NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 33, 9 February 1939, Page 10

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Borough Sheep Farming. One of the profitable sidelines carried on by the Devon port Borough Council is sheep farming. Though only on a small scale, this rural industry, which is conducted on the IJevorifMirt Domain, returns a profit of between £S0 and £100 a year from the "clip" and sales of stock. Tins was reported at l«*t night's meeting of tlio council, when it was wtated that the year's wool cheque had been £2<i. Three Juries at Lunch. Tn the course of the criminal sessions at the Supremo Court juries come ifk! go with each case, and because so few hearings take the wuiie time it is not usual for two juries to retire at the same time. Yesterday, however, a city reetiiiinint was pi. 'used to act as host to no fewer than three juries at lunch. Three morning canes, shorter than usual, ended just n«»nr the midday adjournment, rind lunch is just as necessary to a juryman as to any other person. One of the cases heard yesterday Mas especially short—it is not iiften that the entire evidence for both Crown and defence can lie recorded on live and a" half sides of foolscap. False Alarm. Shortly after 2 o'clock this morning a constable on night duty in a street in the city had his suspicions aroused by the sudden turning on and off of the electric lijrht in a private residence adjoining a whop. He decided to investigate, and heard stealthy footwtcps approaching the door to the street. There was a fumbling at the lock, and the alert constable flashed his torch—into the face of a startled householder belatedlv putting nut the milk bottle. After his teeth had stopped chattering and he had received the apologies of the constable, father confessed that lio had spent the night going through the list* of new school books required by his three sons and endeavouring to balance the total, A."S 10/. with his bank balance. Parking Offences. Xearlv f>o offending motorists were dealt with yenterday by Mr. .!. S. M.iilinjr. s.M.. in the Magistrate's Court, for parking offences. At one etii;<e Mr. Morlhig commented on what appeared to be a prevalence of offences in .Albert Street. He was told that it was a 20-in in ute area, but many motorists seemed to park their cars there and think they could stay all day. One parking charge was withdrawn by the traffic department because the defendant, it had been discovered, had broken his wrist and was unable to move his vehicle. Many eases of speeding were also heard, one of the defendants being a clergyman, whose counsel explained that he was late for a church service and was trying to make Up lost time. However, the offence still rout him £1, plus eoste. Rotorua-Taapo Road.

The heavy works programme of the Main Highways Board was given as the reason for its inability at present to reconstruct and seal the Rotorua-Taiipo and TaupoXational Park State highways, in a letter received at last night's) meeting of the Automobile Association (Auckland), from the chairman of the board. Mr. .r. Wood. However, he added that the board recognised the necessity for tlic work, and more concent rated I effort could be made as expenditure tapered off. Mr. Wood added that there was a fair amount of reconstruction to be done. "Much of the highway in in fairly pood alignment, but where it is good it generally forma a sunken road, due to action over many yeans, with the result that the road acts iiirire or less as a drain. Tn most ra*es it is a question of lifting the road 3ft or 4ft." Gift to Devonport. At an official function to ne held in the Devonport Borough Council Chambers on the evening of February 17. the deed of gift in connection with the offer of the Takapuna •loekey Club to hand to the council for public purposes the club's former racecourse of Oft acres will be presented to the borough. At last nisrht'e meeting of the council the town clerk, Mr. A. E. Wilson, said he had been in touch with Mr. E. W. Alison, president and founder of the Takapuna Jockey Club, who wa« in Wellington having the documents engrossed and signed bv the Minister of Internal Affairs. The functfon will be attended by representatives of local bodies and sports organisations, an well as leading citizens. The deed of gift will be an illuminated document, which will be framed and hung in the rooms of the borough council. Health Movements. At a time when physical welfare activities arc being intensified in Xew Zealand, news of the progress of similar movements in other countries is given added interest. Advice received in Auckland shows that British Columbia is the loading province of Canada in this respect. Tn the first, year of a-nation-building scheme—the willti'r of 1&34-.V)— British Columbia had IT) recreational centres, with a registration of 270K members. In IO.*W the number of centres had increased, to 02. with a registration of 20.004. nnd the authorities were then concerned with 100 new requesta for the establishment of additional centres. The work of the centres is to provide an inspiration, to give advice and to assist in organising, and also to induce those who. for various reasons, would be unable to take part in sports and jrames. to join in the wholesome activities which the centres provide.

Why Only Ten Years?

Stating that her age might eeem to be against her, an overseas teacher whose application for employment in Xew Zealand was read at yesterday's meeting of the Auckland Education Board wrote: "J am 56 years old, but everybody assures me that I look at least ten years younger." Members of the board smiled when one of their number, with masculine gallantry, murmured: "They all do." Trams Held Up. Tram traffic at the intersection of Queen and Wellesley Streets was held up for a time shortly before 9 o'clock this morning, when one car. which had just passed the intersection, was temporarily crippled when the top of its trolley pole snapped off. Traffic was busy at the time, and many trams were blocked until the motorman of the damaged tram managed to lash down the broken pole and get the other one into place. C.P.O. Building Foundations. The driving of the sheet piling for the foundations of the postal building to be built at the rear of the Chief Post Office will be completed in less than a fortnight. Immediately the piles are driven, a start will be made in pouring concrete into the framework of the raft that will rest between the sheet piling and carry tlie building. The construction of the framework is now well under way. In the usual course of events, the driving of ii pile takes from !."> to 20 minutes, but" an exception was provided by one. which apparently struck a solid object. Tt was a day and a. half before the driving of this pile was completed. Mud was forced up as it was being driven, and this disturbed one of the other piles. Overworked Professors. '•Professors at the university colleges of XVw Zealand arc overworked—ovcrburdene< with routine duties—and they do not <ret a chance." said Professor X. X. V. SidgVick. professor of cheniisfry at Oxford T'nivcrnitv. who is visiting Clirii-<church. '-Your profes--ors J,,-,, jjivon very little assistance." he added. "They are expected to answer questions nnd give help to agriculturists and manufacturers. Their time for research is greatly limited. Tt is a wonder to me that they get any done at nil. Tt must be remembered thnt men are judged in the outside world on their contributions to science. Your professors of sciences here do not get a chance. More money should be given for the support of the scientific departments of the universities so that professors are not overburdened with routine duties. Give them a chance." said Professor Sidgwick. "Give them help and do not tie down to too much routine." Where There's a Will. This is a ntory of ingenuity, of racehorses, and of the stage, and it is told by a member of a visiting theatre orchestra. 'He relates that a promient Australian comedian was so enthusiastic a punter that after listening iii to a race broadcast he walked on to the stage during a matinee, and. instead of taking his cue, quoted the name of the winner and the price it paid. As a result, back-stage radios were banned by the theatre. A member f the orchestra was also a keen punter, and he solved the problem by purchasing a crystal set. which was so small that it could be carried in the pocket. It would operate as long as it was hooked to an "enrth." He look the set into the orchestral well. and. in between numbers, listened in, signalling to the back-stage staff with his fingers the number of the horse that had won. The comedian who caused the original trouble purchased a similar set. and was known to have listened in to race broadcasts while travelling to the theatre by tramcar. " When the Cat's Away." "When the cat's away the mice will play" is a. truism which was illustrated this morning by a mouse which oxereispfl itself in a city stationer's window before the doors of the shop were opened for business. He was an inquisitive little follow, and roamed at his leisure amongst literature of all descriptions. People stopped and gazed at him. but he seemed to sense the security of the existence of a plate-glass window between himself and his spectators. Indeed, he appeareu to revel in having an audience, and periodically interrupted his perambulations to dampen a paw and rub it over his face. The mouse was apparently in search of tit-bits. but finally discovering nothing but a Webster's dictionary and a collection of fiction to nibble at. he leisurely left the shop window and disappeared under a row of bookhelves in the shop proper. On other mornings a cat has been seen in this same shop window, but. needless to eay, there was no sign of "pussy" to-day. First Aid in Schools. Keen interest is being displayed by the headmasters of primary schools throughout the Auckland district in the proposal to first aid. under the subject heading of physiology, to senior pupils. A considerable number of applications for text books and further information have already been received by flic St. John Ambulance Association at Auckland, while more are constantly coming to hand. The scheme has been .approved by the Minister of Health, tho Hon. P. Fraser'. and has evidently been received with wholehearted enthusiasm by headmasters. Mr. S. E. I-angstone, secretary-manager of the association at Auckland, stated to-day that as a result of the large number of inquiries which had to lie dealt with it would probably he some time before every school could he'adequately catered for. but the association was confident of its ability to cope with the situation. The association's district covers an area of 25.000 square miles, and includes ipproximately 1000 schools.