NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 184, 5 August 1936, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

! Kiwis in Opossum Traps. An opossum trapper in the bush 25 miles from' Tailiape found two young kiwis in his traps 011 Saturday (reports the "Star's" Taihape correspondent). The birds were released in a safer bush area. This trapper often traps rats and weasels, but this is the first time he has caught kiwis. War Anniversary. Twenty-two years ago the greatest war in history began. The British ultimatum to Germany expired at midnight on August 4, 1914, and from then until -November, 11, 1918, the Mother Country and her Dominions were involved. The formal announcement of the declaration of war was react at the Town Hall on August 5. Natives and Exotics. Native trees played an important part in the various tree-planting ceremonies carried out in the city and suburbs to-day to mark Arbor Day, and kowliai, puriri, rewarewa and totara were popular choices. During the past year 3400 native and exotic trees were planted under the direction of the parks committee jt the Auckland City Council in city parks and reserves.

Waitakere Park. The annual report of the New Zealand Institute of Horticulture refers to the necessity of scenery preservation, and states that in the past year the executive of the institute had been active in several cases where there was danger threatened to scenic areas. A large amount of preliminary work had been done in connection with the proposed park on the Waitakere Ranges, and the institute was hopeful that the»scheme would bo carried through as a coronation effort. Community Lighting Schemes. The success of a community ' lighting scheme in the Balmoral area at Mount Eden, in which all the local business people joined, lias been so successful that decisions have been made to similar lighting schemes for other business areas 111 the district. The Mount Eden Central Shopkeepers' Association and the business people in the Valley Road area had applications sanctioned by the Mount Eden Borough Council at a meeting last cvening. Ten Feet to Go. It was reported at a meeting of the Mount Eden Borough Council last evening that the main drainage scheme in the borough, consisting of 13 miles of sewerage, was almost completed. There was still 10ft of rock to tunnel at Landscape Road, but although diflicult country had been met with, it was expected that the work would be finished in about four days' time. The Mayor, Mr. T. MeXab, said that it was very satisfactory that the work was practically completed, as the costs of materials had increased 20 to 25 per cent. They would save 50 per cent, compared with other local authorities, which had similar work to carry on.

Retiring Commissioners. Opportunity was taken by the Mayor of Mount Albert, Mr. R. E. Ferner, at the special meeting of tlie Mount Albert Borough Council last night, to pay tribute to the work of the sinking fund commissioners, Messrs. T. B. Clay, A. F. Bennett and L. E. Rhodes. Mr. Ferner said their work was now terminating, and in thanking them for the excellent service they had rendered, said their work had been constant, careful, but unheard and unseen by any but members of the borough council. To remind them that their services had not passed altogether unnoticed, each was presented by the Mayor on behalf of the council with pencils. Mr. T. B. "Clay expressed the thanks of the commissioners. Nationally Recognised. Speakers at the special meeting of the Mount Albert Borough Council last niglit held to tender a farewell to the Mayor, Mr. R. E. j Ferner, who lias been appointed to the magisterial bench, mentioned the pood work done by the Mayor during his term of ollice, and made special reference to the scheme ho inaugurated by which relief workers were paid standard rates of pay. Mr. H. A. Anderson, the deputy-Mayor, said the scheme, which was instituted in August, 1933, was an enduring testimony to Mr. Ferner's outlook and vision. The merits of the scheme were subsequently nationally recognised and acted

upon. Children Are Queer. Children arc queer. While, in the past few cold days, adults have been wearing thicker socks—or. stockings, according to sex —gloves and deep-pocketed overcoats, children have blithely gone to school in bare feet. But this is the incident that occasioned the remark that children are queer. On one of the days when the frost was thickest on lawns a child from a household was found to be missing at breakfast time. On appropriate inquiry being made, the said child was found to be running up and down the white and freezing lawn in bare feet. Mother, shocked beyond words, could only point, but the child, with careless cheerfulness, replied that it liked to see its own footprints in the white of the grass.

Making the Immigrant Useful. "We cannot get immigrants of the British agricultural class. We have tried and failed," declared Mr. Hastings Deering, of Sydney, in the course of an interview on his arrival in Auckland yesterday. "The farm labourer is better paid and bfftter housed in England than he is in Australia or New Zealand; he can live cheaper there than here, and does not have to work so hard; and, moreover, he is passionately attached to his own soil and cannot be coaxed away from it. His class would be a real asset, for he knows his job thoroughly, but we cannot get him. The class of immigrant that is coining to this side of the world is the man who has stood at a lathe or a loom all his working life, and conies seeking a similar job here, with better pay and better living conditions for himself and his family than are obtainable in the Old Country. He does not want to go on the land; he would be a failure if he did, because he knows nothing at all of farming. If we want him to come here, and do not .want to have to keep him in idleness, we must have secondary industries to put him into, while our own population looks after the primary industries."

Cultivation of Oysters. The promising possibilities of the mudflats of the Waitemata and Manukau harbours for the cultivation of oysters was again introduced into the Auckland Harbour Board discussions yesterday. Mr. 11. Luke, who raised the subject, referred to the fact that an oyster sub-committee had been appointed some time before, and had apparently not functioned. He had just returned from Sydney, and had been greatly impressed from what he had seen there with the wonderful possibilities of the industry. The chairman, Mr. C. G. Macindoc, supported Mr. Luke, stating that the beds in the gulf were so overcrowded with the oysters that they were starving one another. It was a great pity that the Marine Department had not given greater encouragement to people owning property on the foreshores to build the industry by the growth of oysters 011 stakes. Mangrove stakes would be suitable. He suggested, too, that the committee might consider the cultivation of prawns and tohcroas in local waters. Answering an objection by Mr. W. B. Darlow, it was pointed out that it was not necessary to wait for the completion of the new sewerage scheme. There was plenty of foreshore above Birkenhead where there was 110 rsk of contamination. It was decided to call the committee together.

Bible Prophecies. Bible prophecies concerning world affairs formed the subject of an address given in the Town Hall last evening by the Rev. Dr. W. Pascoe Goard, de])uty-president of the BritishIsrael World Federation, London. Mr. F. IS. Anyo'i, of Wellington, deputy-president of the New Zealand branch of the federation, presided over a packed gathering. Describing the collapsc of empires throughout history, Dr. Goard quoted Scripture coinciding with each event. He said it was prophesied that when the empires fell and emperors disappeared men would receive the power of kings without kingdoms. Tliey were called dictators. Each of their group was armed to the teeth and organised for war. Because Britain disarmed when her Ministers felt they coulcl overcome the evils by doing so, the subjects of the British Empire were like flocks of sheep in the midst of wolves: The speaker asked how long would this continue. Dr. Goard said the time of human rule on earth was ending. The date could not be determined, but the world had certainly entered the period of the prophecy's fulfilment. "We must save our Empire through heart union and fellowship with God," he concluded. The Rev. S. Griffiths opened the meeting with prayer, and Miss Brook sang "The Lord is My Light."