NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 162, 11 July 1934, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Discharged Prisoners' Aid. Appreciation of the work being done by the Rev. G. K. Aloreton and the Auckland Discharged Prisoners' Aid Society lias been expressed by the Archbishop of Canterbury. A letter received by Mr. Moreton from the Rev. Alan C. Don. chaplain to the Archbishop, states: "The Archbishop of Canterbury has heard with much, interest from your letter of April 2(1 of the good work being done by the Auckland Discharged Prisoners' Aid Society, and wishes it continued success and blessing. - ' Defence Wharf Repairs. When the Defence Department recently advised the Auckland Harbour Board that the Defence wharf at Devonport appeared to be in need of a comprehensive overhaul, and asked if the board would have an estimate of the necessary repairs prepared, the request was referred to the board in committee. Subsequently the engineer, Mr. D. Holderness, estimated the cost of the repairs at £350 and recommended that the board asjree to carry out the work, provided the Defence Department would agree to bear half the cost, and also renew the lease to the board 0? half the wharf for a further ten years on the expiry of the present term. The engineer's recommendation was approved. Importation Prohibited. It was stated at last night's meeting of the council of the Auckland* Acclimatisation Society that the Department of Internal Affairs has refused to grant the society's request to import several pairs of golden plover, woodcock and widgeon if the birds were to he liberated. There would' be no objection to their importation if the birds and their progeny were kept in strict confinement in the Auckland Zoological Park. "There appears to be no reason at all why the request for the importation of the plover and tin; woodcock should have been refused, though there may have been some doubt about the widgeon.'' said the president, Mr. P. K McKenzie. "The decision is most arbitrary." The council decided to leave the matter'in the hands of the president to iind out why the request had been refused. Setback for Trappers. The opossum trappers in the Orey Acclimatisation Society's district have " had a severe setback since the cold snap began, there being as much as 4ft of snow where they are engaged in the Moonlight district, reports the "Grey River Argus." For about •a week it has been impossible to do any trapping, and nine days or so must elapse before a resumption becomes possible unless (here is meantime warm rain sufficient to melt the snow. The opossums are mostly snowed in, but have a food supply. The trappers, almost all of whom had been on relief work, will now obtain practically no return for a quarter of the season, owing to the conditions, hut it is hoped to obtain an extension of the season for this area for about three weeks. Some. 30 trappers have signed a petition to thai end, which is to be presented to the Acclimatisation Society. Interests of the Poor. In the course of his appeal at the crowded public protest meeting in the Town Hall last evening, Bishop Lisbon, Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland, quoted a passage from the writings of Pope Leo XIII., who had stated: "Justice demands that the interests of the poor be carefully watched over by public authority, so that those who contribute so largely to the welfare of the community may themselves share in the benefits they create; that being housed, clothed and enabled to support life, they may iind their existence less hard and more endurable. It follows that whatever shall appear conducive to "the wellbeing of those who work should receive favourable consideration. Let it not he feared that solicitude of this kind will injure any interest; on the contrary, it will be to the advantage of all; for it cannot but be good for a country to keep from misery those on whom it so much depends." " Like a Lost Soul." "North Shore'' write*:—We have bad quite a few foggy mornings this winter, and on every one we have heard the wailing obligate from the fog siren on the eastern tide deflector. And what a wail it is! Its longdrawn howl has evidently become familiar to both city dwellers and North Shore residents, for Ave hear few complaints; in fact, I have beard reputable citizens draw attention to it with a sort of proprietary pride. Like the time siren (which was a source of neverending amazement to the Franconia's visitors), it has become "part of the-landscape." The comments of an Australian visitor, who heard the fog warning for the first time,- was certainly amusing. "Is that the fog-fiend you've, jot chained up?" he asked. "It sounds like the wail of a lost soul in torment. ]f ever a, big producer put Dante's 'Inferno' on the stage, that hooter would make bis fortune." Papakura Relief Workers. During last mouth the Minister of Employment, the Hon. A. Hamilton, visited Papakura to meet representatives: of the Town Hoard, Chamber of Commerce and uriemdoyed. The Minister was given a good hearing, and all left the conference satisfied something would be. done to improve the elief workers' conditions, especially in regard 0 getting the same rate of pay as the metrololitan workers are receiving. The members >f the Town Board were astonished this week ,o learn through the member for Franklin, dr. J. N. Masscy, M.P., that nothing could bo tone-at all, states the "Star's" Papakura corespondent. The old story was repeated, that hp country 7ncn were better off than the own men. A member of the board suggested hat in future they should send a list of their cquirements to a Minister, and underneath lave two columns ruled. In one column have he word "Yes" and in the other "A T o." It vould save the Minister a lot of time, as all io would have to do would be to cross out he "Yes" or "Xo" as the case required. facing as Economic Barometer. "In recent years we have had to consider he general industrial and farming conditions •f the country, and unfortunately for a coniderablc period a review of these conditions as not provided us with too bright a picture, r allowed us any considerable degree of ptiniism as regards the immediate future," aid Mr. It. F. Xicoll, during the course of is presidential address to the New Zealand 'rotting Conference at Wellington this moiling. Mr. Xicoll went on to say that last ear he stated that there were unmistakable igns of returning prosperity, and they could ll agree to-day that though there was still inch distress and anxiety among all classes ■ hroughout Xew Zealand, yet the downward rend of events appeared to have been arrested nd there was definite evidence of a turn in I he tide. Those who followed closely the lovements of the Empire trade and markets ;ould have observed that trade was improv- < ig, not in isolated industries or districts, but < 1 a widespread distribution, and one of the irect results of this improvement had been. idicated in the additional totalisator turnver of many' clubs, with the collateral in- ] rcase of stakes. This was a reliable baro- ■, leter of better times, but even those clubs •ho had not yet benefited could take courage ! 1 rom the more cheerful outlook. There was. i o need for anyone to despair, for a reason-' ble optimism coupled with perseverance and < esolution would carry one and all over most impediments, as Robert Browning wrote: "The : ittlc more and. bow much it is, the little i :ss, and what worlds away."- •

Memorial Windows Criticised. ■■■ Reference to the criticism of the proposed design of the windows for the war memorial shrine was contained in a fetter from the Council of Christian Congregations which was received at last night's meeting of the Auckland Presbytery. The letter was in reply to one sent by the Presbytery complaining of the design. The Council of Christian Congregations asked the Presbytery what specific features in the design it would have altered, and said its representations would be sympathetically treated and lodged with the proper authorities. The Presbytery referred the letter to the public questions committee. A Five-year-old Train Jumper. With a nonchalance which even his father could not have excelled, a small boy of live . short summers boarded an outward-bound ' train at a suburban station and calmly appro- ' priated a seat in the back smoker, completely : oblivious to the inquiring glances of ' the I numerous occupants of the carriage (reports the Dunediu ''Times"). The sight of such a ; child travelling unattended was surprising in itself, but what was even more unusual was . the obvious unpreparedness of the youngster 1 for a journey. Finally one of the passengers decided that here was an ultra-modern edition of the familiar' old-time truant, and, after ascertaining that he was without even the i half-ticket to which his tender age entitled him. lie set the errant train jumper down at the next station. There it was found that the runaway needed no introduction. His record was well known, and it was stated by members of the station staff that there had been times when his luck had held as far as Mosgiel. Was Harbour Frozen? Considerable interest was taken in a rumour prevalent at Lyttclton on Thursday that portion of the harbour was frozen, principally around the yacht harbour, says the "'fimes." Several persons were credited with having seen a very thin layer of ice on the surface of the water, but harbour ollieials reported in the evening that they had not been notified of any such unusual happening. There was a .severe black frost late on Wednesday night, when the ground was frozen hard. A curious incident was that while the wharves were clear of frost at seven o'clock on Thursday morning, they were white by eight o'clock, a white frost following the black frost. Water lying on the tarpaulins on top of the railway trucks and pools of water along the waterfront were frozen to a thickness of over half an inch, and taps were also frozen. It is on record that in the 'nineties a thin layer of ice covered the harbour. Camped Under a Fledge. Setting out at noon on Thursday, avowedly with (lie intention of. going to a ball at Kaponga, four Waitara boys cycled as far as Stratford, where their attention was absorbed by the skating rink, reports the "Tanuraki News."' 'That was as far as they went; one was taken home on Thursday night by a person who knew him, and the other three, found by Constable J. Gill on Friday morning, were sent home, somewhat bedraggled, after a Jiight spent under a hedge, but otherwise none the worse for the experience. The eldest boy of the three was 17, and each of <Uie others 15. When questioned by the police, wSto had been advised by telephone to watch for them, the three boys stated that they left Waitara at noon on Thursday and planned to go to the ball at Kaponga. They stopped at Stratford to watch the skating, and became so interested that they renounced the idea of continuing to Kaponga, When the rink closed, they sought a sheltered spot under a hedge and spout the night then*. Coming Home With the Milk. Residents of Onehunga and Mangerc have long maintained that the most exposed spot in Auckland during a gale is in the middle of Mangerc Bridge; and after a harrowing experience during Saturday night's gale a young couple .agree with the contention. The young man and his fiancee were motoring back to Epsom from Manurewa, when, in the height of the storm and half-way across the bridge, the engine stopped, the rain having reached the magneto. . All the young man's gallant efforts to restart the engine were unavailing, and the two were compelled to shelter in the car for three hours, until a -4 a.m. milk wagon gave them a lift to the young woman's home, where the young man "shook down" on a settee until daylight. The force of the wind across the bridge had been so great that on going to retrieve the car after breakfast he found it half-capsized and jammed hard up against the railings of the bridge. New Zealanders in Argentina. The fact that many of the large cattle and sheep properties in Argentina are managed by Australians and Xew Zealanders was mentioned by Mr. M. S. MacKinnon. who arrived in Wellington by the lonic on his way to Sydney. Ha said that there were good openings in Argentina for young men familiar with stock matters and willing to work for success. .Mr. MacKinnon left the Poverty Bay district ten years' ago for Argentina, where he is the manager of an extensive ranch, and in 192!) ho paid a visit to New Zealand, taking back with him a ijumber of stud ranis from ' the South Island. New Zealand pedigree stock was highly esteemed in ;Argentina, he said, and it was well suited by the climate. In time it would not be necessary for certain areas to import stud animals, because they would be able to maintain type and breeding ' without outside, assistance, but other parts ' of the country would always have to import pedigree stock on account of the, effect of the \ climatic conditions. Mr. MacKinnon said that : British capital invested in Argentina totalled ' £529,000,000, and this undoubtedly influenced > the discussions on export quotas to Great 1 Britain. Most of the money was invested in i railways, land and freezing works. The conn- •' try was feeling the effects of the economic i depression, but not, lie thought, to the same i extent as other parts of the world. Quotas i were causing some concern, although the pro- i ducers were more than hopeful of the outlook, i New Zealand's Coldest Day. On the subject of snowfalls in Auckland ' a former Taranaki resident who kept a diary I at the time says that an entry he made shows 1 that Sunday, September 2, 1894, was the coldest the colony had ever suffered up to that time, as far as the oldest inhabitant could remember. In Taranaki snow men were made in every town and village, and so intense was the cold that the figures did not thaw till next day. It was the first time that many young j people had seen snow, and they revelled in the j new experience of snowballing. Hardly any . part of the country escaped, except perhaps , the North of Auckland, but it was recognised at the time that snow had fallen from the x Bluff to Auckland, the strangest thing being j that the fall happened so late in the season, j Stock suffered severely, and calves and lambs c died in great numbers. In the South many i church services could not be held in country districts, because horses unaccustomed to snow • could not travel through it, and as it became frozen they became"almost helpless. The Kev. C. C. Harper, who was recently a visitor from ) England to the Dominion, had just conic to . Southern Taranaki in 1894, and after the ' church service asked his congregation to in- * dulge in ■snowballing to warm themselves after the very cold hour they had spent. With ' reference to the reported fall of snow in 1890, the diarist says it is likely that that date , J has been confused with 1894. After the snow n and frost had subsided, scores and scores of i frost fish were got on the beaches, and were i hawked into the country and sold at less than * snapper prices. The Maoris had a feast of * the delicate iish, it being a great change from ' H dried shark, which they had preserved for the a winter. One of the special features mentioned i at the time all over the country was that the ~ cold was so unusual that bakers could not c y get their bread to rise aey.t mdru'T'g. j,