NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 218, 15 September 1939, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Air Base Extension

Erected to meet only the temporary needs of the company, the Pan-American Airways' block nt Mechanics' Bay will lie increased to twice its present size when the reirular service demands full terminal facilities. Plans u are being prepared fur substantial increases in - space and enlargement of the present administration building. i Mr. Fraser's Work. ''Tn \\ ellingtoii I was profotmdly impressed with the statesmanlike manner in which the acting-Prime Minister, the Hon. P. Fraser, is handling the situation arising out of the war. ' said the Mayor, Sir Ernest Davis, speaking at tile City Council meeting last night. "I consider that tlu* work Mr. Fraser is doing, and will continue to do. is deserving of the grateful thanks of the whole com" munity." False Alarm. There was excitement in a city building yesterday afternoon when smoke was seen issuing from the window of a room on the top floor of a block across the street. Frantic telephoning followed, and it was an occupant on the ground floor who solved the problem. He, too, had been fooled the day before. Tt appears that the occupant of the room under suspicion i~ an analyst, and the "smoke" was a liy-product of some sulpliurious hrew which he had con.-octed in the course of his professional duiies. Jean Batten Place. A suggestion that, in view of the decision to suspend operation* on the new (iovernment building in Nhortland Street, steps should be taken to provide a temporary footpath iN .lean Batten Place, was made by Miss K. Melville at a meeting of the Auckland Oitv Council last evening. The Mayor. Sir Ernest Davis, said the suggestion was a good one. and he instructed the city engineer, Mr. «T. Tvler. to see that a right-of-way between Rliortland Street and Fort Street was opened, even if the connecting link between the two streets was of a temporary nature only. New Golf Links Popular. '1 he popularity of the new municipal golf links at Chamberlain Park was referred to at a meeting of the Auckland City Council la.-t evening l>y the chairman of the parks committee. Mr. T. Tj. C'oakley. The links had now been open for ten weeks, he said, and in that time 522.'l people had played on tliem. while the cash takings amounted to £1004—an average of £100 a week. Recently improvements had been effected to the park, and the shelter on Xo. 1 tee would soon be completed. The greens and fairways at the moment were in perfect order, and the links, generally speaking, had been given high praise by visitors from overseas. Methods of Axis Powers. ''It is possible that by the time this letter reaches you the war will-be over." This forecast was made in a letter written in Warsawoil July 20 and received on September 4 by a resident of Invcrcargill. The writer explains the methods employed bv the Rome-Berlin Axis in this way: '"It is as though someone demanded from you the surrender of a motor car free of charge. Of course, you would refuse. But if. on the other hand, the same person asked for two screws, then one more and later for a dynamo, you would perhaps give them to avoid a clash for a small thin?.'' He added that Poland was preparing for war and was well-armed. Government Purchase of Wool. The decision of the British Government, to purchase the entire Australian wool clip has been received with great satisfaction by woolgrowers in the Commonwealth, and a number of New Zealand sheep farmers hope that the same arrangement will be made with regard to the disposal of their wool. A message from Sydney states that one prominent official in the wool trade said: "It is the best news we have had for some years, because it will bring a measure of financial stability to the Commonwealth at a time when the primary industries are in the doldrums." The price offered by the British Government is not known, but j the trade expect* something like 14d per lk . | compared- with the average price of 10U1 ! realised last season. Value of Tram System. Christehurch (states the "Press'') may be 1 very thankful in the next few months for its electric tramway system. Such was the re- < action of officials of the Christ church Tram- i wav Board when Government regulations < were received advising the necessity for con- i serving oil fuel supplies. In the board's ox- I tensive transport" system orrtv five or six t petrol buses and four Diesel buses are used 1 regularly, although the chassis for six ad'li- i tional Diesel buses are now on order. The < board's requirements in the way of oil fuel 1 are, accordingly, very moderate, and it is not £ anticipated that services will be affected in ( the immediate future. The board, of course, 1 uses many motor vehicles apart from those c required for passenger transport, but for an j authority of its .size its petrol requirements t are small. Tt is the possibilities of the more I distant future, however, which have caused T board officials to feel gratified at the board's I comparative independence of oil fuel supplies. J

Summer Time Starts.

Official notification that summer time will commence at 2 a.m. on Sunday, September 24, and continue until 2 a.m. on Sunday, April 28, 1940, is contained in the "Gazette."* The time will be advanced 30 minutes as from the first date. 3 Choice of Entertainment. s Many Aucklaiulers had a difficult choice * to make last night. Just as crowds were 1 going into picture theatres, about 8 o'clock, a fire engine came screaming down Queen Street. Which was it to be, pictures or fire? The pictures won. It was a malicious false alarm from Quay Street. About an hour later there . was another false alarm to the same place. n * Seal in Bay of Plenty. Fishermen in the Maketu estuary report (. having seen a large seal near the entrance to r the Kaituna River. The seal was first obr served about a week ago, and has been seen * almost every day since. When it first appeared, many theories were ventured as to the identity of this unusual visitor. It is uneommrin for seals to be seen in this locality, and it is believed to be the first occasion that one ; has been reported from Maketu. | Shall We Eat Frozen Meat ? One of the questions discussed whenever butchers met this week was: "Will Aucklanders eat frozen meat?" Mr. Xash has announced that, to relieve the local shortage of i meat, a certain quantity awaiting shipment to the United Kingdom will be released fr>r sale on the local market. The general opinion among the butchers is that there will not be sufficient demand for the frozen mutton, which they believe is the meat in question, to help matters much, unless it is offered to the public at a considerably lower rate than fresh meat. The " Marseillaise "AllonS enfants de la patrie'"—the stirring French national anthem —is now being played with "God Save the King'' in several Auckland picture theatres, but many people fail to recognise the tunc, and are slow in standing while it is being played. However, this omission will be rectified, no doubt, before the war comes to a close. The ".Marseillaise" was composed in 1702 bv Rouget de ITsle. an officer then stationed at Strasburg. In Paris it Avas snng for the first time by a band of men who came from Marseilles to aid in the revolution of August J0 ; 1702, hence the name. Street Names. A suggestion that the Auckland City Council should consider the appointment of a permanent street names commission, consisting of representatives of local bodies and postal officials of the Auckland district, to determine a system of recasting and granting street name?, where necessary, was recently made by a member of the council. Mr. R. Armstrong. Consideration to the proposal was given by the works committee, which recommended to last evening's meeting of the council that no action he taken as local bodies at present conferred with the Chief Postmaster when making any alterations to street names. The recommendation was adopted. Protagonist of Peace. A high tribute to Britain as a promoter of peace was paid in the Auckland Synagogue yesterday by the Rev. Alexander Astor. "Britain has bee» the greatest protagonist of peace and the foremost supporter of the League of Nations, as well as the leading protector of the rights of minorities," he said. "It's national characteristic has been honesty and its national purpose has been pure. By just and right dealing it has built up a worldwide Empire, the acquisition of no part of which can be contested in a court of honour. Its administration has been generally wise, and everywhere just. Britain has always been the home of liberty and freedom within its own domain, and remains to-day the great champion of human rights throughout 0 the world." Mine Disaster Recalled. A public ceremony to commemorate the , 2.> th anniversary of the tragic mining disaster which occurred at the' Ralph's Mine, [ Huntly, on September 12. 1014, was held when a tablet at the Town Hall, which • bore the wording, " This tablet was erected by ( the Huntly Borough Council to the memory of the 4.'{ men who lost their lives in the Ralphs Mine disaster on September 12, 1014, upon which site this hall now stands, and also as a tribute to the heroic rescue efforts of their fellow men," was unveiled by the Mayor. Mr. W. C. E. George. Prior to the unveiling of the tablet, the Mayor addressed the gather- 1 ing in the hall, after which Mr. C. S. Morris, i of Auckland, a former resident of Huntly. f who figured prominently in rescue work after i the disaster, also spoke. The Mayor paid a < tribute to Mr. Morris and others who had none ( to the rescue of those who had been trapped < in the mine at that time. At the time of the 1 disaster the Great War was in progress, and *1 he was sorry to say that now. on the 2oth i anniversary of the disaster, war had broken c out again. He commented on the efforts that I had been made to assist the widows and 1 orphans of miners killed in the explosion, and i paid a special tribute to the splendid work of t the Rev. Father M. E. Edge (now Monsignor f Edge): of Auckland, who was stationed at i Huntly at that time, also the late Rev. M. .T. t Evans. Methodist minister, and the late Rev. i J. Richards, Presbyterian minister, and others, a