NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 28, 3 February 1939, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

To Treble Lyttelton Harbour. A proposal tor enlarging Lyttelton Harbour was submitted to the Lyttelton Harbour Board by its engineer, Mr. P. AY. Fryer. The adoption of "the proposal made by Jlr. Fryer would allow the area of the harbour to be increased from about 10.") acres to 310' acres. The report was referred without discussion to the' hiitboVir '~'im|>royc!ncnt cmiimUtco*. the board 'deciding al£0;to visit the port to obtain a. clear |>iotnre-an tlie alterations suggested. Air. I'iyer . estimated llie ciwt of dredging, a new. turning basin at 4-1(17,00(1. and ;o£.'-building new breakwaters at ; .€U3O,OOU. Mayor Island Seabed Specimens. A party from Katikati atud\'Waihi, Headed by Mr. S. Hovel), of Waihi ? : : wlio'bane been at Mayor-Island for. some weeks dredging. for specimens; for tho Auckland Museum, ■ have returned to Katikati, Mr.. Hovel 1 reports that they dredged at all'depths up to 81 fathoms and obtained some excellent specimens, including several pieces of-growing coral. Fishing in 100 fathoms, the''-'party hooked many sharks, all of the gi'oy nurse variety. Ono of the stated that sharks taken at that i depth; \verq:all extremely largo, .and on every occasion ho dropped his .line he hooked one. Forbidden Fruit. Though blackberries are classed as noxious weeds, and may therefore be justifiably described as forbidden fruit, they are esteemed . a great ,delieaey -by ...Auckland's youngeiOgeneration, as : well as by many; oldei\ people. -One large fcluinp, heavily laden with fruit, which grows against a stone wall near the. Victoria Cruising .Club's shed, has so far evaded the.vigilance of the authorities. The fruit is just beginning to ripen, and this morning it was the subject of attention from two or three youngsters on their way to school, who audibly expressed their auUeipii' tiou of the luscious "feed" to come. Accepted by the King. \. V A copy of the book, "Man and the Ilousoily," the author of whieh is Mr, D. MeCready Armstrong, of Pukekohe, has been accepted by His Majesty tiie King. Mr. Armstrong went the copy of the book to Buckingham Palace on July ,10, soon after it had been published, and, in a letter that accompanied it, he mentioned that Lord Jllodisloe wrote a preface. The reply, received through the Governor-General, Lord Gal way, states:—"The King has been pleased to accept the copy of your Book, "Man and the Housefly," whieh you sent with your' letter of July -'ID. His Majesty commands meHo thank you sincerely for this interesting book and tor your kind thought in sending it for his acceptance/' "The 'Ole" Filled Up. One of the biggest '■ 'ales" in Auckland's history is no more, The excavation referred to is that which was dug when work was begun on the new Government building in Jean Batten Place, to iind firm foundationsfor the great piles which, in turn, form the foundation for the,.girders. For mouths men were working with nothing more ih.nu this hole to show for their efforts, and even, when a number of the lower girders were in place the pit still remained, fronr.tlie gaze of many .pnssers-hv, however, men . were ait work constantly pou» ,; !»«/ liquid concrete into the hole, and the result of their labours, can now be seen. The hole has been almost entirely filled, and the concrete base for what will eventually bo the floor is being levellod oflf, with steps cut in convenient positions at the sides. A Sound Reason. Reasons of school teachers for retiring jaro of a varied nature. At each meeting of the, Auckland. Ijlducfitipn Board $here iis a list of ,resignations for., approval. Of courscv amongwonmn teachers the main reason;.is marriage. There art} also .many who leave tho Auckland Education district, or come under the jurisdiction of other, authorities, 111-health is given as tho reason in several eaises. But on the list approved at the last meeting of the board was a. teacher who had one of the soundest and most unusual reasons of all. He was the man who >ras well in the political picture in the Bay of Islands at tho October, olcctions. -The entry concerning him reads: <f Xanie, Charles W, Boswell; position, head teacher, Kawakawa District.High School; reason, elected to IToiiso of Representatives." '. Safer. Highways. The question of improving visibility at corners on main highways, in the "interests of road safety, was recently considered by the Main Highways Board,-when it was decided to bring the matter to the notice of all local authorities. Where improvements-,were most urgent it was desired that proposals be propared immediately, not only for taking of land, but also for the setting back of fences and reconstructing the road at the intersec : tion on easier curvature, thus obtaining the full advantage of added visibility. In other cases, the acquisition of land might bo proceeded with in anticipation of the actual improvement wprk being carried out later, as funds allowed or circumstances required. Subject to the approval of proposals submitted, the Main Highways Board decided to subsidise thesr; improvements at ranging from £1 for £1 to £G for £1, according to circumstances. .

Peanut in Lung. A successful operation to remove a peanut from the lung of a 17-months-old child, Gail Patricia Smith, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. Smith, of Keporoa, near Rotorua, was performed in' the Auckland Hospital last night.'/.''-.The child was transferred from the Waikato to the Auckland Hospital yesterday. A bronchoscope was employed to effect the removal of the peanut, a tube being passed down, the throat to the lung*. The child was reported this morning to be making favourable progress. Ready to Help. ■'- "With other members of ,the Associated .Chambers of. Commerce, I am most desirous of assisting tho present Government to mei-t tho difficulties which arc foreshadowed," yah!. Mr; A. G, Luuu at yesterday's meeting of tin/ council of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce. ''I triiat the Government .realises i.he necessity* for consultation with men of wide businoss and financial experience at the 'present time," >To added that he hoped members of tho chambers would be prepared at any time to advice and assist the Government in" getting out of the. serious position that threatoned the workers. Riflemen Ask Rail Concession. Country riflemen from all 'parts- of the South Auckland area, at a meeting in Matamata, passed a resolution that they were of the opinion that tho concession of free r.'tilway warrants to the Trentbam rille meeting in March should lie restored. ♦ and that the Minister ofj' Defence, the lion. F. Jones, be advised that it would not incur any additional expense, as the train* had to run in any cane, Tljo meeting was further of the opinion that? this concession would act as a decided help in recruiting members to rifle clubs and perhaps the territorials. As the rifle club members iUted themselves out at their own expense, the consideration. would be greatly appreciated. Our National Songs. New Zealaudeivi who have not hitherto heard their-"country's .national, anthem, or fully realised that we possessed one, have had opportunities of hearing it broadcast in connection with the Government's campaign for furthering the use of New Zealand-made goods.. It is rather an extraordinary fact that there appears to be no recording of a New Zealand baud's playing of this tune, the record used by the radio stations being one made in Australia of a performance of the New South Wales Police Band. Few arc aware that New Zealand had a. national song prior to the composition of "God Defend New Zealand," by Thomas liracken. This is entitled "My Own New Zealand Home," composed .by SIY. John Grigg, a well-known musician and astronomer of the Thames goldfields' early days, This song, with its simple words do-, scriptive of the country's natural beauty and its lilting melody, was taught during the ■seventies and 'eighties at all the Thames schools, and was sung by a massed choir of school children at the opening of the ThamesPaeroa railway.in 1889. . Interject or Ejed'ed. An interlude towards the end of the proceedings enlivened the. meeting held in the Town Hall last evening to protest against the ban imposed on the sessions of Mr, K. H. Melvin t commentator on international affairs from station IZTS. Tu rounding off the meeting, the chairman.'Mr. R. A. Singer, referred to a man who had made the only interjections while Mr. Mclvin was addressing tho gathering as "an individual : .who = was a perfect nuisance to everyone round him," A vigorous protest from the nmu concerned was drowned by booing and counting out, . Filially the man was forcibly ejected by a self-appointed vigilance. committee.•• There was* a sequel to this ..incident „wh<?n' Mr.,, Singer was putting the resplutiony.^allin^ : the reinstatement.of Mr," '^?elvill's 1 sw?ioiis,.a member of the audience-calling, for show of hands. "I am going to ask for that," replied Mr; Singer equably. **Now, those against the resolution?" A voice; "He lias gone out." (Laughter.) Mr. Singer commented that if the man had remained those about him might have persuaded him to vote .for the resolution. State Farm Development. One of the most ambitious farm cultivation undertakings being carried out by the Lands and Survey Department is that in progress five miles beyond Tokoroa (Putaruru) 011 what is known as tho Education block of 0000 acros. At Tokoroa Mr. A. P. Nattison, of the Lands*and Survey Department, is in charge of operations. He has about 20 men in camp. Although the cost per aero of breaking in land on such a huge scale is lower thou would bo the case with a smaller block, expenditure at first is heavy. Since April last year, when the work was started, about five miles of fencing has been complptotl. To provido the large quantity of posts and battens that will be necessary to fonco the whole area, 100 acres of bush at Oruanui have been reserved, it is believed that ultimately the Government will cut the block into small farms, At the present timo about 100 ner.es of level ground have been put-into, grass. A further 210 acres will be put into trrass this autumn. About 1000 acres of the area is fiat, the remainder consisting of foothill' s , which so far lwo boen found to be a better class of land than tho flats.