5 days ago
New sawmill bridge built
The new Port Craig viaduct. Otago Witness, 30.6.1925
The largest sawmill tramway bridge in the Dominion was recently constructed.
Inculcating care for forests
The timber viaduct at Port Craig, Southland will open up a new area of magnificent timber producing country. The bridge is 7 chains (140m) long, 120 ft (36m) high and was built at a cost of about £5000.
"It would be wise," says the annual report of the Forestry League, "To interest children in the protection of our native birds so that they may be safe-guarded and preserved for all time. The native birds are very beautiful and a necessary adjunct to our native forests, and the Bird Protection Society and Forestry League should work in conjunction with one another. At the present time there are indications very gratifying to those interested which point to an increase in many species, and it is to be hoped that with, proper and securely protected bird sanctuaries throughout the country, this increase will extend to many other kinds of native birds as well.
"Like our virgin forests, New Zealand possesses some of the most beautiful and interesting fauna in the world but, through lack of foresight, they have in some cases been irrevocably destroyed and in others will need the greatest care and protection to see that they are preserved for the benefit of posterity."
He kōtuku rerenga tahi
The white heron is known for the beauty and purity of its snow-white plumes, which were greatly prized by the old-time Maori, who used them for purposes of adornment. They were subject to certain observances under the law of tapu.
The great rarity of the kotuku, or white heron, is expressed in the Maori proverb which says that the bird appears but once in a lifetime. An old Maori resident at Waikareao said he knew of the feathers but had never seen the bird itself.
Getting a motorbike started
It is surprising how few people go the right way about starting an engine from cold. One often sees a rider jumping on his kick-starter, boosting the engine over compression time and again, until he is moist of brow and muttering darkly. A great deal of exertion can often be saved if one goes the right way about it — that is, give the engine a few sharp turns with the exhaust valve lifted, drop the exhaust valve when the engine is freed, and push slowly over compression once or twice. This not only frees the piston, but it circulates the petrol vapours, and the engine should then start without any great exertion on the part of the kickist.
Passenger island unsafe
In crush hours one cannot help wondering whether the "safety" zone in front of the Stock Exchange buildings is correctly named and whether the name should not be the "danger" zone.
A few days ago, a little girl was nearly run over by a motor car as she stepped out from the footpath to reach the zone. The construction of the island has confined the traffic to the narrow passage between the footpath and the island, and the City Council will probably be faced, within a short time, with the alternative of closing this passage to motor traffic altogether or removing the zone. Then, again, the tramcars run very close alongside the island platform, and when the zone is crowded there is a good deal of jostling and pushing amongst the prospective passengers as they get ready to board the trams. Here there is a very distinct element of danger, as a person could quite easily get pushed off the island and under a tram.
— ODT, 6.7.1925 (Compiled by Peter Dowden)
