NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 97, 27 April 1933, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

A Barrel For Both. "It behoves every sportsman to kill vermin when he sees it," said the president, Mr. F. E. McKenzie, at the animal meeting of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society last evening. He said that if a pheasant was set and a hawk swooped down, a sportsman should give his first barrel to the hawk and keep the other one for the pheasant. Hertzian Waves. ~~ - "As wireless listeners, you will be interested to know that the magic waves which enable you to listen to this talk, and which were first harnessed by Marconi, were discovered by a great Jewish, scientist, Professor Hertz, and they are commonly known as Hertzian waves," said Mr. I. Meltzer, in an address broadcast on "The World's Debt to the Jew." Poor Churchgoers? A laugh was caused at last evening's, meeting of the One Tree Hill Borough Council when the session of one of the churches within the borough extended an invitation to the Mayor and councillors to attend Divine worship. The •laugh came when the Mayor mentioned that the session had added a postscript: "It seems ages since you did come." As invitations, had been received from two churches, the council decided to attend service at the church which had not been attended for the longer period. Milk For Belief Workers. An appeal to residents of Takapuna to assist the Takapuna Welfare Committee in its work for the sick and needy of the borough was made by Mr. J. Guiniven, Mayor, at last night's meeting of the Takapuna Borough Council. Gifts of trees for the purpose of cutting up for firewood, he said, were urgently required. He paid a warm tribute to the untiring efforts of tho Rev. John Hiddleston. The council decided to make an interim payment of £10 to the welfare committee, and to ask the Department of Agriculture to supply cows to bo kept on waste land in tho borough. The council offered to supply labour under No. 5 scheme, the milk to be distributed amongst relief workers. For the Future. Municipal government of the distant future as envisaged by Mr. M. J. Savage, M.P., deputyleader of the Labour party, when speaking last night at Mr. H. G. R. Mason's Mayoralty campaign meeting at Ponsonby: "I am looking forward to the time," he said, "when every local body will be a working part of a national system. The time will come when they will be an administrative portion of it, and we will have a local Parliament with the local bodies united under the one control and composed of representatives who will die paid for the time they give to the work. This will working men and working women to participate." Motorists and Live Stock. The statement that cars were driven through slock at speeds up, to 50 miles an hour, and that very rarely did drivers stop to see what damage they had 'done if they hit any of the animals, was made at Monday's meeting of the Waipa County Council in the course of references to the lack of consideration that stock in charge of drovers receives from motorists on country roads, especially on the Hamilton-Ngaruawahia section of the Great South Road. One ratepayer wrote stating that, while leading a nervous young horse, he signalled as many as a dozen cars to give more room, and not one gave any consideration. It was asserted that many motorists appeared to think that they had the sole right of the road, or that live stock had no right on the road.at all. It was decided that the attention of the council's traffic inspectors and the Auckland Automobile Association should be drawn to the matter. Late Birds to the Rescue. Mr. and Mrs. A. Salter, of Christchurch, whose house was burnt on Tuesday morning, state that they owe a. debt of gratitude to a party of young people. When fire was sweeping through Hardie Thomson's timber yard, and caught their house, Mr. Salter and a little boy were asleep on the back porch. The young people, who were on their way home from a dance, rushed in and aroused the household. They snatched the little boy from bed just in time, and thereafter worked with all their might in an endeavour to save the family's belongings, this in spite of the fact that all were dressed for dancing. At another house, which was gutted, there was an amusing incident. Two late revellers, who were very inebriated, gave timely assistance, while other helpers were busy elsewhere. The owner said afterwards: "Those two men came along as tight as owls, but, by Jove, didn't they shift that furniture!" New Council—Old Mayor. A strange position under the Municipal Corporations Act was revealed at last -evening's meeting of the One Tree Hill Borough Council. As the Mayor, Mr. I. J. Goldstine, and the full council have been returned unopposed for another term of office, no election will be necessary on Wednesday of next week. The first business ou the order paper for last evening's meeting was the making and signing of declarations by members of the council. When this had been completed, the Mayor said that for the remainder of the evening the new council would have to sit under their old Mayor, as under the Act the new Mayor was not sworn in until the first meeting following the date of the municipal elections. "It is a strange position, but I must carry on as the old Mayor for a little longer," remarked Mr. Goldstine. Later in the evening, _ when the Mayor was giving an opinion concerning future policy, one of the members, of the council facetiously inquired whether the new Mayor would have the same opinions as the old one. "Without a doubt," replied Mr. Goldstine. Babbits and Game. The fact that the Central Waikato Rabbit Board has notified ratepayers in the board's area in the Cambridge district that shooting and rabbit trapping are prohibited was mentioned at the annual meeting of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society last evening. It was stated that the society had received an interim legal opinion that native game could be shot in the district despite the Rabbit Board's action. The board has decided to open a poisoning campaign on May 1, which is coincident with the opening of the shooting season. One of the members of the society claimed that if a shooting license were issued under the authority of the Minister, that was sufficient, and he intended to shoot native game in the Cambridge district despite the board's prohibition. Other members considered that, the agricultural aspect had to foe considered, and that in any case some shooting meu would be chary about taking their dogs over land where poison was laid. The society has decided to secure further legal advice. Idle Money. The assistance of power boards in the Auckland Province is to be enlisted by the Franklin Power Board in urging the Government to amend the power board, regulations to provide for a reasonable limitation of the amount to be set aside in the statutory depreciation reserve. It was pointed out that, under the present regulations, when the loans mature, there will be a system of reticulation fully maintained, the loans will be paid off, and a large sum will be accumulated in. the depreciation reserve. The only reasons for establishing such a fund were to provide for obsolescence in the way of a change in the methods of reticulation, or to provide for a disaster sueh as the Hawke's Bay earthquake. In the first case a change in method would undoubtedly be such as would bring about a reduction in costs, and could therefore be provided for by maintaining present charges until the change over took place. In the second case it was generally a fact that most boards' assets were widespread, and a large proportion would not be seriously damaged. The experience of the Hawke's Bay Board showed that a reserve fund of 10 per cent of the total capital expenditure should be ample to provide for such contingencies, and it was this percentage of limitation that the- board proposed, to ask foe. ,