NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 134, 9 June 1927, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Territorial Officers' Course. Officers of territorial units in Auckland will commence a special course of instruction at the Officers' Club rooms next week. During the course, which will extend over a month, theoretical I training will he carried out on four evenings each j week, while practical work will l>c donu during the week-ends. An "Official" Car. i "What's that two 'quid' for:' , inquired a delegate at a meeting of the Auckland Rugby League last evening, when the stage "accounts for payment" was reached. "Hire of the 'official' car,"' was the reply. "Then it would lie better to buy a car,"' said the delegate. "We've spent about ten 'quid' already, and you can buy a good I car for forty "quid. , "* Only a Distinction. "I did not say 1 was to blame. I said it was my own fault,"' was the bland and somewhat ambiguous admission made in the Magistrate's Court yesteiday by a Maori, who had been involved in a motor collision. '"That is a distinction, and not a difference, I suppose."' jocularly remarked Mr. W. R. MeKcan, S.M. (Laughter.) "One of Those Things." "You are going to heap coals of run on their heads if you give them one of those things,"' said a member of the Auckland Automobile Association last evening, the "thing -, referred to being a motor cycle. It was suggested that a "thing" should be presented to tlio Auckland police to aid them in chasing motor car thieves. It was mentioned that a member ot" the Auckland police force had one of the "things."' and that he used it to advantage whenever the occasion aro*e. Eclipse of the Moon. There will be a total eclipse of the moon on the evening of Wednesday next, June l.">. It will commence at ti.l.'i p.m. At 7.43 p.m. the shadow will cover the whole of the lunar surface, and the total eclipse will last for 22 minutes. At K..-) p.m. the eastern limb of the moon will emerge from the shadow, and at 0.3(1 p.m. the last trace of the shadow will leave the moon, although the pcuuinhral eclipse will continue until 10.4."» p.m. Witnessing the eclipse will depend entirely upon the weather at the time. In the event of cloudy conditions it will pass unobserved. Draining Waiatarua. When complimenting Mrs. ISodman on her speech before the members and friends of the Auckland Play Grounds Association yesterday afternoon, Mr. Kntriean referred to the future of the spaces at St. .John's Lake, which it was intended to turn into playing fields. To do this it would lie necessary to drain the lake, where there were I*S acres to be used. The reference to the draining of the lake brought out dissent from those present, and Mr. Kntrican explained that there would be an artificial lakelet in its place in the future Unwanted Wanaka. Now that the shipbroakers have finished with her. the ex-L'nion Company steamer Wanaka is little but an iron shell. Yesterday she was berthed at the King's wharf, where her dis-

mantled machinery and salvaged finings will be landed. Later the old trader, which had nearly forty years' service to her credit, will Imj disposed of, although her ultimate fate is at present undecided. Recently she was offered to the Naval Department as a target to be sent to the bottom liy guntire, but the otfer was declined. It is now* thought possible that the hull of the vessel may be used as a breakwater on the East Coast, as was the lot of the Talune, but nothing has yet been derided. If no more useful end can bo found for the old vessel, site will be towed to sea and scuttled in deep water. Cars That Vanish. Motor rar thefts were di=oussed at a meeting of the Auckland Automobile Association last evening, when a report was received from a special committee appointed to confer with the Police Department. Representatives of the underwriters and a special police ollicer who had been appointed to detect the particular class of theft were in attendance. The committee reported that the Auckland |>olice were taking every possible step to prevent cars being stolen, for this purpose four police officers had been appointed. The committee was of the opinion that the nun appointed for the special duty should havo fast motor cycles, as at present all that the police had was a light car. It was decided to ask the Commissioner of Police to provide the necessary motor cycles. The opinion was also expressed that magistrates should impose the maximum line when charges of thefts of cars wore proved. Home for Yachtsmen. Yachtsmen of Devonport have shown great industry during the past month or so, and have practically built a "home" for themselves on the foreshore, near Duder's wharf. They have made the best use of the material placed at their disposal by the Harbour Board, when the old waiting shed that had seen service on the ferry wharf for many years wiia dismantled. The shed has been on its new site. What's in a Name? As confusion has arisen between the name Puhinui, near Papatoetoe, and Pukanui, north of Helensville, on the Kaipara railway, the Railway Department has decided, at the request of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, to alter the name Pukanui, to Punganui as from June 20. ■As the result of inquiries, the choice has been influenced by Keremeta Ngahuripuka, of Waiterutoa, an authority on Kaipara native history. He states that Pukanui, also sometimes called Punganui, was the name of a tree that grew in Hawaiiki, and was felled and made into a canoe called Puka-nui-wai-nui. The commander of the canoe was Kuaeo, closely related to the chief of the Arawa canoe. After the departure of the Arawa canoe, P.uaeo decided to follow them to New Zealand, and the tree Pnkanui, or Punganui, was felled. It was a sacred tree set aside many generations previously by Ruaeo's elders for a canoe, and was marked by a carved figure of punga (a stone) set in its branches to indicate that it was tapu. Ruaeo arrived at Motiti (Bay of Plenty), and some of his people came on to Kaipara, and settled there with Arawa people. Tne canoe was hauled up in the river, and thus the name was given to the place, somewhere near the site of the present railway station. A tree called Pukanui grew on the site where the canoe was hauled up, but eventually decayed away, and the leaves were gathered for medicinal purposes. The site was um\l to perform certain native ceremonies. Retain the Beaches. '"Whatever you du," said Mrs. Hodman, .-peaking before the Auckland Playgrounds Association yesterday afternoon in the Pacilie Club, 'I beg of you to retain your beaches. Do not ever let any private interests get any form of control, or Auckland will have the trouble that has occurred in Los Angeles to get the beaches back in tho control of the people. New Zea landers are not a stupid people,"' continued the speaker, "and I beseech you in the most passionate manner not to let private control take charge. Look to tho failures of other countries in these municipal matters and do not follow their mistakes. Make an effort to get larger and finer playing areas for the young people and thus keep them from getting into mischief, which is so often but misdirected energy on their part. The child in its play makes a choice, and this choice becomes a habit, a habit a character, and a character a citizenship. If you are going to have a nation well moulded in the mind as well as the spirit, keep the open places for them and do not allow the conditions in London and New York to arrive here. If we are not going to enable the young people to use their leisure, to lift them out of sordid surroundings, we are going to have a terrible people in future years. What the open spaces and the playgrounds of the city enable to bring about is a brotherhood ill sport and to make Ithe growing boys and girls realise that the city ha* a real interest ill their growth and healthy welfare. - '