NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 148, 25 June 1931, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Strange Fish Stranded. A curious fish, was recently found on one of the banks of the Whitianga River, reports the "Star" correspondent. In appearance it is similar to a stingaree, but without a sting. It has a peculiar straight head, and is very fat. The fish, which measures 3ft Gin by 2ft (Jin and weighed over 501b, is quite unknown to the fishermen in the neighbourhood. National Research Council. A proposal that the fellows of the New Zealand Institute should form a national research council was received in a letter from the institute at a meeting of the Museum Council yesterday. It was suggested that the council should be divided into two groups, one embracing physics and mathematics, and the other covering biology, geology and kindred sciences. The letter was referred to a sub-committee for a report.. School Prizes Sold. "I was surprised to see five or six books given as prizes at the Grammar School, as well as University prize books, in a second-hand bookshop recently," said Mr. A. T. Pycroft at a meeting of the Museum Council yesterday, during a discussion as to whether the Checseman Memorial prizes should take the form of books and apparatus, or should consist of medals. Two of the members said that medals were just as readily saleable as books. It was finally decided to spend . the money awards in silver or bronze medals, as well as a prize book for each successful candidate. Co-ordination of Transport. Motor transport had proved itself the most effective all-round mode of transportation yet invented, and had justified most of the expenditure on it, said Mr. W. A. Gray, when speaking at a' meeting of the Economic Society last night on transport problems in New Zealand. Just as railways had in their day possessed the advantages over canals of : convenience, speed and flexibility, so now motors had those very advantages over the railway. However, that did not solve the problem. The solution lay along the lines of co-ordination of the two. Science Essay Competitions. Regulations for the award of the Checseman Memorial prized for school studies in science were announced by Mr. Gilbert Archey, director of the War Memorial Museum, at a meeting of the Museum Council yesterday. The essay competitions would be open to pupils, under the age of IG, and the subjects would concern personal observation in natural history. A first prize of £2 and a second of £1 would be offered annually. There would be two competitions, one for boys and one for girls, which would close on August 15. The Maori Farmer. Reference to the fact that the Maori has recovered much of his old agricultural skill is made in the report of the New Zealand Land Settlement and Development League, to be presented at the annual meeting of the league this evening. "The executive," the report says, "has been very pleased with the splendid progress made by Sir Apirana Ngata in the settlement of Maoris. The work laid out by him is an indication that we have arrived at a time when the Maori lias gone through the period of adjustment in relation to civilisation, and has recovered his old agricultural skill, with the added .benefit of knowledge brought to him by the white man." The Ratepayers' Business. Brevity was not the feature of last night's meeting of the Takapuna Borough Council. It was just 7 p.m. when the Mayor, Mr. J. Guiniven, opened the -meeting. The adoption of the reports of the standing committees, usually a formal matter, took nearly two hours, owing to a long debate upon the niceties of sewerage engineering. Then various deputations held the floor. The Takapuna and Belmont school committees had a grievance in the fact that the council has recently charged for Water used at the schools, and neither committee has the money to meet the bills. There followed a ratepayer who protested that his water meter was registering infinitely | more than lie could possibly use in his houseI hold. He accepted a compromise that the council I offered, and the general order paper Avas reached ■at 9.40 p.m. It was nearly midnight when the 1 council rose. Auckland Publicity. "What's wrong with Wellington?" said a passenger on the Rangitiki, which arrived at Wellington recently from Southampton. "There are excellent booklets on board," h'e said, "advertising Auckland, and there is nothing at all about Wellington. The effect of these booklets on the passengers is very considerable. I have been out to New Zealand before, but my wife hasn't. We intend to purchase a business here, believing it to be the best city for the purpose, but my wife has already said to me that if we don't like Wellington we can go to Auckland!" Certainly the Auckland publicity literature compiled last year by the Auckland Advertising Club with the co-operation of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and other bodies appears ito be bearing good fruit, remarks the "Journal" of the Auckland Chamber.

"The Poor Help the Poor." Mr. W. K. Howitt, chairman of the Hospital Board Relief Committee, writes: "Social workers are always getting object lessons showing how 2>eople with physical disabilities are full of optimism, with a desire to help even those more fortunate than themselves. There are a number of men minus a leg or an arm who are working 011 relief work, standing up to their job in a way which does them credit. One man with an artificial leg, earning his 37/6 a week, has been putting in the other three days digging his back garden, and now has it heavily stocked with vegetables, chiefly cauliflowers, which he has cultivated so successfully that they will soon be ready for use. He has made an Offer to give the whole of his produce to social organisations, which will distribute the vegetables for him. The effort of his tremendous amount of work has been a strain upon the stump of his amputated leg, and lie has had for a time to dispense Avith the artificial limb so that the stump to which it has been attached may get a rest. In the meantime he is getting around his garden on crutches watching tiie vegetables grow, feeling a great satisfaction that he has done something to try and help someone needing food in these trying days. This is one of the finest cases of grit that I have, known amongst many such examples of heroic effort. Auckland is full>of such cases at the present time. It is the old story, which we social workers notice-every day, of helping the poor." School Dental Clinics. A suggestion that a protest be made against the action of the Health Department ip asking school committees to pay a levy of £30 a year for dental officers and nurses, who give their services regularly at district dental clinics, was discussed at last evening's annual meeting of the Auckland School Committees' Association. In sponsoring a remit on the subject from the Gladstone committee, Mrs. F. Mcßride said that the extra amount was going to be "a terrible hurdle" for any committee. It was stated that the combined committees of Onehunga had urged that, in the event of school committees having to bear an extra burden in connection with the financing of dental clinics, the clinics should be under the control of the committees. The increased levy had been "sprung on" the committees, who had 110 opportunity of refusing to meet it. The bills for the July quarter had already been presented, and. some committees did not know where they were to get the money to meet them. A Newton delegate complained that the levy had been increased and yet the wages of those from whom the committees were expected to find the money had been reduced. The chairman, Mr. G. E. Spooner, said that while the dental clinics were under the control of committees distinct from the school committees, a protest against .the increase in the levy would be in order. Mrs. Mcßi ide: It is the school committees who have to find the money." The remit was carried, and it was. decided to urge the Dental Clinics'' Association to take the matter, up with the Minister of •••Health. .