NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 288, 5 December 1935, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Busy Builders in Dunedin

Building activity in Dunedin is being fully maintained. During November the city building surveyor issued 52 permits, of a total value of £25,834, reports the "Star's" correspondent in Dunedin. New dwellings accounted for 22 permits, while another permit involved a block of six brick flats, and their value ( £5500) represented the largest contract secured by any builder during the month. Home building continues to dominate the activities of local trade. In October 22 . new dwellings received the approval of the building surveyor, and as their total value was over £20,000 this gives an average value of nearly £1000 for each dwelling. " That Marvellous Institution." Addressing the Wellington Rotary Club recently, Mr. Stanley Oliver, conductor of the Royal Wellington Union, related howhe migrated from Canada because the winters were too cold. He "dropped off" the ship at Auckland, and decided to stay in New Zealand. The goodness of the people had staggered him. Three things at first struck him as peculiar; the lack of mosquito curtains on doors and windows, his inability to cash American travellers' cheques at the railway station (the Americans. claim that they can be cashed in the middle of the Sahara desert), and thirdly, that Marvellous institution, morning tea. Forty-hour Week. "Unemployment is still one of the major problems engaging the attention of Government, local bodies and private employers, and although much has been done by the Unemployment Board for the relief of unemployment it is obvious that the essential factor in the re-employment of displaced workers is a further development of industry," said Mr. A. C. Mitchell, in his presidential address to the New Zealand Federation of Km plovers to-day. "There has been much discussion recently on the suggestion to introduce a 40hour week as a partial solution of the unemployment problem, but it would probably be found that the introduction of a shorter working week -would not appreciably affect the number of workers employed in any industry, and might even force certain industries to further mechanise their production processes, which could quite easi'y produce an effect the exact opposite of what was intended." A Touch of Conservatism. What is said to be a coincidence in connection with our ow T n new Prime Minister and the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Mr. Baldwin, has been discovered by one who is interested in such matters. Recently pictures of both statesmen which appeared at different times in Auckland papers show that both wear boots, and not, as might be expected, shoes. It is known that Mr. Savage always favours boots, but the picture of Mr. Baldwin sitting at the fireside of Chequers wearing boots came as a surprise to many, who had been reading in the Home papers that shoes were rapidly replacing boots by city dwellers, and that for one person wearing boots nearly twenty people wore shoes. The New Zealand Labour leader and the British Prime Minister have at least this one thing in common. Have You Swum Yet? Now that the weather seems to have taken a turn for the better, young men's fancies are lightly turning to thoughts of swimming. One says "young men's" fancies, because apparently it is of small moment to young women that the water has been cold, nastily so. Young women simply pick on a date for their first swim, and that is that. Young men, on the other hand, talk a lot about what they will do in the water, how far they can swim, the early date of their swim last year—and then carefully wait for a blazing hot day. More than that, they do not swim in the first hot day. They wait until about the third of the series, so that the water will have had time to warm up. One can expect young men to begin to hunt for their bathing costumes any time now, for if this weather has come to stay— which the average Aueklander dares scarcely believe —then there will be scarceiv any excuse left for postponing that first plunge. Vicar's Complaint. "It is certainly a novel task," said the ; Rev. H. V. Salmon, vicar of Holy Trinity Church, Devonport, last night, when speaking ' to members of the Devonport Borough Council as one of a deputation concerning the : question of using the parish hall as a public ' lfkll. The vicar said it was usually his duty ■ on Sunday mornings to collect beer and 1 whisky bottles left in the hall after social functions held on Saturday evenings. "Full ' ones or empties?" asked Mr. E. Aldridge. "Empties," replied the vicar. Another coun- , cillor suggested that probably the bottles had been left as "tips." Mr. Salmon and a member of the Parish Hall Trust Board gave the ' council a number of reasons why the hall, ' which adjoined the church, should not be hired 1 for public dances, adding that they were not : anxious that it should be used as a public 1 hall, even if the council agreed to subsidise < the hall for public use. The council decided ' not to take any further action in the matter. 1 The Dustman's Services. ' What is the limit of the dustman's ser- j vices to residents ? This question was raised i at the meeting of the Takapuna Borough , Council last evening during a discussion on < the clean-up week. The Mayor, Mr. J. Guini- j ven, stated that he had noticed that one < ratepayer, who had a repair shop, had put out ( the whole of a broken-back axle, casings, etc., i with his rubbish tin. If people were going to i pile up their yards with stuff like that it was 1 their responsibility to get rid of it, he said, t The Mayor added that there was power under ; the Health Act to compel residents to keep a their properties clear of rubbish. The chair- a man of the works committee said that that ( was the attitude which it had taken, but the i members were under the impression that the c council had undertaken in clean-up week to t remove any rubbish irrespective of its nature. \ The committee believed that a payment should t be demanded for heavy rubbish. The council's inspector informed the meeting that last week 70 tons of rubbish was carted to the dump. It was decided in future rubbish should be confined to household material, and . that a charge should be made for other J material. j Maori Mission Revival. J A marked improvement in the wirk of c the Maori Mission in the Waikato is recorded J by Archdeacon Hon Raiti in an article in the \ current issue of the "Waikato Diocesan Maga- c zine." The writer said that prior to 192G the a work of the mission among the Maoris could I be described as being dead. The Church had f a number of discouraged clergy working ■] among the people, the majority of whom were t hostile to the Church. Two or three clergy d met in 192G to determine what was wrong. I The fact emerged that the trouble wet) l right "t to the time of the Maori War. It was decided li that the clergy interested in the mission should r address as many congregations as possible and t publicly confess that the pakehas had been r wrong in waging the Maori War and promise 3 to do what they could to put matters right, . 1: continued Archdeacon Raiti. The action of 1 the clergy was received by the Maoris with v the greatest interest and joy, and immediately c the opposition to the mission died down, j Many Maoris who before had been indifferent f began to take an interest in Christianity. It f could be safely said that more Maoris had d come under the influence of the Chu'-rii in the I last nine years than during the CO years fol- y lowing the Maori War and up to 1926. o

Bust of Seddon. The donor of a bust of the late Rt. Hon. R. J. Seddon, in a letter to the Devonport Borough Council last night, stated that he would like to know where the council had placed his gift of several years ago. "Seeing Mr. Savage Has made some grand remarks that he is going to start where Seddon finished, I would like to know where you have placed the bust of this great man," said the letter. "There it is in the corner," said Mr. Green. "We ought to have one of Mr. Savage in the other corner of this chamber." The council decided to reply stating that the bust occupied a prominent place in the council chamber. "And that it will occupy an honoured place when we get the new municipal buildings," said Mr. E. Aldridge. College Old Boy Remembered. In memory of the late Mr. Hugh Hendon Gillies, an old boy of King's College, who was killed in a motor accident at Hamilton earlier in the year, an "apostle" window will be unveiled in the Old Bovs' Memorial Chapel at the college 011 Sunday next during the service beginning at 9.45 a.m. The ceremony will be performed by the Yen. Archdeacon W. J. Simkin. The late Mr. Gillies, whose home was at Taupo, was a boarder at the college for several years. He was a member of the first Rugby fifteen for two years, and. was a house prefect during his last year at school. A choral service, in which the combined choirs of the college and King's School, Remuera, will take part, will be held in the chapel on Sunday evening. Old Statute Invoked. A statute passed in the reign of Queen Elizabeth was invoked in a case heard before Mr. Justice Reed in the Hamilton Supreme Court yesterday, when a motion to declare a mortgage void was brought before the Court by the Oflicial Assignee, Mr. V. R. Crowhurst. The motion referred to a mortgage of a leasehold interest in Railway Buildings, Hamilton, held by William Henry Thompson, farmer, of Hunua, a bankrupt, and transferred to his wife, Ethel Florence Thompson. Mr. A. L. Tompkins, in support of the motion 011 behalf of the Official Assignee, asked that the mortgage given by Thompson to his wife be declared void on the grounds that no consideration was involved. He also rescued to Statute 13, Elizabeth, which provided that no conveyance could be made by a bankrupt for the purpose of defeating his creditors if such a conveyance were challenged. After hearing considerable legal argument, his Honor reserved his decision. Two-inch Eels. About three months ago Mr. S. Sumich, an Auckland fishmonger, received a consignment of Waikato whitebait, in which were three tiny elvers, or baby eels. At first glimpse they appeared to be scraps of black worsted, for tliey were 110 thicker than ordinary mending wool, but their lively wriggles soon indicated that they were very much alive. Mr. Sumich put them in a goldfish bowl filled with fresh water, and there they have lived and thrived ever since. Apparently obtaining some kind of nourishment from the water, they have grown slightly in length, if not in thickness. The microscopic fins near the head and the dorsal fin along the whole length of the body can be seen at close quar- 1 ters. They swim slowly round the bowl in the daytime, manifesting much more activity in artificial light. The stretch of the lower Waikato from which they-hail is well known for its big eels, specimens up to 201b in weight having frequently been caught. If the three babies now living in the goldfish bowl were placed 011 the scales it is doubtful whether they would disturb the balance even to a fraction of an ounce.

Co-operation With New Government

More than the stereotyped form of congratulation to the new Government was contained in a motion passed at a meeting of the One Tree Hill Borough Council last night. The Mayor, Mr. I. J. Goldstine, in framing the motion, said that the council should express its willingness to co-operate heartily with the party in power. "It is only right that this council should convey to the Prime Minister-elect its congratulations," he said. But he would like to see the borough go a little further. The reason was that, so far as the local authorities were concerned, their only wish was to see the country prosperous; and if the ratepayers were prosperous, so were the local bodies. Apart from any party affiliations, it was quite evident that the wish of the country was that the Labour party should govern the country for the next term. The council assured the Prime Minister-elect of its fullest co-operation. Local authorities, Mr. Goldstine added, should give a lead in such matters. He also moved that a letter of congratulation and appreciation be sent to Mr. W. J. Jordan, member for Manukau, and a letter of congratulation to Mr. W. P. Endean, member for Parnell. both of which electorates included some portion of the borough. Signs of Recovery. Takapuna is receiving its full share of the revival of residential building. During the last three months the value of building permits issued aggregates more than the total for the twelve months of 19.34, and at the present time there are buildings in the course of erection valued at .€12.000. Most of the houses are for people who intend to make their permanent residence across the water. Another illustration of the progress of the borough again after a lean period of several years is the increase in motor car licenses issued. Four years ago the total was 41ft, while last year it rose to 875. Already, since June last, when the official licensing year commenced, the total has reached that of the previous twelve months. "Generally speaking, everything is buoyant," said the Mayor of One Tree Hill, Mr. I. J. Goldstine, at a meeting of the Borough Council last night. He was referring to the marked increase in building permits and heavy traffic fees. Since the beginning of the year, reported the traffic and building inspector, Mr. P. H. Hollingsworth, the borough had issued 92 permits, valued at £44,31.3, compared with 97 permits, of a value of £25,034, for the whole twelve months last year. That showed an increase of £19,278. The amount received in heavy traffic fees Tor the second quarter of 1935 was £301, compared with £218 last year, an increase of £82. Youth and the Election. The number of young people who welcomed Mr. M. J. Savage on his triumphal journey to Wellington has brought to the minds or "old-time! s" the remark of the late Mr. Seddon during a strenuous contest in Wellington at the close of last century, when the late Mr. John Dutliie and Mr. Seddon met outside a polling booth in Wellington. "Do you see all those young people rolling up to vote?" asked Mr. Seddon. "Yes, it is wonderful," replied Mr. Dutliie. "Most of them are voting for the first time." "Well," added Mr. Seddon, "those young people are voting for radical ideas and are going to support us. They will never vote for those with conservative" ideas, and your party to-day will go down more than ever." Sir. Dutliie, who had been a former Mayor of'the city, and one of the stalwarts of the Conservative party, who had formerly topped the list when Wellington returned three members for one large electorate, was returned by a largely reduced majority, and the party, instead of gaining 011 Mr. Seddon, lost further prestige, which at a later election was to suffer a further decline. The "old-timers" commented that history was repeating itself in Mr. Savage's case, for the Labour party was largely supported by the young people, who were voting for the first time, and were forsaking long family- traditions in voting in an opposite direction to their parents and grandparents. This was reflected also in the number of young men who were returned as followers of Mr. Savage.