NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 280, 26 November 1938, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Garden Thieves in Warrganai. In future the Wanganui City Council intends to prosecute people caught stealing flowers and shrubs in the city reserves, states the Post n ' representative. In some localities, the city gardener has ]ia<l to replace shnilis over and over again. The new rockery at \ irginia I>ake has suffered severely, and it seems useless to plant it with anything hut the most common varieties of rock plant, as all the choice ones arc taken as soon as they are planted. South Pacific Collection. A collection of corals, shells and ethnological specimens from the South Pacific has been presented to the (.'anta 1 rbiirv .Museum. ( hrir-tchurcli. \>y Mrs. K. M. Kerrier. church. The curator, Mr. 1!. A. Kalia, said this week that the stone adzes in the collection. from .Yew Zealand and other parts of the Pacific, were ail intcrei-ting com pa rathe scrie-. Combs an<l fishhooks were other useful ethnological specimen#-. The coralii!clude<l the usual spectacular tree and niiishlonm corals, but in addition some of the less usual and more delicate kiwis. The shells, a named collection, were mainly from Samoa and Fiji, ami some of them were new to the museum. Te Aroha's New Geyser. Kxperiments with the ii'w "geyser"' which it is hoped to make u :eatuiv of the Te Aroha Tourist Domain are ••rous:,!g interest. The fixing of ,1 2in no/./.le to the bore has resulted in the boiling water bi ing tliiown t i a height of :50ft. twice as high as previously. The '-urge occurs regularly every 1- minutes. Kvery third shot is n ore powerful than the others, ttnd lasts twice as long. "iving a higher stream of water. The effc r is enhanced by the fact thit the water, on reaching a certain height, tans oft. and .t f-illin? is caught again by the column until it descends in umbrella shape to t lv» ground. Clouds of strain add to t lie gcnc.-i! effect. I Several names for the 'geyser' have been suggested, the most favoured being Mokcna. after the Maori chief who ongina Is wned the Domain and handed it -v er as * national asset. Film Fan Mail Refused. Many hundreds of Xew Zealand admirers of film stars who have contributed to tile big "fan mail" are doomed to disappointMient I because they omitted to place the proper postage of 2Jd on their letters to the I'nited States of America. At least .">0(1 of these letters to film studios were returned by the last inward American mail, all marked ''Refused." because the intended recipients were not prepared to pay the deficiency Miriliarje [ of 3d on a letter posted in New Zealand with a Id stamp. It is evident from the addresses on these returned letters that the range of appreciation of leading actors and actresses is extremely wide, dozens of names being included in the hatch. The Xew Zealand Post Office will endeavour to return all these letters to their senders and collect the deficiency charge of 3d as some compensation for a double trip across the Pacific. Postmen Work for the Children. The postmen of Xew Zealand are making a special effort on behalf of the children with their organised drives for the sale of the health stamp, this being the main basis of health camp finances. Where the postmen have been able to complete house-to-house appeals, the results are remarkably good, showing that they have a splendid goodwill which they are prepared to turn to account for the assistance of under-nourished and ailing children. The health stamps sold during the sixth week of the campaign totalled 110.243, bringing a further benefit to the health camps of £480 12/6. The full results of six weeks' campaigning have now brought £3058 into the funds of the health camps, the Auckland postal district heading the list with £087. while Wellington contributed £450. Palmerston North £230. Christchurch £20.5. Dunedin £176, Wanganui £167, Hamilton £157, and Napier £131. ,

"Believe It Or Not." "In Ottawa, about three weeks, a ratheT notable ease occurred of 'Canadian queerness' from the viewpoint of a visiting stranger."' writes a' Te Awamutu resident who is. at. present on a holiday in Canada. "A ne«ro had incurred debts amounting to nearly a million dollars. This, hv the way, was said to be a record debt for any negro to incur. The story goes that he was oNo 'wanted' for murder. The cane for debt was taken first; he was convicted and sentenced to 15 years, and then the murder charge was deferred 'until the expiry of the sentence for defalcation.' Of course, all people understand that there will be no murder chargc preferred, nnd they are wondering who was the lucky one to share in the proceeds of the hold-ups in which the murder occurred. Mind. I am not giving you this as absolute gospel, but it is common talk. I have not been here long enough to know the ins and outs of such things." Fruit for School Children.

Support for the proposal that fruit should be issued to school children vhcTe the milk in schools scheme is rot operating was given at a meeting (f the Manawntu Oroua District School Committees' Associa-

tion. It was pointed out that in rural schools abundance of milk and dairy products was accessible. The urgent need of cour.trv children was on adequate supply of fm't. particularly in the off season. Inquiries made by one schoolmaster showed that less t'ian 2 per cent of the children brought fruit to school with them for lunch, and it seemed that the only fruit many of them saw was v hen they came to the city. A remi'; was adapted for submission to the Dominion Federation of School Committees that in view ot the fact that large quantities of frur wasted every season and that fruitgrowers were in need of ready markets, the (iovemnent be asked to have a scheme for the issue of suitable fruir. to not in the milk in schools scheme, particularly in rura! a rea s. Playgrounds for the People. "Judged by the standards of other countries, a great number of New Zealand towns are hopelessly deficient in recreational facilities," said Mr. .1. AV. Mawson. town planning officer in the Internal Affairs Department, when addressing the New Plymouth Town Planning Committee. The modern scientific standard was that towns should not have than seven acres of recrcationol amenities for every 1000 acres of population, lie said. It was not sufficient for a borough to have a large area of park land nnd open spaces. Location was of importance. There were Xew Zealand towns that bad domains much larger than the areas needed, but because of their location they were of no value for recreational use by young people. School grounds were not included, because they were open only during school hours and terms, and at the discretion of the education authority could be closed at any time. Kxperiments had proved that not '."i per ecu* of young children would g () more than n quarter of a mile to use a playground. The radius of cPieiency of recreational areas of the tvpe he had mentioned was a quarter of a niilo for children from five to ten year*, and half a mile for children from ten to 15 years.

' New Dress Uniform. Arrangements were made some time ago to equip territorials "with a blue dress uniform, and the ty|>e of blue dress uniform to be worn by officers has now been decided upon. The uniform will consist of a blue felt hat with band and badge as at present, a blue serge tunic with stand-up coTlar without badges, kliaki pantaloons when mounted and blue overalls (semi-tights) with Wellington boots when dismounted. Mosquito Campaign in Rotorua. Investigations which had been made by the Kotonia borough •nginecr, Mr. F. (.'. Bunyard. regarding complaints lodged by ratepayers of Wairoa l'oad concerning t! e breeding ground for mosquitoes created by the low-lying area opposite their properties, were referred to in a report presented to the notorua Borough Council bv Ihe works committee. The report M-tted that invi-♦igntiotis had shuwn flint it Mould be practically inipossible to drain Ilow-i .'ing niva as suggested by the ratepayers concerned, 'ut that, in the niecintime. the smaller holes would be filled in and kern-cue would be used to keep Ihe mosquitoes in check, if necessary Keats and New Zealand Friend. A sketch of John Keats by Charles Armifagc Brown, one of Xew Plymouth's earliest and most cultured settler-, has been forwarded to the Mayor. Mr. K. K. C. (Jilmour, by Mr. ('. .1. O'Keefe. of Auckland. In forwarding the fro med sketch suitably inscribed, the donor included some other items of Keats interest anil a sketch of Keats by another of the poet's friends, th • painter. John Severn. The suggestion made that the sketch be placed in the Public Library or other local j in-t it ut ion. Charles Aimitage Brown, a writer of distinction, was u comrade of the poet toward the end of hU life. Brown accorded ! him financial assNtanic. and Lord '-foughton. Keats' biographer, lias intimated th.i' the last remittance arriving when the poet lay dying «t Koine, probably prevented his bcivg buried in a pauper's grave. Brown, accou!) allied by his son. arrived in Xew Zealand in IS4I. He died in Xew Plymouth in June, JS42 Vancouver f s Unemployment Problem. "\ancouver is a very nice city," writes a Xew Zealander who is at present spending a year in eastern Canada, in a letter to a Te Awainiitu friend, "but the people there are very much afraid that there will be a scrie-* of riots during the winter months. While I was in the city 1 inquired diligently about local affairs from all sorts of folk, and I gathered some nmsf interesting information, which may or may not be a correct summation of the actual conditions. By the way. when they heard that f was from Xew Zealand. there vv;is inquiry as to the methods adopted 'flown under' concerning the unemployment problem. The general talk was usually tin the subject, of unemployment. \ aneouver residents soy that flic unemploved drift across the continent to spend the win ter months in the less stringent conditions, climatically and economically. To say that you are from Xew Zealand is an excellent introduction in British Columbia centres, and the people all seem to have the greatest respect for 'the little ploee way down under.' as thev sav."

Duke of Kent and Canberra. '! ho announcement that the Dukfi of Kent has been appointed Australian Oovernor(ieneral and will assume residence at Canberra. towards the. end uf next year lias* focused fresh attention upon the' national capital. He is the third member uf the Royal lainily who has bren associated wi*h Canberra. Mis Majesty, when Duk. of York, inaugurated the new capital in 1!>27. and previously to that the Duke of Windsor laid the foundation stone of the capital. His Royal Highness will occupy Yarralumla, former homestead of an oarlv pastoral holding, which faces a beautiful vista of distant rallies of changing tones of blue. They are the peaks and ranges of the Australian Alps, snow capped in winter, and the Duke, who is an enthusiastic skier. will bp interested in Mount Franklin, less than 40 miles, away, which is being developed as an Alpine sports centre. A magnificent scenic nwtd has been constructed to enable the area to be reached, and thoujh the road surface is not vet os good as a suburban highway it has already enabled hundreds of persons to indulge in Alpine pastimes. Accommodation questions have been given much consideration, and the Canberra Alpine Club has already erected a temporary ehalet to make it possible for members to stay overnight. A Hundred Nurses Wanted. Proposals to increase the salaries of the nursing staff. to jrrant special allowances to those living out. and to introduce more n'tractive uniforms were ai>provc<l by the Wcllington Hospital Tloard. Refore the proposals can be carried out. however, the consent of the Health Department must be obtained. Introducing the subject on behalf of the house and staff committees. Mr. A. W. Croskery said that the matron had drawn attention to the danger of short stoff. particularly in an emergency, and had expressed the opinion that the number of nurses in the wards should be increased. The committee had on several occasions considered the shortage of nurses, said Mr. Croskery. It. found that dental I nurses and teachers in training received a living allowance in addition to wages. With these lucrative positions open to voting women, the board sooner or later would have to face up to the position. Nurses' wages should be increased, lie suprjjested, and an endeavour should he made to secure as many as possible who could train at the hospital but live at home in Wellington. "When does the board intend facing tip to the 40-hour wcvk for nurses?" asked 'Mr. .r. Purvis. The Chairman, Mr. .1. Glover: '"The matron is of opinion that if she could tret 100 nurses the 40-hour week could bp put into oppration at the end of three, or at the most, six months