NEWS OF THE DAY

Real Religious Co-operation. A fine example of broadmindedness in church work was related last night at Wesley Church by a home missioner when he told of a visit to the back country of Murchison. His congregation consisted of four people, nominally Roman Catholics, who not only entered freely into the spirit of the service but also gave him fine hospitality. It was, he said, a great example much needed in these strenuous days. Old English Folk Music. There was special interest attached to one of the anthems sung by children of Christchurch schools at Wesley Church yesterday, because it was composed by a musician of London, Mr. T. F. Dunhill, who visited Wellington and New Zealand about twenty years ago and conducted the examinations of the Associated Board of R.A.M. and R.C.M., London. Mr. Dunhill has since devoted himself to composition, and has specialised in setting to music the folk songs of England. In this he has made a great reputation and performed also a great service to England and to music by keeping alive in song the rural and village life of the Old Land. Rugby Old-Timers. In the large crowd which witnessed the Otago-Wellington football match at Athletic Park on Saturday there were many of the old school of Rugby in New Zealand. Their attachment to the game was a subject of reference by the Wellington Rugby Union's president (Mr. E. Price) at a function to the teams after the match. "If you cannot get the old-timers to stick with you it is not worth while," the president remarked in mentioning the fact that Mr. F. H. ("Barney") Campbell, for one, had come all the way from Dunedin to see this match. In many years of association with the game Mr. Campbell has served for some time as a member of the New Zealand Rugby Union's appeal council. "A Bit Too Civilised." That the Christchurch Botanic Gardens were being made "a bit too civilised" was an opinion expressed by the chairman (Mr. C. Flavell) at a meeting of the Heathcote County Council, states the "Press." "I am rather afraid that our gardens will soon be like England, with notices all over the place warning people to keep off the grass," he said. "I think they are going a bit too far and are growing too many flowers. We don't want it all down in gardens. I think there is a distinct danger of taking away a lot of the beauty of the place." Councillor F. W. Freeman said he thought the Domains Board was probably faced with a labour difficulty. Social Security and War Veterans. "That the attention of the Government be drawn to the anomalies in the Social Security Act, under which South African veterans' payment allowed is only 5s a week for each dependant under the age of 16—whereas the veterans of the Great War drawing disability and Great War pensions receive 10s a dependant, and civilians drawing invalidity pensions, should they have dependants under the age of 16, receive 10s a dependant weekly." The above remit will be discussed at a conference of the South African War Veterans' Association in Christchurch next Thursday, states the "Press." Several other remits will be considered dealing with war pensions, one asking for its doubling from £13 to £26 a year. Another remit asks the Government to increase its grant from art union funds by another £500 a year to relieve distress among veterans. Napoleon Willows. A reminder that the first weeping willow trees to be introduced into New Zealand were planted at Akaroa came! before the Akaroa Centennial Committee at its last meeting, states the "Press." These slips of willows were brought to Akaroa in 1840 by Francois ■ Le Lievre. one of the original French' settlers, when the emigrant ship called at St. Helena and slips were taken from the trees on Napoleon's grave. Mr. W. Bruce, of Wanganui, wrote that he was sending a cutting of one of these original willows which had been planted at the Maori settlement known as Jerusalem on the Wanganui River. This was taken many years ago from the Akaroa willows, as were those along the River Avon in Christchurch and elsewhere in Canterbury. The chairman of the committee, Mr. F. Davis, suggested that Mr, E. X. Le Lievre, son of the original Frenchman who had introduced willow trees into New Zealand, should plant the Wanganui willow in the old French cemetery grounds at Akaroa, and this was approved by the committee. Ruapekapeka Pa. The best preserved and the most noted Maori pa in North Auckland, the Ruapekapeka pa, nine miles from Kawakawa, is being cleared of the fern and scrub that have covered the earthworks, states a Whangarei correspondent. It is hoped to reconstruct a section of the pa during the next few months, so that visitox-s to the north during the Centennial will be able to see how an old Maori pa actually appeared. The earthworks at Ruapekapeka are all remarkably well defined and are little altered from the time when the pa was the last stronghold of the warring Maori in North Auckland. Ruapekapeka gives a splendid idea of the ingenuity of the Maori, as here are seen not only rifle pits and connecting trenches, but also underground shelters for the warriors and the people of the pa from the cannon fire of the British forces. This is said to be the only pa in the north where the Maoris had such shelters, as it was built after the Maoris had had experience of cannon fire and its disastx-ous results to the unsheltered forces in the older pas.