NEW ZEALAND NEWS ITEMS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 34, 10 February 1939, Page 6

NEW ZEALAND NEWS ITEMS

Import Absurdities. Hoping to improve the appearance of his car, a man living in the South Isla.id applied for a license to import five c isc wheels, four for use and one Io take the spare tyre. Under the Import Control Regulations the authorities gave him a license to import only three. Another case in which the restrictions appear to have resulted in an absudity was a license application made tj ..nport at a cost of £75 a tractor cy'inner head that had been broken. The tractor owner was informed • that he could import £45 worth. ‘•All Alivp-O.’’ This is a fish story, but it is vouched for. One morning last week one oj the fishing boats operating from the Wairau Bar secured a turbot in its nets, and the fish was duly brought ashore. It was purchased at once b_a Blenheim resident, who hit upon the novel idea of sending it by air to a! Wellington friend. No time was lost in the despatch and the turbot v.a.l flown across Cook Strait to its destination. It was served that day for lunch, thus finally ending its career' at Wellington the same morning that | it had been swimming around in the | neighbourhood of the Marlborough j coastline. State Lottery Opposed. Opposition to the establishment of a State lottery is expressed by he Palmerston North branch of the vV.C.T.u., which has forwarded the following message to the Minister of Internal Affairs (Hon. W. E. Parry): •‘The members of the Women's Christian Temperance Union protest against the increased facilities for gambling in your proposal to institute State lotteries in this Dominion. We urgently request you to consider the moral deterioration and the wrecking of homes already caused by this anti-social evil before you take any steps to increase its hold upon the people of this fair country.” White Islam! Eruption. Whakatane telephones were busy one day last week over reports of unusual activity at White Island. ‘White Island, she blow herself up,” was the laconic common of one Maori at The pa near the harbour heads. White Island did look different, but the cause was not an eruption. An unusual mirage effect had given the island a truncated appearance. Such an atmospheric condition is a very rare occurrence in the district and explained the consternation of residents. The crew of the launch Outlaw returned from the vicinity of the island while the conjecture was at its height and .n--formed the crowd of onlookers of the true position. t'ublic Works Expenditure. Believing that some of the £17,000,000 earmarked this year fur public works would bo better spent ih bringing deteriorated lands into production and in making good lands produce more, the Palmerston North Chamber of Commerce has set up a committee to investigate such avenues of expenditure in the Manawatu for submission to the Government. It was contended that there were large numbers of men ready to go on to the land if given reasonable terms of settlement and assistance. It was also decided to ask other chambers

throughout New Zealand to investigate possible channels of land utilisation and improvement which would divert men and money from public works to occupations which would return some interest on the money expended with the possibility of the capital involved being retrieved.

Tobacco Research. A drying kiln at Motucka, Nelson will be completed by the end of this week, the first of three to be erected by the Department of Scientific anti Industrial Research for experimental purposes in connection with the local tobacco crop. Experiments will be made in order to ascertain the optimum conditions for the drying oi the leaf, and the many varieties of tobacco which have been grown will be fully tested for their qualities. Tei. years ago about 1000 acres were being utilised for growing tobacco, but at the present time that area hao been more than doubled. With the industry under the control of a board and with modern science, tobacco growing may assume in the future a very important place in the Dominion.

Pitcairn Islanders’ Singing. Like many other ..travellers, Dr R. C. Gillie, of London, who has just i commenced an eight months' ministry | at St. David’s Presbyterian Church, i Auckland, was much impressed by the singing of the Pitcairn Islanders when i they visited the Tamaroa, on which ’ he was travelling, in the early hours jot the morning. Dr. Gillie referred b. ' the incident in the course of his ser- ' mon on Sunday morning, and said I hat when the isiamiers weie rowing away into the dartc someone said. “Sing something to us They rov.ea a little distance, and then the men started to sing "Safe in the Arms of Jesus." "Some of you may think il. is a rather mawkish hymn, ’ said Dr. Gillie, "but it has helped a great many people, and it was wondertul to he u r ■these lonely islanders singing out of 'the dark of the difference Jesus had made to them." Hiking With Donkey. A young English couple who arrived in the Dominion a lew months ago, Lmd who are visiting Gisborne in the I course of a hiking trip, Mr. and Mrs. ' A. Allfrey, have attracted much interest through their novel idea of using 1 a donkey to carry their pack. Avoid- , ing main roads and centres, they have ! .journeyed irom Auckland, via 1 names, I Tauranga and Waikaremoana to Gisborne, and here they intend boarding I ship lor Lyttelton in order to see , i something Qi the South Island. Two I months have passed since Mr. and I .Mrs. Allfrey commenced their jouiney south Horn Auckland. They proI pose eventually to settle in New ZeaI land. Drink and Driving. Pointed comment on the relation of fermented liquors to motor driving and citizenship, apart altogether from the crime of intoxication m charge of 4 motor car, was made b; the Chie. Justice, Sir Michael Myers, in the course of his summing up in a case before the Supreme Court in Dunedin. "A motorist who drives a car on a long journey, be it over good roads or bad, alter having consumed tour glasses of stout and port wine mixed, is not showing himself to be a gooo i citizen,” said his Honour. “I make such 1 a statement without the least hesitaI lion, and I think that you will agiee | with me,” he said, addressing the jury, I "but I would not like you to be led ' away by that remark. Accused is not , [ charged with not being a good citiI zen. Nevertheless, you may think, as . I do, that it is most reprehensible con- , duct for a man to swill —to use a colI, Joquialism—four glasses of such a • mixture. What you have to deter- ' mine, however, is what his condition ■ was at three o’clock in the morning, ■ some hours after he had the drinks,” concluded his Honor.