in labour camps, according to Mr VV. L. S. Britton, geography master at the Wellington Technical College, who made an inspection of a number of these camps while visiting Germany recently. Mr Britton, writing to the college, says the camps appear to be doing cpiite a good work in Nazi Germany. Through their medium ail classes of youth are brought together and provided with opportunities of learning to understand one another, under camp conditions which are entirely free from any class distinctions.

The Wanganui to New Plymouth express was ueiayed an hour on Wednesday morning when it encountered cattle on the line. Seven cattle that were being driven over a level crossing of the line between Mokoia and Hawera broke away from the herd, jlimped the cattle stops and ran along the line just before the express was clue. The engine driver saw the cattle in time to stop without running into them. The cattle, alter careering along the line, ran on to a bridge, and four fell into the creek below. The other three were driven off safely. Had the cattle been struck by the train on the bridge, a derailment would probably have occurred.

Land agents in Hamilton record decreases in sales of as much as 10 per cent, compared with business last year. Government mortgage legislation has had a retarding effect on farm transactions, they say, as vendors, fearing that when they have agreed to sell the Government would step in and reduce the valfie of the property, are asking for much higher deposits than buyers are able to give. The average buyer offers £SOO or £BOO, only to find that a deposit of £2OOO is asked for. Dairy and sheep farms are affected in this way. An agent who specialises in town properties said that houses and unoccupied sections were selling freely. Owing to the general housing shortage great difficulty was being experienced by tenants whose homes had been sold in finding other places in which to live.

An unusual incident is reported by a ltotorua sportsman who was shooting recently on one of the lakes in the district. He had shot a black swan and sent his retriever dog out to bring it in. The swan was, to all appearances dead, but when the dog drew near it it suddenly came to life and commenced to thresh the animal with its powerful wings. The struggle continued for two or three minutes, the dog repeatedly attempting to seize the wounded bird and as often being beaten off. The dog’s owner, on the bank, was unable to shoot owing to the danger of hitting the dog and it appeared for a moment as though the swan would win the battle and make its escape. However, the dog was equal to the occasion, and diving underneath the bird seized it by the neck and dragged it down. When the animal finally succeeded in bringing its prize to land it was practically exhausted.