NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 60, 12 March 1938, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Air Mails Speeded Up. The Sydney-Singapore-London air mail service has been speeded up by one day. Mails now leave Sydney on Tuesdays and Fridays, instead of Wednesdays and Fridays, and arrive in London twelve days later. Under the conditions as regards connections, the mail reaches London within 15 days of posting in the Dominion. The service operates twice weekly in each direction between Sydney and London.

More Trade, Less Profit. The fact that Wellington harbour handled 38 per cent of tlie total imports, into Xew Zealand and 34 per cent of the total exports was mentioned by Mr. D. .T. McCiowan. chairman of the Wellington Harbour 15oard, when speaking at the annual dinner of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce last evening. "I know you gentlemen will be thinking that we should be making more money." added Mr. McGowan. '"but actually last year we showed less profit. That has happened in all businesses, of course." Coincidence in Dates. The foundation stone of the new Government buildings in Xapier was laid by the Minister of l'ublie Works, the Hon. R. Semple, to-day. It is interesting to note that the foundation stone of the buildings in use at Napier at the time of the earthquake had been laid on March l-\ 1903, by the Rt. Hon. R. J. Seddon. The original stone was salvaged from the wrecked building, and is held at the Xapier offices of the Public Works Department.

State Houses Near Onehunga. Developments in the Government's housing scheme are to be carried out shortly in the Manukau electorate, according to advice received by Mr. A. G. Osborne, M.P. for the district, from Mr. J. A. Lee, Parliamentary Under-Secretary in charge of Housing. The information supplied to" Mr. Osborne is that tenders will shortly be advertised for the erection of 77 single-house units and eight two-house units in Great South Road, Garland Road, Campbell Road and William, Ferguson and Massey Avenues. The schemes will be divided into five different contracts. Museum Service. Besides satisfying people's curiosity, the free information service provided by the Canterbury Museum is of considerable ecfinomic value to the community, declared the curator, Mr. R. A. Falla, in a recent address in Christchurch. On an average, about 15 queries a week were answered by the museum staff, he said. Most of these were from people who had discovered unfamiliar insects or strange objects, -which they wanted identified. Sometimes, howGver, business houses submitted to the museum for identification samples of timber attacked by borers or specimens of insects found amongst goods. The museum was usually able not only to identify insect pests, but also to give advice on the best way to combat them. This latter advice was often of considerable value in enabling the owners of goods to halt the ravages of pests.

Health of tlie Maori Race. "The matter is a most serious one, and it is imperative for the contimlance of the race that the heart of the trouble should be attacked, and attacked immediately," said Bishop Bennett when making reference at the Hastings Rotary Club to the incidence of tuberculosis among Maoris. Measles, cancer and many other illnesses to which the Maori race was heir to-day were quite unknown before the coming of the Europeans, said Bishop Bennett. They all followed in the wake of pakeha civilisation, and this fact alone should be enough to make the white people do something to help the Maoris. The bishop went on to say that the Maori in the old days considered the span of life 100 years, bet that was by nt> means the position today. "The physical condition of our people has changed tremendously," he said. "They are not the same people that they were." The Government " Goes Shopping." Large-scale purchasing of sheetings, cloths and other textiles is conducted by the Post Office, and the process bears little resemblance to shop counter methods, where price comparisons probably constitute the most important determining factor. Nearly 40,000 yards of woollen material (all made in New Zealand) is bought every year through the stores division of the General Post Office, which acts for the Stores Control Board as the buying agent for other Government Departments. Its officers have recently been engaged in testing samples of a large variety of woollen goods and other textiles required by the Mental Hospitals Department. Government experts, like the average housewife buying fabrics, like to visual contrasts between rival samples, testing the general appearance, and the "feel." Wearing capacity is all-important in most materials, and the probable" useful life of the fabric can be fairly well gauged by subjecting it to tests by an electric machine of English design which will register the breaking strain accurately. Sheeting bought as the result of Post Office testing methods has been known to stand wear and tear of 4-J years' use in one of our large public institutions. The testing system frequently shows that the lowest quotation is not the most economical. It -does not end with the pur- . chasing, for there are periodic tests of materials as they are delivered from the contractors.

Beggars Rare in Japan. The view that the Japanese were well off compared with people in some parts of the world was held by Mr. W. J. Clarke, of London, who is in Hamilton during- the course of a world tour. Mr. Clarke said that beggars were very rare in Japan, while in America they were particularly numerous. Ring Found in Fish. Caught in Hawke's Bay by the trawler Sea Hawk, a groper, when it was cleaned by a Napier resident, who had purchased 4t direct from the trawler, was found to have swallowed a dress ring. The ring was of silver, and was set with a large imitation diamond. Colourful Butterfly. An earnest appeal is here made to all schoolmasters, teachers and parents by Mr. T. Skeates, of Titirangi, to warn all boys and girls not to catch or kill any of the Monarch butterflies now being placed on the wing as the second and last batch of the season. After seven years of close and careful study, and breeding of this valuable and harmless creature, he is fully satisfied of their true value in beautifying gardens, parks and the whole countryside by their wonderful gliding and sailing—sights not seen in New Zealand for over 40 years. In some suburban gardens display : ng plenty of flowers these Monarclis have been recently making a glorious display for over a month, to the great delight of other householders.

Telegrams and Swordfish. An Auckland launch party fishing for mako off Cape Brett last week had the- experience of being connected with their business affairs in the city by telegram. Tlia telegrams dispatched from Auckland to Deepwater Cove were relayed by land line to the lighthouse at Cape Brett, and their arrival there coincided with the visit of a Government vessel which had other business to do with one of the members of the fishing party. Still in Departmental care, therefore, the telegraphic missives were forwarded to a little speck on the horizon, being duly received with expressions of appreciation of the real service of the Postal Department, which was further enhanced by the fact that there were no mileage fees to pay for telegrams delivered to an unknown address among the swordfish. "Pidgin" English. * Chaos would result in New Guinea if all the inhabitants were compelled to learn the very hard English language, said the Rev. A. H. Voyce, of the Solomon Islands, speaking at a meeting at Wellington. What had become quite common in the territory, however," was "pidgin" English, and an Australian missionary body had actually gone to the extent of publishing a hymn book in "pidgin" English. Mr. Voyce read several extracts from this book, and mentioned a few rather humorous native sayings. A "flyship" was the name given to an aeroplane, and a motor car was referred to as a "flyship along ground." The very apt expression "shoot light" referred to a torch, and "lamp walk about" to a lantern. One of the really quaint expressions, however, referred to a ship wrecked on a reef. To the native this was a case of "shippie sit down on stone." To "throw away leg beyond you" meant to hurry up. Reaction Against Tenants. The opinion that the Fair Rents Act was, in a great; number of cases, reacting against the tenant class, which it was intended to protect, was expressed by a Napier land agent to the "Daily Telegraph." Owners of houses in Napier, he said, were reluctant to let their houses, with the consequence that many houses were lying vacant, the owners preferring to leave them so until a sale could be made. There was a marked tendency by i owners to make a strong endeavour to sell their houses, if, from any cause, they should be vacated by their present tenants, and this position was ascribed by the agent to the effect of the Fair Rents Act. "Owing to the fact that owners are entertaining the uneasy idea that there is always the chance of the legislation being extended to cover houses not now embraced by the Act, owners of houses for letting are clearly becoming dissatisfied with this form of investment," he said. "Those residences coming on the market because their owners are no longer satisfied with that form of investment are meeting with a fair demand from persons who need houses." The trend away from houses as an investment was to be defflored, however, because it meant much less building.

Casual Boy Labour. The practice of some grocers employing a boy, or several boys, delivering goods on Saturday morning, for a bag of sweets or some similar recompense, was strongly objected to by the employees' assessors in the grocery dispute heard in conciliation council in Wellington. The employees wished to see some otber system instituted. The employers' assessors were of the opinion that the whole matter was based on a question of whether it was a case of master and servant or of the boy concerned being in a position when he could cease work when he pleased. Mr. E. Gray (Kaiapoi) related a recent conversation he had had with a representative of the Department of Labour. This representative, on seeing Mr. Gray's son in his shop, had asked what wages Mr. Gray paid him. "Nothing," was the reply. He was then informed that if his son was even observed on the premises a brench was being committed. "I then offered to pay my son £4 15/ per week," said Mr. Gray, "and the representative then asked me what I would charge my son for board and lodging. My reply was '£4 15/ per week.'"