NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 113, 14 May 1937, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Infectious Diseases

Thirty cases of infantile paralysis were' reported to the Department of Health for the month ended -April 30, according to a report issued by tho Department. Of these 13 were in the Aiickliuid Central district, and 17 in the Thames-Taiirangii district. There were also eight casos of tultcreulosU reported in the Auckland (Vulval district. There were three cases i,f diphtheria in the ThamesTuuranjrii district. Other figures arc compiirnlively small. Cost of Drivers' Licenses. A decision to ur-e the North Island Motor Vninii to press for a, reduction from 5/ to 2/(5 in the fee for drivers who were merelyapplying f< ir a "'issue of their licenses was i made ]<!>! exeiiiiiir liv tile Automobile Association (Auckland). This deci.-ion followed a rrqiiesl from the Transport Department for tlie association's coniments on the proposed alteration in the method of issuing licenses. The president. Mr. I". (.'. Farrell, said the present fee was simply another imposition on motorists. This charge of 5/ could lie retained, he surlieste<l. in the case of drivers seeking a license for Ihe lust time, when n . test was necessary. There was no work attached to the reissur. of licenses. Car Parking Attendants. Advice that the police had no power to prevent night car parking attendants carrying on their work was received from the Superintendent of Police, Mr. S. Till, by the Automobile Association (Auckland) at last evening's mcoting of the council. Mr. fill's letter added that ihe police would investigate any specific complaint of damage to a parked car. or of ; threatening or insulting behaviour on the part of any attendant. Following complaints from motorists, the association had requested that such attendants bo prohibited. On the suggestion of Dr. J. Howard La wry, it was decided that the chairman. Mr. F. (!. Farrell. and the secretary. Mr. (.'. \V. Hutchison, should wait upon Mr. Till, and that the city trallie superintendent. Mr. Cecil Bland, should 'be invited to he present at the interview. Mysterious Voice. A northerner visiting Christeliurch, who had been recommended to inspect Rieearton Hush while in the city, had a most unusual experience the other day, reports the "StarSun." While strolling along a path he was astonished to hear a voice call out, "Hullo." After looking all round, and seeing no one, he came to the conclusion that he had been mistaken and wandered on. He had not gone more than a dozen yards when he was again hailed. "Hullo. How are you?" came the voice. Deciding that someone was playing a practical joke, he stood still and looked carefully in all directions. Then, to his amazement, he was again hailed. This time the sound seemed to come from his feet. Looking over the fence, he saw a particularly wellnourished magpie. ''How are you?" again asked the bird, and the visitor laughed heartily.

A Game on the WharF.

Although the heavy downpour this morning made the work of carriers and others whoso business took them to the Queen's wharf anything but pleasant, many must have smiled at two small boys, both with bare foot, and no hats, but each in a roomy slicker, stamping with great glee through the shallow puddles. To uninitiated adults, puddlestamping mny seem a curious pastime, especially, when it •Iβ raining heavily, but apparently the art consists of stamping with one foot while at the same time raising the other to a sufficient height. It is worlderful fun then. Or an alternative method is to stamp with both foot simultaneously. The lads probably realised, however, after both had hit the pavement involuntarily, with considerable force, and almost at the same time, that it is unwiso tr> choose sifbh n smooth surface as a city wharf for the game.

pincintm. invuiuiimiii,!, men iimsiueinuic force, and almost at the same time, that it is unwise tr» choose sift-h n smooth surface as a city wharf for the game. Housing Scheme. A brief review of the Government's housing scheme was given by the Under-Secretary in charge of housing, Mr. J. A. Lee, during the course of an address last evening to his constituents of Grey Lynn on the work of the session. Tie intimated that in the course of j eight to twelve weeks tenders would be called , for the erection of house* in the Casey Estate '■ lit Ponsonbv. Tenders had been accepted for houses at Wnntinnui and Palmerston Xorth.i Provision had been made fur 80!) houses, but it was probable that r.nothcr 200 would be provided for in the near future. Kent; had not yet been decided upon, although he h:id made n recommendation to Cabinet. \n housp had yet been completed, but the rnof-i were on 30 or -40 in Wellington. The work of tho Department was just starting to gather momentum. It was possible that ballots would be held to determine who should occupy' the houses. Women had approached him in Wellington with tears in their eyes re<]tiostin™\ that they should hove the first house. Personally he thought the scheme would be a glorious success. Trades for Youths. Reference to youths who missed their opportunity to learn trades during th- depiv.ision period was made to-day by the u-.-tiiis-Minister of Labour, the Hon.' P. V. Wibb. He appenled for co-opern tion with the Government in its efforts to provide work for youths anxious to learn a trade. In normal years about 10.000 apprentices were employed, he said. This was reduced to under 4000 in 1 !»:!."■>. This year there had been an improvement. but the number of skilled tradesmen completing their apprentiee-fiip was small. In many trades there wos a definite shortage of tradesmen. A conference hud been arranged to take place soon between tr.-:de< union*, chambers of commerce, employers' federations ami the Federation of Labour, 'flip Minister said he was sure the approach that th" Government was making to the problem would bear fruit. The spirit to co-operate from every angle was wonderful. He felt certain that >omo agreement could be reached in which employment in the way of learning trades could he provided for youths. Tmuli they and industry would profit.

Eggs and Egg Pulp. A census of stocks of eggs and egg-pulp in cold storage was taken by the Government statistician as at March 31, and the following figures have been issued by the Minister in charge of the Census and Statistics Department, the Hon. D. O. Sullivan:—Eggs in shell (dozen): North Island, 08,380; South Island, 27,020; Dominion, 96,300. Egg-pulp (lb) : North Island, 285,755; South Island, 358,030; Dominion, 644,385. Frozen whites (lb): North Island, 1430; South Island, 3020; Dominion. 4450. " First-day Covers." Office boys were the thieves of time today—their employers' time. Rather than lose golden opportunities, junior members of office staffs were inclined to let the matter of work slip by the board in favour of searching for "first-day covers" in the mail. "First-day covers" are envelopes bearing the new Coronation stamps and yesterday's date mark. It is said that these will be worth surprising sums within a year. Stamps scorn to be considerably in the limeligl.t these days. Numbers of people are receiving letters from overseas with the covers bearing the information "First Day of Issue." American Affluence. "There seems to be a fairly general idea in New Zealand concerning the fabulous wealth of Americans, who are visualised as rolling in comfort and luxury," said Mr. R. H. Kidson, a Chicago visitor, in an interview with the Christchurch "Star-Sun." "Admittedly some Americans are wealthy, and we certainly have a fairly good standard of comfort over there, but there are many United States citizens who have suffered severe financial losses and are fa: , from wealthy." Commenting briefly on the policy of President Tvoosovelt, Mr! Kidson said that the President's interference- in business cut both ways, and was certainly ;esented by a fairly large section of tho community, which considered that such a policy was not for the good of the country. ' Duty on Mountain Equipment. Many visitors to Xcw Zealand have Pllg- ' jrested that a sport which is likely to be one of this country's big tourist attractions, skiing, is being severely cramped in its development by the very heavy import duty on equipment. Mountaineering equipment is also very heavily taxed. The Federated Mountain Clubs of New Zealand are endeavouring to obtain a reduction in import duties, and representatives of the federation have already i waited on thp. Comptroller of Customs nnd I the acting-Minister of Customs. The latter J gave the question hie favourable consideration, but intimated that nothing could be done until the next general revision of the tariff. 1 The general manager of the Tourist and PubI licity Department said that he would support I the request of the federation.

Museum as an Index.

"An art gallery and museum is reckoned as a kind of index to the cultural condition of the district in which it is situated," remarked Dr. W. R. B. Oliver, director of the nonunion Museum, Wellington, in his address at the opening of the Hawke's Bay Museum and Art Gallery in Napier. "Obviously, you would not have had this fine building in Napier had it not been for the demand from those in the district interested in this form of culture. According to the report of the Carnegie Corporation's representative, Mr. Markham, who visited this city in 1033, New Zealand, judging by its art galleries and museums, ranks high in culture when compared with other parts of the world. Of course, the size of a cultural institution depends to some extent on the population of the district, but there arc many towns in Europe and America, much larger than Napier and Hastings combined, that do not have an art gallery and museum building like this one. ,.

Poor Trout Fishing Season

Poor sport has been recorded for the trout fishing season just concluded. There has been a decided scarcity of fish; angler* have ex-1 perienced a record number of blank days: there have been complaints of overcrowding and of pools and river mouths being overfished; and, to add to the anglers' misfortunes, the Department of Internal Affairs is closing the waters over a fortnight earlier! than usual. On the other han.l. the fish seem ] ; to have increased considerably in size 1.1 !»>'h I the Rotorua and Taupo lreas. The largest ' recorded is a 10-pounder from Lake Rotniii. and fish weighing over 12ib aiv .-cord-d from Lake Taupo and the Tonjrariru Hiver. T.'.ir:ie fish have also been secured in the Tnrawera ' River nnd Lakes Okutuina and Ta'-aw.ra. Dry fly anjilers have clone well at night, both abovo and below the Huka Kails. Country Children's Outing. The children from various country districts -who have been attending: the Coninninity Sunshine Association's camp at '■ Motuihi in recent wivks were yesterday given lan outing at the Zoo. and later taken for -i ' Ims ride through the streets of the city and ! suburbs in order that they might see the Coronation decoration . The party, which consisted of upwards of 170 children, arrived from the island by the Buroonn at 11 o'clock yesterday morning, and were taken by special ! trams to the Zoo. where they had lunch and spent tho greater part of the day. The children were conveyed to the association'* school ill Nelson Street shortly before five o'clock, nnd were provided with tea. which included fruit salad. The healthy appetites of the youngsters is demonstrated by the fa-t thot the Indies of the Community Sunshine Auxiliary prepared over 1000 sandwiches for the lunch at the Zoo alone. They cut over SO loaves of bread during the day. and the menu was supplemented with 24 dozen buns and two large blocks of cuke.- The children also consuni-d about 30 «*u lions of milk. After tea the party were provided with a bus ride, and then taken back to the Barooiw. Tlfv were buck at Mi'Mlihi shortly after S o'clock. The children will leave the island on their return to their homes on Monday next, by which time they will have spent a month in ramp. They will reach Auckland about S.lo a.m.. and those children who live in the Taneatua and Rotorua district* will leave by train in the n'orning. Thy remainder will return to their homes by the afternoon Main j Trunk express.