NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 59, 11 March 1930, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Tram Sign Criticised. The opinion that the Auckland Transport Board was hasty and ill advised in placing the new sign "Balmoral" on Dominion Road tram care without first consulting the local body wins expressed at a meeting of the Mount Eden Borough Council, when Mr. W. H. Nagle said he was surprised that there had been 110 protest from the residents of the district. He said that they did not want to lose the identity of Dominion Road. It was decided to ask tlie Transport Board to include on the Balmoral sign on the trams the additional words "Dominion Road." Where Eggs Are Obstinate. Mr. Russell Owen, the American newspaper man with the Antarctic expedition, had a treat when he arrived in Dunedin on Sunday. This was a flat egg. For the past year or so he has been accustomed to eat eggs, but they were all frozen, and the peculiarity of a frozen egg is tliat the yellow yolk steadfastly refuses to thaw out, in spite of cooking, the result being an expanse of white with a ball of obstinate yellow perched on lop. "One of my pleasures to-morrow," said Mr. Owen, "will be giving the other fellows in their rough togs' the 'once over' and watching tliem and listening to. them when they siglit the first bunch of trees and see the first street car." Clearing Lake Pupuke. Weed growing round the shores of Lake Pupuke is being removed by a gang of men employed by the North Shore Water Board. Special attention is being given to the places near the various pumping stations. Iron hooks fastened to timber are used for grappling the weed, which is then hauled ashore. In many places the growth is found at a depth of between 20 and 30ft, and its v stout growth makes it hard to remove. The weed was originally planted in tlie lake 40 years ago by a Devonport resident, who obtained two plants used for keeping water in aquariums clean. The growth has proved so prolific that periodical clearances are necessary. Child Welfare in Australia. New Zealand is not alone in its trouble with child welfare. In Sydney the other day a deputation waited on the Attorney-General with a request for an amendment to the Guardianship of Infants Act, 1930, which has passed through the Legislative Council. The clause wanted was that the judges, in ordering the custody of any children, should not regard as an obstacle the fact that a parent contemplated leaving the jurisdiction of the court. Mr. Boyee said that the ' bill was designed to give a mother equal rights with a father, dispensing with any prima facie right for the latter. He also intimated that the bill would raise the age of marriage, which it is surprising to learn, at present is 14 for boys and 12 for girls. "Broadsiding" on Bicycles. There is, as yet, no broadsiding arena at Devonport, but enthusiasm for the sport has evidently taken firm root amongst the younger inhabitants of the borough. An enterprising quartet of schoolboys has contrived a home-made speedway on a quiet corner of Ngataringa Park, Stanley Bay, and' round it they tear on their small bicycles, putting out the "inside leg" at the sharp turns in truly professional style, and kicking up very satisfying showers of loose earth. Competition waxes keener after each circuit, and although the track is barely twenty yards from corner to corner there is plenty of scope for smart cornering. Spills are few, and comparatively harmless, but the young speed merchants are beginning to realise that broadsiding has definite disadvantages in dirtying a bicycle. Dust in large quantities is not the best lubricant for roller chains. Insurance Against Unemployment. "If our industries, both primary and secondary, and also our tourist resources were developed, there would be no unemployment in New Zealand to-day," said Mr. G. Finn, president of the Auckland Manufacturers' Association, at a meeting of the executive yesterday afternoon. A motion was passed approving of a letter being sent to the Prime Minister suggesting that the proposed Development of Industries Board was the most suitable authority to control funds raised under any unemployed insurance scheme. The chairman remarked that manufacturers were the people employing most labour, and they were the ones who would have to contribute most largely to any unemployment insurance scheme. Mr. Finn and Mr. Mills Palmer were reappointed as delegates to a further conference called by the Chamber of Commerce for March 20, to consider the problem. Imported Timber Problem. When the Canadian merchants, who have come to explain timber matters to New Zealand were discussing business with tlie Auckland merchants yesterday afternoon, Mr. E. J- Phelan, secretary of the Timber Workers' Union said that if the timber imported into New Zealand were produced here it would mean work for 3000 New Zealanders. He urged that nothing under nine inches by three inches should be imported, in order to give work to New Zealanders in recutting. The Canadian visitors said that Japan looked at the matter much from the same standpoint as New Zealand, and in that country timber 14 inches by 14 inches and larger was admitted free. Australia was now considering the question of giving preference to large timber. Big logs did not always cut up as well as they looked on the outside and importers might not iihd it economic to purchase in big sizes. Mr. J. H. McDonald, the leader of the delegation, stated that the New Zealand Customs tariff graduated according to' size and dressing really dealt with the matter raised by Mr. Phelan. Pretty Lasting. Somebody at yesterday's korero between the Canadian timber delegation and the Auckland timber merchants asked if Canadian cedar was a lasting timber. Auckland seems to have a preference for Californian redwood, and the Canadians were saying that their cedar was so good that thousands of feet were imported by the Americans, in spite of their redwood. "Will cedar last?" queried Mr. J. G. Robson. "In the rooms of our federation in Vancouver," he continued slowly and deliberately, "there is a photograph of a man cutting shingle 'bolts' from a cedar log that is lying on the ground. Straddling that log there are the roots of three trees that grew over it, and the age of those three trees has been proved by scientific investigation to be at least 1100 years old. So that cedar log being cut up for shingles must be at least 1100 or 1200 years old. Will cedar last? gentlemen; I leave you to draw your own conclusions. And I can assure you this is not a fish story." Windfall for an Old Cricketer. A man well past middle life was lying in one of our institutions where people who have seen better days are well cared for, and one of his greatest regrets was that he was not able to go and see the recent cricket matches played between the Home team and the New Zealanders. He had been a keen cricketer in his younger days, and when on a trip to England had the honour of being asked to umpire in an important match when Lord Hawke'e team was in the field. That day the teams wished to give him a bonus of some guineas for the way he did his work, but he was well off then, and it wasn't playing cricket, and he did not take it. "Make a nest egg of it," he told them. One of the English touring team was told before he left Home to keep a look out for the old umpire who had been lost sight of by his friend's. True to his promise he found him. "Don't tell them in England where I am," he said. "Oh!" replied the Englishman, "I see what you mean, but the former umpire must get this little packet. Compound interest has been added to it." A hearty handshake was given and the two parted. The guineas of a former day had more than doubled.