NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 215, 11 September 1929, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Racing Clubs' Generosity. The Auckland Racing Club has made a donation of £100 towards the cost of the Cenotaph and Court of Honour which are to be constructed at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. They have also voted £25 to the Westport Jockey Club, whose course and stands were damaged as the result of the earthquake. The Takapuna Jockey Club has also voted £15 to the Westport Jockey Club.

Railway Enterprise. The free delivery of goods consigned by rail to Frankton Junction, Hamilton and' Cambridge by any local carrier who is not in competition, with the Department is provided for as part of a new e«t of freight charges and conditions announced by the Railway Department. The reductions, which will take effect from Saturday next, apply to stations between Te Kauwhata and Te Awamutu. and also to stations on the branch line to Cambridge. One important alteration is that goods in "small lots" will no longer be charged for on the basis of special rates for 4c\vt and under. Instead, small lots of goods will be charged at proportionate tonnage rates with minimum charges varying from 1/ to 1/6, according to the station to which they are consigned.

Musical Wellington. An Auckland resident, who lias just returned from attending the Wellington musical competitions, states that the attendance at these interesting gatherings in Wellington puts to shame the slack interest which is taken by the Auckland public in this form of education. * There were 320 solo performers, and 86 duettists who took part in the competition. Four hundred and six were in the athletic section, and there were 592 in the dancing section alone, while all told the entries were over 3000. Not alone do the children and their instructors take a keen and intelligent interest, but the general public also follow the struggle with unabated zest. The Town Hall, which is vevv was packed in the evenings, '■*> Auckland visitor states, and on Thursday, even in the afternoon, there was an attendance of 1500. Since the last time, some two years ago, the Aueklander said that a very great advance had been made, and the standard, both in music and dancing, had advanced amazingly.

Help from the Press. "11l so far as I am responsible for the educational side of the work of the Town Planning Department, I would like to take this opportunity," said Mr. J. W. Mawson, Director of Town Planning, in an address to the New Zealand Club at Wellington, "to refer to the whole-hearted help and support that I have had from the newspapers throughout the country. I could not have wished for a better Press. On an average I get between twenty and thirty Press cuttings per day, including a considerable number of editorials. Some of these editorials show a grasp of the subject which leads me to believe that many competent town-planners in the Dominion are to be found outside the ranks of the profession itself, and inasmuch as town planning depends entirely upon the creation of a sound public opinion, I face the future with unbounded confidence."

Mellow Memories. Memories of the 1921 Australian Test team's tour of the Old Country were revived on the Aorangi, when a pressman sought out Arthur Mailey, the Aussie bowler, who so ably seconded Gregory and McDonald in devastating the ranks of the English batsmen. Mailey and the journalist had met before, for they were fellow guests at a civic dinner given to the visitors in Nottingham during the first Test match of the tour. It was recalled-how one or two of the players, becoming somewhat "fed-up" with the task of siting menu cards, hit on the bright idea of signing for the great ones of the past. Hence one was "W. G. Grace," and another "Alfred Shaw," whilst Jack Gregory provided the finishing touch of antiquity by signing ''Fuller Pilch" or "Alfred Mynn"—names to conjure with in the days when cricketers played in top hats with hats of hock-bottle shape.

To Honour Hobson. The customary pilgrimage of some of the pupils of the higher standards of Newton Central School to Hobson's grave in Symonds Street cemetery was made yesterday —the 87th anniversary of his death. Mr. Spenceley Walker, the headmaster, who is responsible for initiating this annual pilgrimage, in a short address, regretted that the Dominion's first Governor, the founder of Auckland, had no fitter memorial than the tombstone in a more or less obscure place. Grey and Campbell had worthy memorials, yet the man who founded the city had nothing but a plain grave and a few words inscribed on the bridge overhead. Mr. .Walker said he had been offered subscriptions towards a suitable memorial, but he thought the time was' inappropriate owing to so much unemployment, and, moreover, he thought the scheme should be launched by a public body. It would be a splendid opportunity for the Government and City Council, and perhaps such bodies as the Rotary Club and the Civic League, to join in giving the city a memorial to honour its founder. Mr. D. M. Eae, the principal of the Training College, said it was greatly to the credit of the coming generation that the boys and girls of a city school should be the first to mark such an important date as the anniversary of Hobson's death. , .Wreaths were laid on Hobson's tombstone, and afterwards the children were taken to see the grave of another famous man. Judge Maning, the author of "Old New Zealand." "Raining Frogs." Pointing to an article headed, "Raining Frogs," in the "Auckland Star" of August 29 last, a gentleman now living in retirement came into the office to-day to tell of two experiences which he had in Western Australia some years ago. "A correspondent wrote to the 'Star' scouting the idea of frogs coming down with the rain," the visitor said, "but if he had walked with me one evening in 1896 from the Perth Town Hall to the extreme end of John Street, West Perth, he would know that such happenings do occur. On that night it rained frogs with, the severity of a hailstorm, and next morning the atmosphere was far from pleasant." The caller said he had a similar, though less severe experience on another occasion at a place called Guilford, about nine miles from Perth. "The only explanation I have been able to gather," he added, "is that the frogs had been carried up from an extensive swamp by the suction of a whirlwind, and then sent down with the rain. I have evidence as to dates for the information of anyone who may be interested."

A Weird Flag. "Flaneur" writes: "Passing the mail steamer Aorangi yesterday afternoon, my eye was caught by a flag that was new to me. It was used to screen off some cabins; evidently an afternoon tea party was on, or something of the kind. It was the oddest flag imaginable, and the only thing to resemble it was the jumbled flag the Maoris flew when the new pa. was opened at Ngaruawaliia the other day. The flag on the Aorangi seemed to have made a collection of odd symbols. The top left and bottom right quarters were yellow, the bottom left was bine, and the top right was red. On the first yellow quarter were three large white six-pointed stars; on the other yellow quarter there were three swords crossed; on the blue quarter a strange white bird carrying a tree trunk in its bill (intended for the dove of peace); on the red quarter was a crown like a cottage loaf, and in the centre of the flag, where the four quarters meet, was a great white sis-pointed star containing a red St. George's cross. I was more than astonished when a heraldic friend of mine told me it was the standard of H.M. the Queen of Tonga, and that it was designed by a former Prime Minister and head of the local Church combined. He tells me the heraldry is all wrong, such as metal on metal, which is a more heinous crime among .heralds than it is to say dogs when you mean hounds among hunting people. It is certainly a most astonishing product."