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Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 183, 5 July 1937, Page 6

Restrictions which were imposed on visiting at the Children’s Ward n.t the Palmerston North Hospital two months ago on account of infantile paralysis have now been removed, and people may now visit that ward at the usual hours.

The restoration of the graves on the island of Mauna, in the Samoan group, of the officers and men of the La Perouse expedition, who were murdered there in 1787, was carried out recently by the company of the French sloop Rigault de Genouilly, according to advice received in Auckland. Five years ago Mr A. G. Sudholtz, farmer, at Natimuk, New South Wales, lost a watch which he had had since he was a boy. Recently liis son, scarifying a paddock, uncovered the watch, which, after it had been wound lip, operated as well as ever. During the intervening years the paddock had been ploughed frequently, and three stubble fires had crossed it. Parrots are not intelligent, whatever their fond owners may think of them. Mr R. A. Falla, who is widely known as an ornithologist, told the Canterbury "College Scientific Society that the intelligence of birds in general was very low. They were creatures, largely of habit, and though in their flight they appeared to make clever use of air currents, they did so really in a sensory way. Parrots might seem intelligent but really they were not. They certainly had a sense of situation ; but their utterances were only mechanical, however intelligent their ,owners might think them. A minor sensation occurred in an Auckland theatre on Saturday night. Just after the audience had returned to the theatre after tlie interval a young man staggered out of the men’s cloakroom and collapsed. An ambulance was immediately summoned. and a constable was called. The man, who is 25 years of age, is l>elieved to lie a visitor to the city He was taken to hospital in the ambulance apparently suffering from the effects' of poison. It is also understood he was not attending the session which was l>eing held at the theatre. His condition was fainy serious when he was admitted to the hospital, but he was reported to be making good progress last night.

The southbound express was an hour behind its scheduled time of arrival when it reached Palmerston North this morning. The cause of the delay is unknown by the local railway authorities.

A cork famine is reported to be a probability if the war in Spain continues, and New Zealand will be one of the countries affected. Already there is an acute shortage. Spain has almost a cork monopoly. Tho position of the Hikurangi swamp, clue to last week’s Hoods, is most serious to the settlers concerned. Although a definite estimate of the losses cannot be given, old settlers place it at some thousands of pounds. Jt is estimated that over 15,000 acres are covered with water, the depth averaging from six to seven ieet, and there is scarcely a fence to be seen. The rate demands of the Palmerston North City Council were posted last Wednesday night and when the council offices closeu lor the weekend on Friday there had been paid no less than £I7OO. The town clerk (Mr J. It. Hardie) said to-day that a number of ratepayers made a practice of paying their rates on the receipt of the demand, and they had done so this year as usual. New Plymouth is to have a permanent memento of the association ol the old passenger steamer ltarawa with the port. The ship’s bell is to be deposited in the Taranaki Museum. For many years the ltarawa was on the service between Onehunga and New Plymouth until the opening of the Main Trunk railway, and then the main north highway gradually attracted travellers who furmerly used the sea route.

Landing flat, pancake style, from a height of about 15 feet, tile. Manawatu Aero Club’s Moth machine ZK-ABA sustained damage to the undercarriage, propeller and possibly the wings in a mishap at Milson yesterday. The machine was piloted by Mr V. B. Short and was landing at the time. Air Short was not hurt. The damage i!s not regarded as serious, but its extent cannot be properly gauged until an expert examination has been made. Another caucus of the National Party is to be held at the end of July, when policy questions discussed at the two-day caucus which concluded on Friday will he considered in further detail. The leader of the party (Hon. A. Hamilton) said on Saturday that the aim of the party was to evolve a policy that was trulv national rather than one that was of a sectional and class nature. It was desired to give Lhe utmost freedom to the individual.

A resolution recommending to the Minister of Employment (Hon. H. TArmstrong) that in view of the increased cost of living, especially lhe rise in room rents, sustenance payments to women should be increased, has been adopted by the Auckland Women's Employment Committee. In April of last year the Government increased sustenance payments to eligible unemployed women and girls from 7s fid to 10s a week and gave girls living away from home an additional Is a week.

What had the appearance of an attempt to jump from Grafton bridge, Auckland, was frustrated when a pedestrian walking over the bridge at about 1.45 p.m. on Saturday 6aw a woman standing on the parapet oi one ot the bays in the centre or the bridge, which have not yet been covered with wire mesh. Believing Lhe woman intended jumping into the valley below the passer-by, pulled her on to the footway bv swinging on her legs. She was later taken into custody.—Press Association. “Although we have returned from the glamour ol the Coronation celebrations in the heart of the Empire, there is not one among us who is not glad to l>e back once again in his native land; no matter how enjoyable travel may be, there is, after ali, no place like home,” said Major li. G. Garruth, E.D., officer commanding the New Zealand Coronation contingent, in an interview on Saturday: “From the time of our arrival at St. Paneras, London, till our departure from the Royal Albert Docks, on the Thames, the enthusiastic and hospitable manner in which we were everywhere received made us feel the high regard in which the Mother Country holds our little New Zealand.”

Trapped by the tide on the beach near Jiawera on Saturday, a pack of Cubs in charge of Miss Dorothy Clement, of Haw era. had an unenviable experience and they owe much to the ability of Miss Clement that they were not drowned, states a Press Association message. The pack were on a hike on the beach at the loot of the precipitous cliff that runs for miles along the coast, when the tide rose unexpectedly high and the Cubs and Miss Clement were forced up against the cliff, which can be climbed in very lew places. They had to travel some distance, continually menaced by the rising water, until they scrambled on to a ledge in comparative safety. It was not till late at night that they were able again to descend to the beach and return to town.