NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 142, 18 June 1938, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Centennial Show. Members of the Auckland .Agricultural and Pastoral Association are strongly in favour of the suggestion that a Centennial agricultural show, combining the winter exhibition and a national congress of agriculture, should be held at the showgrounds at Kpsom in 1040, and it hns been decided to co-operate with the Centennial Council in carrying out the proposals. Real Frosts. A frost of 27 degrees was recorded at Clayton Station, in the Mackenzie county, the other morning, following on tlie recent heavy fall of snow. Twenty-six degrees were reported at the Hermitage. Mount Cook, and at Lake lekapo. and 20 degree** at Fairlie township. 1 lie heaviest recording so far this winter at Oerukline was 12 degrees. The previous heaviest recording at Geraldine was nine degrees on May 21. Twenty-four degrees of frost were recorded at Coal Hill Station, in the Rangitata Gorge, and 17 degrees at Woodbury. Morrinsville State Houses. ihe first 13 houses in the State housing scheme for Morrinsville will be completed in another seven weeks. Three houses in Strathmore Street, which were started three months ago, will be out of the builder I ''s hands at the end of next week. Ten other units facing North and George Streets and Coronation Road are well advanced. The contractor, Mr. 'J* t. iranieh, of Morrinsville, also has housing contracts in Te Aroha and Mataniata. and altogether has 40 carpenters, besides labourers and other tradesmen, engaged. It is understood that rents will range from 17/f! a week for the smaller dwellings in double units up to 25/ a week for the larger single-unit dwellings. Doctors Undecided. In a statement yesterdav. answering Dr. I). O. McMillan, Ml'.. Dr. Frank Mackv. president of the Auckland division of the' B.M.A. (Xew Zealand branch), said that the Dunedin Government member has no right to say that the doctors in Xew Zealand have stated definitely that "they would not go on strike if the health scheme was introduced." Xew Zealand doctors, he said, had not committed themselves one way or the other. They had not agreed to work with the Government on the scheme because they had not considered that aspect of the matter. River Bridge Unsafe. The Waitangi River Bridge, which is at the southern end of Bulls Road, has been declared unsafe for traffic, and the Bay of Islands County Council lias advised that it will not be responsible for accidents caused through disobedience of its instructions. For that reason it is an official direction that north-bound traffic from Kawakawa should go by way of the Ohaeawai and Waimate North highway, instead of using the shorter route. Bulls Road has been used extensively bv touring motorists, as it shortens the distance considerably between Paihia and Kerikeri. stated the touring manager of the Antomo* 1 ile Association (Auckland). It may be another 12 months before Bulls Road is again safe for traffic, but representations are being made to the responsible authorities in view of the inconvenience that may be caused to motorists. After a recent tour of inspection by the touring manager of the association, in consequence of reports indicating that many of the roads in the northern section of the North Auckland peninsula have deteriorated severely, the association council has forwarded a request to the Main Highways Board and the Minister of Public Works, the Hon. R. Semple, asking for an investigation into those ronds which were not receivingadequate attention. Interest in Defence. A recruiting campaign in Christeliurch recently by the Southern Depot. New Zealand Army Service Corps, for one week, increased the staff'of the depot by 25 per cent. This was an example cited by Captain R. E. Murray, publicity officer at Army Headquarters. Wellington, of the awakening of public interest throughout the Dominion in defence development. Outlining the system of army publicity, in which the newspapers were giving considerable assistance. Captain Murray said that on the recommendation of the Chief of the General Staff. Major-General >T. K. Duigan. the Minister of Defence, the Hon. F. Jones, had approved of the appointment of a publicity officer at Army Headquarters, and district publicity officers at Auckland, Wellington, C'hristehurch and Duncdin. A conference of these officers had recently been held in Wellington, and complete plans were discussed for the dissemination of army hews and information to the public. Every avenue of approach was to be adopted to acquaint the public with the latest information concerning developments in Xew Zealand. Subsequently, unit publicity officers would be appointed in each centre by the actual units themselves, and they would collaborate with the district publicity officers, who attended regular conferences with the army publicity officer and his branch of the General Staff in Wellington. ,

Showground* Improvements. Reference to gTants provided by the Government for work at the Epsom Showgrounds was made at a meeting of the Auckland Agricultural and Pastoral Association yesterday. The secretary, Mr. W. F. O'Donnell, stated that the district employment officer of the Labour Dejiartment had notified that an additional grant of £480 had been authorised for the employment of 30 men for a further four weeks. There had been a total grant of £2-V2O, made to date, and £237 was still available. No British Flags. "As far as the war was concerned I did not see a single soldier during my tour of Japan,'' said Mr. \Y. B. Stiuthers* of Wellington. who returned by the Wanganclla from Sydney, accompanied by Mrs. Struthers. after a short tour of Japan. There were no j material signs of war as far as he could see. but what struck him a? being rather antagonistic to Britain was the action of the cherry blossom dancers in working into their dances the waving of flags, and it was rather eigni ticant that the only flags waved were those of Germany, Italy and Japan. The attitude! of the Japanese towards the British tourists was, however, most cordial. Clothing Trade Difficulties. ! The opinion that the effect of high wages granted bv the Court of Arbitration in the Dominion clothing trades award will complicate further the position of the industry iiß far as overseas competition is concerned has been expressed by Mr. F. X. Ambler, immediate past president of the Auckland Manufacturers' Association. ITe said that in the sliirt manufacturing section of the industry the labour costs were now practically double those in England, and the tariff protection was only 20 j>er cent. Most clothing factories were working reduced time in Auckland. with reduced staffs, and the latest development would put the position from bad to worse. Overseas competition was a matter for the Government to deal with, and in the industry it was hoped that action would be taken to prevent additional unemployment. Costly Floods. Some idea of the cost to the country of the recent major disasters throughout the Dominion was given to a {lathering of local body officials who met the Minister of Transport, the Hon. R. Semple, at Akaroa. "We have had some terrible knocks recently," said Mr. Semple. "In 24 hours I committed the Government for more than £80,000 at the recent Taranaki floods. I hod to do it; but £80,000 is a lot of money. That terrible tragedy on the Xapier-Gisborne route, where 21 of the best fellows in the world lost their lives, has cost the Government £100,000. The damage to roads, railways and bridges in the Hawke's Bay floods has already accounted for £400,000, and the full extent of the damage to the farms cannot be known for a long time. Then the recent trouble down in the Sounds has cost us a lot of money, although I cannot say at present what the amount is likely to be. Finally, £18,500 worth of damage was done in the Hauraki Plains in one night," said Mr. Seipple. Health of Animals. Additional research facilities and laboratory accommodation are to be provided at Wallaceville by the erection of an animal health laboratory alongside the present veterinary laboratory. The building of the new block will be commenced soon. With its completion facilities at Wallaceville will lie brought more into keeping with present-day needs. Although there has been a large increase in the live stock population of the Dominion, little has been done to improve the laboratory facilities at Wallaceville for many years past, but it will soon be much better equipped to meet requirements. The aim of all research worker* is to check disease by finding out what is required to prevent stock becoming Kick. It is hoped to develop this positive side of veterinary research work in addition to the laboratory's pathological and diagnostic activities. Serious attempts to tind simple control methods for diseases such as mastitis and temporary sterility have so far failed, but some simple method may yet lie evolved. The provision of the improved facilities will permit the campaign against mastitis to be intensified. Winter's Ills. Influenza, heavy colds, measles and even chickenpox have marked the advent of winter. The depletion of school attendances and the number of employees of city firms who are on sick leave through the customary winter illnesses ore not considered unusually heavy, however. Xo cases of pneumonic influenza have been reported so far, though the ordinary variety has temporarily thinned down office staffs, in some cases from a fifth to a third of their usual strengths. There has been a slight increase in the reported number of diphtheria cases in the whole Auckland health district, although the central and largely city area has shown a decrease. Fifteen cases were reported in April. 20 in May, and 10 so far this month. A few suspected typhoid cases have occurred in recent weeks et the Auckland Mental Hospital. There have also been several cases of pneumonia in the city. Precautions against measles resulted in the isolation of one of the houses at the Diocesan High School for Girls, although the number of cases has not been unusual. Similarly, precautions against scarlet fever caused the closing for a weejc of one j of the classes at the Richmond Road School. The present epidemic of measles tn eorne southern districts has only been mild. Hamilton has escaped lightly.