NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 70, 23 March 1940, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Near to the Truth?

The latest "howler" perpetrated in Auckland comes from the pen ot a 1--vear-old girl, who was trying her prentice hand" at an essay on "What One Slay Expect from Life." The essay was a "reat success, but the young student must have tired towards the end, because the master, when making the cor- ! i-ections later, was amazed to rend that "when life is finished we all go to a burn from which no traveller returns. j Physical Education. Based upon personal observation durin" his recent tour of Great Britain and the United States of America, Dr. C. b. Herons, dean of the medical faculty at the Otago University, in a report to the University Council, urges the establishment of a diploma course in physical education. Irrespective of whether the school he suggests be set up in Dunedin or not, he says the formation of a department of physical •culture should be considered. No Market for Them. '•We all know there are hundreds of tons of apples the Government hardly knows what to do with." said Mr. w. A. Banks, a member of the Canterbury Education Board, when he urged fhat the Education Department be asked to distribute the present surplus of apples in addition to milk to school children. Several members held the opinion that the onlv alternative was to destroy the apples,'as there was no market for them cither in Now Zealand or overseas. The suggestion of Mr. Hanks was adopted. Air Force Canteen. A canteen is to he established at the Banks Box Company building in St. Paul Street, Auckland, for applicants undergoing medical examination for the (lying section of the Royal Xow Zealand Air Force. The move has been made by the ladies' of the Auckland Aero Club, and Dominion Breweries, Ltd., has offered to meet the cost of furnishing the canteen. It will be opened on Wednesday to obviate the necessity of applicants going elsewhere, for light refreshments while waiting. Four ladies will be in attendance throughout the day. Baths in Ml. Albert Borough. .The fact that already three swimming baths have been provided at schools in Mount Albert borough was mentioned by the Mayor of Mount Albert, Mr. 11. A". Anderson, when speaking at a ceremony held at Mount Albeit Grammar School on Thursday afternoon to mark the official. opening of the school's now bathing pool. Mr. Anderson said that one problem was the supply of water. As they did not have their own supply, they were dependent on the Auckland City Council, which had decided to supply it at (id a thousand gallons, that being half the usual cost. Why Boys Leave School. "There are. three reasons why boys leave school," said Mr. T. Conly at a meeting of the Dunedin Vocational : Guidance Association. "There is the . boy who wants to leave early. He goes i off with a whoop, and for him the best I can say is that he is better out of ' school. Then there is the boy who has ■ to go to work to bring money into the ; home, and these ones, I fear, are in the L majority.' Finally, there are hoys who want to stay at school and whose L parents are two or throe generations ! behind and do not see why their chili dren should have more education than they. These arc the kind of people you ' have to bullv." i Accelerated Cultivation. An excellent demonstration of what can be done with mechanisation was given recently on a North Canterbury farm. A crop of 33 acres of wheat was ready for the header, which was engaged on the farm of a neighbour. The neighbour's crop was finished in the evening, and as the owner of the .'l"i acres had had a moisture test ill the . afternoon, and as the evening was warm, with a nor'-west wind, he got the mill in at once. The crop Mas in the bags in the morning and carted to the railway. In the morning the paddock, was ploughed round and the stubble burned. In the afternoon a contractor began ploughing and continued through the night and next dav. The paddock was then worked and "oats for feed drilled in. The whole operation from standing crop to new crop in the ground occupied less than a week. Survey System in Schools. "I do not see how there can be hick of uniformity in the procedure of promoting pupils in the schools," was the comment made by the chief inspector of primary schools,' Mr. A. F. McMurlrlo, when a report from Akaroa "that inquiries were being made about (lie alleged luck of uniformity of procedure ill Canterbury schools" was referred to him. Explaining the accrediting or survey system, which had now superseded the examination svstem in the primary schools. Jlr. McMnrfrie said that there could scarcely lie lack of uniformity, as all pupil's were now given certificates after completing a course in Form If. (Standard VI.). Another official comment was that there would not be a lack of uniformity, but some schools would probably be slower than others in accommodating themselves to the chance from the examination system to the survey system, and this might eive the appearance of a lack of uniformity. This would be rectified with time. Softwood Power Poles. The ereosoting plant constructed at Hanmcr Springs by the Slate Forest Service for the treatment of softwoods is now in production, states the "Press." It is the third non-pressure ereosoting plant to ho established in New Zealand within the last- two years, the other two being at Kotorua and Conical Kills, Southland. Poles, at present of European larch, arc first cut to a. standard length, their bark is removed, and they arc then stacked in a seasoning yard for several months until sufficiently dry for ereosoting. Before immersion in the creosote, poles arc morticed where crossbars are to be fitted to carry wires so that there arc no exposed faces which have not been directly treated with preservative. Because lurch absorbs the liquid horizontally instead of radially, an incision is made in the pole at ground level, the point at which the pole rots most quickly, with a hammer having a small steel projection. The posts are seasoned by immersing them first in hot creosote.'at a temperature of ISO-200 degrees Fahrenheit, then in a cool solution, thereby getting degrees of penetration and absorption similar to those obtained from the pressure process. A minimum average service life of 30 years is anticipated. The Forest Service is at present fulfilling a contract for power poles with the North Cantcrburv Power Board.

Brisk Thursday Night. Shops selling articles which are commonly bought as gifts reported brisk trade on Thursday night, and it is suggested that an unusual number of military weddings was responsible for the increased sales. Streets were crowded with shoppers, though clothing firms reported a slight slackening of orders for men's wear. Jewellers shared with other shops in the wedding gift trade, some confessing to an embarrassing amount of business in view of the difficulty of replacing stocks in these days of import restrictions. Carriers and War. The possibility of evolving a scheme to protect the interests of licensed carriers who enlisted was mentioned by the No. 1 Licensing Authority, Mr. E. ,1. Phelan, during a sitting at Hamilton. Mr. Phelan said he was prepared to go to any lengths to see that they had some "security and the opportunity to retain their licenses when they returned from the war. He thought perhaps there could be a scheme whereby the licenses of carriers who enlisted could he transferred to the carriers' associations, who could keep the licenses in operation till the carrier returned home. Evil World Influences. Drawing a parallel between the evil forces at "work in the world to-day and those that effected the Crucifixion, his Grace Archbishop Averill, speaking at St. Mary's Cathedral, said that the modern world was turning to paganism, and men'were making gods to suit their own perverse ends. 11l such times a half-hearted religion was no good. Mankind must face up to God or reject Him. It was not enough for professing Christians to stand aloof and blame others for (lie evils which were rampant totliiv. Thcv bad to ask themselves what they had been doing, and to admit that Christ was being repudiated now. Every Good Friday should be a re-dedication and a call 'to find room for Christ in all national and international concerns. Too many were content to leave Christ on the Cross and forget Him. not realising that the great" symbol of their faith was the empty Cross. Perverted Humour. Two motorists who travelled to Raetihi from the direction of Wanganui were the victims of some person with a perverted sense of humour. They went many miles out of their way as the result of an Automobile Association signpost being tampered with. About nine miles from Raetihi the signpost at the Oruakukuru Road had been deliberately lifted round so that the direction indicator for Raetihi pointed down the Oruakukuru Road. The two motorists took the wrong turning after first 'examining the sign to assure themselves, as" they tliouzht, that they were on the right road. However, when they found the road too narrow to proceed further they turned back, to find two more motorists in doubt at the original turn-off. Eventually all Automobile Association garage car came along and the sign was put back in its original position. Petrol for Taxis. According lo statements made by those interested in transport, now maxiI mum limits for petrol supplies will be applied next month to taxi owners by the oil fuel control office. These limits, it is believed, will represent a. reduction, but it docs not. necessarily follow that actual- allowances under the rationing scheme will also be reduced. Present allowances are generally well below current maximum limits. It is explained that the Licensing Authority supplies estimates of maximum consumption to the Oil Fuel Controller, and the new limits applying to (axis are derived from these. The authority, in granting licenses for services, satisfies itself on the likely volume of traffic, so that the information if. supplies regarding petrol consumption is regarded officially as reliable. Limits apply to all taxis, whether in the city or environs, or , whether they operate under companies or independently. Anglican Cathedral Designs. It is expected that competitive designs for the new Anglican cathedral for Auckland will be sent to England for judging soon after Easter. After the outbreak of war it was decided to ask competitors in New Zealand to provide duplicate sets of drawings for retention here in case the originals should be lost in transit to London. Explaining the delay in sending the designs, the Primate. Archbishop Averill. said that some competitors had failed to send duplicates, while others had enclosed both original and duplicate in the same scaled package which, in the normal course of events, would have been opened by the English judge, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. It' was ' probable. Archbishop Averill added, that arrangements would be made for opening the packages in Wellington under proper supervision in order fhat the duplicate could be taken out. About 35 designs were- being held in Wellington, and it was thought that others had been sent to London by New Zealand architects outside the Dominion.