LOCAL AND GENERAL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 22 July 1929, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

At the Education Board meeting today praise for the behaviour of teachers in the earthquake area was expressed by the chairman and members. Several cases of splendid work done were mentioned by the secretary (Mr H. J. Thornton). On the motion of Mr C. W. Thorp a resolution was passed that a letter be sent to each of the teachers in the affected areas expressing the board’s appreciation of the noble and splendid work done by them during the disaster and pointing out that it was impossible to individualise.

A well-1 mown Nelson footballer, in need of a shave, hastened on his motor cycle towards his hairdresser. When within a few yards of the door he saw another man dismounting from a cycle, also apparently intending to go to' the hairdresser’s. In order to get in first the footballer hastily jumped oil his machine, propped it up, and was making for the door when he heard a crash behind him. and on turning round saw his motor cycle lying with, a broken step and smashed spotlight. To add to his chagrin the man he had endeavoured to beat to the hairdresser’s went into the shop next door!

"It is most gratifying to hear from the engineer’s report,” observed Mr 11. J. Staee, at a meeting of the Marlborough Power Board, “that the Board's works suffered absolutely no damage during the recent severe earthquakes. It reflects, I think, the greatest credit upon the excellent work which our staff has carried out.” Mr W. G. Rudd, in endorsing the chairman’s remarks (according to the “Express”) said he considered it most satisfactory that a dam of the size of that at Benopai had emerged from the ordeal without so much as a crack. Other members expressed gratification at the fact that the concrete poles in use throughout the province had once more demonstrated the wisdom of adopting them. An unknown disease lias been taking heavy toll of cattle and sheep dogs in the North Auckland district recently, and the loss of many valuable animals has been reported. A Whangarei authority on sheep and cattle dogs, when approached for verification of the report, said that unfortunately it was true. The malady seemed to attack the dogs in tile head first and send them dizzy. They fell and were then unable to rise.

“I know of no other district which has a valuation of ±1200,0U0 and a loan indebtedness of only £250,” said Mr J. A. C. Allum, chairman, of the Auckland Transport Board, when addressing a meeting of Howick residents (reports the “Star”). “But to my mind the people of Howick should not be proud of the fact, because it indicates that there has not been the development which the ratepayers should demand. The position indicates that you tail, face with ease the proposed ioan expenditure on concrete reading and water supply.” Mr Allum further suggested that by putting in hand such works the district would make 1 a helpful contribution towards solving the national problem of unemployment. The latest incidence of the vagaries of the season in the Cambridge district is a second crop of apples growing on tiees at the orchard of Mrs Appleby, Fencourt district. The Auckland “Star’s” correspondent saw two specimens picked from the trees, both being of different varieties, and good-sized fruit, reaching the matured stage. The tiees from which they were picked had a good first crop early in the summer, and without resting the .trees continued to produce a second crop. More remarkable still is the fact that the same trees were, again in blossom just before recent frosts for the third time.

Having swallowed a pin, a five-year-old boy, Charles George Beloe, whose parents reside at Pukekohe West, was admitted to the Auckland Hospital (reports the “Herald”). The pin had lodged in the boy’s throat, and with special surgical instruments the obstruction was removed. The condition of the child is satisfactorv.

‘Excellent schemes for the consolidation of schools have been held up owing to the cost of conveyance,” said Mr R. Hoe at a meeting of the Auckland Education Board, when advocating an increased statutory allowance for conveying children. It was decided to recommend the Minister of Education to increase the allowances in some cases. The present allowance, it was stated, was sixpence a pupil and eightpence in certain circumstances.

The path of the Agricultural Department's instructors is not always a rosy one, according to the remarks of Mr J. J. Wild at the smoke concert of the Brunswick branch of the Farmers’ Union, reports the Taranaki “News. ’ Farmers were formerly rather doubtful of the instructors and were wont to endeavour to trip them up on some point. On one occasion, however, a young man proved a match for a farmer who asked him, “What would you do with a horse that slobbers?’’ “What would l do with a horse that slobbers?’’ was the reply. “Well, I would teach it to spit.

“There is nothing more important than t'he health of the people,” declared Mr John Hislop at the Devonport Borough Council, when the matter of improving the. drainage outfall at Vauxhall was under discussion, “and we, as the borough managers, must take the responsibility of safeguarding it,” reports llie “Star.” These remarks were in answer to a declaration by Mr C. M. Browne that he would nor, support any further loan expenditure, for drainage or anything else, unless the proposal wove submitted to the ratepayers. Mr Ilislop explained that there was a fundamental difference between expenditure on roads and on drainage—the one was optional, but the other was compulsory, and if the Health Department issued a mandamus the work would have to he done. It was ultimately decided to postpone action pending the approaching deliberations of the Drainage Commission, which, if is anticipated, will function towards tile end of the year.

A good example of the involved phraseology, which frequently appears on charge sheets was offering in the Napier Police Court, recently, when a defendant was charged that “being the driver of a motor car in a public street, when turning to the right or off side of the street on which he was proceeding, lie did fail betore so turning to drive parallel to the near side of the street which he was leaving until ho was as near as practicable to the tpi) cjfip of t*'o street which he was entering.” "The defendant cut a •'•■rnor.” said the senior-sergeant, in evnlainiiig tile facts. •U Rev’s still overstocked. Another £2009 worth of high grade drapery and clothing to he sacrificed ten -'h s page 7 this issue.*

Several mild earth tremors were felt during the week-end. A more marked shake occurred at 10. JO o’clock this morning.

Complaints are made of bicycles being tampered with and fittings removed. A Irainper who loft his bicycle near the parking ground at the Reservoir yesterday, found on return that sneak lliievus had been busy, fittings having been stolen.

"I am satisfied tiio accident was due to the default of both parties,” said Mr T. E. Maunsell, H.M., at the Magistrate’s Court this morning in dismissing a charge against R. J. Ricketts of dangerous driving on the Wakapuaka road. After visiting the spot the Magistrate was satisfied that the charge against accused had not been proved and the information was accordingly dismissed. .Mr Moynagh appeared for defendant. A resolution was passed at the Education Board meeting to-day that a letter of sympathy be sent to the parents of a school child, lola Dent, of Westport, who was injured in the earthquake.

Compulsory installation of automatic fire alarms in all leading warehouses, business establishments, and factories where tliero is a high property value nt risk was advocated by Superintendent Creeke in a report to the Wellington Fire Board yesterday. If the alarms were installed, ho said, the danger of a fire becoming a conflagration would ho reduced to a minimum, as the brigade would receive a timely warning. It was also a good investment, as insurance companies reduced the promiums, which in time paid for the installation. The recommendation was favourably considered by the board, and a copy of it is to be sent to the City Council.

Tb is not usual for amateur gardeners to be able to pit'k ripe tomatoes in July from plants grown outdoors, yet suc.li was the experience of one Wanganui family last week-end. The proud housewife displayed for Sunday tea a salad of the new season’s lettuce and spring onions, garnished with slices of the last tomato off the old plant that had been bearing since late in February. The camp in the school grounds at Murchison was discussed at the Education Board this morning and the chairman (Mr F. W. O. .Smith) said it was not desirable that tho camp should remain in the grounds now that the school had re-opened. The secretary who was at Murchison during the week-end said he did not think tile camp would be necessary for long. The Commercial Hotel was re-opening to-day. A resolution was passed oil the motion of Mr J. G. Wilkens seconded by Mr E. J. Scantlebury that the secretary be authorised to have the camp removed from the Murchison school grounds by the end of this week. There passed away at Richmond last week after a short illness an old resident of the district in the person of Mr James Hansford Johnston. The late Mr Johnston, who was 77 years of age, was the second son of the late Mr David Johnston, at one time Collector of Customs, Nelson. He was horn in Wellington and came to Nelson with his parents in 1855 on the brig Spray which took fourteen days in the journey from Wellington. In the early days Mr Johnston was interested in mining and was also a member of the firm of Johnston Bros.) who were the first to engage in the manufacture of haematite paint at Parapara. Later on he took up farming in Aniseed Valle" where he remained until 1918, and has since been living in retirement at Richmond. The deceased is survived by a widow and a grown-up family of three sons ancl one daughter—Messrs H. K. Johnston, of Hope, D. 11. and R. G. Johnston, of Aniseed Valley, and Mrs E. Chisnall. The late Mr Campbell Johnston, of the Forestry Department, was also a soil of deceased.

The fact that he was ill in bed suffering from influenza did not give a loiVl resident protection against a caller seeking to borrow a pound. However, false representations were made, and the facts coming under notice of the police resulted in Noel King appearing before Mr T. E. Maunsell at the Magistrate’s Court this morning charged with obtaining £1 with intent to defraud by falsely representing that his mother was lying dying at Tarakohe. Mr S. Moynagh who appeared for accused, said that liquor was at the root of the trouble and put in a strong plea for probation, but the' Magistrate, while admitting he had some difficulty in coming to a decision on the point, said he could not consider probation, in view of accused’s past record. and sentenced him to two months’ imprisonment.

Theoretically, when being addressed lsr a Cabinet Minister, schoul boys will stand gravely at attention and intently watch the speaker. Such was the case, when the Minister of Education, the Hon. 11. Atmoro, addressed 260 pupils of Rongotai Boys’ College. But behind them two aeroplanes kept circling overhead, and the temptation to watch them instead of dwelling upon the Ministerial utterances was very great. But it was resisted until file Minister asked far a day’s holiday in honour of his first visit to the college. Then wild cheers broke out and attention was given to the aeroplanes.

The Wakefield Gift Moth aeroplane, which was damaged when Mr In . C. Chandler, instructor to the Marlborough Aero Club, made a forced landing at Ship Cove, after crossing Cook Strait, ini!) been repaired and tested, and now awaits delivery to the Marlborough Club at the Wigram Aerodrome, reports the “Lyttelton Times.” Whether Mr Chandler will come to Christchurch to fly the machine back, or whether Captain M. W. Buckley or Captain 11. B. Burrell will fly it back, and test some of Mr Chandler's pupils who want their licenses, is not yet decided, but probably the latter course will be adopted. Further reductions off dress fabrics. See advertisement page 8 Trathen's.* Extract from the log of (he marooned “Southern Cross” : Monday, Bth April. “Our tobacco ran out to-day. We tried to smoke leaves’, but it was awful.” Only smokers know what that meant! Cast away on n dreary mud flat—tortured with thirst, starving, maddened with flies, and no tobacco ! When things look black and hopeless, there's nothing like a smoke t But to experience tlie calming, soothing, cheering influence of tobacco to the full, it must be. pure absolutely. The world's purest, tobacco is j that grown and manufactured in New Zealand by the. National Tobacco Co., Ltd., (pioneers of the tobacco industry in this country). Tt is the only toasted tobacco procurable. Hence its freedom from nicotine and its famous flavour and aroma. You can't smoke other tobaccos habitually with impunity, but you can smoke the National goods all the time and take no harm. There's a- brand for every smoker. “Riverhead Gold” is sweet and mild. “Cavendish” and “Navy I Cut" are both medium, and “Cut Plug No. 10“ is rich, dark and full-flavour-ed. * See page 7 this issue of the “Mail” for further particulars of more genuine bargains at McKay's Sale.* Another 200 remnants al less than half mice. Tralhen’s.*' Another b>! of ' rains to bn thrown !.'•? ri v ln’’ ! :”ii« at McKay's Sail' i .day ••..ruing.* At Trathen’s. fresh stocks of ladies’ and girls’ socklets.*

Charged with being idle nnd disorderly, in that she bad insufficient meanp of support, Daphne Hernianssen (a married woman living apart from her husband) appeared before Mr T. E. Maunsell, S.M., at the Magistrate’s Court this morning. Evidence for the police traced a recent Court case associated with a 'Chinaman, in which accused was one of the parties charged, also that she had associated with a criminal, representing herself as his wife. Mr Kerr, who appeared for accused, said she had been in regular employment up to the time of the earthquake and had always possessed ample hinds for her needs lawfully obtained. The Magistrate said tho question was whether accused had insufficient lawful means of support. The fact that she had been consorting with undesirables was not sufficient, nor was Hie fact that on one occasion she had been guilty of grossly immoral conduct. There was no evidence that she had been wandering at large. She was not a vagrant and the information would be dismissed.

More than 1000 motor coaches carrying approximately 15,000 passengers, leave seven terminals in New York City daily for all parts of the United States and Canada-. In 1928 a total of 2,600,000 passengers were carried on 92,000 buses over 750,000 miles of routes. There are 23,000 companies operating motor buses in the metropolis. /

Judgment for plaintiff by default was given at tho Magistrate’s Court this morning:—D. M. Rees, Ltd. v. W. H. Shaw £6 10s 7d, costs £1 5s 6d; W. E. Porter and A. A. Elliott £2 15s 6d, costs £1 6s 6d; Hayes Croucher and Albert Croucher v. F. C. Stubbington £2 11s 4d, costs £1 5s 6ch Tho popular belief that sea birds follow vessels for hundreds of miles for scraps of food thrown overboard was a complete fallacy, stated Mr R. A. Falla, in a lecture in the Auckland University College (reports the “New Zealand Herald”). Mr Falla said birds would follow a boaF for days even if no food was thrown over for them. It was now proved that a ship created certain air currents as it'travelled, and, adjusting themselves to these, birds would lazily float with them for days, using their wings little, if at all. “The old joke that a Scottish vessel can be recognised by the absence of gulls following .it is thus seen to fall very flat,” Mr Falla added amid laughter. “The birds do not care if there is no rood for, them ; a vessel’s air currents are of more concern to them.”

For driving a motor lorry along the cycle track on Ilaven road, Leslie Roy McConchie was fined £1 and ordered to pay 10s costs. Driving without a license cost John Newman and It. W. Treacher 5s and 10s costs each. Width of the highway for safe and expeditious movements of traffic is more and more concerning the road builder. Engineers are of the opinion that a minimum of 20 feet should be maintained for a two-lane highway. It is held further that in built-up sections the roadway should be 36 feet wide at least to permit parallel parking and 50 feet where diagonal and right-angle parking is allowed. Nearly every year a number of New Zealanders return to the Dominion with the report, that “there is nothing about New Zealand in the English newspapers.” It would probably surprise them to know (says'the “New Zealand News,” published in London) that the average daily number of newspaper cuttings relating to New Zealand exceeds two hundred. A casual glance at two or three London papers does not, give sufficient evidence to form a sound opinion on this subject. There is a good deal of sickness in Canterbury schools just now, as a re u suit, of the cold, clamp weather. Many pupils, and also teachers, are absent, and two schools. Greenpark and Oxford, have closed down altogether. "After careful inspection of buildings in which fires have occurred in "Wellington, I have come to the conclusion that the revision of the building bylaws is necessary,” stated Superintendent J. Creeke in a report he submitted to the Fire Board (according to the “Post”). “So long as old wooden buildings are permitted to stand sandwiched between concrete and brick buildings in congested areas, and the system obtains of dividing walls in brick buildings by means of light wooden partitions, lined in many cases with scrim and paper, neither life nor property can be safe. The use of common light areas in the centre of a block of buildings should not be permitted without ample provision of fire-resisting shutters being made' for the prevention of a fire spreading to a conflagration. I would go further and suggest that adjoining owners should not he .allowed to construct common light areas on the back or side boundary line of sections. The area, in my opinion, should be confined within each individual properly with a dividing brick or concrete fire wall. The art of building construction advances with modern ideas, and the building construction in the city is advancing with marked rapidity, making the revision of the building laws a matter of great urgency to cope with the changing conditions.” A copy of the recommendations is to he forwarded to the Wellington City Council for consideration.

A system of what may be termed ioint valuation of properties adopted by the Valuation Department this year inis surprised a good many owners, and, under some circumstances, will introduce complications into property transactions (says “The Post”). In eases where two. or more adjoining properties are owned by one person even though they may front upon different streets, and possess separate titles, a lump valuation has been given. Should an owner desire to sell one such dwelling and land lie cannot inform the purchaser of its valuation nor the amount of rates payable. The attitude of the Valuation Department is set out in a reply to an inquiry from a Northland resident whose block of land runs from Glenmorc street to Garden road and carries two dwellings, one of which is let. The Valuer-General write: “In reply to your letter ... I have to advise that under section 7 of the Valuation of Land Act. 102'), 1 am required to make an entry on the valuation roll for each separate property. There in no definition in the Act as to what constitutes a separate property, but the Department does not regard as separate properties two or more areas, whether in one or more titles, which are not physically separated, and which are not occupied or owned hv separate persons. When these conditions do not obtain or cease to obtain separate roll entries arc made. The meaning given to the term separate property is much the same as that given to the expression ‘one property’ in section 04 of the Electric Power Board Act, 1025, as ‘a contiguous area of land occupied and used as one holding,' and goes on to say ‘notwithstanding that, it may he severed by a public road, nr by a railway or river, if it is in fact ooeupied and used as one property.’ ” Are you interested in silks, viyellas.! .nid dress materials, if so read Trathen’s ' -rr v'l-ovl ispment on page 8; prices an -vmckeb'v tn- * “ ; An old time dance will he held in the Velma to-morrow evening. Solicit ion sale of dress and silk goods! at. Trathen’s. Heavily overstocked. See advertisement page. B.* !