LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 5 July 1938, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Makuri Gorge Road. Forty men are now employed on road improvement work in the Makuri Gorge. The highway through this beauty spot is to be widened and the curves eased to bring it up to modern requirements.

Road Improvements. Work was started yesterday on the widening and elimination of bad corners on the Longbush-Pope’s Head section of the Martinborough Highway. A length of four miles is being improved and about fifteen or sixteen men are engaged on the work.

Tuck-shop at High School. Following the custom in English and Australian public schools, the New Plymouth Boys’ High School has built a tuck-shop in its own grounds to cater solely for boys of the school. The shop was built by boys skilled in carpentry, and is to be run by a committee of boys under the chairmanship of Mr Brensturm, a new master who arrived this term. Relics of Old Cottage.

Suggestions that some parts of the 97-year-old cottage now standing on the site for the new post office at New Plymouth might be presented for the museum have been made, and Mr W. H. Skinner, who has been in charge of the museum for many years, has approved the proposal. It is considered that possibly part of the timber might be obtained and relics made from it for housing in the museum.

An Unusual Swan. Shot on Lake Hunia, near Himatangi, on Wednesday', a black and white mottled swan was an unusual exhibit at the meeting of the Palmerston North branch of the Wellington Acclimatisation Society. Members could not recall having seen such colouring before, all the wild swan in New Zealand being entirely black. There are a few white ones in captivity. The general opinion was that the bird was a "sport,” and not a cross.

Export of Wire-Strainers. Something new in exports from New Zealand left Wellington on Saturday for the United Kingdom by the Federal steamer Surrey. Wire-strainers are largely used in New Zealand in the making of thousands of miles of wire fences in the Dominion, and a large proportion of them are imported. Now, however, a quantity of metal wirestrainers has been, it is believed for the first time, exported from New Zealand. The consignment taken by the Surrey consisted of two cases of metal wirestrainers manufactured by Donald and Sons, Ltd., Masterton, which have been bought by a Glasgow firm. Benefits of Maori Huis.

“The uninitiated are apt to think of the Maori hui as a mere time of feasting and thoughtless merriment,” states the Rev J. G. Laughton, of Taupo, in a report ot the Missions Committee of the Presbyterian Church, “but without any doubt the Maori hui is being used in these days by wise leaders as a means of propagating ideas most valuable for the health and future development of the race.” Mr Laughton was reporting after having attended the official opening at Wairoa of the Takitimu memorial meeting house to the late Sir James Carroll. “These large gatherings,” he said, “are serving their purpose in improving contacts between different sections of the race who were historically at enmity and in welding ■the whole people into one family.”

Publicity for Dominion. A photographic album illustrating scenic attractions of New Zealand has been prepared by the Automobile Association (Auckland) for despatch to the Automobile Association (London). Containing 30 pages, the album measures 18in. by 13in., and includes 99 photographs. The album is bound in brown leather and bears on the frontispiece the title “The Gem of the Pacific —Colourful New Zealand.” Each page has been titled with hand lettering by the association’s sign-posting staff. A page has also been devoted to the association’s activities in Fiji. It is hoped that the album will serve as a valuable medium of publicity for the Dominion. Maori Relics Found.

Further evidence of early Maori occupation of Marlborough and the east coast was discovered last week by public works employees engaged near the Aniseed camp. Several relics were found, comprising portions of skeletons, four or five skulls, and also several rounded and worn pieces of greenstone. The discovery was made when several huge boulders near the entrance to caves at Aniseed creek were being removed in order to obtain rock for sea protection work. After a particularly formidable boulder had been demolished, the entrance to a new cave was laid bare. Inside the cave were remains of skeletons and skulls, and two of the latter seemed to be of great age. One had a remarkably low forehead, the measurement between its recession and brow being not more than an inch. Care of Backward Children.

The pressing need for a hostel at Auckland for backward children was brought yesterday to the notice of the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Hon W. E. Parry, who, on behalf of the Prime Minister, heard a deputation from the Institute for the Care of Backward Children. The deputation stated that children in various parts of the province who needed the assistance of the institute were unable to obtain homes in Auckland. The institute had appeals from Kaitaia, Dargaville, Rotorua, Waikato, Feilding, Gisborne, and New Plymouth. The letters were so pleading that the Institute arranged with an Auckland woman who generously offered to board a few of these children but broke down uqder the strain of caring for them. Mr Parry assured the deputation of his sympathy with the work. He knew that a hostel was needed and would discuss the matter with the Prime Minister. Century-old Atlas.

An atlas which is believed to be one of the oldest of its kind in the Dominion is in the possession of a Palmerston North resident, Mr J. B. Fleck. It was printed nearly 100 years ago. A study of the map of New Zealand shows Onehunga spelt without the “h,” and Manukau harbour is named Symond’s harbour. Gisborne, Napier, Hastings, Palmerston North, Blenheim or Christchurch are not shown, and there are no towns at all marked on the West Coast of the South Island., The Manawatu river is shown as rising in a Taranaki lake at the back df Mount Ruapehu, and the Rangitikei river appears to be just reaching the Rua Wahine (Ruahine) range. The present city of Wanganui is shown with its former name, Petre, and Otago harbour is called Port Otako. The North Island is marked New Ulster, the' South Island New Munster, and Stewart Island New Leinster or South Island.