NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 147, 23 June 1928, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Prince's Birthday.

To-day is the thirty-fourth birthday of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. The flags were flown on the various Government buildings, and a holiday was observed by the Supreme and Lower Courts. Borden of Taxation. A movement is on foot in the Glen Eden district to petition Parliament to pass an Act similar to that described as the Rangiora Borough valuation of Farm Lands Act, 1924, to give relief to residents who feel the burden of the present system of taxation. "Muddly" Marriages. "Marriage is a muddly sort of business," said Archbishop Julius, speaking in Christchurch a / e * ( days ago. "A boy goes to a dance," he said, "and picks up a girl who has a pretty face, that turns ugly in a fortnight, and who can't make a pudding. They go a-walking, and then he takes her to be his wife. Thereafter he regrets it, and so does she." St. John Ambulance. The annual service of the Auckland members of the Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem and of the St. John Ambulance Association and Brigade, is to take place at St. Mary's Cathedral to-morrow afternoon, when Archbishop Averill, who is subprelate of the Order of St. John, will give an address. There will be a parade of the nursing and ambulance divisions prior to the service. Oyster Season. Preparations are being made in the Auckland Province for the picking of oysters for the season, which opens on July 11. Having as his mission the placing of pickers at work, Mr. F. P. Plinn, senior inspector of fisheries, left yesterday on a tour of inspection of the oyster beds. He will visit Knipara, Russell, Purerua, Orokawa, the Great Barrier, Coromandel, and points in the Hauraki Gulf. Thirty-seven pickers have been engaged, about the same number as last season, and they are expected to have a sufficient stock on hand to meet the early demand at the opening of the season. The oysters, which are expected to be in better condition this year, will be priced at £1 4/ a sack, or 1/0 for five dozen.

S ;eing New Zealand. "'Wine without a headache'" was a phrase used some years ago to describe New Zealand's climate, which is notable for its sunniness and bracing nature. The climate is favourable alike for man, his domestic animals, pastures and crops." This sentence is contained in an official guide, entitled "Seeing New Zealand," which has been issued by the Government Publicity Office. It i s an illustrated publication designed to give clear, concise information in regard to the Dominion's scenery, sport, industries, products, resources, trade, transport and population. Readers are invited to offer suggestions to increase the usefulness of future editions of the guide. No Air Sense. That aeroplanes would be as common as motor cars in New Zealand in ten years' time was a prediction made by Mr. D. E. Harkness, who delivered an interesting lecture last night on "The Development of the Aeroplane." Contrasting the progress of civil aviation in Australia and New Zealand, the lecturer said that it was to be regretted that owing to the apathy of the New Zealand Government the Dominion suffered from a lack of what is known as "air sense." Had prizes been offered in New Zealand, as was done in Australia for some time, New Zealand might have made as much progress as the Commonwealth. Speaking about Auckland, Mr. Harkness believed that the time would quickly come when a municipal aerodrome would be as essential to aviation as a harbour was to shipping. Penalising the Country. The fact that they were faced with the alternative of paying the cost of a teacher's lodging or having their school closed is referred to in a letter from settlers of Moumoukai, Hunua, to the Hunua Ratepayers' Association, in complaining of the difficulties created by the present system of staffing country schools. The attendance at the school is only eight, the children of three parents. "We have paid the board of a teacher for the past six months," explain the settlers, "but as only three of us are concerned the burden has been too heavy, and we feel we cannot afford to go on paying. We consider this is a great injustice, as education should be free to all. We are labouring under many difficulties and hardships, and consider that being compelled to pay the teacher's board is very unfair. The cry is to go back to the land, and when we do go we are penalised for everything." rinar.ee for Farmers.

.Under the heading of "New Finance for Farmers," the Kural Intermediate Credit Board lias published a very attractive and valuable booklet, in which is explained for the benefit of farmers and others interested the aims of the Rural Intermediate Credit Act of last year. This Act, providing for a necessary system of credit for periods ranging from six months to live years, at reasonable rates of interest, completes the legislation recommended by the Royal Commission on Rural Credits—the legislation which began in 1926, with the Rural Advances Act for long-term credit on,the security of first mortgage of rural lands. The booklet has a foreword written by the Prime Minister. The control and administration of the board are first explained, and then its lending business. This should go far to make clear to farmers the prospects offered by the board, and to dismiss numerous false impressions. Contained in the booklet are lists of members of the board and of the various district boards. There is a short review about each, and a photograph. The publication may be taken as a sign of enterprise on the part of the board.

Mottoes. "Vitae noil scholae discimus" is the Latin quotation adopted as the motto of the Seddon Memorial Technical College. It will be inscribed, with the motto, over the stage of the new assembly hall. During the consideration of four Latin quotations submitted, Mr. G. Brownlee made a plea in favour of a motto in English, but was defeated by four votes to three. The translation of the college's new motto is: "We learn for life and not for school." It was a quotation used in tho presidential address at the first world conference of educational associations held at Edinburgh in 1926-27, and, besides being regarded as peculiarly appropriate for a technical college, has the charm of being original as a school motto. The other three quotations considered were:— "Auspicium melioris aevi" ("A sign of better times"); "Strenuis ardua cedunt" ("Hard work will overcome your difficulties"), a variation of the Grammar School's motto, "Per Angusta ad augusta"; and the common school motto, "Vincet omnia Veritas" ("Truth will get you through"). Customs of the Platform. Many people who heard the debates in which the visiting American university team participated this week would doubtless take note of the differing national customs in the manner of commencing the speeches. "Mr. chairman, ladies and gentlemen," is, of course, the British way. The Americans open with "Ladies and gentlemen." In their characteristic way of going straight to the point, speakers in the United States have, through long years of practice, established this latter custom, and they have also dispensed with the traditional vote of thanks which inevitably follows an address in all parts of the British Empire. To the American mind a further speech for the purpose of proposing a vote of thanks is an anti-climax, and the nearest approach they make to the practice is by means of what they call a "rising vote of thanks." This means that at the close of an address the audience, at the call of the chairman, will rise en masse and applaud while standing. Then frequently follows the singing of "The StarSpangled Banner," or "My Country, 'Tis of Thee."