NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 86, 13 April 1931, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Fewer Probationer Teachers. The number of probationers admitted to the teaching service next year will probably be considerably less than usual, according to a notification in the "Education Gazette." The Education Department states that this is due to the fact that .-taff depletion through death, marriage and retirement was, from various causes. less than anticipated. It is thought it might be necessary to retain some of the present probationers for a second year in the schools, but their period of "raining will still be four years, as in the case of all other teachers in training. Watch Your Parcels. "Vigilant'' writes: "There has been a good deal of petty thieving in the city of late, and shoppers will do well to watch their parcels. A lady of my acquaintance made her usual trip to town -on Saturday morning to buy stores. .She had a suitcase full of provisions in her car. and went into a shop to purchase fruit and vegetables. She left another parcel of goods in the shop while she went out to make further purchases. When she returned, the parcel had wen taken by somebody, who had evidently followed her into the shop, and the suitcase had also been taken out of the car."' Pussy's Impromptu "Turn." Considerable amusement was caused in a city theatre on Saturday evening by the actions of a tabby cat, which somehow found its way on to the stage during the performance. The curtain had just gone up when the cat appeared on the scene. Dazzled by the lights and alarmed by the roar of laughter which greeted its appearance, the animal did not know which way to turn, and glanced nervously around, seeking an exit. Just as it had found a means of escape the orchestra struck up. and with a frightened leap the cat bounded off the stage, accompanied by uproarious applause from the audience. Pussy's impromptu turn had been thoroughly enjoyed.

Pishing at Ngongotaha. Ngongotaha is described by an enthusiasticlocal angler as the "fishing centre par excellence at Rotorua." Trout fishing mere this season has been splendid, both for the number of fish caught and for their condition. Food has been abundant, and as a result good baskets of fine fish have been landed. Amongst the most successful local anglers, all of whom are keen fly fishermen, have been Mr. \V. McAuley, who has caught 420 fish to date,.and Messrs. Annan, Myer and Barford. Visitors have aLso done well, and it is expected that Ngongotaha will be even more popular next year. Numerous eight and ten-pound rainbow have been caught during the season, while the brown trout landed have weighed up to loib. Most of the brown trout have been caught by the Maoris, who fish at night. Trinity College Examiners. The visiting Trinity College examiner for practical tests in music this year will be Dr. Vaughan Thomas. He is an adjudicator of wide experience, having acted in that capacity at all the principal music festivals in Great Britain, Ireland and the United States. The examiner in elocution will be Mr. Paul Edmonds, who was educated at Oundle School and studied elocution under Mr. Charles Fry, of London, and singing with various masters in London and Paris. He is a well-known lecturer, and is the author of "Peacocks and Pagodas" and "To the Land of the Eagle." He was a prisoner of war in Asia Minor, following the sun-ender of Kut, during which time he conducted a choir and produced several plays. Consumers and Retail Prices. The proposal brought forward at a recent meeting of the Open Forum in Auckland that consumers' committees should be set up in the four centres to assist in bridging the disparity between wholesale and retail prices was submitted by the Hon. C. L. Carrington, M.L.C.. to the Legislative Council last week. In reply, Sir Thomas Sidey, Leader of the Council, said the question of adjustment of wholesale and retail prices involved a great deal of investigatory work by qualified accountants. The Department of Industries and Commerce was already engaged in such work in the main centres and elsewhere. Any reasonable complaints or inquiries by members of the public or by organisations were investigated, and. where necessary, action was taken. Nevertheless, the Government would consider the suggestion that consumers' committees should be set up to assist the Government.

Rough Trip by Air. The new Western Federation 'plane, which is to be housed at Wanganui, had an exceedingly rough trip from Auckland last week. According to Mr. F. H. Goodey, who accompanied Pilot Philcox, visibility was exceptionally bad, and owing to clouds the machine had to be flown at under 1000 ft. The time seemed unending until the rugged hills round Te Kuiti were passed, and on reaching the coast the clouds were so low that the greatest height the machine could take was 500 ft. Great cliffs, measuring 800 ft, were passed, towering above them, the sea reaching right up to their bases. At last, in the rain, New Plymouth was picked up, and a landing was made for refuelling. The aviators were weatherbound for over an hour, but a start had to be made owing to the near approach of darkness. On the whole of the run down the land was obscured by mist and rain, but a landing was eventually made in fine weather. The machine, which is a standard Moth, dual control, with wooden fuselage, behaved splendidly all the way. Earthquakes in England. Commenting on the Hawke's Bay earthquake, a London journal says that for some reasons earthquakes are regorded as catastrophie3 that occur in foreign lands, yet one hundred years ago there was a succession of earthquake shocks in Scotland, and an old physical geography records that England has experienced as many as 255 earthquakes, most of them very minor shocks. There was a serious earthquake in England in the winter of 1750, after a very hot summer, followed by a second a month later. The prophecy of a third terrified the populace, and a clever manufacturer invented and sold many "earthquake gowns," designed for those who meant to sit up all night out of doors- waiting for a shock, showing that enterprise and advertisement are not entirely modern. The last serious earthquake was in April, 1884, when Colchester suffered severely. Keen Territorials.

"One Stripe" writes.- Although the Army is almost as unpopular in New Zealand at the present moment as it would be in the Chancelleries of the League of Nations, there are still a few enthusiastic souls who cannot quite suppress the good old fighting spirit that made the Teutonic race what it is. Passing along the Devon-port-Wai we ra Road yesterday, I was interested to notice a bunch of led horses with the familiar "fantail" and "universal" saddles on their backs. It was the nearest approach to a troop of mounted infantry that I had seen since those exciting days in Palestine in' 1 ,'17 and '18. Nearby was a group of young fellows map reading or something of the kind. It was most encouraging to see that in spite of popular disfavour the cult of the warrior (purely for defence purposes, of course) had not fallen completely into desuetude. Although most of us are heartily sick of khaki — and will be for a generation or so—we must not forget that if we have not the nucleus of a trainin" staff it would be extremely awkward for the Dominion if the call to arms should come suddenly. It is all very well to say that we can turn out a decently-trained soldier in a few months, but we must remember that it takes highly-trained men to turn out more trained men. Let us hope that if the time comes we will find that we have not'let things elip too far. We may Jive to thank such enthusiasts as those 1 saw yesterday on the East Coast Road for keeping the torch burning. J