NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 34, 10 February 1939, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Birkenhead Drainage. The sanitary inspector of the Hea.lt Department . reported to the Birkenhea Borough Council at its last meeting that 2Spremises had been linked up with the newlj installed sewerage system. The Mayor, M iE. J. Osborne, commented that this indicate satisfactory progress. On his motion tli finance committee was requested to submit scheme for advancing (financial assistance fc the purpose of 'drainage connections whet required. Rain Aids Farmers. Tic rain of the past fortnight Jin meant thousands of mounds for -farmers i the Auckland province, who wore becomin ! very .short of feed owing to itlic .prolonged dr : weather. The (first (noticeable .effect 'has .boo on the ilivc stock markets, where prices liav improved since the rain. (Previously, farnior ■ were forced .to .unload stock .they could no feed,-find cadi week decreasing supplies wcr coming to Wcstfield. This week the offering were smaller than they iavc ;been for .60111 .time, and prices generally showed a tendene; to improve. German Visitors. At tlic invitation of the principal, Mi D. 11. [Rae, six boys from the 'German trainini ship Konimodore Jolmsen yisitod the Auck land Teachers' Training College yesteuhn ! Some of the youths gave the students, o whom (100 were present, .details of life am education in Germany, and one spoke of til Hitler youth movement, The visitors wer. taken to the college by the .port chaplain, tin Kov. H. E. Pickery.' They wore introduce! to the student teachers at the first assembly of the year in the college Jin.ll. The cxiplana tion of German education methods was lis tencd to with considerable interest. Councillors and Insurance. ■ The opinion of the Auckland Suburhai Local Bodies' Association on the question o: accident insurance for council members whci engaged on council duties was requested ir a letter received from'.the Birkenhead Borougl Council by the association at its mectiiu last night. The New Lynn Borough Council had recently cfl'eeted accident insurance ol its members, said Mr. K. Maunder, of New Lynn, who stated that members of the works committee, at least, ran a risk of meeting with accident. On the motion of the .chairman, Mr. I. .T. Goldstine, it was decided tn inform the Birkenhead. Borough Council that the association considered it a matter foi each individual local body to decide. . Rate Investigation. Tt was decided by the Auckland Suburban Loenl Bodies' Association, at its meeting last night, to support the counties in .their request to the Minister of Finance, the- Hon. Walter Xash, that they be considered by the Minister in an investigation of the association's posal for a better arrangement between local bodies and the State Advances' Corporation in the mutter of payment of rates on rev.er.tcd securities. On the reading of a letter from the Minister stating that lie had arranged for such investigation on behalf of local bodies. Mr. I". M Waters, representative of the Manukau County Council, suggested the motion, and the secretary of fie association, Mr. H. A. Yockney, was instructed to bring the resolution before Mr. Nash, nmd advise him of the unanimous support accqrdod it by the association. Proposed Art Centre. Support for the suggestion that the Auckland metropolitan Centennial memorial should .consist of a fine arts, centre was given at about .70 representatives. of musical, dramatic and other cultural organisations. It was suggested that the site -for tiie memorial •should be the old Grammar School property, now housing the Khun School of Art' and the Workers' Educational Association. Mr. K. A. Singer, who presided, oxt; plained afterwards that.the meeting was of. the opinion that the site would be an admirable o nc - It would fit in with a plan for the grouping of all the cultural activities' of the city in the one area, and it would permit of a long overdue extension of the public library by the transference of the art gallery to the proposed Jirfc centre. -The noed of a, repertory theatre was obvious, and so was the need f.ir a suitable art gallery. The school of art was also badly in need ofimproved accommodation. ■' ..• ! First Butter Export. The question of when hutter was first; exported from this .country is settled .by ,a;j correspondent, Wio, looking through a file of; 1 the "Family Herald," probably' tie best-i known periodical of its ,day and generation, j ■ came across the' following paragraph in the | issue of July 9, IS7O:—"A hundred .casks of; butter lately arrived from New; Zealand, were landed in good condition, and have been freely purchased ilyy the trade at about lOd a jiouud. This is the first occasion on which a sJiinment has been made from our Australian colonies, and is possibly the fore- : runner of a trade'which may be of importance to the population of the Mother Country and of these territories." There are two - comments that may be made on this concise statement. The first is. that the writer was a better proplie.t than ho ; could ever have i ■dreamed, and the second is that 1-0(1 pitf [pound | in those days must have ioeri considered a' : -very handsome price. I War Against Deer. During the 1937-3S season, .extending-from November to April, nearly 100 men engaged by the Department of Internal Affaire to wage war on deer in New Zealand destroyed 40,000 animals, including deer, goats, thai- ami; . chamois, all of which play havoc in native forest. The work was .carried out in spite- ' of tremendous difficulties, such as bad wo.vi : i ,the.r, flooded rivers, ,vast forests.. Qaok of, | : transport facilities and trackless .country. Within recent years- the campaign against : ;de,er Jias been intensified. 'Orijrinally intrn- ; .duced with the ~,ol>j«ct iof providing .sport for, , : huntsmen, deer found New Zealand an agree- '' a;b.lc .country with an abundant food supply and an absence (if natural enemies. In .r.ugscd , mountain territories they thrived and .nvulti- 1 .plied • whore, their increase was not. .obvious. , until -flic excess deer population overflowed 1 , an p.uoh numbers that the stodbcarryingj capacity of scattered farm lands in "back' .epiuitry was considerably reduced. - Modern Hmaital Ideasi The tallest building in Melbourne—l7oft high when finished—Prince Henry's Hospital,' , will incorporate new ;'-i<;ieas for .patients as ■ well as in some architectural details. The .cost will be- £20:'i.000. Including ground floor' , and basement, it will have TS'storeys, with a' flat verandah top. a gymnasium for the orthopaedic section, four operating.flicatrqs,. ] until a viewing section for surgeons over the main theatre, on the. most modern 'lines,' jjrad \. ; a new: and thoinrhtful arrangement for ambulance . arrivnps. These, explains our Melbourne correspondent, will bo taken along an ainbu-' lanoo drive to a special entrance, \examtned in a special room, and sents.ilong by lift-to whatever section they ■ are consigned to.' jEvcry ward will be served with central food |- hatches, ;.Fp6d wij.l bo'sent.• up v iij ; heated Wife - and' iconvcyed to. tins':' ward' -' pantry, where it will be served on trays in heated wagons. Another uiteresting feature, will ib.d. -Hie", theatre floor recovery '■: ward, where patients ' will be. taken and kept until they ]_ have come.properly out of tie anacstfhe'fic.' ' Then the 7 will be returned to their wards. ]

Drop in Mutton Prices. Retail mutton' prices are reduced from ito-day, according to an announcement by itli-s' Auckland Master Butchers' Association. Ths price of most joints'is down a [jenny a pound. This follows a sharp decline in the price on the Wcstficld. market, where supplies of fat sheep have been very heavy in recent months, "i Briine ,ew.es and wethers'are almost 10/ 11 [ l head cheaper now than tlicy were at this time 0 last year, ithc fall in the: price of wool being " partly responsible. d Street Collections' Future. e. . . j: An interesting point jivns raised by a f local body representative at a meeting of the e Auckland Suburban Local Bodies' Association S .last ic.vening, when lie inquired whether street ; collections would be continued after the Social Security Act came into force on April 1. The .matter'■came .up as a result of a request from s, a society asking permission to hold a! a street .collection. -preferably before the -Olid J] of -march. "I ■understand the Government is I-1 going to take iovor all. this sort of tiling," ,i: remarked' the speaker. "Is it going to. be a] necessary,.to pay tax a second time?" t! Yachtsmen Watch for Wind. "I The absence, of wind this morning, was 3. ,| subject for discussion by yachtsmen trave!"I ling to the city. To-night the anminl Royal ; iaoht Squadron race to Mansion House Buy, jKawau Island, -will be held, and therefore the south-westerly breeze, which has been blow- ; ing itor. ibe past few days, lias been received with .delight. Such a breeze .moans a ii;un , before the wind for the whole distance. Last ! year the yachts which started in the race ! faced a 'hard slog all the way. and anaiiy of p" them did iiiqt ireao.li Mansion 'House Bay until 1 :the early hours of the .morning. Throughout ,' to-day,, .therefore, yachtsmen watched the Jj clouds for assign of wind .direction, hoping ,' Ihat.tlie calm did not precede a .change to A north or east. < Know the Waitakeres. With a view to publicising the Waitakefc Ranges in general, and, in particular; trie 1 project for forming, as the city's Centennial .memorial, a park in the .ranges,.the Waitnkere National Centennial Park Citizens' !I Association has published a small. ■'booklet : giving general .information about Auckland's "Blue Mountains." The publication was written by Mr. E. Karle Vaile. It contains S2 pages, and is profusely and well illustrated. •Tin a ibnicf foreword, the editor states that for more than 50 years an affectionate familiarity, lias (existed between himself and theranges. In his boyhood he and several others frequently walked'to Big Muddy Crock. Pihv, the lakes and other favourite spots. Sir. Vailc has taken the trouble to secure information of the "old days" from the pioneers, and he has also gathered some of the old Maori history of the ranges:' Between them, the two stories .make most interesting reading.. The liooklct is valuable if only from the point of view of an historical record. Remaking a Highway. Satisfactory progress is being made w.idi the reconstruction of the Auckhind-Helensviile Road from Henderson northwards. It js proposed to tar-seal this highwa- for the whole length, but the work '.will not be completed until next year. The five miles' stretch from a point close to the ll'A .transmitting station beyond Henderson to Brighaiu's Creek has j ibeou greatly. improved, and this week the contractors commenced the work of tar- . scaling this strip. J.t is many years since ■the first section ,of. ithe rond from -Auckland to Henderson was ia'ul down in concrete, and when the present .programme is completed it is anticipated ■ .that .thousands more people will visit the Hclensyillc district. At present about 100 men are working on the road, and gradually the highway is assuming new shape. Bad bends are being remedied, new alignments..mn.de and .deviations constructed to .make the route shorter and safer for motorists. 'The total length of the road wh.'m finished will .he approximately 35 miles. A new concrete bridge at - Wainiiiuku is being constructed,' .and ■thw- v? \vill also-.be welcomsd by users of the highway. Moa Skeletons Found, When a horse became bogged in a swamp lit Wnikari, Canterbury, and .died, the digging of a hole in which to bury it led to a valuable scientific discovery, for .five moa skeletons, some, almost complete and excellently preserved, have now bean removed from the swamp asul taken to the Canterbury Museum. Another Skeleton lias .boen located, but has not yet ibeen unearthed, and there seems to lie every possibility that the swamp, on further investigation, may prove to contain large numbers of specimens. The find appears ■to 'be of great .scientific interest, as all the .bones in .each site of excavation are definitely those of one bird. This brings within sight die prospect of securing one, if not .scveriil, complete skeletons of individual birds. Such skeletons are rarer than is generally .thgugbt; in earlier discoveries of moa hones in swamps, (where .the largest numbers have been found, tho'ibones of numbers of 'birds have been lienpcd together, and composite skeletons, .na.turally of far less scientific value,' have been made from the bones of different'.birds. "This is a very valuable find," said Dr. William K. Gregory, head of the .department of comparative anatomy in .(.he American Museum of Natural History. Xew 'JTork, swho is visiting Cbristchurch, when lie. saw the hones at the museum.