LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 8 April 1938, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Athlete Transferred. One of New Zealand’s national athletic champions, Mr Graham Quinn, Dominion sprint title-holder, has been transferred to Palmerston North from Wellington. “Safety Week” for Traffic. The possibility of a “safety week” being organised by the Christchurch City Council, during which special attention wil be given to traffic control, is indicated in a report presented to the council by the traffic committee. The report said that the committee was considering proposals submitted by the chief traffic inspector <Mr J. Bruorton) for the holding of a "safety week.” The committee proposed to invite representatives of various organisations to meet it and assist it in its desire ot make the public more "traffic-minded.”

Modern Drovers. Sale day in a small town provides plenty of interesting sights, and what is ordinarily a sleepy and not very goahead village seems to brighten up. Crowded footpaths buzz with gossip, and farmers’ grumblings. But Temuka (South Canterbury) seems to be a little ahead of some of the towns on the plains, for on the main road just out of the town a modern touch is seen every Tuesday in the way some farmers drive their mobs of sheep to the yards. Instead of the usual gig, rider on horse-back, or even barefooted boy. big luxurious sedan cars crawl along behind the mobs, the shirt-sleeved owner shouting directions to his dogs from the open window and apparently finding the modern form of transport as good for this age-old purpose as those which have been used for cenLast year an American golfer holed out in one 20 times. He still carries a putter, though, just in case.

Body on Otaki Beach. A man was found dead on Otaki Beach, a Press Association message reports. His identity is unknown.

Aeroplane Instruction. Mr K. R. Johnston, pilot-instructor at the Hood Aerodrome, left yesterday for Dannevirke, where he will carry out a week’s instructional work. Flying Fish off the Coast. Flying fish were observed off the Nosies at the week-end by Mr A. W. B. Powell, conchologist at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. Mr Powell expresses the opinion that the exceptionally warm tmeperatures of the sea this season have brought many other types of visiting fish off the coast, including several varieties of swordfish and tuna. First Aid Lecture. An interesting lecture on first aid was given to the nursing division of the St. John Ambulance on Monday evening by Dr J. H. Berney, who referred to fractures, their causes and effects, and treatment. Practical lessons wil be given on Monday next by Miss Whitehouse, lady superintendent. Further enrolments can be made, and ladies are urged to join these classes, which are of value to all. Married Women Teachers. A statement that the New Zealand Educational Institute was completely in favour of the employment of married women teachers as a matter of right was made by the vice-president of the institute, Mr F. L. Combs, when its evidence was being taken on the Education Amendment Bill before the Education Committee of the House of Representatives yesterday. Basketball. The annual meeting of the Technical Old Girls’ Basketball Club was held in the Y.M.C.A. rooms last evening. Miss B. Venner was re-elected secretary. It was decided to hold practices every Wednesday evening from 5.15 to 6.15 o’clock at the Y.M.C.A. rooms, commencing next week. The season opens on April 30. Electricity Loan. The State Advances Mortgage Corporation of New Zealand is arranging a loan of £6OOO to the Tararua Electric Power Board at 3J per cent. Camp Site. The Public Works Department has made a start on the construction of a camp, presumably for the men who are to be employed on the Makuri Gorge widening work. The site is on Mrs Waring’s property, Pori, in the Masterton electorate. Diploma of Horticulture. Since 1927, when a diploma course was granted to the New Zealand Institute of Horticulture by the Government, 45 students in various parts of the Dominion have obtained the diploma by examination, said Mr J. A. McPherson, curator of the Christchurch Botanic Gardens, in an address at the weekly luncheon of the Christchurch Rotary Club yesterday. A total of 170 persons had been granted the diploma without examination, and 17 persons had obtained the inter-mediate-certificate, and 29 the junior certificate of the institute. Inhuman Slaughter. Christchurch members of the Sociey for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals strongly criticised the practice of hanging lambs and pigs on hooks before killing in one of the Canterbury freezing works, which they visited a few days ago. Mr H. P. Bridge, a member of the party, described the killing methods as “out of date, cruel and inefficient.” In the second works, where killing was carried out as humanely as possible, he said, pigs were first stunned instantaneously by an electrical discharge passed through steel plates clamped behind the ears. Cattle were killed by a gun which fired a steel rod directly into to brain, the beast being held immovable in a pen.

Costly Parachutes. The most costly consignment of silk —for its size—that has ever been landed in New Zealand was paid for last week by Mr G. Sellars. It comprises two new parachutes, fori which he paid £135. The one which he will normally use is 28 feet in diameter, and has an area of approximately 690 square feet, while the emergency one is 24 feet in diameter and has an area of approximately 550 square feet, each having a large circular hole in the centre. To each parachute there are 24 shrouds, of woven silk rope, each tested to stand a strain of 4501 b. Both parachutes and shrouds are made of specially-selected silk, which is neither dyed nor soaked in lead solution, as are most commercial silk fabrics, to increase the weight. They are pure, untreated raw silk, and to preserve them as such they cannot even be washed with soap if they become dirty. Rinsing in pure water alone is the only laundering to which they may be subjected. Proud Sea Record. Twenty-five years of unbroken service, one of the proudest records in the shipping history of the Pacific, has been completed by the Canadian-Aus-tralasian liner Niagara. On May 19, 1913, as the largest and finest ship ever to enter New Zealand waters, the Niagra first visited Auckland. The twentyfifth anniversary of this day will occur when the liner is at Vancouver after her next voyage north. In her long sea service, during which she has gained just claim to be one of the most popular passenger ships calling at Auckland, the Niagara has made about 150 round voyages in the trade between Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. She has enjoyed a singular fortunate career, and on no occasion has she been involved in any serious mishap.