NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 223, 20 September 1935, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Ohinemuri County Jubilee. In October next the Ohinemuri County Council will be 50 years of age, and at this month's meeting it was decided to celebrate this golden jubilee. Among the activities it is intended to issue a booklet dealing with the history of the county and the boroughs of Paeroa and Waihi, and to make this as complete as possible an appeal has been made by the council for the loan of old photographs, memoirs, newspapers, ctc. Dug-outs Suggested. A letter was rcceivcd by the Auckland City Council last evening from a former Red Cross nurse during the war period suggesting that dug-outs, wherein children could be sheltered in the event of war coming to New Zealand, be built in different parts of Auckland, such as the old school site in Parnell, and that in the meantime they be used for the growing of ferns and flowers, that a cliargc be made for admission, and the money collected used for upkeep. The communication was "rcceivcd." A Verbal Lashing. The leader in the House of Representatives of the Democrat party, Mr. W. A. Vcitch, was given a sound verbal lashing by Mr. R. Semple (Labour, Wellington East) yesterday afternoon. The member for Wanganui, declared Mr. Semple, had crawled into every political pond he could find. "He has now crawled into another political pond," Mr. Semple continued, "and if I'm any judge of him he will soon crawl out again. But I don't think he will find enough water there to have even a bath." Centenary Year. After considering a report from the Mayor on the proposed centenary celebrations in 1940 the finance coinmitire recommended to the Auckland City Council last evening that I.xr. Davis sho lid be iiiithorised to confer on behalf of the counsil with the Mayors and chairmen of the various contiguous local authorities as a prc'iminary to a conference at a later date. The M;>yor stated that tfic consultations would be in the nature of exploration for suggestions, and a medium for Ihe exchange of viewpoints so that information could be assembled. Japanese in China. "The present news points to the fact that Japan has gained virtual control of the whole of North China," said Miss A. M. Moncrieff, a Y.W.C.A. worker in China, in the course of an address to the Palmerston North Rotary Club. "In the Hopei province the Government has had to resign and the Japanese have put in its place officials who are friendly to Japan. That constitutes a very serious situation. China seems to have lost to Japan Korea, Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, and, as lar as any policy of her < -vn is concerncd, N rth China."

Grafton Bridge Traffic. The opinion was expressed by the city engineer, Mr. J. Tyler, at last night's meeting of the City Council that another 18 inches could be given to the footpaths of Grafton Bridge for the use of pedestrians without interfering with the vehicular traffic in any way. To ask people to keep to the right on Grafton Bridge when they were everywhere else asked to keep to the left he did not consider would work, and it would be necessary to have an officer continually on duty. He was prepared to submit a scheme to. meet the difficulty. The matter was referred to the works committee. Boys on the Land. Are the boys who accept openings on farms satisfied with their lot? This is a question often asked, and is well answered by the results of a questionnaire sent out by the Auckland Boys' Employment Committee recently. It was reported at a meeting of the executive yesterday by the secretary, Mr. N. G. Gribble, that 150 replies had been received from boys who had been in farming for some time, and showed that all were happy and almost invariably treated as members of the family, and that most intended to keep farming. Incidentally, placements made by the committee since the previous meeting totalled 22 in the country and 78 in town, and listed applications from country employers not filled amounted to 110. "In addition, we still decline three or four applications per day owing to employers being unable to wait," it was stated. Such Is Fame. People who suddenly come into wealth always find hundreds of others who want to assist them in spending it, or who can advise as. to how to increase a lucky windfall. Mr. C. H. K. Mountain, winner of the £12.000 Tattersall's sweep last week, is no exception, and the propositions put to him are many ami varied. Motor ca- salesmen and radio dealers naturally consider him a good mark, and if lie tries out all the vehicles and sets whose virtues have been recommended to h.m then he will have to forget all about his usual avocation for the next few months. Mortgages, farms and even a Ileniuera home—at

£5000 cash—are uiiK'ng the other temptations dangled before the man with £12,000. Of course, the telephone calls are legion, and Mr. Mountain is surprised at the wide circle of acquaintances who have so suddenly discovered him. One made an unforgivable faux pas. He inquired from Mr. Mountain, who is a bachelor, if his wife was well. Graduate " Rent Collector." An Auckland girl now in England tells an interesting story of aigirl friend who, after graduating in social science (a three-ycaf-course) at Manchester University, is now getting experience as a rent collector on a municipal housing estate in a northern town. It appears that there is much more in the term "rent collector" than meets the eye. Such assistants, the writer says, "have to deal tactfully with the tenants, and try to encourage them to make full use of their improved surroundings and not let them degenerate into the state of the old ones." To begin with, they have to be persuaded to allow the housing authority to take away all their personal possessions to be fumigated, and when the "collectors" have accomplished this it is their next duty to convince the tenants that it would be a good thing if they celebrated their removal to their new home by taking a bath. The writer of the letter mentions a river the fishing rights of which were sold by the owner for £1000 a year, but it cost £1 for every three fish put into it. "And then a fisherman would come along and pay £90 a year to take a few of them out again. Such is sport!"

Primitive Weaving Methods. Following the lecture of Mr. J. llukutai at the meeting of the anthropology section of the Auckland Institute and Museum in the Museum Library on Wednesday evening, members of the Boys' Ethnology Club demonstrated ancient methods of weaving practised by the Maoris and other races. Accompanied by a commentary from one of the senior boys, Master Alex Robson, the Maori methods of preparing the materials were shown; the splitting of the long flax leaf, the scraping, the beating of the fibre with a wooden club in a wooden trough to rid it of the last vestiges of pulp, and the rolling of the rinished fibre. Various types of primitive looms were shown, some being models made by tlie boys themselves under the direction of the president of the club, Mr. V. F. Fisher, assistant ethnologist of the Auckland Museum, who described the different types and the weaving methods as the boys were working. The main types shown were the vertical loom, the Grecian vertical weighted loom, vertical loom with heddle, horizontal looms from Santa Cruz and New Mexico, the ingenious and complicated sling loom of the American Indians of Guiana, the tripod loom of Sierra Leone, and also the ordinary European type.

" Easier to Look At." "I do not know if they are easier to speak to than the average Rotary audience, but I do know they are easier to look at," said Canon Percival James in addressing the "fathers and daughters" gathering of the Wellington Rotary Club. That sentiment was shared by everyone present, as the age of the daughters ranged from two to twenty.

Seafaring Bulldog. Well established on board the s.s. Holmdale is the vessel's mascot, a pet bulldog with long experience on the New Zealand coast. Sammy has sailed in the Holmdale for many months, and lias become so familiar when the coaster calls at Wanganui that he is now looked upon as part of the ship. Sammy is in the care of the cook, and though ferocious in appearance is very quiet in liis behaviour. He has not been known to bite or attack strangers, except when teased by small boys. Residential Boundaries. On the recommendation of the city engineer, Mr. J. Tyler, the Auckland City Council has decided to extend the boundaries of the residential B district, an area in which semidetached cottages and apartment houses would be permitted, in the Tamaki and Orakci districts, so as to include a small area fronting the eastern portion of Nihill Crescent, Mission Bay, the neighbourhood of the lower end of Long Drive including Gowers Point, and the developed areas overlooking the foreshore at St. Helicr's.

Married Women Teachers. Removal of the ban on the employment of married women teachers was suggested in a question which Mr. C. L. Carr (Labour, Timaru) gave notice to ask the Minister of Education in the House of Representatives yesterday. Mr. Carr wished to know whether the Minister proposed this session to remove the ban, and mentioned that this had been done by the London County Council, and the New Zealand Educational Institute was in favour of such action being taken here. Subject to Conditions. A Mission Bay resident who applied to the Auckland City Council last evening for permission to erect a poultry house and a run to accommodate 100 fowls received the permission ho sought, but with the conditions that no male birds be kept, that the house and run be confined to the back of the property, that the building be approved, that the conduct of the establishment should comply with the by-laws, that the application be granted at the pleasure of the council, and linally that written consent of adjoining residents or owners be obtained.

Traffic Staff Designations. Four appointments recommended by the finance committee of the City Council in the traflie department were referred back to the committee for further consideration at last night's meeting of the council. Also recommended were alterations to the designation of the staff to more properly indicate their functions and responsibilities. The new designations recommend that the chief traflie inspector l>e called superintendent of traflie, deputychief traffic inspector be called senior traflie inspector, outdoor supervisor be traffic inspector, investigating officer to become inquiry officer, and traffic inspectors be traffic officers. It was also recommended to discontinue the specially-designated appointments of testing officers and parking officers, it being considered that other competent officers should do the work. Dominion Day on Monday. Twenty-eight years ago this month New Zealand changed its status from Colony to Dominion, "marking our emergence from youth and our adoption into the manhood ranks of the great dependencies that cluster around the centre of our Empire," as the "Star" commented editorially. The proclamation of the change was made on September 26, 1007, and it has been customary to celebrate the occasion on the Monday nearest to that date each year. It was the late Sir Joseph Ward, who, as Premier, obtained the British Government's conscnt to the change when he was visiting England, and the necessary resolution by the New Zealand Parliament was passed by 50 votes to 12. The anniversary next Monday is not a general holiday, but is celebrated as a holiday only by banks. Government Departments, the Stock Exchange and some of the professions.

Official Spring. Astronomically and officially the spring season commences next Tuesday. For the past six months the sun has been in the northern latitudes, but has recently been attaining a higher altitude, and on Tuesday it will pass once again into the southern celestial hemisphere. At the same time it will cross the vernal equinoctial line, while in the northern hemisphere the autumnal season will commence at the 'ame time. Astronomical spring will end on December 23. In the meteorological sense spring commences several weeks before the astronomical season in New Zealand. September, October and November are generally regarded as the spring season, although there have been very few signs of spring in Auckland this month. An occasional white butterfly and fruit trees starting to bloom have hinted at the .approach of the season, but there have been few really bright and sunny spring days.

Valuation of Relief Work. When the clerk of the Coromandel County Council reported to this month's meeting that since the commencement of the relief work scheme in April, 19.11, his office had handled wages totalling £37,724, councillors realised the magnitude of the task set them by the Unemployment Board when it asked for a statement of the value of the assets created by relief workers. A member (reports the "Star's" Paeroa correspondent) suggested entering the No. 5 scheme work as worth about 5/ for every £1 paid, and the work done by the Auckland men in the camps as worth about 15/ for every £1. The "bonus," sick pay and pay for wet days have an effect. It was decided that councillors give their estimates of the contract prices of the works undertaken. Discussion on the small amount of work done by local No. 5 scheme men prompted one councillor to tell of the fact that when one of a gang working in a school playground was seen by the children to put a shovelful of dirt in a wheelbarrow there was a spontaneous cheer. Now when cheers are heard from the school the people of the village comment that another shovelful of dirt has been lifted.

Trade With Japan. According to advice received by the agents for the Osaka Sliosen Kaisha Line, the Farmers' Co-operative Auctioneering Company, a direct shipping service between Japan and New Zealand is to be instituted in May next, living Japan in May, it is expected that the first steamer placed in the service will call at Hongkong, Manila, Rabaul, Noumea, Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin. The return trip will embrace calls at Cabu, Manila, Hongkong, Shanghai and Kobe, and possibly Java and Singapore. The Sydney Maru, Brisbane Maru and Melbourne Maru, which are at present engaged in the trade between Japan and the Dominion, by way of Australian ports, will be employed in the new service. Definite information has not been received, but it is presumed that the vessels will observe a monthly service. The three ships mentioned are fitted with refrigeration equipment, and should provide splendid connection for trade with Eastern ports. The existing New Zealand service, via Australia, which embraces only Wellington and Auckland, will probably be extended in November to include Lyttelton and Dunedin. The Osaka Sliosen Kaisha is a large Japanese shipping company which was established in 1884, and first started trading in Australia in 191(5, and to New Zealand in December, 1930. Since that time a trade of considerable proportions has been built up. j