NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 300, 18 December 1937, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY.

New Railway Carriages. . -The new second class railway carnages being constructed at the Otahuhu workshops for the Main Trunk service are expected to t>e in use for the «6rs£ time this week. Four carriages are to be attached to the Limited express from Auckland, and a further four dispatched from Wellington. It is not ex-1 pected that the new first class carriages will be in commission till early in the New" Year. A Good Dustman. p+ At weekl y luncheon of the Wanganui Rotary Club, the speaker, the Rev. E. Xieholls told an amusing story of a "good" dustman! A little girl remarked to her father that she was very pleased that their dustman was such a good mon, and she adhered to this statement until her father was moved to inquire as to why she thought that this was the case. "Well." said the little girl, "the other day when he lifted our rubbish tin to tip it on his lorry, water and rubbish came out through that hole at the side and ran down his face and neck. The man then put down the tin and told the Lord all about it!" Christmas Cheer for the Poor. . . Christmas, the time of joyfulness and giving, always finds the social workers of Auckland busy with the provision of Christ- 1 mas cheer. Last evening the Open Door Mission, Albert Street, was the scene of a verv ha PPy gathering, when a large number of men, women and children from the poorer parts of the city was entertained at the annual Christmas tea. The mission hall was appropriately decorated, and contained a largo Christmas tree. A Santa Claus added to the children's enjoyment of the evening. Wellladen tahles were, very soon cleared of jellies, trifles, cakes, sweets and other delicacies, and tired but willing workers considered themselves amply rewarded for their efforts by the bright smiles on old and tired faces and the sound of happy children's voices. The tea was followed by a cliild-m'e Christmas concert, and at the close gifts were distributed from the Christmas tree. Overseas Radio Concession. Reduced charges for radio-telephone eonversatons to Australia and the United Kingdom during the Christmas-New Year period are announced by the Postmafiter-General, the Hon. F. Jones, who states, however, that from December 23 until January 4, inclusive, calls to the United Kingdom at the concession rate cannot be accepted on Christmas Day (English time). "This annual concession," remarked the Postmaster-Oeneral, "gives a stimulus to long-distance radio communication by affording a wider opportunity for its social use. New Zealand's overseas radiotelephone business has exjwnded quite rapidlv during the last few years. The calls for the whole of 1931 totalled 285, but in 1935 they had risen to 724, while in the following year the total was 1095. During the first seven months of the current financial year, overseas radio calls numbered 1434. The Tasman radio telephone service between New Zealand and the Awatea is maintaining a steady volume of business, the calls made the last four months totalling 311." "AH Frauds.** A brief visit was paid bv the GovernorGeneral, Lord GaHvay, to the Wilson Home for Crippled Children yesterday afternoon. Lord Ga.lway was attended by his aide-de-camp, Captain R. Stuart French, and was met by the chairman of the Auckland Hospital Board, the Rev. W, C. Wood, the donor of the home, Mr, W. R. Wilson, members of the board, Dr. J. W. Craven, medical superintendent, Matron Faulconbridge, and members of the Crippled Children's Society. His Exceli lencv was conducted through the wards, and I shook hands and chatted with each of the 25 inmates, whose ages range from six to 15 years. He took great interest in the home, and admired not only the airy and spacious wards, but also the glorious surroundings. His Excellency was shown over the physio-' therapy ward now under construction, and also inspected the swimming bath which is being made alongside. Lord Galway complimented the board on the manner in which ! such a magnificent gift was being utilised. | "It looks to me as if they are all frauds, for ! they are looking so well," his Excellencv j remarked after his bed-to-bed visit of the wards. Drifting to Communism." A charge against the policy that resulted in a purely secular system of education in the State schools of the Dominion was made by Mr. H. M. Campbell in an address at the breaking-up ceremony of lona College, Havclock North. He contended that the absence of religion from the school curriculum was in some measure the cause of the drift of this country and of the world as a whole to Communism, and appealed to his audience to use their utmost endeavour to check the spread of the menace by the intelligent education of youth. "I am convinced," said Mr. Campbell, "that unless some effort is made to arrest the completely secular training of young people, and unless more trouble is taken to teach the distinctions between right and wrong, we are heeding for more trouble and the old Empire will fall." The whole world, Mr. Campbell said, wae drifting to Communism, and there was no getting away from the fact that Communism was absolutely contrary to all Christian principles—the rooting-up of all that was good. "If it goes much further our 2000 years of civilisation end Empire-building will go like chaff before the wind," he stated.

A Good Conceit of Ourselves. "We are all sorry to see you go," said a ten-year-old girl pupil, who presented a fare.well gift to Mr. W. Dickson on behalf of the Te Aroha school children on Thursday evening. "And we sincerely hope," she added, "that you will find your new schola.rs just as brilliant as we were." Sustained applause followed. Out of the Blue. A ripple of laughter went round the Christchurch Magistrate's Court when counsel for the defendant in a motor collision case was endeavouring to find from a witness where a motor cycle concerned in the collision had come from. "But where did it come from? Cycles don't just appear from nowhere," he asked. "They do in this Court," interjected the magistrate. "They are not there, and then suddenly they are." "Yes, sir," was the reply. "It is always mystifying in these cases when cars suddenly materialise." Are the Names Famous? In reply to a request for permission to raffle a cricket bat, the northern division of the Taranaki Cricket Association was asked for further information in a letter received from the Department of Internal Affairs. Among other things the Department wished to know if the bat were autographed by a player of sufficient importance to make the autograph of greater value than the bat. The bat was signed by the members of the New Zealand cricket team and by D. G. Bradman and S. J. McCabe, a member stated. Motorist's Breach of Etiquette. At the last meeting of the council of the Automobile Association (Auckland) a complaint was investigated against a member for cutting into the queue of cars waiting for the vehicular ferry at Devon port last Labour Day. There was no appearance of the member against whom the complaint was made, but two witnesses attended and gave evidence in support of the complaint. After considering the evidence, the eouncl decided that the complaint was upheld, and suspended the offending member from membership of the association for a period of 12 months. Activity in Port. With a daily average of more than ten overseas ships in port, the harbour has been very busy during the past two weeks. Yesterday no fewer than 14 deep-water vessels worked the port, and, with large coasters and smaller craft, the aggregate number of ships berthed was greater than the peak reached during the recent waterfront hold-up. To-day the number of overseas ships was 11, but their number was swelled by the presence of several intercolonial and coastal ships. No further deep-water arrivals are scheduled until Monday, when a passenger liner and two freighters are listed. Two Points of View. "Well here's my costume for the hot weather, and people can say what they like about it." The speaker was the head of an important department in one of the principal Auckland business houses, and his audience was a commercial traveller. Number one sat at ease in his office chair, dressed in an opennecked shirt of cream flannel and lightcoloured flannel trousers. Number two was in orthodox town dress, jacket, waistcoat, collar, tie, etc. "Splendid," said he. "lint do you know what would happen if I dressed sensibly, like that? They'd say, 'Hello, started holidays?' or 'What's on to-day? floing fishing?'" So there are two points of view on the subject. From Guatemala to Auckland. The former United States Consul at Auckland, Mr. Walter F. Boyle, has sent a charming letter to the boys and girls of the Cornwall Park School, which he used to visit, and it is published in the school's annual magazine. Mr. Boyle te now stationed at Guatemala, and he remarks: "You would have to look far and wide to find a wooden house. In three months I have not seen one. In the business part of the town you will find a few , buildings two storeys high, and one actually ventures three storeys into the air. but nearly all are only one storey high. And why is this? As a burnt child dreads the fire, so do earthquake-experienced people fear toppling walls. In the centre of the house is the patio, which is a breathing place and garden. Many of them boast a fountain, but as you walk along the street you never dream of the beautiful patios hidden by the walls of the houses. When you go to school, you find that there is no such thing as a playground except the patio. Thus the school patios are not gardens. It is all very picturesque, and in a way romantic, but you feel that you are too shut in. The prettiest ride from Guatemala City is the 25-mile drive to Antigua, the ancient capital. The ruins here are so extensive that one must visit them time and again. You marvel at the splendour of the old Spaniards and at what they wrought, a mere handful of them, in a new country inhabited by a primitive people. So great is the ruin of the work they left that you feel you are living among them. The grand but treacherous twin volcanoes Fuego and Auga (fire and water) lift their majestic heads as if proud of their symmetrical beauty, and pressing the very confines of the treeless city is the deep, dense shade of the forest-like groves, sheltering from the glare of the world the delicate foliage of the coffee plants. And right here may I stop and think a while, where forest and city meet, in the shadows of the centuries on the banks of the Rio Pensativo, which I like to translate as the 'River of Reveries,' and one of the most enchanting of my reveries is the memory of my visits to Cornwall Park School." *