NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 101, 2 May 1939, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Distinguished Visitor. Great surprise at the amount and efficiency of work done from the Auckland centre of the St. John Ambulance Association was expressed by Sir Harry Luke, High Commissioner of the Western Pacific and Governor of Fiji, a Knight of Grace of the Venerable Order of St. John of Jerusalem, when he visited the ambulance station- in Rutland Street yesterday. Sir Harry, who left last evening in the Monterey on hie return to Suva, was accompanied on his visit to the station by his aide-de-camp, Lieutenant F, K. J. Nichols. Mr. C. J. Tunks, chairman of the Auckland centre, and Mr. T. A. Low, a member of the committee.

Blood Donors Scarce. Owing to sii-kness among members of the St. John Ambulance Association Blood Transfusion Service, Mr. S. E. secretary manager of the association at Auckland, this morning found it necessary to regretfully inform the authorities at the Auckland Hospital that donors of the universal type can for the next few days be supplied "only in caeee of extreme urgency. Over 90 per cent of the call* were for this type, type 4, said Mr. Lanjrstone, and three had been supplied to the hospital this morninjr. Many members of the service were down with influenza and other seasonal complaints, and as a result the service wae in a diflk-ult position.

Demand For Ranges. As a result of m\trntia*ions with the Minister of Finance, the Hon. Walter Xash, the Auckland Electric Power Board lias been able to- place an additional order for .SfiO electric raiifres. A report I>> this effect was made at yesterday's meeiiiijr of the board, when th« uxnrial manager. Mr. It. H. Hartley, said he had *et before thu .Minister the board's position with regard to the service it I offered consumers. He expressed appreciation of Mr. Xaeh's prompt and 'sympathetic {consideration of the matter.

Oil Seepages. Report in-.' on the geology of the com si a 1 «trip from Bi-r Hay to Professor Creek in north-west Sir. J. Healy, of the New Zealand fJeftlopieal Survey, said that two yeare aj»o publicity was tiiven to the rediscovery of oil seepages near Martin Hay, and prospectors forwarded samples of oil to Wellington for analysis. "Three oil seepages are known," says the report. "They all" occur within a small area in the eoiith of the district. Of these, one on Madagascar Beach was covered by eand, but from the other two, one in rocks exposed on the beach between tides and the other five chains up the Wolf River, samples were collected. These wenforwarded for analysis to tlie Dominion Laboratory, where crude oil was extracted from both earn pies. Both seepages were alnnp small fault-crack* separating limestone and calcareous sandstone near the base of the tertiary strata, and the quantity of oil coming away is small." After jrivinjr reasons nnd data, Mr. Healy says lip i« of the opinion that there is no possibility of locating oil in large quantities within the district.

Iron mi Steel in Demand. "As iron and steel are tlie main raw material* of the engineering industry, and ;\s the rearmament programme ie necessarily mainly an engineering matter, it would appear that our ferrous metallurgical industries look forward to anna incut orders doiiiir something towards checking the full in do" mand that was ex'terienced in M)3H," says the current number of the British publication, "Knginfcering." "Stated in this modest way. the exfWtation is well based,, hut the probable effect should not be over-estimated," continues the journal. "In the case of ehipbuilding, for instance, in spite of the impressive figures of 130.000 tons of new ships to be added to the Navy in the twelve months ending on the 31st of this month, and 150.000 tons in the ensuing twelve months, which were quoted by the Prime Minister at Birmingham, lese than half the shipbuilding berths in Great Britain are now occupied. This bald statement is sufficient to show that the naval programme in itself, although helpful, is not sufficient to put the shipbuilding industry in a condition to make such calls on the iron nnd steel Industrie* n< are necessary if the outputs of lfW7 arc to l>e approached."

Simultaneous Chess. When world champions and notable olipsh players tour the world. a« a rule thoy me prcvailml upon by chess clubs to frivi- displays of simultaneous chess. In other words, tlii-v play a« many boards a« can be mustered, fi n<l •lenerally win most of tlio framps. Wliilo the champion walks around tlio tnl)li-s find moves the pieces board by board, in rotation, his opponents pit, and think out tlio next move, which must be made the moment tho player reaches the board. Tt is pood fun. and can l»e classed in tlie "skittles" class of play. In order to arotiee. nr rca t or onthusiasm in city chesw. the Auckland Club's champion of last year. Mr. C. J. Taylor, and the ox-concrross player, Mr. T?. K. Baovert*, pave a simultaneous display at the cliili rooms ]n«t nicrlit. 14 opponents takintr their placpm apainst the "leviathans." Taylor won four crnrties. drew two and lost one. while Baoyeriz notched sixwine ami lost one frame. Auckland chess week, which has been inanjjiirated this year, concludes with matches on Thursday nnd Afonday niphts, when the Auckland Chess League hold* its annual East y. Wcitt match.

Through Passengers' Clearances. Kumerous people, with through tickets, who joined the Monterey at Auckland yesterday for San Francisco, were involved in considerable inquiries to ascertain their position in repaid to lax clearances. The impression prevailed that it was necessary for all eralarking passengers to obtain Government clearances, but the actual position, which was explained by the shipping company's officials, was that holders of through tickets required only a clearance from the company unless they had received an income in some form while in Xew Zealand. Besides causing concern to the passengers, the misunderstanding also added to the work of the officials on an exceedingly busy day.

The Date He Forgot. A m>t infrequent cause of trouble between man and wife is the former's forgetfulness regarding the anniversary of the wedding day, and his reply of "Xo, what is it?" to the question. ''Do you know what to-day is. dear?" is deemed to be almost a confession that he has ceased to love her. In the Dunedin Police Court defendant in a maintenance caee had proved quite a voluable person when reeling off data concerning previous orders and such like, but when the magistrate, Mr. FT. W. Bundle, asked him the date of his marriage the talkative one stopped, and, with a puzzled expression upon his face, exclaimed: "Lor , , how do I know?' . After a pause he added: "I was 22 then, and now I'm GO, so you can figure it out Yourself."

"Stands England Where She Did?" "During the last few years there has l:oen quite a lot of books poured from the press about Knghinil, written by Knglishmen," said Professor .Tames Shelley, addressing members of the English Folk Association at their St. George's Kve gathering in Wellington. "Xo, I'm not sure that Ibis is a healthy sign. One only starts talking about n thing when it is in danger of being forgotten, or becoming a thing of the past. Is England becoming a thing of the past? Of course, you are "all prepared to shout yourselves hoarse protesting ajrainst euch a suggestion, and affirming that she is mightier than before. But are you sure that you are not confusing England with a vague iden of what. Britain or the British Empire stifnds for?"

Mr. Nash's Air Trip. Although ho has not yet become airminded, the Minister of Finance, the Hon. W. Xash, indicated yesterday afternoon that he may cross the Tasman by air on the final stage of his trip from England to Xew Zealand in July. "It is possible that the first trial flight on the Tasman air route, other than that of the f'entaurns. might find a Minister of the Crown aboard.'' remarked Mr. Xash. at a farewell nrrangorl by the Auckland Harbour Board. He added:* "That is, of course, if T can get to England and back to Australia in time." The Minister's remark was prompted by n surest ion of the chairman of the board, Mr. W. B. Darlow.

Money In Milk. It just shows how careless some housewives—or some milkmen—are. The woman next door had gone away for a holiday, and asked her neighbour to pay the milkman. As the neighbour owed the same milkman some money, she put the whole amount, which included il 10/ note, in the bottom of her jug with a short letter explaining what it wa« all about, and left the jug outside the door with a saucer on top. It wasn't until the family had had milk on thejr porridge anil in their lea thnt someone discovered that the milk vendor hadn't the nest eg<r. There it was —milk-saturated but all complete. The family didn't feel so good after that.

Orders Disobeyed. A ease of interest to shipping was recently heard in the Central Summons Court, Sydney, when three wharf labourers were each fined £3 with £1 f>/ costs for having refused to comply with instructions, to load six bales of cork into onch net Rling when discharging cargo from the steamer Trelawney. Each of the defendants said in the witness box that he would not obey the instructions because, in his opinion, it was not safe. The magistrate said that he would not allow the evidence as mitigation of their conduct, because they had pleaded not guilty. Further, he would not allow them to canvass a decision of the Hoard of J'efcrence. He ordered that the penaltv be paid to the plaintiff company, the Darling Tsland Stevedoring and Lighterage Company, Ltd.

Three Men From Taranaki. Three men walked into the student farcical revue just before the curtain rose last night, and, lifter an argument about getting scats near Hie slage, managed to get three scats on the fringe of the reserve area. Twenty minute* later they walked out. '•What sort of wrestling show is this?" they demanded of the doorkeeper. "We've conie :ill the. way from Tarannki to see Lofty Ulomfield in action."' They worn directed round tho corner to the place, of their desire. Then the doorkeeper turned a cheerful face to the house manager, who had been pestering him for scvernl minutes to find three good seats for a trio of waiting and disjrnintjed patrons, who. having booked seats for the show for Tuesday night, had made a r istake by arriving .t ni'jht early. These early birds were sadly contemplating a blank night, a.* the house was fully booked, when the defection of flu- three 'men from Taranaki providentially waved the situation. So two wrongs made it all right.