NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 29, 4 February 1937, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Guidon for Cavalry Regiment. The guidon which has been presented to the Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry Regiment by Colonel the Hon. Sir R. Heaton Rhodes is expected to arrive from the makers in London early next week. The guidon is to be presented to the regiment at a ceremonial parade on Sunday, April ,11, by the Governor-General, Lord Galway. Naval Trainees in Camp. Forty-four seamen boys from H.M.S. Philomel are at present camping on the Penrose rifle range, and during this and next week they will be given a thorough grounding in musketry and field conditions. The camp is under the command of Lieutenant P. R. W. McMaster, R.N. On Wednesday next marines from H.M.S. Dunedin and H.M.S. Philomel will participate in manoeuvres, which will include a mock attack on the camp. The camp, which is trimly arranged in a picturesque setting amid clumps of trees, was inspected this week by Commander C. B. Tinley. Geneva Labour Conference. In response to an Inquiry, Mr. J. Purtell, the Auckland trades union secretary, who ia one of the nominees for the position of Labour representative at the International Labour Conference to be held at Geneva in June, ha? been advised that items on the agenda for the conference include consideration' of safety provisions for workers in building construction with reference to scaffolding and hoisting machinery; reduction of hours of work in the textile industry; reduction of hours of work in the chemical industry; and reduction of hours of work in printing and kindred industries.

Sugar Beet Experiment. One of the most successful growers of root crops in South Canterbury is Mr. A. Bisdee, who is experimenting in the growing of sugar beet on his farm near Temuka at the instance of the Department of Agriculture. In the growing of mangels Mr. Bisdee is practically invincible, as his records show. This year he planted his sugar beet seed on the same area which has in other been used for his mangel crop, and, following his usual custom of cropping in rotation, the beet is being raised on land which last season was sown in wheat. The Future of Napier. A recent visitor to Napier is of opinion that the capital of Hawke's Bay has a splendid future. He refers to the large areas of land forced up ■by the earthquake and the satisfactory work being done in de-watering those areas and thus getting rid of the salt. The residential portions of the town, particularly out in the direction of Taradale, have, greatly improved, and considerable building had been done in the comparatively short space of one year. "There are hundreds of new cottages," he said, "and there are few towns in New Zealand looking better than Napier is looking to-day." He mentioned the Marine Parade, and added that the business people were steadily improving the gala lighting of the trees as funds accrued. Government and Borough. In a letter from the Minister of the Hon. H. T. Armstrong, read at last night's meeting of the Newmarket Borough Council, it was stated that provided only registered and eligible unemployed men were engaged, a subsidy would be available for street improvement works to be carried out in Newmarket. The subsidy would be £2 5/ per week for married men and £1 10/ for sing-le men. The Minister further advised that no additional subsidy could be given to help pay retrospective wage increases to the council's staff. Unless special hardship , was proved, local bodies were not so assisted. The Local Government Loans Board wrote advising that permission had been granted to raise a supplementary street* improvement loan of £565.

No Fear of Sharks. Welcoming the visiting Australian surf life-saving , team to the city yesterday afternoon, the Mayor, Mr. Ernest Davis, mentioned in passing that the visitors would not need to keep a weather eye open, for sharks, as they had to do in Australia. "If our surf on beaches near the city is not as good as yours, we at least do not have to fear 'the sharks," said Mr. Davis. He then told a story of how he had spoken to a girl swimming near his yacht Morewa, about three-quarters of a n-iV off Milford. The girl had persuaded him th.\ there was not the least danger, and that \ev parents were quite aware of her whereabouts. "Nevertheless," said the Mayor, "I don't think that you would care to do that even in New Zealand." The Australians grinned. "11l say," said one of them in a loud voice. Fifteen-year-old Message. ' After carrying a message for the last 15 years, Mr. T. J. Thomas, of Titirangi, has at last delivered it to the man for whom it was originally intended, ta 1022 lie was bidding farewell to the guiSe who had shown him around the war graves on a French battlefield when an Englishman standing alongside, evidently attracted by his accent, asked him whether he came from New Zealand. Mr. Thomas replied that he did, adding that he came from' the Oieborne district. "Then I used to deliver your newspapers when the Spanish-American War was on," said, the Englishman. "I am Wilfy l> ." "Wilty" asked Mr. Thomas to deliver a message to a former playmate, and last week, after 15 years' inquiries, Mr. Thomas located Ms nian at Avondale, quite near his own home.

Shortage of Surveyors. -■" Surveys'' Bein - conducted by the~ Public Works Department as part of the Canterbury irrigation investigation are being .held up through a shortage of surveyors and other trained men, states the "Press." Interviewed, Mr. T. G. Beck,.resident engineer to tin ■Public Worlds Department at Temuka, said that he supposed- the shortage was caused by a general improvement in business and professions throughout the country, with a consequent increased demand for men. The surveys are part of the investigation scheme in Canterbury to obtain scientific information about the plains. One of the possible purposes of the scheme will be to determine the.extent of water resources with a view to their exploitation.- . . Care of the Maori. "The mistake most people make is in treating the Maori as an adult, when, in point of comparison with the pakeha, he is still a child. The pakeha is 2000 years old, and the Maori only 100," said" the Rt. Rev. F. A. Bennett, Bishop of Aotearoa, speaking conversatidnally of the recent disclosures of Maori conditions in the North. It was a tribute to the Maori that in all ways the pakeha should treat him as an equal, he said, but in a number of cases it had bad results. He needed to be led kindly and helpfully in a form of guardianship. It was preferable, of course, that the leader he was given in his own community should be one of his own race, but if that was not possible a pakeha, whom the Maori would respect and trust, could do a lot in controlling and organising the Maori for modern conditions of life. Open Spaces in City. "I was struck in Sydney with the tremendous strides that have been made in the construction of open spaces for the citizens," remarked the Mayor of One Tree Hill, Mr. I. J. Goldstine, on his return by the, Wanganella yesterday after a six weeks' holiday visit to Sydney and Melbourne. "The different suburban bodies have gone in for this. on a large scale,' making playgrounds for children and that sort of thing. You will find vacant land on street corners planted with grass and flowers and made into delightful little spots. The provision of open spaces was one thing about which Australians used to comment favourably in regard to Auckland, but it appeared previously to be lacking in their own country. Now they eeem to have taken a leaf out of our book."

Demand for Trucks. Possibly the greatest demand that has ever been made on goods trucks and wagons has been experienced by the Railways Department during the past month. Several factors have combined to make the traffic, which largely consists of farm stock, larger than is usual at this time of the year. The lamb trade, most of which is usually finished at this ■ time of the year, has been delayed owing to the unseasonable weather conditions, which have delayed the fattening of the lambs. The lamb season, the peak of which' occurred in the past few days, has now coincided with the trucking of store sheep, with the result that great difficulty has been experienced in meeting the demand for tvucks. The volume of fat lamb traffic, however, is expected to decline after this week. Further delay was occasioned in the height of the season by the freezing workers' strike, and some little time was taken to make up the leeway. • Trout Record Disputed. "Game Fish Records," recently published in London, contains an interesting reference to the big trout of New Zealand. The author, who veils his identity under the nom de> plume of "Jock Scott," give* the brown trout, record to a 301b fish from Lake Rotorua, caoght in 1933. Disputing this claim, a writer in the "Field" mentions a browiy trout ,of S9}lb caught in Loch Awe, Scotland. The author of the book justifies hie claim for tbe T&m Zealand fish on the ground that the Scottish specimen had been questioned, the suggestion being that it might have been a salmon. "The suggestion is not very sound,' , states the "Field" critic, "for no fish of such sire -would ever be 'assumed' to be a trout; it must cer(tainly have been thought to be a salmon when first captured, and the fact that it was defi- ; : nitely, classed as a trout at all argues careful examination. A mere supposition., that it might have been a salmon is quite insufficient to disallow an established record."

The Traveller's Pastime. Many suburbanites who use the trains as a means of transport arc inveterate card players, though, of course, there are otherswho talk politics and scandal, and others again who read or just "sit." The card enthusiasts play both coming and going, regular parties being made up. and woe betide the unfortunate who sits in the wrong seat and upsets a card four. The most popular game is five hundred, although some advanced players take on bridge. A few are also seen at * koon kan. while others prefer poker— playing for shells or beans, of course! The evening or morning papers are the tables upon which thfi games are decided. Sometimes a game lasts the whole journey, and at night a start is made before the train leaves Auckland; but last evening one party had the unique experience of completing three games while the train was still at the station platform. It was five hundred. The first call was ten no trumps, and the caller got them — one game. Then came a two-handed game. The second call was again ten no trumps, and again it was a winner. The cards were well shuffled for -the start of the third game, and to the amazement of all looking on the call again came off—the caller had nine sure tricks and his partner had the odd one. The train then whistled, and the run of luck was stopped, ■>,