NEWS IN BRIEF.

Otago Witness, Issue 4033, 30 June 1931, Page 34

NEWS IN BRIEF.

Sydney, with tiie prevailing shortage of money and with the doors of the State Savings Bank still closed, is going back to the old system of barter (reports the Wellington Post’s correspondent). Exchange of goods, such as motor cars, and property, such as houses, farms and businesses is taking the form of currency in thousands of eases. If one has something one does not want and someone else lias something that is wanted instead then a swap follows. Where properties are involved in these exchanges, estate agents are not growling, for they receive commission on the stated value of both commodities exchanged. It is the intention of the Irrigation Committee of the Canterbury Progress League to carry out in the near future a trial of an irrigation scheme on some unusually dry land at Oxford, that has been offered for the purpose by a landholder between the Eyre and Waimakariri Rivers (says the Press). The committee, which met on Thursday afternoon, is of the opinion that the scheme will produce good results, and Mr R. M‘Gillivfay, fields inspector for the Department of Agriculture, will inspect the farm and make a report to the committee. A similar trial was held recently at Seafield, in the Ashburton district, and an engineer’s report on the result is now awaited.

Speaking at the Wanganui Rotary Club recently, Flying-officer lan Keith said there was no feeling of giddiness when in an aeroplane (says the Herald). Even when' going into a spinning nose dive there was little sensation, or, when looping the loop, there was no uncomfortable feeling. For a spinning nose dive the pilot merely put his controls “ central ” and the plane righted itself, while in the case of looping the loop, the ground merely seemed to be up in the air instead of below. When in a spinning nose-dive the machine was travelling towards the earth at something like 2()0 miles an hour—looo feet in three seconds. The speaker said that he had felt less giddy on the wing of a plane than when looking over the side of a building. “ Build me straight, oh worthy Master, staunch and strong, a goodly vessel, that shall laugh at all disaster, and with wave and whirlwind wrestle.” Such was the specification of an old-time owner to an old ship builder, and the advice is sound to the builder of to-day, said Rotarian S. Reed at a recent meeting of the Napier Rotary Club. “ Sound and secure foundation, strongly and carefully built superstructure, are the only sound principles on which one can go. No elaboration of interior or exterior will make up for carelessness jn the building of the foundations or the upper structures.”

A word of the value of the ability to say “No ” to temptation was,. addressed by his Excellency the Governor-General (Lord Bledisloe) to the children among hig hearers at the public welcome function in Gisborne last week. “ When you say ‘No ’ to temptation, you begin to conquer that particular temptation; so that when it comes again, you have less difficulty in denying it once more. By repeated efforts, it is thus possible to become completely master of the temptation, and by that means, you build character, the great force which other people recognise as one of the supreme qualities of our race.” remarked his Excellency, whose speech was followed with the keenest interest by the juvenile portion of his audience, as bv his adult hearers. “ The interest shown in the association in the past year has not been up to expectations,” declared Mr S. W. House at the annual meeting of the Auckland Tomato and Stone Fruit Growers’ Association. More than £500,000 was invested in the tomato industry in New Zealand, said Mr G. A. Green, the secretary, and every effort had been made by the association to obtain registration. When that became a fact every grower would have the opportunity of joining voluntarily; if he did not do so he would be required to pay the registration fee. A deputation of 14 residents of Stewart Island, representing the unanimous opinion of the people of the Island, travelled to Bluff i n the Rakiura on Thursday morning and proceeded to Invercargill to meet.members of the Bluff Harbour Board and place before them the claims of the people of Stewart Island for an improved ferry service between Bluff and the island. It was originally intended (says the News) that this deputation should travel from the island on Tuesday, but the rough weather experienced made the trip inadvisable, so arrangements bad to be made to confer with the Harbour Board at Invercargill.

“It depends entirely on the type of address which he proposed to give,” remarked the Mayor of Christchurch (Mr D. G. Sullivan, M.P.), commenting on the announcement that the Dunedin City Council had refused permission for Mr A. Galbraith to use the Town Hall Concert Chamber for an address on “ Russia and its Conditions,” under the auspices of the Communist Party of New Zealand. “If Mr Galbraith was going to preach violence. I should have refused him myself. If, on the other hand, he intended to have an academic discussion on Communism, or to Oliver a lecture on Russia, then the Dunedin City Council had no justification for its action.” remarked Mr Sullivan.

A Timaru girl with relatives and friends in Christchurch was told by an amateur fortune teller some weeks ago that the city would be razed by an eafthquake at 3.15 p.m. on Tuesday, June 16 (reports the Christchurch Times). This prediction, heard with amusement, worried her as the days passed, and, on June 16. she was feeling very anxious. It occurred to her that, if she listened to the afternoon programme from 3YA from 3 pm. to 3.30 p.m., she could be sure that the earthquake had not occurred. She turned the dial of the set to 3YA, but heard nothing. Terrified, she rushed to the telephone and rang the Timaru exchange. She asked, with some agitation, whether things were well in Christchurch —had there been an earthquake? She was reassured on that point, and the operator asked the cause of her anxiety. She explained that she could not hear Christchurch over- the air, and was then told that it was the silent day. for 3YA.