NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 105, 6 May 1929, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

; Brief Calculation. A witness in the Eltham Magistrate's Court last week, confident of his ability to gauge the. passage of one minute, was put "under the watch" by the defendant's counsel. The almost breathless silence of the Court was broken by the witness declaring a minute had elapsed when only fifteen seconds had been ticked off. Supreme Court Sessions. There is an average list of cases for trial at the criminal sessions, which open at the .Supreme Court in Auckland to-morrow. Fifteen prisoners have been committed from the lower Court, compared with 21 at the last sessions. Thwc is a big list of civil cases, divorce petitions accounting for SO out of a total of 15S. Mr. Justice Kennedy will deliver the charge to the Grand Jury. The sittings of the Supreme Court will close for the mid-year vacation on July 30. Speedboat Ablaze. While the outboard motor boat Miss Tamaki was competing in the Akarana Yacht Club's races for the Maud Championship Shield on Saturday afternoon, fire broke out in her owing to the breaking of the fuel pipe. Several boats went to the assistance of the pilot-owner (Mr. S. Dickson, jtin.), who escaped without injury. The launch Jumbo extinguished the flames, and Miss Tamaki was towed ashore. The race was abandoned. Mount Eden Rating. A poll of Mount Eden ratepayers was in progress to-day on the question of adopting the system of rating on unimproved values. During the past few weeks there has been a vigorous canvass of ratepayers by supporters and opponents of the proposal, and a series of addresses have been, given. There are ten polling booths, and the result should be known shortly after 7.0 this ovening. An AstraT Phenomenon. "J.E," writes from Glen Eden: —An astral phenomenon was visible in the sky about live o'clock thin morning. At a distance of apparently about 20ft (an astronomer would be able to compute how many thousand miles) below the moon in a direct line, a star assumed the shape o:f an arrow, the barb and shaft being clearly defined. The shaft varied in length during visibility. This lasted for about 40 minutes, when it assumed the normal shape of a star. Accession D.uy. The varoliips in Auckland Harbour were gay with flags and bunting to-day in honour of the nineteenth anniversary of the accession to the throne of His Majesty the King. The Dunedin, the Philomel, the Veronica and the Laburnum added a touch of bright colour to the northern shore, flags of many colours and designs fluttering; in the breeze in bright autumnal sunshine. The Royal Salute of 21 guns was fired from the Philomel at noon. Prayers of thanksgiving for the King's recovery were offered in Auckland churches yesterday. Fire in Tramciir. Prompt and. efficient action by the motorman and conductor averted what might have been a serious outbreak of a fire on an Auckland tramcar on Saturday evening. When the car reached the intersection of Karangahape Road and Upper Queen Street, it was noticed that smoke was issuing from the understructure, a fault in one of the motors ha ving ignited a portion of the woodwork. Danger of the fire spreading was prevented by removing the trolley wheel from the overhead cable., thus stopping the current in the motors. The City Fire Brigade extinguished the blaze, and th® car was able to continue its journey. Most Read of All Books. Showing how titip Bible is within Che reach of the poorest peoplo in any land, the Rev. David Calder stated in his sermon at St. David's Church last evening that tlie Book is to be found in more languages than most people imagine to exist. "The records of the British and Foreign Bible Society," he proceeded, "show that the whole Bible had been published in 146 languages, the complete New Testament has been issued in l£o more, at least on& book of the Bible has been issued in 322 more, thus making a total of 818 languages in all." 13*6 speaker remarked that to-day the Bible, was the most read of all books in the British Empire.! Puzzles for Children. A self-appointed exjaminer was among members of the Gisborne School Committee, who visited the school. When they entered Standard I. room, the gentleman, referred to held up a sovereign, a rarity in ihesc days, and he discovered that only one O'f the small pupils had seen such a coin before. In Standard 11. classroom he inquired how many of the children knew their height. Only one Wight boy said he did, I but he spoiled himself, when he was asked what his height was, by saying,. "Nine feet." In one of the upper classes he fiound a child who told him, quite' correctly but .ambiguously, that the North Island of New Zealand was in the Southern Hemisphere. "Back to the Land." That there is an intense desire on the part of many people to get back to the land was shown at Te Kuiti recently, A farmer who had over a thousand acres of native leased land, which was subdivided into several farms of over 100 acres with houses, yards, and all conveniences erected on them ready for immediate occupation, advertised the places for leaise on a five-years' term. There were about 180 applicants for the places, and keen rivalry as to who should get them, fully one-half of the number being genuinely anxious to get suitable places on which to take their families. Most of the applicants had sufficient capital to buy stock: and make a good start, and those who have been fortunate in getting the farms think that with good prices ruling they have prosperous times aliead of them, but what of those who are seeking for land without arail ? "Armchair" Flying. The armchair case stage to which flyingis rapidly approaching in New Zealand was strikingly exemplified in the recent -experience of the Minister of Defence (the Hon. T. M. Wilford), who has returned to Wellington from the Hawke's Bay district, where he had severjil flights in Government aeroplanes. The Minister showed a reporter a shorthand note written by his private secretary (Mr. G. F. Dixon) on » flight between Feilding and Dannevirke, the parfect characters transcribing into the sentence: "The scudding clouds make one think of the great steam clouds of Rotorua drifting by on the hrft." Later the same sentence was written in a motor car travelling on a bitumen pavement, and also at an ordinary writing desk. Compared, tho note taken "in "the air" was an outline much clearer than that written in the motor caii A Notable Anniversary. Next Friday will be the fourth anniversary of the death of the Right Hon. F. Massey, who was Prime Minister of New Zealand for the major portion of tho Reform Government's 16 years' term of office. The customary annual pilgrimage of Reform League members and supporters to Mr. Massey's tomb at J'oint Halswell will be made on the anniversary, and many wreaths will be deposited. The Reader of the Opposition (the Right Hon. J. G. Coates) will make a special trip to Wellington .for the occasion. As yet there is no permanent memorial to Mr. Massey in Parliament Buildings other than an enlarged photograph in the second-floor corridor, which is known as "Prime Minister's Row, and a similar photograph in the Cabinet room. Other New Zealand statesmen hav© permanent memorials in the form of busts arwJ statues in various parts of Parliament Housty, and the imposing figure of "Dick" Seddon, wliich is more i lian twice life-size, is a familiar fejjstiH'e of tlie beautiful grpuads. _ 1 .