NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 279, 24 November 1928, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Excursion to Arapuni.

Bookings this morning for the railway excursion to Arapuni hydro-electric works were not very heavy, those' who contemplate making tho trip preferring to wait till to-morrow for guidance by the weather conditions, the special trill leavo the central station at 8.50 a.m., and return to the city shortly after 10 p.m. The excursionists will travel as far as PUtaruru by rail, and then proceed from thero to the works by motor. Honolulu Customers, A resident of Honolulu says a great deal of New Zealand butter is iii use there. It carries a duty of eight cents (4d) per lb. New Zealand apples ate also largely iii demand. The writer says he saw New Zealand rabbits' for sale iii a shop Window in Honolulu recently, and the price quoted was 1/3 per lb. "That's rather high for a despised bunny," he remarks. Revenue from Opossums. It was stated at a rrteetihg of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society by Mr. McKenzie that negotiations were progressing for the liberation of opossums in the Auckland district. Last year the Wellington Society had gained a revenue of £2000 from this branch of sport. "Stidh a rdvenuej" he saidj "woiild enable lis to do a lot for Auckland sportsmen.*' Thd opening and closing date's for the Opossum season were fixed at June 15 and July 31. Revision of Speed Limits,

In view of the fact that traffic control has been extended, and that the Motor Vehicles Act covers the position, the City Council has repealed the by-law which fixds a speed limit of 10 miles en hour at certain intersections. The 10-rtlilfe limit is being enforced, however, ' at Grafton Bridge and in the Domain, and notices to that effect were placed in prominent positions yesterday.

Some "Picker." "The fate of the Waikato seat will be decided in Morriiisvilie/' said Mfi F. Lye, United candidate, when addressing the electors in Morrittsville oh the eve of the general election. Mn Lye is some picker, writes our Morriftsville correspondent. He secured a majority of 87 Votes iil that towri, and was returned; ori the official count, by 80 votes.

Al F fesfco Boxing. With the sky as a roof above them and grass lawn as their flooring, the boys of King's School, Rcmuera, held their annual boxing championships under picturesque conditions yesterday. It wis a gloridlis afternoon, and parents who watched the bouts sought shade beneath the trees overlooking the tennis court, oil which the ring was rigged. The busiriesslike manner in which tlie Voting seconds Went about their jobs Was a s'oUrce of much amusement to the spectators, their efforts at towel flapping and face sponging suggesting that at least a world's championship depended on them.

Bright School Magazines. The Auckland Grammar School "Chronicle' 1 aiid the magazine of the Auckland Girls' Grammar School have made their appearance almost simultaneously, and both arc remarkably attract tive and wcll ; produced periodicals, full of information, arid with a pleasant leavening of huriioiir. The "howler" harvest for 1928, as gathered by the girls', editor, contains several notabie specimens. We learn, for instaiice, that the plural of "mongoose" is "riieng'ce'se," that a gamp is an umbrella from "Martin Chuzzlewhit," and that this mountains between England and Scotland are called the Chevrolet Hills. To "out-Herod Herod" means to bo quicker and more watchful than Herod, who was called "Herod the Awake." Fast Steamer.

An average speed of close on 15 knots was maintained by the Shaw, Stivili and Albion steamed Matarda, which arrived at Auckland from Timaru early this morning td load for England. Shi left Tirharii at 5 a.hi; on Thursday, and reached here at 8.30 a.m. tfl'day, having covered a distance of 750 nautical niiles in 51$ hours. Before leaving England for New Zealand the vessel had her engines overhauled and new turbine blades fitted, aitd this has greatly increased her speed. From London to Wellington she made a record passage of 31 days 15 hours, and she is now making fast trips between ports in order to pick up the wool from the Wellington sales ami clear for London on her scheduled date.

| King's School CHapel. . Like its parent college at Middlemore, King's ' School itcliiueWt) is to have a chapel of its own. Workmen are busy now rebuilding one of the old wooden blocks, and it will be ready for use at the beginning of the next school year. Situated between the. main building and Remuera Road, the block formerly contained two classrooiris, the masters' common 1 room, and a dormitory upstairs. Although the chapel now Under construction will hardly be the equal of that at the Middlemore College, erected by old boys' in rriernbry of thdso of their number who fell in the war, it Will nevertheless form a very important addition to the old school.

Substitute for Military Training. "This Synod resolves that the Government be urged to abolish the system of compulsory military trainingj as a practical expression of its co-operation in the matter of tlisanriament. Recognising the value of discipline td the yOUng people of the Dominion; wo recommend the substitiitioii of cdfapulsiory physical training instead of the military system now in operation." Such was the text of a resolution passed at the Auckland 'Methodist Syiidd. Another resolution expressed the opinion that the jaws relating to military training should nlake provision forexemption from training and service oh the groiiiid of individual religions conviction.

The Blind Man'B Mite. "I am a poor old blind man, but I caii spare half a cfdWfi for the purchase of a. Christinas gift for your leper family at Makogai." This is one of the many human touches which appear in the ietters that have been received by Mr. D. L. Thomas, of Mount Albert, in the process of organising an annual Christmas hamper from Auckland for the patients at th 3 leper station on Makdgai Island, near Fiji. Mr. Thomas states that this year there lias beeii .i generous response to the annual appeal, fle realises that a number of pedple who wish to contribute in cash, in toys' for ilie Children, or in otlie? WaVs, httve not yet fonvardCd their' gifts, and In order that nofie May be disappointed he points out that the hampers are to be dispatched bj> the Bteamer Tdfuaj Which is to leave Auckland on Monday week. "There will be joy among the patients," Mr. Thoriias says, "when this year's gifts arrive from Aiicklandi" An Historic Decision. To-morrow will be the sixty-fifth anniversary of the day on which it was decided by Parliament to remove the capital of New Zealand from Auckland to Wellington. For nearly 25 years Auckland had been the seat of government, with its cefttre iii the wooden buildings which stood just beldw the Supreme Court, and which were demolished in 1918 in order to make way for the Anzac Avenue traffic outlet. The principal objection to Auckland as a capital Was that it Was inaccessible to Southern members, andj beiiig then situated between twd of the most Warlike tribes in the cdldny, was politically fin* suited to be the seat of government. The dppo' sition of the Auckland meniberß Was overruled, and a resolution was passed petitioning the Governor to ask the Governors . Of New SBiith Wales, Victoria and Tasmania to each appoint one member of a commission id determine oh what part of Cook Strait the Beat of government should ho established) It wag in 1865 that the change to Wellington mi Hado, - a —