
New life for British youths
Young British men gather with New Zealand high commissioner Sir James Allen (centre) at Waterloo Station, London before their emigration to New Zealand. — Otago Witness, 2.6.1925
Some 320 assisted settlers are travelling to New Zealand by the SS Corinthic.Sir James Allen was among those who saw them off at Waterloo Station. Thirty boys selected under the terms of the Sheepowners' Fund, fifty boys under the auspices of the Salvation Army, and thirty-six domestic servants are included in the number. The High Commissioner spoke to a good many of the boy settlers and wished them every success
in their new home. Numbers of high officials of the Salvation Army were on the platform to give an official farewell to their section of the young travellers. Before the train left the platform there were many hearty cheers.
Greyhounds chase live hares
The June meeting of the Dunedin Coursing Club was commenced at Forbury Park yesterday afternoon, the coursing being witnessed by a fair number of those interested in the sport. The plumton was in good order, and the hares ran well. Very few kills were recorded; the game, in almost all cases, being given plenty of grace before the dogs were slipped. Among the dogs competing were several from Canterbury and Southland.
The judge was Mr R. Prebble, Mr J. Ronald acting as slipper. Two rounds of the Boyle Memorial Stake were run off.
Relief funds strong to save
The executive of the Shipwreck Relief Society of New Zealand, in its annual report, state that the past year was free from any shipping disaster involving loss of life. During the year the sum of £20 1 shilling was expended in relief for the crew of the launch Sunlight, and £230 in relief to the crew of the steamer Ngahere, wrecked at Greymouth. To the Union Steam Ship Co the executive is again deeply indebted for its handsome
contribution to the funds during the year, the sum of £206 11s 4d having been received from entertainments hold on board the company's steamers.
The causes of crime
Is it possible to find any root cause of crime that can be dealt with practically? The investigation undertaken by Professor W.S. Athearn, Dean of the Boston University School of Religious Education and Social Service concluded that the cause of crime is the failure of society to teach virtue, and that the crime wave will last until society builds a system of moral and religious schools to match the public schools of the land. The implied suggestion
is that the churches have too long devoted almost all their resources to preaching to the mature, and that the time has come when they must accept as their primary work the teaching of the young. Obviously the more they can agree to work in unison the more effective will their work be. A survey of the facts of juvenile crime and of the provision of moral teaching in the dominion would provide a fitting basis for drawing attention to the urgency
of the problem and to the need of some whole-hearted effort to abolish the spiritual illiteracy of the child which, according to Dr Athearn, is at the basis of all crime and moral delinquency. — editorial — ODT, 6.6.1925
Compiled by Peter Dowden
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Social workers salute colleague
Social workers of Dunedin (back row) Miss Inglis, Rev G.E. Moreton, Sister Nora, Rev S.F.N. Waymouth, Ensign Coombs; (front row) Rev V.G. Bryan King, Mrs Jackson, Mayor of Dunedin Mr H.L. Tapley, Mrs Gorrie and Mr F.G. Cumming. — Otago Witness, 29.9.1925 Rev S.F.N. Waymouth, the newly-appointed vicar of St Mark's Church, Balclutha, will take up his duties on July 1. At a farewell gathering yesterday, Mrs Jackson, on behalf of the social workers of the city, presented the Rev Waymouth, one of their number, with a handsome torch, and in doing so referred to his many good qualities which had endeared him to his fellow-workers. The Mayor (Mr H.D. Tapley) said that Dunedin would be the poorer as the result of Mr Waymouth's departure for Balclutha, where he would assume duties as parish priest. Mr Waymouth made a suitable response, and thanked his fellow-workers for their kindness. Nautical words A battered and weather-worn coal hulk was being warped from one wharf to another at Dunedin the other day. She was the shell of a sailing ship of earlier days, and a well-known sea captain stood on the poop directing the linesmen. An acquaintance drifted along, and could not resist the temptation of good-natured banter. The big man on the hulk's poop appeared to be in his element, and a broad smile spread over his face when he caught sight of the fellow on the wharf. "Like the old days, eh, captain?" was the greeting from the longshoreman. The captain's face was wreathed in smiles at this salutation. "Take in the slack of the port bow line, and ease away the after springs," called the man from the wharf. Like a flash the captain whirled, and his face was ominously clouded when he shouted back over the smooth waters: "You go to — !" The man on the wharf lost no time in drifting. What hospitals are for At the meeting of the Otago Hospital Board on Thursday night the Medical Superintendent (Dr A. R. Falconer) said "A hospital in its broader aspect has four primary functions: (1) The care of the sick, (2) the teaching of disease, (3) the study of disease, and (4) the prevention of disease. Only in so far as a hospital undertakes this fourfold responsibility is it functioning in a real sense as a community organisation loading to higher ideals of health administration and to a greater development of the science of combating disease and contributing more to the welfare of the community in which it is located." Not right on time To the editor: Sir, A probable error occurs in your to-day's issue. The Mr John Gordon referred to by you as the evident chief engineer of the Algarsson Expedition was in Colombia, South America, a month ago, and with no intentions of leaving. Five weeks' travelling is required to reach London from the portion of Colombia where he then was, so that he is probably not the Mr Gordon, of Dunedin, referred to in the cablegram. — I am, etc, R. Gordon (his brother), Moa Flat, June 24. Sitting on a gold mine While digging on his property at the upper end of Beach street, Waikouaiti, recently, a resident dug up a small purse containing a gold ring. It is interesting to recall that 50 years ago, while digging on the same spot, a former resident dug up a gold ring, 15 sovereigns, and over £2 worth of silver, including five-shilling pieces, fourpenny pieces, shillings, and sixpences. Apparently the ring was buried at the same time as the money. — ODT, 27.6.1925. Compiled by Peter Dowden


Otago Daily Times
15-06-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Unmarked road hazard
Mr and Mrs Walter Taine, of Dunedin, and their car, were unharmed after a plunge off a flood-damaged road between Blenheim and Kaikoura. — Otago Witness, 23.6.1925 Mr and Mrs Walter Taine have returned to Dunedin from a motor trip through both islands, the pleasure of which was interfered with by only one untoward incident. Neither sails nor funnels It was an incident of a kind that should not be possible. Mr and Mrs Taine were on their way from Blenheim to Kaikoura after darkness had set in on the evening of the King's Birthday, and were following the main road, as the guidebook indicated they should do, when their car suddenly dropped into Middle Creek in 10 feet of water. The Middle Creek bridge was extensively damaged by floods in 1923 and has never been restored. As the road has not been fenced off at the point at which the bridge stood, it constitutes an exceedingly dangerous trap under existing conditions. Motorists familiar with the district are aware that in order to avoid this trap a deviation is necessary, but visitors to the district following the information afforded in the guidebook, are liable to all the risks of serious accident, and, as we are informed, the local authority has taken no steps to protect them. In this instance, it was with difficulty that Mrs Taine was extricated from the car. As far as its exterior appearance goes, it seems likely that the more powerful motor ship will eventually grow into a featureless liner of, say, 20,000 tons, with neither sails nor masts nor funnels, able to do its 15 knots year in and year out. It will be no safer and no surer than the steamship has been, but it will cost less to run, and in a day of strenuous competition trade accrues to the shipowner who can cut down his running costs. Plunket thanks Emily Siedeberg A very pleasant function took place when Dr Siedeberg was presented with a gold-mounted fountain pen in recognition of her 12 years' work as treasurer of the Society for the Protection of Women and Children. Lady Sim, in making the presentation, referred to the pioneer work that Dr Siedeberg had done for medical women. She had stuck to her guns against all opposition and had led the way for other women to follow. Lady Sim also referred to the great interest Dr Siedeberg had always taken on all social questions affecting the welfare of women. Dr Siedeberg suitably reacted, thanking the committee for its gift. Law and publicity In declining to order the suppression of the names of four young men charged at Auckland with theft from warehouses and with receiving stolen goods, Mr Poynton SM spoke somewhat plainly on a subject upon which plain-speaking is desirable. There has been evidence of a growing tendency to endeavour to secure for wrong-doers the protection of the courts by the suppression of their names. It is obvious that if the publication of names were abolished altogether a valuable deterrent, as well as a safeguard for the public, would disappear. There have been instances in which the discretionary powers of the Bench have been exercised for no satisfactory or convincing reason. There are cases in which the non-publication of the names of persons charged before a magistrate may be a fair and proper thing — for instance, as those in which the persons concerned are actually first offenders who have taken a first wrong step in circumstances offering perhaps some extenuation. The argument, also, for the suppression of offenders' names on humanitarian grounds is a sound one. But it must not be carried too far. — editorial — ODT, 16.6.1925 (Compiled by Peter Dowden)


Scoop
15-06-2025
- Scoop
Respected Kiwi Writer Maurice Gee Has Died, Aged 93
Respected Kiwi writer Maurice Gee - author of 'Plumb' and 'Under the Mountain' - has died, aged 93. Considered one of New Zealand's greatest novelists, his work extended over 50 years. He wrote about ordinary people and ordinary lives, often with the narrator looking back at events that caused damage and unhappiness. "I don't deliberately set out to do this, but the stories turn in that direction following their own logic," he said. "All I can do about it is make the narrative as interesting as I can and give those people lively minds." Maurice Gee was born in Whakatāne in 1931 and educated at Auckland's Avondale College in Auckland and at Auckland University where he took a Masters degree in English. He worked as a teacher and librarian, before becoming a full-time writer in 1975. He passed much of his childhood in what was then the country town of Henderson. The town, disguised as Loomis, and its creek are featured in many of his books. "I grew up alongside that creek in Henderson, and it seemed all sorts of exciting and dangerous things happened down there," he said. "You know, that creek I could plot its whole length pool by pool for a couple of miles even today." His reputation took an enormous leap in 1978 with the publication of 'Plumb', the first of a trilogy about three generations of a family. The novel won the British James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction in 1979. The character of Plumb was based on maternal grandfather Jim Chapple - a Presbyterian minister, who was ejected from the church, because of his rationalist beliefs and jailed for preaching pacifism during World War I. Gee inherited strong left-wing views from that side of his family and a burden of sexual puritanism, which he said caused him a tortured adolescence, although he denied claims of a strong authorial voice in his work. "I can't look at my books the way I read other books," he said. "I look at them quite differently. "I'm intimately connected with them and probably wouldn't be able to indentify my voice in them, if someone asked me to." He said his novel 'Crime Story' stemmed from his anger over the changes made in New Zealand by the Lange Labour Government in the 1980s, and politicians and businessmen are seldom portrayed favourably in his books. Gee's output included short stories and television scripts, and his children's fiction was highly regarded, although it was not his preferred genre. "Children's writing seems to be easier than adult writing, because it's coming off a different level," he said. "There's still some pleasure to be got from both and I try to do each as professionally as I possibly can, but the thing that really engages me fully is adult fiction." Written in 1979, 'Under the Mountain' was probably his best-known children's work, and was later converted into a film and TV series. He received many awards for his work, including the Burns and Katherine Mansfield Fellowships, honorary degrees from Victoria and Auckland universities, and the Prime Minister's Award for literary merit. He won the the Deutz Medal for fiction in 1998 for his novel 'Live Bodies' and the 2006 Montana New Zealand Book Award for 'Blindsight'. "Sad to hear of Maurice Gee's passing," Arts, Culture & Heritage Minister Paul Goldsmith said. "Our thoughts are with his family. "He was a prolific and graceful author. 'Plumb' is my favorite, although thousands of Kiwis will have their own." "Maurice Gee was a real giant of New Zealand literature and so many people grew up reading his stories, including me," Nelson MP and Labour arts, culture & heritage spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. "Really sad that one of our beloved constituents has passed away. He was a private person - I didn't know him well - but he made a big contribution to Nelson, not just through his writing. "He was involved in groups like Friends of the Maitai, who do a huge amount of work to protect our river that runs through inner city Nelson. "Wonderful that he was able to live such a full life, but sad when we lose someone that has made such a significant contribution to our nation." Gee is survived by wife Margareta, their two daughters, and a son from an early relationship.