HERE AND THERE IN NEW ZEALAND

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 319, 29 December 1936, Page 3

HERE AND THERE IN NEW ZEALAND

CLEANINGS OF DOMINION NEWS.

Pohutukawa As Substitute In accordance with naval custom holly is usually hoisted to the masthead on Christmas Day, but in Auckland the prickly holly is not altogether plentiful, and a suitable substitute is found in pohutukawa. Five warships lay- alongside the base wharves at Devoirport on Christinas Day, and bunches of pohutukawa at the mastheads -gave the ships quite an unusual appearance.

Colonial Service Openings. Although there are not many New Zealanders in the Britrish Colonial Service, those who are in it seem to be doing remarkably well and are giving general satisfaction, said Mr C. Y. S. Sewell, a New Zealander who is stationed at Singapore as a member of the service, when he arrived at Auckland by' the Niagara from Vancouver. Mr Sewell came to New Zealand nine years ago on a recruiting visit for the service and was-responsible for eight New Zealanders joining it. He is on a private visit this time, but he said that there are still openings in the service for good men.

Nursey At Railway Station. A nursery where children may be left in charge of a matron while ■their parents are waiting for trains or shopping in the city' promises to be an appreciated feature- of Wellington’s new railway station. This is an innovation for New Zealand, although an adjunct to railway facilities in overseas cities. Russia has developed the idea elaborately, and it is also successful at Flinders Street station, Melbourne. When passengers arrive by 'train with the object of connecting, perhaps an hour later, with the steamer express, or reach Wellington from the south in order to travel north by rail, they are often at their wits’ end to know how in the interval to rest or amuse young children who may be accompanying them. Believing ‘that a playroom and nursery would fill a need, the department decided to incorporate one in the plan of the station.

Moa Skeleton Mounted. The curator of the Alexander Museum, Wanganui (Mr George Shepherd), has just completed 'the task of setting up the skeleton of still another species of moa. The latest addition to the collection of these gigantic extinct birds is a remarkably good specimen of Dinornis Novae Zelandiae, standing six feet high. It has been assembled from the bones recovered last summer from Mr James Todd’s property, as were the bones of the 10ft 6in giant Dinornis Giganteus, the assembling of which was completed two months ago. There are now skeletons of seven species of these/ great birds on exhibition in the Wanganui Museum and Mr Shepherd has begun the task of mounting a specimen of still another ■ species, Anomalopteryx parvus, one of the smallest varieties of the moa family.

Trotting in England. "The trotting sport in England has by no means the status it possesses, in New Zealand,” said Mr H. F. Nicoll in an interview, when discussing his recent visit to England. “You never see trotting me-ntioned in the newspapers, not even in the sporting journals. They do not even publish the bare results.” ;

Lack Of Tenders. Tenders invited for road sealing work in the Piako county resulted in only' one firm responding. The tenders aggregated £4329, or £402 in excess of -the engineer’s estimates. The chairman stated that tenders were only obtainable with the greatest difficulty, while increased amounts were definitely due to the changed labour conditions. The engineer stated he had allowed in his estimates a 20 per cent, increase for the advanced labour conditions.

Restraint of English Newspapers. The absence of gossip about King Edward VIII. in the English papers at a time when American and Con- i tinental papers were full of it fav- | ourably impressed Mr H. F. Nicoll, I of Ashburton, during the visit to I England from which he has jusit re- j turned. There was not a whispejr ■ about the affair in the papers, and | there was no common talk of it, he said ip an interview. That was be- J fore the crisis developed, but it had J gone far enough for one American j paper Mr Nicoll saw to have the ' heading in large type: “Cutie one ) step nearer the Throne.” i

New Customs Check., From the beginning of the New | Year, it will be, necessary for persons entering New Zealand to fill in i a form supplied by the Customs I authorities, stating what dutiable ! goods they have with them. In the ; past a verbal statement has been sufficient, and then luggage has been chalk-marked as evidence of its having been passed. Now, however, the form will be filled in by each passenger, and shown to the Customs officials in the examination shed when luggage is being presented. It will be checked from the forms by | an official as it is being removed i from -the sheds. !

Higher Cost Of Living. The assertion that it would cost the average working man £5O to £lOO a year more to live in Wellington than in Christchurch, was made by Mr D. I. Macdonald, in the Conciliation Council recently. He maintained that, hourly wage rates for concrete pipe moulders and mixers in Christchurch should not be increased to the higher Wellington rate. Miss M. B. Howard, for the union, claimed that living was no dearer in. Wellington than it was in Christchurch. Mr Macdonald declared that dearer living could not be avoided in Wellington. A friend of his, who watched his money carefully' and did not have expensive tastes, was recently! transferred to Wellington. He kept a careful check on his expenses and found that, in a year, it had cost him £l2B more to I live in similar circumstances to those i he had experienced in Christchurch. !

Night in the Open. To spend a night in the open, with a dog and a horse for company, in pouring rain and with cigarettes as a poor substitute for food, was the unenviable experience of Mr D. R. Murray', of Central Otago, who was a visitor to Queenstown recently for a week-end. Mr Murray was on a station in the region of the Haast Pass, and was returning from a day’s ride when he became lost in the bush. Steady rain forced him to seek shelter under a ledge on the face of a cliff. There he crouched from the late afternoon until dawn, drenched with rain and smoking innumerable cigarettes. In the early morning he shot a wild duck and prepared a meal. It. was a primitive meal. Mr Murray had no means of getting dry firewood, and had to spit a leg of the duck with matches and old envelopes. The repast over, he mounted his horse and set out for home. But his troubles were not yet over. In fording a river swollen by Hood waters both horse and man were swept over 200 yards downstream before 'they managed to struggle ashot»e. “It was all part, of the day’s work,” said Mr Murray, “but some work can be too eventful.”

Thoughtless Motorists. There are few motorists who would ■ care to risk an argument with a lire I engine but recently a woman driven i held to what she apparently consid- ■ ered her rights on the road and nearly caused a bad accident. A tire engine was speeding up a clear road and when it approached an intersection a woman driver appeared on the engine’s right. Presumably the woman considered that even fire engines had to obey the rule of the right, and she cpnliiued over the .crossing with the machine bearing down on her. Only the smart work bf the man at the wheel of the engine slopped a crash for he jammed on his brakes and the machine skidded for almost 20 yards. If it was my satisfaction for the woman, she made a tire engine give way to her. The' Superintendent of the Christchurch Fire' Brigade (Mr C. C. Warner) states that the regulations provided that all 'traffic, pedestrian or vehicular, must pull into the side of the road and allow a fire engine a clear passage. However, on returning from a call an engine had to obey the ordinary rules of the road. Most motorists, he added, were very careful to give lire engines a clear road, but occasionally there were exceptions.