© Allied MediaA new launch for Lake Wakatipu: The new 40-foot (12.2m) tuck-stern passenger launch <i>Kelvin</i> built by Mr J. McPherson, of Dunedin, to the order of Mr J. Edgar, of Queenstown. Photo: <i>Otago Witness</i>, issue 3782, September 7, 1926, page 50 A handsome new 40ft tuck-stern passenger launch was launched last week from Mr J. McPherson’s yards near the boat harbour. The boat was built to the order of Mr J Edgar, of Queenstown, and will be used for the Lake Wakatipu tourist traffic. Judging from her recent trials on Otago Harbour the launch should fulfil all expectations. The Kelvin, as she has been named, has a length overall of 40 feet, with a beam of 9ft, while her power is a 30 horse-power, four-cylinder Kelvin engine, which drives her at a speed of about 12 miles an hour. The Kelvin is flush-decked to forward of amidships. She has a large cockpit, sheltered by a roof extending to the stern of the vessel. There is little to obstruct the helmsmen’s view on deck, and the high rails on the fore deck add to the safety of the passengers. The Kelvin will be licensed to carry 16 passengers on the fore deck and 44 in the cockpit. The boat will be conveyed to Queenstown in about a week’s time, after several minor alterations have been made. The Kelvin is a striking picture in her white-painted hull and varnished top sides. She is one of the largest boats built in Dunedin for some time past, and the finished product reflects credit on Mr McPherson. Well played, England King George, with characteristic truth and tact, has pronounced the conclusive judgment on the Test matches. His Majesty congratulates England on winning the “ashes,” and assures the Australians that he has been deeply impressed by their long run of triumphs. “He also appreciates the formidable task of the Australians on a none too easy wicket.” Could any of us have put the point more pithily? League thinking ahead The Otago Expansion League still believes in plenty of trees, and loses no opportunity of preaching the doctrine of preparing for the famine that is to come. At the world’s rate of consumption, soft woods will be at fabulous prices in another 30 years, and the State or the community which has the gumption to “do it now” will reap a golden harvest. The mystery of whitebait To call the whitebait, tiny though it be, the “humble whitebait,” is indeed a misnomer, for, in proportion to its size, it is probably the most expensive fish that swims. Notwithstanding the unappetising (not to say repulsive) appearance of whitebait when arranged in a mass on the fishmonger’s slab, it is beloved of epicures, who will not hesitate to pay as much as 5 shillings per pint for such a dainty. Whitebait are essentially a dish for the gourmet, for whom the appeal of a tender steak or a slice of groper has long since lost its flavour. What the whitebait is, no one knows. Scientists have attempted to classify it in vain. Whence it comes is a mystery, and whither it goes after its migration from the sea to the fresh water streams is more or less a matter of guesswork. Wage earners and the family The monthly meeting of the local branch of the Women’s National Council meeting proceeded with an examination of Miss Eleanor Rathbone’s book on “Family Endowment,” Mrs Alexander giving a concise resume of the third chapter on the social effects of the present system of wage paying. She shows that under the present system the young wage-earner without family responsibilities enjoys a surplus above his actual needs, and that, with the majority who lack thrift and ambition, this tends to encourage slackness, and thus lessens production. On the other hand, wage-earners with a young family soon begin to find difficulty in making ends meet, and the pinch increases with each new child, being greatest during the years when there are most dependent children. The family then often suffers from insufficiency of necessaries of life, while the wage-earner often overtasks himself working overtime. — ODT, 25.8.1926
