Nose job for airship
London: The Air Ministry has decided to construct a metal nose cap and otherwise strengthen the dirigible R 33, which had its forepart seriously damaged when it was torn from its mooring post and driven over the North Sea, last April.
Columnist’s clear view
I am a tenacious stickler for old place names, unless the reason for change should be quite obvious. I cannot see why a good name should be abolished in favour of a commonplace innovation. "The Clear" — a bright, breezy, serene name, and a place of serene, breezy, bright memories for many of us, "Prospect Park," forsooth! To my mind there is a vulgar twang about the suggestion — a smug hint of suburban ultra-respectability. I, for one, shall still frequent "The Clear."
— by ‘Wayfarer’
Hyde buildings destroyed
Lane’s Central Otago Hotel at Hyde and a store and hall attached were burnt to the ground yesterday morning.
Green Island forerunner
From information supplied by the secretary of the Otago Education Board, it would appear that the Green Island School was one of the early (perhaps the second) schools opened in the vicinity of Dunedin. Many early settlers took up land in the district known as the Green Island Bush, and records show that a school was opened in that locality in 1856. It was carried on by a private teacher, Mr Wright. In 1859 Mr A.G. Allan was appointed by the Otago Provincial Council.
The number of pupils attending the school in 1862 was 60. A second school was built later, and it is now about 42 years since the present school was erected. Tomorrow evening a meeting of ex-teachers and ex-pupils will be held to make preliminary arrangements for a reunion to celebrate the seventieth anniversary of the opening of the school.
Southern sites yield taonga
At the last meeting of the Wyndham Committee to promote the interests of the Southland Court at the Exhibition, mention was made by the chairman of a fine specimen of a Maori stone axe loaned by Mr Neil McEwan, the axe having been found at Otara. It measures a foot in length, 3 inches at the cutting edge (which is still sharp), and tapers beautifully upward, with a perfect curve to the grip. It is a black stone, hard as flint, and weighs 2 pounds. The original owner would doubtless be proud of his implement. Otara is the locale of many good finds of the kind, and the sands there have been assiduously searched for relics, until the searchers believed the supply was exhausted, but that is not the case, for a Wyndham man recently got two specimens there. Mr George Hunter mentioned at the meeting that at Glenham in the early days Maori implements were frequency turned up by the plough. They were so common as not to be greatly valued.
Innovation in hydrant lids
A device in the form of a fire plug covering, recently invented by Fireman O.B. Elliott, of the Dunedin City Fire Brigade, is undoubtedly a big improvement on the old style. Fireman Elliott gave a demonstration in the presence of Superintendent A.G. Napier and the board. Fireman Elliott explained that, at present, valuable time was often lost in the process of removing the lid, and when this was eventually accomplished, the plug in many cases was found to be completely covered with silt. His new cover was practically silt-proof and could be readily located when placed in the roadway.
— ODT, 26.8.1925 (Compiled by Peter Dowden)
