NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 37, 13 February 1934, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Severe Electric Storm. During the electric storm in the Waiwera district on Friday, very severe lightning la~te<l from 0.15 p.m. till about 2 a.m. On Mr. V. Schiselika's property a huge pine tree was struck and split in half right down into the ground. In Mr. Schiselika's house pait of the telephone was blown across the room, and most telephones in the district were put out of action. Loan Not Sanctioned. Intimation has heen received by the Te A warn u tit Borough Council from the Local Government Loans Board that its application for permission to take a poll on a proposal to raise £2000 for a grandstand building at Albert Park had not been approved, it being held that the scheme was not desirable until the various bodies lining the park could put forward acceptable guarantees _ that the revenue would pay interest and sinking fund on the loan. Sending Samples to Japan. It would appear that the charge made by Mr. H. J. Greenwall in a message from Japan to England, to the effect that Dominion importers were rushing Lancashire samples to Japan, and asking for copies with the best quotations, is only too well founded. Upon the cablegram which appeared recently being brought before the notice of the head of one of Wellington's largest softgoods linns, lie replied at once that this was a very common - practice in New Zealand. Killer Whale at Nelson. A killer whale, which a few weeks ;-go took up patrol work in front of the Talr.ina bathing sheds, much to the consternation ot bathers until frightened away by machine-gun lire, after scorning the efforts of riflemen for a week or so, was seen by Xclson yachtsmen in the bay on Friday in very low condition, states a Press Association message from Nelson. The whale was probed by oars, and hardly moved. It appeared to have been ripped by bullets near the tail.

Skilled Service Car Drivers. High praise for tlie motor services ill New Zealand and for the skill of the service cai drivers was expressed by Dr. A. E. Porter, a retired medical officer, of Keigate, England, in an interview with a Christchurcli journalist. He said that the cars were not always as comfortable as might be desired on account of tlie large number of passengers carried, but they maintained a fast and very eflicien.t service, frequently over indifferent road.-;. Di\ Porter said that the skill of the drivers of the service cars 011 the West Coast was remarkable —he would have described it as flaring had he not been informed that accidents were - unknown. Lignite Deposits. Coal lias been discovered in parts of the Whakatane district from time to time (says the "Star" correspondent). Some years ago several small outcrops were found on the hills near the borough, and in the Waimana Gorge. More recently a considerable quantity was discovered on Mr. A. Luttrell's property at Waimana, and it is therefore not surprising that while road excavations were being made at Douglas Hill deviation a quantity of coal or lignite was unearthed. A sample was taken to the county council office before the last meeting for inspection by the councillors. It was of inferior quality, and councillors doubted whether it had any commercial value. The Birth of Rumour. An illustration of how rumour originates occurred in a nortliend household at Invercargill. A neighbour, a gentleman of unimpeachable judgment and sobriety, tuning in ■his wireless set, caught the tail-end of something being reported, from Christchurcli —150 deacf at Napier, 100 at Hastings and all the smaller towns in the district severely damaged. The only conclusion he could come to was that there must have been another heavy 'quako at Napier, with renewed loss of life. Alarm spread rapidly in the neighbourhood — until someone remembered that it was the third anniversary of the great earthquake. Keference to the evening paper showed that the item was mentioned. Then it became clear that the announcer was merely telling details of the 'quake of three years ago. Thus is rumour born. "World Affairs" In Schools. |

"The Students' Digest," a set of brief, concise notes on current affairs, designed for the general information of pupils m Zealand schools, is being published monthly bv Mr L. J. Cronin, a Dunecliii journalist. J" a foreword the Minister of Education expresses the hope that the boys and girls the Dominion will find the perusal of tlu publication both interesting and profitable. In the section devoted to "Foreign Comment there are brief summaries of recent political developments in European countries, and an account of the political conditions whicn ga\t. riee to them. Another section, deals with ireneral topics in which >ew Zealand itselt has a particular interest. The summarised information covers a wide field and some» of it will doubtless prove beyond the intelli 0 e l o-rasp of primary school classes,_ but the "Digest" should be a valuable aid in fostering an undeifctanding and a desire to keep touch with world events among the pupils of secondary departments. On Empire Migration. The great need of the times from the Imperial standpoint, according to Air. J. — • yMliun, who addressed fellow Rotarians yep terday, is an Empire migration policy. He said that since the war the population o Great Britain had increased steadily, an there were now about 2,000,000 unemployed. There were more people engaged in lndnatiy in England at present than at any other period in history. The surplus population should be assisted to settle in the Dominions under an Imperial scheme, by which the British Government would pay to tin. JJon nion Governments, say, the dole money tor three years of the immigrants taken by each country. What would become of those people. They would be settled on the land "People will criticise this on the grounds the mi "rants would become peasant farmers, said Jli f Allum, "but observations in I'ranee ami other Continental countries lead one to believe that a sound peasantry is not a bad sort of thing. A man has a roof owr head, and lives on the produce of his own land." Unemployment Board Criticised. The members of the Papakura Unemployment Committee last evening expressed stiong disapproval of the inadequate _ sums being allotted to Papakura for the So. ° The committee decided to write to the M»m ter of Employment asking if he required the services of the committee any longer, as its advice was being consistently turned down. Later in the evening the same matter came up in the Town Board meeting, and Mi. D. Weil said- "It is quite absurd and wicked to expect a man and his wife and two children to exist on 19/9 per week, and it makes ones Jlood boil to see the huge sums wasted at wai tanfi and those celebrations, £14.000 to a big insurance company to build palatial offices, and over £3000 to a race club, while people are on the starving line."' Mr.- AVeir then moved: "That the Minister of Employment, dissolve the Unemployment Board, witn its ]iu<*e salaries, ancl do tlic work- himself. a-, lie "is responsible to Parliament, and the board members are not." The chairman *a.d he thought that these matters did not come within the province of a town board, a.tiiough Mr. Weir was' quite right in his statements. The motion,-T?jas loet.jby'fchree-to two.

A Bird Mystery Solved.

A story was current in Morrinsvillo yes terdav that a penguin had been found by a resident in a stream that is a tributary ot the Piako Paver, and the inference was that this venturesome bird had swum upstieam for 50 miles from the Hauraki Gulf to Morrinsville. A little investigation disclosed that another resident, while on a visit to Wailu Beach, had obtained this penguin and brought it back to Morrinsville. To give it natural surroundings, lie put it in a stream that flows through the borough near his i#me, and had been feeding it regularly. Territorial Camp. The Ist Battalion of the Hauraki Regiment, which draws men from Rotorua, Morrinsville, Matamata, Te Arolia, Thame-, Waihi, Tauranga and Wliakatane, went m-.j camp at Tauranga on Saturday for one week. The total number of men under canvas exceeds .'3OO. The oflicer commanding the camp is Colonel F. Prideaux, T.D.,and his adjutant is Captain V. J. Innis, N.Z.S.C. To-day General Sir William Sinclair Burgess is to inspect the camp, and to-morrow Sir Stephen Allen, who is brigade commissioner of the Ist Battery, Hauraki Regiment, will make a tour ot inspection. On Thursday, Squadron-Leader Isitt will arrive in Tauranga by aeroplane and take part in a troop scheme with the battalion. Friday (visitors' day) will see the trooping of the colours of the regiment. Colonel J. E. Duigan, D.5.0., O.C. Northsrn Command, "will take the salute. Angora Rabbit Farm. A sub-committee of the Napier Centfil Employment Committee for Youths is sti.l considering the possibilities of acquiring " piece of land to start an Angora rabbit farm as a means of finding employment for boy.ont of work. The president of the X'.-w Zcmland Babbit Breeders' Association, Mr. G. 12. G. Rogers, of Havelock North, is of the opinion that the committee would be wise to

organise a mixed farm at which experimental work with Angora rabbit farming might ba carried oil for the first year or two. Me thinks that if this branch of farming were carried on in a small way at first the bo.vs would acquire the much-needed experience to run it at a profit when their knowledge had increased. He is satisfied that Angora rabbit farming could be made a paying proposition. He in ■ prepared to give the committee the benefit of what experience he lias. Alleged Poaching by Highways Board. A strong protect was voiced last evening by the Papakura Town Board against the way the Public Works Department dealt with the cletonr road in the Town Board area. The board had suggested that Opaheke Road was the natural detour road, as it was straight, while the detour proposed had two right angles. It was tlioilght that the Highways Board would listen to the local authority. The straight road would be used by the travelling public, and would be cut up, and the Papakura ratepayers would have to pay the cost of repairing. Mr. H. E. McEntee said the more serious complaint was that tlio Public Works Department had cut up Liverpool Street without even asking ''by your leave." It was a piece of insolence on the part of Public Works officers to interfere with the Town Board's roads without even the courtesy of letting the board know, especially when the board was dealing with the matter. He moved that the board strongly protest at the action of the Public Works officers interfering with the Town Board s roads without their authority. Ihifi was carried unanimously.

Menace of the Chamois. "The spread of chamois in the Southern Alps a very serious problem," Ca'ptain P. Ycrex, of Christchurch, said when interviewed last week. "They arc very timid, and live in inaccessible places." Captain Yercx has recently surveyed the Arthur's Pass region,sand" he found a number of chamois there. The chamois could go anywhere, and the way they travelled over rocky country was almost unbelievable. Tlicy were plant eaters, and those shot had been living almost entirely on the Mount Cook lily (Ranunculus Dyelli). These plants had been especially designed by Nature to prevent erosion, and were also of "aesthetic value to New Zealand, so it was necessary to check the activities 01 the chamois. The spread of the chamois was more serious than the spread of the deer, Captain Yercx said, because they had emanated from one point, while the deer had been established in several places. He considered that the only way to check them effectively was to destroy the parent herd at Mount Cook. There was an impression abroad tnat tiiar were as bad as chamois, Captain Ycrex added, but that was incorrect. They had not increased at the same rate, and very few had moved to the north of Mount Cook.

Orthodoxy and Cranks. "I have read the works of Major Douglas and his critics with great interest,'; said Dr. Campbell Begg to a meeting of the national executive of the Xcw Zealand Legion in Wellington. "With the knowledge that Lister, Simpson and Pasteur in my own profess on were opposed as cranks by tile orthodox school, I am willing to believe that the same error may he made in the sacred realm of economics. That Douglas is opposed by the so-called orthodox school makes the pleasure of listening to him more attractive. In addition, I had the pleasure of welcoming .hint on behalf of the legion as one who has made his name world famous, and lias devoted his energies to the development of a system oi finance to assist those who are unable to get their reasonable share of the necessities Oi existence. Whether he is right or wrong, 1 have no doubt he would incur similar opposition and similar support. I would ask all members of the legion, whatever their vie.vs, to treat him as a distinguished visitor, and to study attentively his analysis of the financial position, as well as the proposed remedies, and decide for themselves his views are completely wrong, partially right, and partially wrong, or wholly right. That is the least any member of an impartial organisation like the legion can do."'

Anti-war Conference

A "national convention against war" is to be lieltl in Wellington 011 June 2. Its aim will be "to bring before the people of New Zealand the immediate danger of war, and to organise for peace and for the against war by means of: —(a) Education and propaganda on the meaning and causes of war; (b) through the setting up of a network of local councils against war in all districts and industries, to oppose the manufacture of armaments and the raising and transportation of troops and war materials." The decision to call the conference was made last week by a conference convened by the Council Against War at the Friends' Hall in Wellington. The council was elected by the Labour study group to co-ordinate the Wellington peace movement. Forty delegates were present from the Wellington branches of the following bodies:—League of Nations Union, Trades and Labour Council, Society or Friends, Ex-servicemen's League, League Against War, Presbyterian and Congregational Bible'classes,-Methodist Young Men's and Young Women's Movements, Baptist Bible Class Union, Communist party, Salvation Army, Student Christian Movement, Army of Reconciliation. Women's Institutes, "fheosophical Society, Youth Peace Crusade. Xo More War Movement, Friends of the Soviet Union, International Study Circle, Labour Study Croup, Douglas Social Credit Association, and Workers' Educational Association. Observers were sent from th<! Institute of Pacific Relations, the Intcrn.itioiia! Order of Oddfellows and the -Nation .1 Council of Women.