NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 224, 22 September 1938, Page 10

NEWS OF THE DAY.

The Government Knows. When the town clerk of One Tree Hill Borough Council last night reported that be/ore long there would be over 300 Stateowned dwellings in the borough, the Mayor, Mr. I. J. Goldstine, remarked: "Obviously the (Jovernment realises where the cheapest rates in the Dominion are." Evangelist Fmrewelled. The sound of hymns being sung with all the spirit and vigour of youth lent an unusual note to the departure of the Limited express rrom the Auckland railway station last evening. The noisv hurry and bustle of departure slackened for a moment or two while a group of young people from the Auckland Baptist Tabernacle and the Bible Training Institute sang verses from a number of well-known revival hymns. The occasion was a send-off to Dr. Oswald J. Smith, the Canadian evangelist who has been conducting a mission in the city. Boy Labour in Mine*. The law prohibiting the employment of young boys beneath the surface in mines was quoted by the Minister of Mines, the Hon. P. I'. Webb, when commenting on newspaper references to the death of a boy tinder lfl at KaitaiijrntM. The Minister said thnt under Ihe ('out Mines Amendment Act, passed la*t year, n boy tinder Hi was not permitted to be employed in a coal iii:ii:» 1111.lei •jromul. The hoy who whs killed ;it Kaitanpnta wns workin" on the surface as a rope boy. He could not. under the law. have been allowed to work underground. In jrold mines, no boy under IS w«s allowed to work underground. Small Boys Get Excited. Because further play-off matches might have a detrimental effect on the health of the hoys by makins them over-wrought, the Auckland Rugby Union management committee last night decided, on the suggestion of the junior boys' board, to bracket the Otahuhu and Takupiniß junior boys' teams for. the championships. Finality was needed in all championships where young boys were concerned, said Mr. A. A. Baker. 'He had been told of a recent play-off where prolonged endeavours to obtain a clear-cut issue had resulted in one quite normal lad bursting into tears. Excitement had made others I=o nervous that they would not eat before the matches. Summer Time. Clocks in Xew Zealand will he advanced half an honr during the coming week-end,: I with the ehangc-ov;r to summer time, and for seven months the Dominion will lie ahead of standard time. The {tcriod of summer time extends from the last Sunday in September to the last Sunday in April, which is more thai, a month lonper tlu.n the period in England, where it starts on the third Sunday in April and ends on the first Sunday in October. The Emrli» h system has been in operation since 192.). In Xew Zealand davlight saving was first tried in 1927, when standard time was advanced one hour for four months, from the first week-end in November to the first week-end'in March. The chansre to half an hour was made in 1928, and the period was extended to seven months in 1933. Uakt ami Bonis. An amusing story, which he said he had been informed was authentic, was told by Professor B. E. Murphy during a public address on inflation and deflation at Napier, reports the "Daily Telegraph." In 1913 in Vienna a rich merchant dFed, leaving his entire fort one to his two sons. One sons invested th* money in Government bonds, and was feted as a good example to his fellow countrymen.- The second son went through his fortune like wildfire, and the onjy thing he had left when war broke out in 1014 was I eellarful of champagne bottles and corks and some rather vague memories. With the outbreak of hostilities the mark began to gallop away, and the man's bonds were worth practically nothing. The second son became a millionaire because bottles and corks were so hard to get that big prices were paid for them. Old-time Dead-house. A good story of the olden davs in Te Awamutu was related by Mr. C. M. Alexander, • resident of the district*for 67 years, at a social in his honour on Tuesday evening. Mr. Alexander had told of the little settlement and the absence of a policeman—the nearest was located at Alexandra (now Pirongia), the best part of ten miles away by rough Maori tracks; there was no road. This constable used to visit the hamlet two or three times a week. He was seldom required to act in his official capacity, but oceasionallv a few roisterers would come in from Kihikihi. The constable one day went to both publicans and told them that any trouble arising out of inebriation or the like would result in one or both of the publicans ■ being placed under arrest. "But you can't do that!" said one. "I can—and T will," retorted the policeman. A few days later one of the publicans was found to have cleared out an old stable at the back of the hostelry, and prepared for occupation with a liberal supply of fern and straw. Next, time any customer got "near the Plimsoll mark" he was given one or two more drinks, and then conveyed to the special quarters to sleep off the effects. The novel plan worked quite well, said Mr. Alexander. He added that the stables became known as "Dan Kenny's dead-house."

Extraordinary ! ."" i« an extraordinarily satisfactory posHion—no doubt about that," said the Mayor of One Tree Hill. Mr. I. J. Goldmine, referring at last night's meeting of the council to the fact that to date this" year <>2.l per cent of the rates had been paid, 'although the 10 per cent penalty for non-payment did not take effect till February next.* " Embarrassingly Successful." "The showing of educational films on Saturday mornings has been almost embarrassingly successful," said the director of the Auckland War Memorial Museum. Mr. Gilbert Archcy, at a meeting of the Auckland Institute and Museum Council yesterday. He added that far more children had attended than could be accommodated, and the promoters had been obliged to forward a rationed number of tickets to the schools for dtetribu" tion. Improving Highway. By the end of next May extensive improvements will have been made to the Auckland-Helensville highway. An endeavour is being made to seal all portions between Auckland and Woodhill before the end of the summer, and tenders ere now being called for the sealing of the State highway in the! Helensville district. Progress is being made; in the construction of a traffic bridge over the railway line south of Helensville, and on othfr sections of the road there is already a great deal of activity in the way of reconstruction and sealing work. The Vernal Equinox. To-day was the vernal equinox in Xew Zealand, and, according to the recognised da ten of the seasons, the first day of spring. Sunrise was at 5.42 and sunset at 5.46, thus representing almost an exact division of 121 hours between day and night. In recent weeks, as the sun has approached the meridian of the equator, the davs have been rapidly growing longer, and the rate of increase will be maintained during October and the latter part of Xovember. During the approach of Christmas there will be a slowing down until the longest day on December 22. " The True Scientist: 9 "The true scientist should be characterised by an attitude of self-criticism and an honest endeavour to prove his own theories wrong." said Mr. R. A. Falla, curator of the Canterbury Museum, in an address to the Society for Imperial Culture. Mr. Fall.i traced : the development of biology from the early ; "speculative" stage, to a recognition of the importance of accurate observation, and in mo.lern times to experimental work. The essence of scientific method was the testing of hypothesis by experiment and still more experiment. "Learn-to-Swim" Week. '"This is an example of what can be done by co-operation," said Air. T. C. Hobbs-.Toncs »t last night's meeting of the Devonport Borough Council, when the council received the balance-sheet in connection with this year's "learn to-swim" week. Mr. Hobbs-.Toncs", who is chairman of the Xationol Committee of .Swimming and Life-saving, said the Devonport council's donation had been the largest of any between Mercer and the North of Auckland. "During that' week about 13.000 children and 5000 adults were taught to swim I in the for the sum of £4-~>." said Mr. Hobbs-Jones. The balance-sheet even showed a credit of 4d. Might Be Nicer. The exterr.c.l appearance of the four State houses erected on the Great South Road has not Appealed to members of the One Tree Hill Borough Council. Mr. L. Mandeno mentioned at last night's meeting of- the council that the outside appearance was anything but prepossessing for a main road, and he considered it a strong contrast to the appearance of some of the houses in the Orakei block. "They are certainly not as nice as they might be,"* said Mr. Slyfield. The council decided the town *lerk should write a "tactful" letter to the State Housing Department suggesting that houses erected on main roads in future should have, a more pleasing appearance than those erected on the Great South Road. And So To Auckland! In his reminiscences of Te Awamutu round about 60 or more years ago, Mr. C. M. Alexander, of Mangapiko, told a big gathering of farmers attending a complimentary social tendered him in his honour the other evening, how the first consignment of wool was sent . away from Te Awamutu. It was grown on < property owned by Messrs. Goodfeltow Bros, .(uncles of Mr. W. Goodfellow, later known throughout the land in connection with the < dairy industry) near the present site of the railway station. The wool had to be con- ■ veyed to Alexandra (now Pirongia), and thence by steamer down the Waipa River and so to Auckland. The wagon was overturned when only a few hundred yards on the trip, a mile or two further on the* "road" was found to be impassable, and a detour was made through the fern and scrub, the teamsters reaching Alexandra at nightfall, only to find that the steamer had not arrived that dav. They waited until it reached the landingplace, unloaded the cargo, loaded the wool, and then (at midnight) went to the hostelry to get a meal. All that could be supplied was ship's biscuit with tinned salmon, washed down with beer. The teamsters got back to Goodfellow's at 4 a.m., and were regaled with a bottle of whisky for their arduous work. . Xow, added Mr. Alexander, it is proposed to make a sealed road between, the two centres, and the journey could be covered in about a ' quarter of an hour. •