NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 226, 23 September 1936, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

No Increase. 111 view of tlie improved condition of the borough, Mr. H. Barnes suggested at the meeting of the Mount Albert Borough Council lust evening that the donation of £3 3/ made bv the council to the Workers' Educational Association should be raised to £"> 5/ this year. His plea- went unheeded, and on the motion of the Mayor, Mr. If. A. Anderson, it was decided to make a donation of £3 3/. Democracy. "There is 110 political party where a man can do more than in the Labour movement," remarked Mr. A. G. Osborne, Labour candidate for Manukau, at a meeting last night, when be was asked: "If you are elected, will you maintain your individuality?" "Certainly," Mr. Osborne replied. Under the democratic constitution of the Labour party, he said, the voiec and vote of any member carried just as much weight in its councils as those of the Prime Minister. " Probabe z Wartosci."* An important-looking package, bearing Polish stamp's, and marked "Probabe z Wartosci," which arrived by registered post for an Auckland resident yesterday, had the recipient guessing. A dictionary revealed that "probabe z wartosci" meant "samples without value," but the mystery was not solved until the package was opened. The recipient found the "samples" were three collars which he himself had inadvertently left in Warsaw when living in that capital last September. Shore Hospital Facilities. The Auckland Hospital Board decided last evening not to accept an invitation from the Mayor of Takapuna, Mr. .T. Guiniven, to be represented at a conference on Friday evening of North Shore local bodies to discuss hospital facilities 011 the North Shore and immediate provision of a private hospital for urgent cases. It was pointed out that the board had set up a sub-committee to report 011 the minimum hospital requirements on the North Shore, and so far the sub-committee had not reported back to the board. Achilles. The new man-o'-war anchored in midharbour continues to arouse much interest, and on the ferry boats, some of which pass very near to the Achilles, many small boys have had narrow escapes from immersion through leaning over the rail in eagerness to get a few inches nearer to the attraction. Yesterday there was much activity visible. A painting party was at work on the hull, suspended in slings, while the snip's boats and several pinnaces were travelling to and from the naval base. In spite of this traffic, however, two signallers in true naval tradition were flagging messages to the shore. St. John Ambulance Service. Of the 338 St. John Ambulance Divisions outside of Great Britain and Ireland, 130 are in New Zealand, and of the 179 nursing divisions 74 are in New Zealand, stated Mr. H. D. Cobb, of Hamilton, superintendent of the South Auckland district, when addressing the Paeroa trainees ou Sunday. Including the 204 cadet corps, the total membership in New Zealand is 4300. Last year 60,859 public duties were performed by members. Cases treated totalled 55,308. The 37 motor ambulances had transported 2,738 cases, the mileage involved being 132,749. Hours of attendance of brigade members totalled 54,220, apart from the tremendous amount of time devoted by members to making themselves efficient. " Shickered.** During the hearing of a charge of breaking and entering in the Wailii Police Court the other day, an amusing interlude • was caused by the word "sliickerod." The witness in the box at the time was Constable Patterson, a Scot, who said that the word had been used by the accused; he understood the correct spelling was "shickered." "It's a Scotch term,] is it not?" queried Mr. W. M. Wallnutt, one of the presiding justices, to the amusement of those present. Counsel for accused, Mr. J. B. Beeche, informed the Court that he had seen it written "shikkar." Subsequently the constable agreed that the word was of Scottish origin, and it is understood that it was accepted for the purpose of recording it in the depositions as "shickered—denoting you are drunk." Royal Oak Tram Shelter. "No conference, 110 contribution," was the decision of the Mount Roskill Road Board last night, when a letter was read from the Onehunga Borough Council declining to convene a conference with representatives of the Mount Roskill Road Board and the Auckland Transport Board to \appovtion the cost between the parties of the erection of a tram shelter at Royal Oak. The chairman, Mr. C. M. McCullougli, said his board first brought up the question of a tram shelter, and the board's idea of a confcrence was to see whether Onehunga and Mount Roskill should pay any part of the cost of a shelter with the Transport Board, or whether the latter should bear the whole cost of the erection. The board passed a motion: "That in view of the fact that the board considered a conference advisable, if this cannot be arranged, then no contribution will be made by t'*" board to the shelter." Spring Begins. Spring "officially" began to-day—that is, this was the first day of the calendar season of spring. Technically it was the point of the year at which the sun reached the vernal equinoctial colure and passed from tile northern to the southern celestial hemisphere. Day and night, reckoned in apparent solar time, will be of equal length to-day, but since clocks arc regulated to mean solar time the hours of day and night will not exactly coincide. But spring, of course, came more gently than that, with°a gradual burst of green leaf buds to bring to scne people a wistful reminder of spring in other lands, and with the golden glorv of kowhai as the bright herald of spring fn the native bush. It was not a very auspicious day on which spring, with the authority of astronomy, might be taken as indisputably here; there was a sea wind and a clouded sky. But who minded? Summer is not so very far away. Maori Post-Primary Education. The nine Maori secondary schools have a roll number of 342, or one-half of one per cent of the Maori population, said Mr, P. Smyth, lecturing before'the anthropology section of the Auckland Institute last night. In his opinion, a very profitable and interesting scheme would be to select a group of adolescents and educate them till the age of 21. The present system results in a lack of selfconfidence and originality; the product is content to follow, not to command. Self-confidence should be given by a promise that effort will result in reaching the top rung of the ladder. During more than a quarter of a century as a teacher, the lecturer said, he has encountered all types and feels that there is wonderful material going to waste for want ..of more sympathy, interest and assistance. One cannot help but love the courtesy and helpful instincts of the Maori boy, his sunny nature and keen sense of humour —and his devilry! He is just like the European lad, but not so sophisticated. If leadership were developed there would be no "mob psychology," blind following of this or that political oi«. - eligious fanatic. Maori secondary schools, sponsored by the Government, are earnestly advocated by Mr. Smyth—high and technical schools, or a Maori division of the present high schools. Maoris should not all be made into farmers. A race with only one pursuit would be a [decadent 011 e. *