NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 90, 16 April 1940, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Onehunga Scholarships. The Auckland University College Council has accepted two scholarships of £lij each, which have been endowedby the Onehunga Borough Council. The scholarships are available to children who reside in the Onehunga borough, and will be awarded by the College Council to the male and female candidates obtaining the highest marks in the university entrance examination. Graduation Ceremony. The Auckland University's graduation ceremony has been arranged for Friday. May 3, when the same procedure as that which obtained prior to last year will be reverted to. Bouquets will not be presented to the graduands at the ceremony, and no student will be allowed on the platform. If possible, diplomas will be handed to the graduands at the ceremony.

Patriotic Gifts. Advice was received at a meeting of the Auckland Provincial Patriotic Council last evening that a citizcn of Whangarei had made gifts of 80 acres of land at Maungakaramea and a section in Whanjrarei for patriotic purposes. It was stated by North Auckland representatives that complete information was not yet available about the larger area, and the matter was referred to a sub-committee for a report.

Formerly a New Zealand Trader. The British steamer Barn Hill, which, was bombed and set on fire by Nazi bombers recently, was formerly well known in Auckland as the Canadian Challenger, of the Montreal-Australia-Xew Zealand Line. Of 5439 tons, 6he was built at Levis, Quebec, in 1921 for the Canadian Government. Towards the end of 1939 she was sold to the Ernels Shipping Company and renamed Barn Hill.

Heavy Demand on Stationery. One of the chief demands made on the authorities in military camps or on troopships is for stationery, and the more freely it is given, the more work for the censors who read the letters prior to their dispatch. "Our heaviest expense is stationery. Are the boys eatinjr it up, and are the censors blessing us!" writes one of the Y.M.C.A. field secretaries from the base camp in Egypt. Grateful expressions from the soldiers prove that they appreciate the valuable work done by the Y.M.C.A.

Date of Show. The Christchurch Agricultural and Pastoral Show will be later than usual because the New Zealand Cup race meeting is fixed for a later date. It was explained at a meeting of the committee of the association that once in seven years the races were late, and the association would have to decide whether to hold its show in race week as usual, or hold it the week before, on its normal date. Several members spoke in favour of having the show in Carnival Week, and it was decided to hold it on November 14 and 15. School Committee Elections. The biennial school committpe elections will take place throughout the Auckland district to-morrow evening, when householders' meetings will be held at all schools. Nominations for the larger schools, with attendances of over 240, closed last Wednesday. The size of the committees is determined by the average attendance, there being five members where the daily roll figures are below 100, seven members where the roll is from 100 to 200, and nine members over 200. Immediately after the elections the committees will meet to appoint their officers for the next two years.

The Hospitable Afghan. Nowhere were people so hospitable as in Afghanistan, one of a trio of Indian tourists, Mr. R. D. Ghandi, told the Wellington Rotary Club. On one occasion, after a long, tiring day, during which they had suffered hardships, they came on a hut in the Afghan desert. On their asking for shelter for the night, the Afghan conducted them into the hut and left thein there. They, thinking he had other means of shelter, were soon asleep. N'ext morning when they went to look for him they found him lying on the ground a few paces away half dead from cold. After they had chafed him to life again, thev nskocl him why he ha.l behaved so. All he would s ( M- wa c . wore u>v guests," and when tiu-y o(T«rr<-d to pay him he became quite angry, saying. "Yo'i cr.nnot buy hospitality in "Afghanistan." The Eyes of Motorists. The fact that from a test conducted by the Transport Department at the Centennial Exhibition it was discovered that 33 per cent of those examined had some ocular deficiency was mentioned by Mr. E. H. (Jrocott, in an address on visual eflieiency in it> relation to road safety, at the werklv lunchc> >i of the Hamilton Rotary Club. "In my opinion visual efficiency lias not been explored sufficiently in regard to the appalling number of road accidents in recent years." said Mr. (Jrocott. "It is true that some have been directly attributed to eye deficiency, but I feel that there are many more caused by the same deficiency. There are too many people on the road with poor vision,"and, at the present, there is no re-examination of drivers once their licenses have been granted."

County Chairman's Task. On behalf of the New Zealand Counties' Association, Mr. XV. G. Belton, chairman of the Patea County Council, is to travel the whole of the South Island and later the Xorth, contacting various counties and explaining to them a new insurance scheme which the association has in view. Mr. Belton's journey through the South Island will take him 2000 miles. "It is an important mission," he said, "and although I have been looking forward to it I realise that it is a responsibility. It is upon inc that the responsibility rests of bringing the scheme into being. Most of "the local body men, rislit throughout Xew Zealand are a pood type, and interest - in? contacts will bp made. I hope I will be able to make contacts that are not only of use to the Xew Zealand Counties' Association, hut also will be of value to this council. It does one good to widen one's experience." Mr. Belton added that his journey would take him to Qneenstown and through Arthur's Pass. "Later, when the South Island is done, there will be the North to do, and I am not relishing that, as winter is nearly here," he said.

Bosh Game in Blenheim. In one of his recent reports to tie Pelortis Scenic Reserve Board, Blenheim, the caretaker. Mr. H. W. Osgood, mentioned that during the previous three months he had shot in the reserve 15 pigs, four goats and six deec. These animals being the "natural enemies" of tiie undergrowth, which is so valuable in native bush, constant warfare has to be waged against them. High-Priced Drama. To an audience composed almost entirely of Chinese, the Chinese members of the crew of an overseas ship at present in port at Wellington, presented a 1500-year-old Chinese play in the De Luxe Theatre recently. 'The proceeds of the entertainment went to the China war fund, and it is understood that £*f>o was raised. Tickets were priced at from 30/ to £5. Uses for Oregon Trunks. The disposal of material to make enough tall Oregon masts to gladden the heart of any yachtsman caused some discussion during the Selwyn Plantation Board's inspection of reserves. Near Coalgate, Canterbury, where a plantation has recently been thinned oat, many oregons, some debranched, were lying on the ground. No particular nse had been designed for the thinned-ont trees, which members suggested would make valuable masts and wireless and scaffolding poles. Mark of Shame. Pour-inch red stripes are now painted on the cars of motoring offenders at Santa Ana, California. This form of punishment is the idea of Superior Judge James L. Allen, fie has ordered the lines to be painted nn the cars of many drivers accused of drunkenness, reckless, or hit-and-run driving. These drivers, after the cars have been "striped," are forbidden to park within 300 ft of any place where liquor is sold. Expressing satisfaction at the success of his plan, Judjre Allen said: "If they are ashamed to drive their conspicuous machines, they can stay at home." Comforts for N.Z. Forces. Work being undertaken in England to provide comforts for New Zealand members of the armed forces was described by Mr. AV. Goodfellow at a meeting of the Auckland Provincial Patriotic Council last evening. He said that the New Zealand War Services Association, composed of a group of New Zealand residents, had supplied Christmas .L'itts, and it was proposed to start canteens and dubs, also to cater for the New Zealand forces in France, Egypt and elsewhere. The association had breu organised to supervise the distribution of gifts, and had raised quite a large sum of money.

Workman's Working Ufe. Faced with the problem of estimating the probable remaining working life on waterside work of a man verging on U7 years of age, doctors in the Compensation Court yesterday gave periods ranging from one to five years. Thev all admitted that at 07* years the physical deterioration of working men varied very greatly. "There's a man working on the waterfront here at the present time who is N.I years of age," commented one of the counsel engaged in the case. "I think," retorted Mr. Justice O'Regan, "a case I had on the West Coast can improve on that. He was a man of 93 years, who lost an eye in an accident, and sued for compensation. He told me he had given his age to the authorities as and had gui a job." ° High Country Runs. A conference of high country runholders from all parts of the South Island will be held at Lake Tekspo to discuss economic and erosion problems. The dates tentatively fixed for the conference are April" IS and 19, and those present on the sccond day of the conference will probably include the Minister of . Agriculture* the Hon. W. Lee Martin, the Minister of Labour, the Hon. P. C. Webb, and the UnderSecretary for Lands, who will represent the Minister of Lands, the Hon. F. Langstone. "The problems to be discussed are those peculiar to the high country, and they will be concentrated upon to the exclusion of other matters," said Mr. T. D. Burnett, M.P. The first day would be devoted to a discussion among the runholders on the economic conditions of to-day in relation to high country administration, the rabbit menace and erosion, Mr. Burnett said. The views and representations of the conference would be placed before the Ministers of the Crown on the second da v.