HERE AND THERE IN NEW ZEALAND

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 331, 12 January 1937, Page 3

HERE AND THERE IN NEW ZEALAND

GLEANINGS OF DOMINION NEWS.

Jelly-fish At Raglan.

“Bluebottle” jelly-fish have been , prevalent at Raglan this summer, ? and several swimmers have suffered painful stings. One visitor threw a stick from the shore and sent his } terrier to fetch it. The dog left the ) stick and grasped a jellydish instead. The dog lost consciousness, but int ternal applications of salt water and r brandy saved its life. 1 Replacing a Window. 3 j i The erection of lofty scaffolding s against the north transept of the 1 Christchurch Cathedral recently was the first step in replacing the broken j window above the doorway. The l window was blown out during a ( south-westerly -gale some weeks ago. This window has been broken on !■ other occasions. The freakish result 1 of a storm, increasing the air pres5 sure in the Cathedral so .chat the window is burst out, puts the Cathedral Chapter to considerable i expense. Sheep On the Road. Sheep from Poverty Bay and the East Coast are on the road again in considerable numbers. A mob of 3000 passed through Wakatane for the railhead at Taneatua during last week. It is stated that 90,000 sheep from the East Coast will be offered at the Morrinsville stock sales early this year and that about 10,000 sheep are at present on the road. ApproxiI mutely 40 special trains will be required to convey the sheep from the East Coast during January and February. Cargo From Cook Islands. The wide range of articles exported from Samoa, Fiji, the Cook Islands, and Tonga .io New Zealand markets was indicated by the nature of the general cargo which reached Auckland last week by the Matua. It included bananas, kumeras, pineapples, melons, pumpkins, cocoa beans, and a large consignment of orange juice, a product which has found a good market in New' Zealand. But the staple product of the islands is copra, and the opinion was expressed by passengers that for some time at least the prosperity of planters wo.uld stand or fall by the price of copra.

Magistrate And Police. “My relations with the members of the police force while a magistrate have always been most pleasant, and I have never had to say a nasty or a sharp word to a sergeant or a constable,” said Mr F. K. Hunt at the Auckland central police station, when presentations were made to him as a mark of appreciation of his services in Auckland on the magisterial bench. Mr Hunt said he attributed this to the fact that 50 years ago, in Christchurch, he w r as articled to the Crown Prosecutor in that city, Mr J. C. Martin, who later became a magistrate and then a judge of the Supreme Court. “As a clerk in his office I spent a lot of my time at the police station, and for years I was closely connected with the inside o-f the police force,” he added. “I have always had the greatest respect for the officers and men of the New Zealand Police Force.” Big Bay ’Plane Crash. The date of .the inquiry into the accident to the Fox Moth aeroplane at Big Bay, in which one passenger was killed and three others and the pilot injured, has not yet been fixed. The three injured passengers are still in hospital (says the “Southland Times”), and until their health is sufficiently recovered to allow of evidence being taken, no date can be made for the hearing. The injured persons in hospital ar e progressing well. Mr W. E. Hunt’s condition is improving, and Sister Catherine Buckingham and Mr George Ross are both reported to be making satisfactory progress. An Xray examination of Mr A. J. Bradshaw, pilot of the aeroplane, has revealed that, in addition to the severe scalp wound he suffered, he is suffering from a fractured spine. The doctor who is attending him states that, , considering his injuries, his successful efforts to remove the passengers from the aeroplane immediately after the crash were most commendaible.

An Old, Old Clock. The longevity of the old fashioned grandfather clocks is phenomenal, i At th© recent golden wedding at, . Haiwera of Mr and Mrs Arthur • Nisbet, former residents of Marton, a j grandfather clock given as a wedding ! present 50 years ago was shown with | pride. The mechanism is in perfect order in the old clock which to-day ticks away th e seconds as faithfully as it did half a century ago. Greymouth Rain. With a fall of 1.51 inches of rain for the 24 hours up to 9 a.m., on Saturday, and numerous heavy showers throughout the day, Grey- - mouth is continuing to experience I | unseasonable weather. On Saturday J the temperature was much lower, ; i and as the day drew on a bitterly ; I cold south-westerly wind made condi- j I tions most unpleasant. Despite this, however, there was a surprisingly large attendance at th e Greymouth Trotting Club’s -meeting at Victoria Park. Heavy coats and waterproof capes, not to mention several horse covers, helped to keep the crowd » near the .totalisator, the returns of ! which differed little from last year’s • meeting. King Country Roads. [ After the heavy rain, which fell i last week the road between Otoro- I hanga and Te Awamutu, except for | the sealed portion, cut up very bad- I ly. Deep potholes developed in the • surface, and in several patches near > Otorohanga the road went complete- I ly through to the clay as a result of i the heavy traffic during th© w:t ; weather. The position was much . aggravated by the fact that the High- i ways employees were off on holidays, i This week with the aid o-f graders j the road has been very much im- I proved, though the portion through ■ the reconstruction area is still diffi- . cult to negotiate.

\ State Fire Office. The Honourable Mr F. Jones, Min- | ister-in-Charge of the State Fire Of- ‘ flee, announces that the Board -of I th B Office, acting under the authority I of the State Fire Insurance Amend- j ment Act, 1022, has directed an allo- j cation out of profits of a bonus to ! Policy-holders. The bonus, which j will operate for a year, will be calcu- I lated in relation to the period for j which the insurances have been in , force up to a minimum of three I years, and the sums due will be , credited to the premiums on the re- i newal of the existing policies expir- | Ing on or after December 1, lf>36. I The bonus will be additional to the ; current State Fire rebates, which i become permanent rate reductions, i and will represent varying per- ; centages on last year's premium o'f , from 10 per cent, to 25 per cent. Auckland Bus Terminal. i Although little Impression can be j gained as yet of the final appearance 1 of the municipal transport terminal ! on the old railway station site, off j

Lower Queen Street, good progress is being made with the preliminary work which is being carried out by the engineer’s department of the City Council (states the “New Zealand Herald.”) The main part of the | work proceeding at present is the i construction of the reinforced con- ! crete columns for the main building, j This is to be a single-storeyed struc- ; ture, providing office accommodation for the various transport services, togetner with public facilities, such as waiting-rooms, safetia, and shops. The other main part of the work will be the construction of a long loading platform which will accommodate under cover eight service cars and 11 buses simultaneously during ordinary hours, i

Value Of Education. Questions as .to whether matricu- > lation is thought to be essential or ■ not, whether a knowledge of French s is of any value, and whether the ■ usual subjects taught in secondary i schools are sufficient, are amongst those which employers of clerks are i being asked to answer. Information ■ is sought by the New Council of Educational Research as to th e views of j ■ employers on the value of the pre- j ‘ sent system of post-primary educa- I ' tion as applied to business training i and practice, hence the questionnaire I addressed to employers of clerks, j The questions are asked in such a i way as to allow extensive lajtitude I in answering, and an individual ex- i pression of opinion is sought. Ample [ provision is made under the heading ■ of “remarks” for employers, who I need not necessarily sign their j names to the questionnaire -when re- i turning it, to say, if they want to, ! i exactly -what they think albout the I present educational system. I