NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 177, 28 July 1937, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Larger IYA Orchestra. ! In response to a communication from the Auckland Musicians' Union, Professor J. Shelley, has agreed to strengthen the IYA orchestra, according to advice received from liiin by the union. The understanding is that the orchestra will be increased to the size of that which plays from the principal Wellington station, and it is anticipated by Auckland musicians that this will provide a little employment for an additional five or six of their number. Golden Totara. A very rare species of totara, which turns golden in the winter and resumes its green coat again in the spring, was discovered in the bush on his property at Aotearoa, 18 miles from Te Awamutu, by Mr. James Yates. The specimen was taken from its native habitat and planted in a suitable epot about six years ago. It has now reached a height of 12ft, and its bright golden appearance in the winter period has excited much interest and admiration among lovers of New Zealand flora. Origin of Old Joke. A possible explanation of the venerable joke about the plumber going back for his tools was revealed by Mr. A. S. Prime, of the New Zealand Standards Institute, to the technological section of the Wellington Philosophical Society. It was a result of lack of standardisation, said Mr. Prime. A plumber would be called to put a valve on a tap, and the housewife would Be incapable of describing- what kind of a tap it was. The plumber would arrive with one kind of valve, and, finding it unsuitable, would have to go home for another. The Popular Question. | Will salaries be higher? No question is more topical in the Public Service at the present time than this one. There are two men who could supply the answer, but they are keeping their secret to themselves in the meantime. These are the Public Service Commissioners, Messrs. J. H. Boyes and T. Mark, who are engaged on a revision of grading in the va -ious Government Departments throughout New Zealand. They have concluded their investigations at Christcliurch. It will probably be two months before the commissioners will be in a position to make any recommendation concerning th© new grading system, as they will not be in a position to reach a definite conclusion until a vast amount of information has been considered. Caretaker's Hours.

A subdued whistle was heard from the workers' side of the table in the Arbitration Court in Christchurch when Alexander Lindsay Ferguson, caretaker of St. Andrew's College, told the Court that he worked 60 hours a week during the school term and 44 hours a week during the school holidays, and his wife worked ten hours a week for a joint salary of £125 a year and "found." He and his wife had the use of one room as living quarters, he said, and ate in the kitchen. In answer to Mr. Justice O"Regan, the witness said that the man who had the position in 1931 received £156 a year and "foundj" but he was> over 80, and was not called upon to do as much as the witness was. The Court reserved its decision on the application to have various parties, including St. Andrew's and other colleges, added as parties to the cleaners and caretakers' award. Name " Poverty Bay.** "Concerted action is being taken by the northern chambers of commerce to make a change in the name of the North Auckland district, and I think that the time is now opportune to make a move in connection with the Poverty Bay district," said Mr. C. W. Muir at a recent meeting of the Gisborne Chamber of Commerce. The suggestion found support among the members present, and it was decided to communicate with the local bodies concerned prior to asking the Mayor, Mr. D. W. Coleman,, M.P., to convene a public meeting to disense the matter. The position of North Auckland was mentioned by Mr. Muir, who said it was possible that either Northland or Wartangi would be favoured by the residents of that district. He had been in conversation with another resident during the afternoon, and he, too, thought it would be fitting for the chamber to once more agitate for the alteration of the name "Poverty Bay" on the same lines as the northern province. A Plaint of " Muddied Oafs." An amusing commentary on the state of a football ground, described as being "officially known as Grey Lynn Park(?)" was before the junior executive of the Auckland Rugby League last evening. The Northcote and Birkenhead Ramblers Club reported that until their team saw their scheduled opponents, Richmond, at the park, there was a fear they had strayed from the appointed locality and had arrived at an area "reputed for bovine aromas and mudflats." The members of the visiting team, after the match, unanimously decided "in favour of an Auckland metropolitan sewerage scheme with an outlet at Brown's Island, Grey Lynn Park hav'ng outlived its usefulness in this reepect. It was a sea of mud, eight or nine inches deep in some places, and the smell had to be experienced to be appreciated. The ground was even unfit for the wallowings of a well-known animal, let alone for sport by human beings." The club finally hoped that no further games be allotted to Grey Lyrm Park "until the City Fathers install a drainage system." The letter was received, and subsequently it was decided not to arrange for matches at the park until it was in a proper condition for play.

Fat on the Fire. Bursting into flames when placed in an. open fireplace, a quantity of fat rolled up itf paper caused a chimnej r to catch fire yesterday in a house at 94, Upland Road, Remuera, owned and occupied by Mrs. 0. E. Gojdip. The Remuera brigade was soon on the scene, and quickly put out the fire with a chemical extinguisher. -No damage was done. A Traveller's Experience. Mr. I>\ Yeo, of Welcome Bay, Tauranga, arrived back yesterday from a trip to the Orient. In the course of the tour he called at Rabaul, five weeks after the eruption. The sea was still strewn with pumice, and the effect of the steamer ploughing its way through was rather strange. The boat would cleave a way through the floating lava debris, which would close immediately, and it looked for all the world as if the boat were on a field of sand all the time. British Shipbuilders Active. 1 During the first quarter of 1937 United Kingdom shipbuilding activity continued the upward trend which has been manifested during the previous 15 months, and, for the first time since 1930, the tonnage under construction exceeded one million. Statistics issued by Lloyd's Register show that the actual tonnage under construction on March 31 was 1,014.454, as compared with 963,042 oil December 31, 1936, and 842,361 on March 31, 1936. The tonnage now under construction in United Kingdom yards exceeds the combined tonnage under construction in Germany, Japan, Holland, and the United States of America, which countries are the four largest competitors of the United Kingdom at the present time. Literary Treasures. Even amateur book-lovers have their finds. A Wellington resident tried hard to sccure a copy of "Kanga Creek," a book by Have lock Ellis, written in his later years and describing his experiences as a young man when he taught for a period in the Australian backblocks. Recently he was advised by a leading firm that it h.4d advertised in London for the book but it was not obtainable. Next day he went to Nelson and had his usual browse around the bookshops. There, tucked away on a high shelf, he found "Kanga Creek" and purchased it for a few shillings. In a Wellington used books shop he also secured for a shilling a book on the. mineral waters of New Zealand which he found later to be worth £2 10/. The Mission of the Ladybird. An incident of his boyhood days was recalled by Mr. C, H. Williams, president of the Poverty Bay Sheepowners' Union, during his introduction of Dr. David Miller to a large audience of farmers at Gisborne. Air. Williams referred to the science of entomology, of which Dr. Miller is a distinguished exponent, and stated that at the age of about 10 years ho was on holiday in Hawke's Bay, and there encountered Professor Koeble, a German scientist, who, with two colleagues, had been sent to Australia and New Zealand to find an inßect capable of controlling the San Jose scale, which was ruining the citrus industry in California. It was in Hawke's Bay that Professor Koeble found the ladybird, which eventually proved the saving of California's great groves, and enabled the State to develop an industry which to-day is valued as one of its greatest assets.

New Zealand Lamb at Coronation. Nearly every town and village in Britain organised a carnival procession as part of the Coronation celebrations, and the name of New Zealand figured largely on many occasions. Anticipating a great demand for fancy dresses, the London office of the New Zealand Meat Producers' Board circularised the whole of the retail meat trade in Britain offering to supply red, white and blue crepe paper, on which was printed in gold the phrase "New Zealand lamb." Sketch designs were also made available to show how this material could be effectively made up into costumes for men. women and children, and alao turned to good account for the decoration of trade vehicles and delivery cycles. The response to this offer was so overwhelming that extra staff had to be engaged to meet the demand, which came from all over the country. Nearly 4000 fancy costumes, as well as 334 desifms for delivery vans and cars, and 390 designs for decorating trade cycles, were distributed, and must have reminded hundreds of thousands of people of New Zealand's choice product Many of the costumes won prizes. Loss of the Waratah. Yesterday was tlfe anniversary of the day on which the ill-fated liner Waratah was last seen. The liner, which was carrying 211 passengers, was less than a year old, ond was regarded at the time as one of the finest British ships afloat. The mystery of her disappearance has never been solved. The Waratah was only on her second Homeward voyage when she left Sydney on June 26, 1909, and was under the command of Captain Bbery. It was after she left Durban that she vanished. Ten hours after sailing from that port she was sighted by the steamer Clan Macintyre, which had arrived at Durban from New Zealand to replenish her bunkers, and which had resumed her voyage to London a few hours before the departure of the Waratah. The liner was signalled at 6 a.m. on July 27, and was steaming at ab&ut 12J knots, about 2 J knots faster than the Clan Macintyre. After an exchange of signals the Waratah passed on, never to be seen again. On the following day vessels hurried into various ports, and their masters told of a night of unprecedented violence at sea. At the nautical inquiry held in London in 1911 the Court inclined to the opinion that the Waratah had capsized in the storm.