Ship Strikes Wharf.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 50, 27 January 1938, Page 10

Ship Strikes Wharf.

Berthing at Wellington on her arrival from Auckland yesterday, the coastal motor-ship. Port Whangarei, struck the Queen's Wharf breastwork head-on cutting a deep V-shaped gash m the wharf. Beyond a slight bumding ot her plates between the hawse-pjpe and the stem on either bow the ship was not damaged.—Press Association. Elephant Seal Appears. Taieri River mouth received a strange visitor on Monday in a 16ft elephant seal which came ashore and rested for a while (reports a Dunedin correspondent). It had a long snout, similar to that of the elephant, and appeared to be a scarred old veteran, but was not ill distress. Drowned in Whey.

Drowned in a can of whey, William Mills the four-year-old son of Mr G. H. Mills, a Stratford farmer, was found by his father yesterday after an extensive search of the property, reports a Press Association message. A neighbour, who is a trained nurse, tried in vain to resuscitate the boy. The child was not seen from lunch time till his body was found late in the afternoon. Generous Bequest.

An unexpected bequest of over £4OOO has been received by the New Zealand Institute for the Blind from London, through the generosity of the late Mrs Isabella Grace Martoii Ingerson, formerly of Adelaide, South Australia, who died in London on October 3. Mrs Ingerson had property in Australia and New Zealand, and is believed to have resided for a time in Wellington, where her New' Zealand property was. Subject to certain legacies, the residue of the. estate was , bequeathd to the institute, and the net amount forthcoming has been esimated at between £4200 and £4300.

Safety On Highways. It is the intention of the Transport Department to make special efforts to reduce the number of casualties among children using the highways. This is stated in an announcement made by the Minister of Transport (Hon. R. Semple). Mr Semple pointed out that during the last nine months of 1937,f 16 children were killed and 420 injured in traffic accidents—an average of nearly 50 a month. Special efforts were to., be made during the current year to reduce those casualties. In addition to the fine work done by teachers within the schools much could be done by various organisations.

Agricultural Clubs. The following distribution of a departmental grant of £6O for boys’ and girls’ agricultural clubs was approved by the Wellington Education Board yesterday :— Wairarapa, £22 ; Tararua, £l6; Horowlienua, £l6; Marlborough, £6. Earthquake Loans.

The question of tho repayment of earthquake loans incurred by Hawke’s Bay local bodies will be discussed at a conference between the Minister of Finance (Hon. W. Nash) and representatives of the local bodies concerned, to be held at Napier on Monday. 230 Volts Dangerous. “There is a wrong impression abroad that 230 volts will not kill,” said Mr P. V. Burns, a registered electrician, when giving evidence at an inquest this morning where electricity in a wire serving a city residence was a cause of death. “A lot of people think it is not dangerous but the sooner it is realised that such is not the case the better,” said witness. Tramcars Collide.

Meeting at the end of a loop on the single-track Wadestown line, two Wellington tramcars collided last night and were partly derailed. The. few passengers in each car were alarmed and shaken but not hurt, although some of the woodwork on each car was splintered and windows were broken. More Rail Passengers. During Mie week ended January 22, 1938, tickets corresponding to 4853 train rides were sold at the Palmerston North railway booking office. This is an increase of 25 per cent over the number sold for the same period of last year. A corresponding increase is shown in the revenue figures.

Housing At Marton. Several features of the State Housing Scheme for Marton were disapproved by the Borough Council this week, when consent, was sought to the plans submitted for the subdivision of the. old saleyards site for the extension of the scheme. The opinion was expressed that both the sections and the houses appeared to be unduly small. Fishing License Sought.

An application for a license to take fish in New Zealand waters by means of two steam trawlers, for the purpose of supplying the Australian market, has been made to the Bureau of Industry by Cam and Sons Pty., Ltd., Sydney. It is considered unlikely that any decision concerning the application will bo given until the Government has had an opoprtunity of giving full consideration to the report of the Sea Fisheries Investigation Committee. Attack On Gorse.

Several thousand weevils have been liberated in New Zealand to attack the seed of the gorse plant, according to advice received by the Wanganui provincial branch of the Fanners’ Union. A letter from the Cawthron Institute, Nelson, stated that a further supply of the weevil would be mhde available next spring on application to the institute. In reply to a question from the Wanganui branch of the union, it was stated that it was not deemed advisable at the present time to introduce further parasites to attack the gorse plant itself. Butter For Canada. New Zealand farmers are benefiting from a serious shortage of butter in Canada, and a shipment of 375 tons, the largest ever exported to Canada, was taken by the Aorangi, which left Auckland on Tuesday, its destination being Halifax. In order to supplement Canadian stocks, an additional 1000 tons will be shipped by later ships. Although these shipments will give a marked stimulus to New Zealand’s dairy trade, they do not foreshadow regular consignments to Canada, which is practically self-support-ing. The present exports were described by one Auckland merchant as being merely a “flash in the pan.” Pink Pavements.

Now and again vast quantities of old bricks fall into the hands of the Wellington City Corporation. While in the past, a partial saving has been made by cleaning up such bricks as lend themselves economically to the process, the latter-day cement makes it difficult to clean up bricks for further use as bricks. In order to use the material the bricks are being crushed up finely and incorporated in the concrete paving slabs that are used all round the railway station' streets, and are now being used in the city, where the pavment calls for renewal The result lends a warm flush to the full grey of concrete. Another advan tage is* that the rough finish to the new slabs makes the looting more se cure in wet weather.