NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 281, 28 November 1938, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Cabbage Trees in Bloom. l Cablmge trees are blooming profusely in ' the Wanganui district this season. Among ! the Maoris it is regarded as a sign of a wet ! summer it the ? e trees carry more flowers than usual. ■ J Dry Job. When a plaintiff remarked in the i *i| >renie Court at Xapier that as the result I of «n accident he had to take on a dry job i (by which he meant one which would not affect him because of rain), Mr. Justice Blair replied: "\ou should have taken on a judge's job." Wanganui's Northern Entrance. Some idea of the plans for beautifying the northern entrance to Wanganui is given by the planting of .">OO dahlia plants of several yarictic* along the highway on the St. John's Hill grade. The plants are expected to grow to n height of 4ft to oft, and to make a pleiising colour scheme to improve the appearance of the locality. Doctors and Lawyers. "Doctors are just like lawyers," eaid Mr. Justice Blair in the Supreme Court at Xapier, when addressing the jury in an accident claim. on know the local men," he added, "and you enn say who °n your opinion gives the ino»t valuable adviee. \ou can go to a lawyer and pay him for an opinion, and you could an to another lawyer, whose opinion you would know was tv,t worth fi\e shillings." Mass Production of Toys. Some idea of tiie benefits iviass production ns applied to the manufacture of toys was fivcn to a reporter by a. business man who had visited u large factory in llritain. Holding in his hand a small mechanical toy t lia * had been pressed from tin, he -aid that the lirst one of a similar design had co-t €120 to make, but when the article had been put into full production it was possible for them to bo i urned cut at a cost of sixpence each. Two Blue Cars. One Saturday night a Wellington motorist had an accident. The next day he instructed his garage to recover a blue car of a specified make from the beach between Island Hay and Lynll Bay. In due course the garage informed him tluit it had the car. and he went to claim it. A car was produced t<A his inspection. It was of the specified make, it was blue, and it had been recovered from the beach between Island Buy and Lvall Bay—but it was not his-ear. Thnt was discovered after a second search along the beach. Identity of Pensioner. The Pensions Department i* faced with a problem as the result of the death in the Rotorua Hospital of a Maori whose name is believed to be Reipi Me. and who is said to be a returned soldier. As the man apparently had no estnte at the time of his death several weeks ago. an application was made to the Pension* Department for a grant of £13 to cover the funeral expense*, the Government recently having made provision that no returned soldier should be buried as a pauper. Advice lias now been received, however, that reference to war records at Wellington has disclosed that the only returned soldier named Reipi Me was a bushman who enlisted at Hokianga and left with the 12th Reinforcements of the Maori Pioneer Battalion, and who died in 1028. The Banana Analogy. The theoretical and practical value of cooperation among employers in allied industries was pithily illustrated by Mr. F. J. Dawson in hie remarks at the Master Printers' annual social on Saturday night. There is no better analogy of our present lack of cohesion than the banana," said Mr. Dawson. "As long as it stays with the bunch it's all right, but when ft leaves the bunch it gets 'skinned.'" The audience thoroughly enjoyed this figurative condemnation of useless pricecutting among printers. Mr. C. H. Herdman, president of the Auckland Master Printers' Association, warmly endorsed Mr. Dawson's remarks in a general appeal to all printers to unite with the association for the uplift of the industry. With music by Mr. Ernest Snell. humour by Rex Yates, magic by Mr. Smith, and speeches by Messrs. Malcolm, Oakes, Simpson and Aldridge. a pleasant evening was spent by all present, the principal toast of the evening being delegated to Mr. S, J. Robinson, who characterised the printing industry as the greatest commercial service of civilisation. Mr. 11. Simmonds acted an aeeompnnist. Canadian Cities and Quirks. Banff and Louise are two indescribably beautiful places, writes a New Zealander who Is visiting Canada. Other large places passed through, he adds, appeared to be substantial and busy, but by no means pretty. "On the whole, the Canadian cities are not very healthy-looking or attractive places, owing to the unnecessary crowding of the houses and the narrow streets. Toronto is, however, quite nice—l could like it very much—and Montreal is a quaint old place. Ottawa has many lines of maple trees and parks, and huge numbers of statues and memorials—usually depicting some high moral quality—which seemingly is not always practised here. The Canadians are exceptionally strong on this point of culture. In Winnipeg there are various pictures, in public buildings, that must have cost thousands of dollars; they cover whole walls and were done by an artist brought over from England. Incidentally, I was credibly informed that the contractor for the job was found to have put in foundation* for tho huge building of inich poor quality that the whole place wm in danger of collapsing. The authorities seized the contractor's •rear, but the man himself made a hasty flight. Some of the members who were co-eperating with this man had lucky escapes from imprisonment. The same story is repeated all over Canada in different forms." Isolated Bash Camp. Forty-five miles from the nearest doctor or nurse, 180 men with their wives and families are isolated from medical attention in a lumbering camp 15 miles north of National Park, where accidents are frequent as a result of the nature of the work. Two experienced officers of the Stratford St. John Ambulance Brigade set out on Friday night to trnvel 173 miles to the camp to commence training a section of the men in first aid work. The settlement is made up of employees of the K-rmont Box Company, who are engaged in fcllinr? and milling timber for transportation to Tnranaki. The nearest medical attention of any nature is at Tauma- • runui. and there are not enoiitrh workers at the camp to maintain a doctor. Recently representations were mode to the Dominion headouarte'-s of the Pt„ .Tolin Ambulance Association, pointing out that the men were absolutely without facilities and knowledge for the treatment of accident cases. This was a serious position in a bush camp. No time was lost in Answering the anpcal. and the secretnrv of the Strntford bricade. Mr. Gilbert Buckley, received instructions to proceed to the nsmp and commence training. At least four full week-ends will be necessary to complete a sufficient course. Probably the Stratford officers will make two more visits to jrive n. sound baci.s. for instruction, and the work will then be carried.on b.V members of the Tnumarunui brigade. Tt is "possible, however. that the Stratford officers will be required to complete the full course.

First Aid for a Kiwi. First aiil to a kiwi was recently given by th» Kgruoiit National Park Board* ranger. Mr. X. I'. Gibson. In his report to the board he stated that a kiwi was fnuml with a broken leg. He successfully splinted the limb, «vn<l in three weeks it was aide to roam around the room where it was kept. After six weeks it wan released back into the reserve. The bird then had only a slight limp. Landlord's Rights. "Has a landlord any rights to-day?" asked Mr. Justice Quilliam in the Supreme Court at Wanganui. Mr. W. H. Maclean. Taihupe. contended that lie probably had nome. His Honor: "I wi»h you would -how me where they are?" Mr. Maclean: W •11. he is not yet in the position that In* i-<" charged criminally with being a le"" That may come in the future. It is hard to say." Wellington Anglican Cathedral. | Alteration* which will gretiliy enhancc 1 its dignity and beauty have been made to the plans of the proposed Wellington Albican Cathedral bv the architect, Mr. Cecil VV. Wood, of Christchurch, in the light of the knowledge he gained 011 a recrnt visit to Kurope. The amended plans, which have now been made pub' : e by the Bishop of Wellington, the Rt. Rev. H. St. Barbe Holland, depart somewhat from .the simplicity of the original designs. They nhow a lofty ferro-concrete building roofed with tiles, and dominated by a high square tower with ornamental balustrade-; and windoWH. The cathedral, which will ciKst £2.'!<).(>00. will stand on the hillerest site at the curlier of Mnle»worth find Hill Streets. The foundation stone i- to be laid dining the Xew Zealand Centennial celebrations in IfUii. So far t:7!>.7t!l has been contributed to the cathedral fund, in addition to tho money already paid by the diocene for the purchase of the valimbie site. No Cutter of Corners. "Would you agree that the corner of the stretch of road in <|iicstion is one that sometimes could be cut with safety?" was the i|ucrv put by Mr. H. H. Richmond in his crossexamination of a witness in a motor accident compensation case in the Supreme Vourt. arising from a collision of cars at HadfieldV Reach. Orewa. "Xo, I do not," replied the witness. "I never regard any corner as being safe to cut." "What!" said Mr. Richmond. "Do you mean to tell the Court that as a motori-t you would not cut any corner?" I do," was the vehement reply. "I never cut a corner." Mr. Richmond's reply wan to the effect that the witness was entitled to be regarded an a model to all drivers of motor vehicles, but the witness persisted that he made this policy his inflexible rule when driving. The jury regarded the witness with added interest, and his Honor Mr. Justice Fair smiled his approval of such a stickler for one of the primary rules of the road. English Goods in U.S.A. That Xew Zealand should benefit indirectly from the Anglo-American trade agreement through an improvement in the demand for wool brought about by increased consumption in America of English textiles is the opinion of Mr. Walter F,. Hill. Xew Zealand sales manager for General Motors. Ltd.. who returned to Wellington on Saturday after a five months' world tour. "In all the major cities that I visited in the United States," he said, "I saw English woollen textile materials prominently displayed in tailors' windows. Xo doubt the manner in which they are being advertised will create a demand for them, and that should increase woollen manufactures in Rutland with consequent lienefieial effect 011 the woolgrowing industry in Xew Zealand." Mr. Hill said that his final impression of the United States was that there was a definite pick-up in business. His company had had to increase the staffs of its various factories and he understood that the same was true ol the motor trade generally. Industrious Jurymen. ' Aa the Supreme Court session pursues its 1 course, the transaction of judicial business if varied each week by the arrival of a new 1 batch of jurymen, who, obedient to the sum- , mons of a bit of blue paper, are called upon > to thus serve the ends of justice. As eaoh [ Monday morning brings nn entirely fresh group of strangers into the jury boxes of the , Court, there is always a lot of speculation as ' to the legal processes which select from tht 1 citizenry these "good men and true." Las! 1 week there was a shortage of jurymen. Oul of the 70 men who had been summoned, about , 20 produced just causes for remission of theii • jury duties, and a further half-dozen foi , various reasons sought to be excused. These were granted remission, subject to constant telephonic communication with the Conri ) registrar, who has had a very busy week it . safeguarding the Court's requirements of twi I or three panels of jurymen. Sometimes witt ; one jury out considering their verdict anr two other juries sitting, the available humor material for the opposing counsel to chal lenge has been down to a minimum. Om remarkable result was that out of 12 mer who adjudicated on one case, seven wer< 1 selected for the next panel. This was nftei I the counsel for the defendant had exhauster' I his right to challenge six names out of th( ■ ballot box. These seven men sat continu onsly for the whole week, nnd as their lasl • case carried on into this week they consirlei I that thev have well fulfilled their duties a: ' jurors. One of them wns rather anxioush inquiring if there was anv chance o' a per ' inanencv, but it is understood that there ir ! no present intention by the authorities tr ' vary the present ballot system now working 1 the jury list. mmmmmmmmmmma■aawmmmmmmmmmmmm ■