Waipori power running dry

Yesterday afternoon rain commenced to fall in Dunedin shortly after 4 o’clock, and continued till about 6.30pm, when it stopped. The sky, however, remained overcast. Rain also fell at Waipori. There was a slight fall there early in the afternoon, and fairly heavy rain commenced at 4 o’clock. It continued till 6 o’clock, and then stopped. The rain was very welcome, but it was not sufficient to cause any relaxation in the restrictions on the use of power which are being imposed by the electric department. The loading on the electric power from Waipori has gone down considerably, and it is evident that most consumers are endeavouring to assist the department in every way. It may be made clear that manufacturers are not forced to cut off their power today and tomorrow. All the large manufacturers, however, have promised to shut off as requested, and the department expects the small manufacturers to follow their example. In answer to a request by the department several of the larger retail establishments have agreed to close at half past 5 o’clock tonight instead of at 9 o’clock. The department hopes that this example will be followed by all shopkeepers.  It has now been definitely decided that there will be no tram service on Sunday.

Hitler’s associate acquitted

The treason trial at Munich, the sequel to the Nationalist rising in Bavaria in November last, has reached an end. It was fairly apparent from the beginning, however, that so far as General Ludendorff was concerned, the trial was no better than a piece of political stage-management, and certain to be as much a fiasco as was the uprising in which he prominently participated. The news of his acquittal will therefore not have created any surprise. With his associate Adolf Hitler the case was different. A less important personage altogether in the eyes of his countrymen, Hitler has been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in a fortress. Hitler aspired to the Chancellorship. Ludendorff was only to be commander-in-chief of the German National Army. The one great national figure involved in the rebellion and in the trial has been satisfactorily whitewashed. The Germans, it is to be apprehended, still dearly love a ‘‘superman,’’ and having nobody to put in Ludendorff’s place in that category are determined to keep him on his pedestal. The sufferings endured by the Germans in and through the war have not affected their idolisation of Ludendorff. How the ironwilled hero came to associate himself with Hitler, Von Kahr, and others in a rebellious rising and be innocent of treason where they were guilty may be something of a mystery. But the Munich Court is satisfied and Germany will be content. — editorial

No grip for hooves in ice

The tar-sealed street has a great deal to commend it, but, like everything else, it also has drawbacks. There are drivers of heavy, horse-pulled vehicles who are not looking forward to a happy time when the frosts set in and coat the back streets that are at present being treated by the corporation workmen.

George Aitken’s versatility

The New Zealand Rhodes scholar, G.G. Aitken, has, since playing for Scotland in the rugby match against Wales, been invited to join the British international team to tour South Africa in June. It may be recalled that he was captain of the New Zealand team which defeated South Africa in the test match at Carisbrook. — ODT, 4.4.1924

Compiled by Peter Dowden