NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 108, 10 May 1939, Page 10

NEWS OF THE DAY.

"Rat Week** Campaign. Support for a proposed "rat week" eamIMigli 111 Auckland was promised at a. meeting of the Mount Albert Borough Council la«t evening, when It was decided to leave the matter in the hands of a small committee with power to act. The Mayor, Mr. H. A Anderson. «aid that the council had already authorised expenditure to the extent of £100 towards the cost.

Building at Mount Albert. Buildinpr in the Mount Albert borough has -neatly increased because of the large number of State houses behijr eon struct e<l Tn that urea. During April the Mount Albert Council • issued pormitx for four dwellings, of a total value of £4400, and in the same period permit* Mere issued to the Department of Housing Construction for 35 -iri!jle unit* and five douUt units, of a total value of .£.")(>,.■)1.~>.

Influenza at Hospital. The position in regard to influenza cases among nurses at the Auckland Hospital has slightly improved, although there nre still 50 otr duty. The lady superintendent. Miss E. M. Xutsey, reported to the board, at a meeting on Monday evening, that there were 02 members of tile staff absent through illness, and that one of thy difficult features was the fact that many of the sisters had been affected. Sugar and Soft Drinks. * Cordial manufacturers In Auckland are watching the trend of sugar prices before' deciding whether some increase must be made in the prices of their products. It was stated to-day thnt production was at its lowest during the winter month*, and that price increases were unlikely 011 existing stocks. However, as the cisrdiiil fnetnrir-; consumed larjie quantities of sugar, a rise in iho cost of tiie raw material, if continued, would inevitably affect the prices of soft drinks. High Price of Lemons. Lemons were scarce and dear on the Auckland markets yesterday, when prices ranging from 27/H to 40/ a case were paid. A year ago the prices were front 1-2/ to 18/ for similar quality fruit, and plentiful supplies were available. Yesterday'* prices were for lemons taken from the trees before May 1. the date on which the (lovernment's lemon marketing control scheme came into operation. The effect of control on the price to the public will not be apparent until the new crop comes on the market.

Creating a Nuisance. When the depression was at its hei-jb , many people were unalile to purchase emil c firewood. Happily those times hm • i ■ so that householders in ji re-identisil a:v:i nt far removed from Rocky Sunk appear to hnvr sound reasons for i-irctiliitinir- a petition to the Mount Alliert Bnroii'jh Council prnyiuji tliat a by-law be passed, if one is not already in existence, prohibiting residents from burning in their houses am* materials such as waste leather that is likely to cause a, nauseating smell, thus erentinjr a nuisance. In the particular locality referred to the smell of burning leather is ever present in the evenings and early mornings, and a Sherlock ITolmes is not needed to loeate the house whence emanantes the objectionable odour. Helped Prince Charlie. A direct descendant of Thomas Walker, who hid Uonnie Prince Charlie, the Youii , / Pretender, when the latter was in danger of being captured by the King's soldiers, is today still receiving an annuity of €2."i. Tliis man, a resident of Xew Brunswick, Canada, i* related to an Auckland family whose interest has boon aroused by an item, received by air mail from London, and recently published in the "Star." The article states that words which may have been written by the Prince hiinaelf are slowly appearing on the back of a Royal Proclamation issued 10.T years ago and now preserved in the Elp'm Museum. Scotland. A few short words, together with the initial* T.U.W. have become legible. These initials, the A nek landers claim, are those of a distant ancestor who helped the Prince when he was in great danger, and whose direct descendant in still receiving payment as a mark of gratitude for his forbear's action. Grammar School Site. The decision of the Minister of Health, the Hon. P. K'iiser, to make the medical Services in relat'r.n to nnteri. ty 1 i.-nef'ts under the Social Security Act operative next Monday recalls the report of the committee of inquiry which took throughout the Dominion pr'or to i!i» legislation being dei'jned. Tn a summary of recommendations

........,iiiiinr Auckland city it wms stilled that .ill the evidence went in the direction of show•ii'r that the present piiblii- facilities were iieing used to full rapacity mill that St. Helens Hospital was compelled at times to refusr even normal cases, while no provision i oiild be made for suspect cases, "To provide fullv for the growing demands of a city of the size of Auckland the committee is of '■pinion that there should be erected Jit n thoroughly equipped St. TTelem Hospital of 50 to (10 beds on n site sufficiently large to pro- \ ide ample nmmniindol ion for pre-s"ilt nnd future said the report. The old Orammar School pMc in Synion Is Street wn« recomniended for the purpose. Tt was pointed out that adjoining the property was a large area of nmt-ed Irwid offering considerable scope for building purposes and the provision cf tennis courts for staff recreation.

Ministers and Totalisator. "When I first met Mr. Elliffe he was in a totalisator," said the Rev. D. M. Cattanacli at a meeting of the Auckland Presbytery last evening, when speaking to a minute o*f appreciation of the work of the ReW A. M. KllilTe, who lia'i retired frr.m fhe position of clerk of Presbytery. '•There wer- other ministers there, too," continued Mr. tnttanach. and he named a number. The explanation, however, wa.i perfectly innocent. The meeting had been oil the hi-J-m -ion of a Bible elans camp held on a ra<e-lii: m . Mr Cattanacli paid a glowing tribute to the work done by Mr. Kllifte, w'no is to leave for Dimedin next month to take up social service work.

Chess Key. A most ingenious key to the various chess openings has been devised by Dr. Max Kuwe, world chess champion of 1035-37, ami Reuben Fine, the American chess master and winner of the Avro tournament. It is a complete guide to the openings in compact form, the first eight moves of each opening being contained on a revolving disc. The variations are also given. Twenty openings on the king's side are included and twenty on the queen's side. By turning the disc to the "number" of the opening, the moves appear in small slots. Tn order that the player may know whether white or black has the better game after the preliminary moves, symbols indicate which side has the advantage, or whether the play is even.

Leasehold Premises Sought. Inquiries by a number of Australian companies for leasehold premises in Auckland, to establish new industries, have been received recently, but agents acting on their behalf have experienced difficulty in finding suitable, factory accommodation. There is a desire to lease rather than build, in order to start operations as soon as possible, and also to avoid a heavy outlay of capital under the present uncertain outlook for local industry. A few leases have been arranged, and in some other instances permits from the Government to establish the industries are awaited. All aspect of particular interest to the Bureau of Industries is the probable prices to be charged for the products, when manufactured in the Dominion. Still No Work on Building. Pending the beginning of the e\ utioii of (he contract for the cement work on the new State building ill .lean Batten Place, there is still mi activity on the site- It is some time, now since the steel work was completed, and the huge girders of the structure are slowly gathering a coating of rust that gives a general appearance of neglect and disuse. The slowness of progress in the erection of this building is often seized upon .by Wellingtciiiians visitinjr Auckland, as an example of the backwardness of this city in compandor ■■■'li the enterprise shown in the capital ' liev have some grounds for this assertio'i ; when the speed with which the Social Security I'll' , ding in Wellington was completed re-K-ntly is taken into consideration. Alterations being made from the original interior design are stated to be the cause of the delay. Gas Attacks. About l.'iO members of the Citizens' Home Defence organisation were given their first anti-gas precaution instruction at a gathering in St. Matthew's Hall last evening. Most of those who attended were women. It is planned to divide members into two companies, one comprised of motor drivers, who will also he trained in first clil. and this other con.-istin-of those qualified in air raid precautions. Sergeant-Major W. Bates explained the. use of gas in modern warfare, and described various gases and their effect. The methods by which pis is spread he reviewed, and said that against an outlying country such us New Zealand gas attacks would probably be launched from the air at night. It was pointed out that the organisation was purely voluntary, and no charge was made for the lectures. The following officers wore elected:—President, Mr. J. M. Melville; committee, Messrs. I'aiKons, B. J. Duiisheath. T. Tucker and C, Walker; secretary, Mr. K. A. K Tait. Electricity and Manufacturing. According to the current issue of "Engineering," published in England, Xcw Zealand has f>3.3 per cent of its population residing in areas in which a supply of electricity can be obtained. "The ideal of a supply being available to every home in the Dominion is therefore well on its way to realisation," says the journal. "When it is added that the ri)iisinii|it ion during 10:58 amounted to !)7K.2:5:5,!121> kilowatt hours, or OTifl kilowatt hours per head of population, it will also be gathered that full advantage is being taken of the facilities at present provided. This excellent result is the more interesting, and, t«> tho-e responsible, the more gratifyinir, since, us is w,'\\ known, .Yew Zealand is not, apart from agriculture, an industrial country. Indeed, the largest power consumer was recently stated to be a goldiuhiing company, with a demand of only :\t)Ut) kilowatts. In addition, there is a trrent deal of heavy tree and bush country, and not a little barren L'Toimd. On the other hand, .the potential water power resources are very large, and so far not more than one-tenth of them, in spite of*the figures given above, have been utilised. Progress must, therefore, follow tlvo lines of the supply creating the demand, as incidentally it has in Norway, and. as Dr. W. M. Thornton has pointed out. if cheap power can create industry, Xew Zealand may. in time, perhaps before very long, become one of the greatest manufacturing districts of the Kmpiro."