NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 139, 13 June 1936, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Navy League Souvenir,

The souvenir which the Wellington Navy League will issue to schools this year takes the form of an admirable photograph of Admiral of the Fleet Earl Jellicoe, with a shade of Lord Nelson behind his left shoulder. The photograph' carries the caption, "The sea is our life," and "England expects that every man will do his duty." Mine Host for 37 Years. Stating that it was a record for New Zealand, Mr. H. 11. Cooper applied the annual meeting of the Palmerston North Licensing Committee for the thirty-seveiith renewal of the publican's license for Tucker's Club Hotel, ralmerston North, on behalf of Mr. H. B. Tucker. Granting the .application, the chairman, Mr. J. L. Stout, S.M., congratulated Mr. Tucker upon having conducted his hotel so well and over such a long period. Auckland Radio Licenses. It is interesting just now to know the number of radio licenses that have been issued in and around Auckland. In Auckland city and suburbs there are 22.0.1;) licenses, and the outer suburbs as far north as Henderson and south to Tuakau account for another 4582, bringing the total to 20,1)17 licenses. In the same area there are 55,920 householders so there is almost one license to every second house. Air Mails Arriving. Four Empire air mails and a considerable dispatch of Australian mail are expected to arrive in Auckland together on Wednesday morning. It is likely that the Wanganella will bring air mails which left London on May 21, May 24 and May 28, as well as a fourth dispatch expected to reach Sydney this morning. The first two mails were delayed on the wav to Australia, arriving at Sydney after the Monowai had left for Auckland on June 5 It in stated that these two mails could have been forwarded to Newcastle from Sydney and brought to" Auckland by the Antiope, due early to-morrow morning. Mammitis in Dairy Cattle. The onlv practical measure for dealing with the problem arising from mammitis in dairy cattle is pasteurisation of the milk. This view was expressed in a letter received at yesterday's meeting of the Auckland Metropolitan Milk Council from Dr. T. J. Hughes, Medical Oilicer of Health. The council recently asked the opinion of the Department regarding effective measures, and for- ; warded a copy of a report from the council s technical adviser, Mr. W. C. Neil. The letter I from Dr. Hughes was received without discussion. Kowhai Intermediate School. Special mention of the bell system installed at the Kowhai Intermediate School, which enabled a number of classrooms to be plugged for the fixing of loud-speakers, so that advantage could be taken of the broadcast educational sessions, was made at the first monthly meeting of the newly-elected committee. The question raised at the annual meeting of securing additional playing areas was further discussed, and it was decided to interview the Minister of Education, the Hon. P. Eraser, drawing to his attention the necessity for the request, when he visited the school. Mr. A. A. Buckley was elected chairman, Mrs. E. A. Smythe secretary, and Mr. E. A. Tage treasurer. Cat's Predicament. The proverbial ability of the domestic cat to survive perils that might be expect ci - to end fatally was demonstrated by the discovery of a Duncdin resident. l'our days previously he had thrown into a corner of his garden'an empty salmon tin, and the same evening a neighbour's cat had disappeared. The reason for the absence of the pet was explained when it was discovered, apparently dead, with its head firmly encased in the tin Before the tin was removed the cat showed sio-ns of life, and when it was eventually freed it ran off at a speed that indicated a desire to remove itself as quickly as possible from a scene where it had spent four days in acute discomfort. It soon , returned, however, and an hour or two later appeared to be none the worse for its experience.

Bagpipes Satirised. Englishmen have always regarded bagpipes as a joke, and probably always will. In medieval times they used to put funny pictures of them in ecclesiastical manuscripts and stained glass windows. In Lincoln Cathedral the bagpipes are represented by a man with a cat under his arm biting the animal s tail Sometimes pigs, monkeys and ' )cais have been depicted playing the pipes. At one time, however, bagpipes were not so much or a joke as a crime. Death was regarded as a fitting punishment for possessing the lyfch land bagpipe in 1705. It was considered M an instrument of war—but only by Englishmen. There have been times, even 111 heotland, when pipe-playing was condemned as a misdemeanour. Free Church ministers branded the pipes as an instrument of the (lc^l ' a < ] went round cottages breaking o. burnm pipes when they found them Some Sassenachs think the haggis itself is a cal instrument. Tlic confusion may lit due to the fact that on Burns Night it is piped in. This custom may explain the phrase, pipit o hot."

Car Struck by Lightning. A correspondent relates an unusual Mid not pleasant experience which' she had «lu drivinp a car very early in the morning fiom Sutton to Palmerston South, states the "Otago Daily Times." "The morning was stonily, she writes, "and it was raining hard, and w had not speeded up properly, when a terrible explosion occurred. It was as if someone had thrown a brick or something heavy on the front glass, and we just saw a flash.. 1 cliew back in my seat, expecting the glass to fall J all round me, and then, when I looked up, the glass, to my surprise, was not broken at all, but was smoky and smudged an.i thej vind shield wiper, which is made of steel and £ .rtioJ .t the time of the «p»» hnckled up. The impact shook tlie cai so much that I had difficulty in hanging on at the wheel, and tlie car was almost brought to a standstill, but the engine kept running. We thought at first that the explosion might:h | been"that of a shot from a gunoraiifleb likelv to be about at that time wiper."

Mr Crooks Obliges. There is no knowing the limits to which f «riii (ro to receive the slightest possible fans will O o i • p i. 0 f +heir adoration — orf tk worid and a great favourite of rte rad o Gramophone and screen, was passing SrouJ Sland on his way to Australia. SofTool' SS 5 SK try out the acoustics of the building. When they reached the concert chamber, where girls fiom the Grammar School were rehearsing foi a nlav for their concert next week, Mr. Davis revealed the name of . the distinguished guest to the "iris. With typical schoolgirl audacity, there was an immediate request for a song, be it ever so small. Mr. Crooks acceded with "Because." But he was not to get oH as easily as that. Before he managed to escape lie had to r.utograph dozens of exercise books and pieces of paper handed m by excited girls

Burghley's Unofficial Record. Tlie fastest time for a sprint round the quarter-mile deck of the liner Queen Mary stands to the credit of the famous English athlete, Lord Burghley, who for a Wager, recently ran the distance in evening dress in the remarkable time of 58s. He was watchecj. by several eminent men, including H. G. Wells and A. E. W, Mason,, the authors. New Broadcasting Station. About 00 men are at work at Titahi Bay, Wellington, on the building for the new transmitting station of the New Zealand Broadeasting Board. The main building to house the transmitting plant is well ahead, the framework being in position and the floor in course of being laid. Two houses for the staff are' nearly finished. The manufacture of the equipment is proceeding in Sydney, and in about two months the erection of the aerial mast will be begun. The new station should be on the air by the end of this year. Dehorning of Cattle. A strong plea that the Society for tlie Prevention of Cruelty to Animals should advocate that all dehorning of cattle should be done in the calf stage was made by the chairman, ilr. IT. P. Bridge, at a meeting of the society in Christcliurch. Mr. Bridge said that there had recently been many letters to the newspapers on tlie subject, and most of them advocated that the dehorning should take places in the infant stages of the animal, as it was not yet proved that there was any really humane method for dehorning adult cattle. The society would be on dangerous ground, continued Mr, Bridge, if it did not advocate dehorning while the animals were still young. Historic Pamphlet. All interesting memento of the visit to New Zealand in the early days of Bishop Broughton, the first Australian bishop, whose centenary has been celebrated in Sydney, is in the possession of Mr. T. McDonnell, of Wanganui. It is a pamphlet on which is printed the full sermon delivered by the bishop at the first confirmation service held in New Zealand. The address, which was given at Pailiia on January 5, 1839, was delivered in English and translated into Maori by the Rev. W. Williams. It was printed in' pamphlet form in the Maori language, some 4000 copies being distributed at the time. Of these, only two copies are known to exist to-day, the one owned by Mr. McDonnell and another which is in the possession of tlie Turnbull LiVrary. A Canadian's Revenge. Dr. David Lang, at present on a visit to New Zealand from Canada, delights in telling his audiences numerous humorous stories, and his lecture on Canada given in the Radiant Hall, Christcliurch, was no exception. "A Canadian went to England," he said, "and i there met a friend, to whom he pronounced a number of names, such as Marjoribanks and Magdalen, as they were spelt. The Englishman corrected his pronunciation on all these words, but the Canadian's turn came some time later, when the friend paid a visit to Canada. 'I've just been a few miles away to see the Niagara Falls',' remarked the Englishman. 'What do you mean?' replied the Canadian, who affected to think hard for a few seconds. 'Ah, I have it,' he _ retorted, you mean NcfTels.'" The Bobby On Beat.

Ever since there were policemen they have been the butt of many a joke regarding the size of their feet, but really they don t deserve these satirical thrusts, for a policemail's feet must not only be fit to-day, but lit fill the year round to stand up to the gruelling test of beat work (comments the "Manawatu Times"). Eor instance, a Palmerston North policeman, during the course ot a day's duty, walks seven or eight times around the Square, and part way down Main Street, a "ood mile each time. In the course of a year the distance has lengthened to 2352 miles, and as at least one member of the city force has been in Palmerston North eight years, his tally is now 18,810 miles. Had lie been walkin"' from Palmerston North to London he would have been there and several hundred miles on his way back again.

Student Representation. "" The need for representation on the Victoria College Council was stressed at the annual meeting of the graduate body, the Court of Convocation. The chairman, Mr. H. McConnick, said that a deputation had waited upon the council to discuss the position, but so far no finality had been reached. Legislative provision was necessary to give effect to this change, and a letter had been forwarded to the Minister of Education urging that provision for the amendment of- the Act should be made. The Court of Convocation of Auckland University also supported the change. A rnunbev of members of the College Council favoured student representation, and it was stated that it was understood Mr. H. 1. O'Leary, K.C., ' n ' ils moving in this direction, at the next meeting of the College Council. Otago Sanatorium. In the annual report of the Waipiata Sanatorium (Central Otago) striking figures iu connection with the treatment of tuberculosis are given, states 'the "Southiand Isews. •Since the institution was opened, in tu-jy natients have received treatment, their condition on discharge being as follows: Disease arrested, 732; disease quiescent, 147; disease improved, 100; condition unchanged, 72; trans■ferred to hospital and readmitted, 13; war pensioners on leave, 14; died, 12. For the period covering 13 years 80.44 per cent of the patients treated in the institution have been discharged with either arrested or quiescent disease. Of that number 2.4 per cent have since died of tuberculosis, 1.7 per cent died from other causes, and 2.4 per cent arc not keeping well, while 5 per cent have shown signs of recurrence of the disease. There are over 100 patients in the institution at the present time. "Laissez Faire!" Many, many montiis ago a dog catcher in Napier selected for destruction a dog owned by a Napier city councillor. Mention of this fact was made by the owner of the dog, Mi. A. C. B. Biggs, when the council was considering a recommendation from the borough engineer, Mr. W. D. Corbett, that a full-time employee should be engaged for the purpose of carrying out the duties of dog catcher. Mr. Corbett said that the reason given by the clog catcher for his action in bringing the existence of the councillor's dog to so abrupt a conclusion had been that it had distemper. Mr. P. F. Higgins: "How long ago was this ? Mr. Corbett: "Oh, some time now." s Mr. Higoins: "I .think we should let sleeping dogs fie" Mr. Biggs: "Oh, I wasn't expecting to get my dog.back." The Mayor, Mr. C. O. Morse: "Just having a bit of the dog that bit you?"

"Far Too Modest." A complaint that Southland farmers were far too modest was made at the annual conference of the Southland provincial executive of the New Zealand Farmers' Union by the president, Mr. G. A. Hamilton. "We don't push our claims as we should," he said. "For instance, the Southland County, one of the highest in New Zealand, receives only £2500 as Government subsidy for roading purposes, while other counties not a quarter the size get the same amount. I would say that in the last 25 or 30 years Southland has suffered to the extent of about £150,000 by this injustice." New .Zealand was 95 per cent a farming j country, bi/c in justice to themselves farmers j had to see' that their standard of living was j maintained on a level equal to that of any | other section of the community. "If they' don't, they wflT be pushed aside and become serfs'and'peasants, as the farmers of many other countries have become," said Mr. Hamilton..