NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 290, 8 December 1932, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

A Debatable Point. The question as to whether relief workers owning registered motor cars used for pleasure are really eligible for relief work was mentioned at a meeting of the Port Chalmers Unemployment Committee on Monday. As there were said to be very few such cases locally, the subject was allowed to drop. • German Owl's Toll. When stamping the other day on one of the corporation leaseholds near the Seaward Bush reserve, an Invercargill resident came across very definite evidence of the toll taken on small birds by the German owl. The uprooting of a stump disclosed a nest containing four fledgling owls and the mother bird. Round the nest were the remains of twelve thrushes. The owls paid forfeit with their lives. Small Bird Plague. Small birds are attacking oat and barley crops in the central and eastern districts of Ashburton County, where the heat of the past few weeks lias brought the heads to within an ace of maturity. Great flocks of sparrows may be seen settling on the crops, and they have eaten a great deal of oats and barley. A handful of stalks taken from a barley field 011 the outskirts of Ashburton showed only the husks. The birds had taken every grain. Animals' Ambulance Service, A free ambulance service for small animals injured on the streets within a five-mile radius of the Auckland Town Hall has been established by the Animal Welfare Association. The service is available at any hour of the day or night, and suburban local bodies have been furnished with details concerning the summoning of the animals' ambulance. At last evening's meeting of the One Tree Hill Borough Council it was decided to express appreciation of the work of the association. Afforesting of Sand Dunes. Proposals for the afforestation of the sand dune coasts of Wanganui ana adjacent districts were approved at a public meeting in Wanganui, when a report on the subject was received from the State Forest Department's ranger, Mr. J. K. Field, and it was decided that a representative deputation wait on the Government and the Unemployment Board with a view to having the scheme undertaken. Quoting from the report, Mr. D. Dustin, chairman of the Wanganui Development League, said that the approximate cost of the scheme would be £5815, while the ultimate value of, say, 500,000 trees would be £250,000. Few Mower Wanted. A statement that grass growing at the sides of roads within the borough of One Tree Hill looked more untidy after it had been cut by the council's street mower than when it was growing long was made at last evening's meeting of the Borough Council. The foreman admitted that the work of the mower was not as good as should be expected, as the mower was eight years old and almost falling to pieces. It was mentioned that the cost of a new machine would be about £24, but it was decided that the old mower should be made to do until next year. "Will we be able to trade in the old machine?" asked one member facetiously. "Rationing" of Relief Work.

"I think the Unemployment Board would have done wisely to have strained a point, and not have introduced these complicated new regulations until the New Year," said the .Mayor of Devonport, Mr. H. F. W. Meikle, at last night s meeting of the Borough Council, when referring to the rationing proposals for relief work which are due to come into force on December 10. Mr. Meikle pointed out that there was already a considerable strain on the borough's staff, and expressed the opinion that the change at tlie present juncture savoured of pinpricking. The board liad -already decided to grant the unemployed two weeks' pay for the Christina® holidays, and he thought they would do well to allow full pay under existing conditions until that time. A message in these terms will be 6ent to the Government.

Training Ship's Lantern. An attractive addition to the training ship Philomel, which, although she no longer has engines to take her to sea, is still useful unit of the New Zealand Squadron, is an ornamental lantern to light the landing steps on the port side of the old warship. The Philomel is berthed on the shore side of the jetty, with her bow pointing down harbour, and official visitors to the ship taken across, the harbour by naval launch go aboard by means of the steps on the port side. It was made known to the torpedo men on the ship, who, incidentally, are responsible for all electrical work, that a light was required to hang above the landing stage. With the knowledge that a job worth doing is worth doing well, the torpedo party constructed a really attractive lantern of old-time design, the whole job being carried out in brass. Tampering With Life-saving Gear. During an inspection of the five life-saving reels situated at intervals along the Marine Parade beach at Napier, a serious state of affairs was revealed when members of the Hawke s Bay centre of the Royal Life-saving Society discovered that every one of the reels had been tampered with. One had the whole length of rope missing, while the ropes of others were badly knotted and tangled. A recent inspection of reels on the Taranaki beaches revealed the reels to be in ail almost similar state. In view of the fact that these reels must always be in perfect condition if they arc to be of use in saving life, it is desirable to impress upon members of the public tlie foolishness of tampering with them. In tne event of a person being in difficulties while bathing in the surf, the delay caused through tangled rope might easily result in loss of life. The "Good Old Days." Mr. J. P. Belcher, of Wanganui, has extracted much interesting information from a copy, of the newspaper "Nelson Examiner, dated March 0, 1547, the sixth year of that publication's existence. Mechanics' wages in tnose days ranged about 3/0 to 4/ a day, and labourers -/. Bread was retailed at lOd a 41b loaf, flour at : £ls a ton, potatoes were £3 a ton, milk a P c " n y per pint, mutton 7d per lb, oate and wheat 3/6 a bushel. Ale could be purchased for 9d a bottle, ■brandy for 6/6 per gallon, and Whisky for 8/ a oullon. The issue is printed on dark blue papei, which contrasts' very vividly with that the present generation is accustomed to, and it might be -looked upon as significant, in view of Mr. Harry Atmore's leanings; that five columns of this particular number have been devoted to an article headed, "The Advantages of Education. Even in those early years Nelson must have been academically minded.

Relic of Louis XVI. When digging in his garden recently, a Wellington police constable unearthed a copper coin which was handed to a "Post" reporter for identification. The coin was referred to the president of the Numismatic Society, the Kev. jy C Bates, wlio states that it was struck 111 the rebm of Louis XVI. of France, and is apparently dated 1780, which is seven years prior to the outbreak of the French Revolution, when the King was decapitated and many refugees were driven to Fngland. "If the coin could tell us its. history," continues Mr. Bates, it mighthave a story of its association with one of the refugees, or it may have been a trophy of a soldier or sailor in the Napoleonic wars. It may then have been brought to New Zealand by one of our pioneers, and in the days when coin was scarce would have been freely circulated. Later, when regarded as "bad' money, or a curiosity, it may have been given to a child as a plaything and lost in a Wellington garden."