NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 69, 22 March 1941, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY.

| Mice in Homes. J This is the season of the year when mire begin to make a nuisance of therrij selves in houses. They have spent the summer out in the open, but the colder weather and the signs of approaching winter are driving them inside for warmth. Householders are now complaining about mice in the cupboards and raids on the provisions. Mouse traps have been resurrected for the open season on the rodents, with the result that scores of the creatures are "taking the count" nightly. ' Responsive Gardens. Suburban gardens in Auckland have responded like magic to the frequent, penetrating rain's of the past week. Lawns sown earlier in the month are displaying a green-coloured film, providing evidence of a pood "take," while early bulbs like freczias are breaking through the soil. The conditions, too, have been ideal for prolonging the season for autumn flowers, such as asters, dahlias, marigolds, salvias and zinnias. lx\=c» welcome results have been a fresh outcrop of weeds. Horticulturists will be exceptionally busy in the next week or two before the winter lull. Railway Tarpaulins Scarce. The production of only 77."> tarpaulin sheets in the first ten month* of the current financial year, compared with an average annual production of 5250 sheets over the last four years, is causing the Railway Department some difficulty in handling the increased volume of goods traffic, according to a statement made yesterday by the Minister of Railways, the Hon. R. Semple. A scarcity of suitable canvas from overseas mills was blamed for the short production. The Minister said the Department was making the most of its existing stock of 24,000 covers by promptly renovating all that became defective. Samoa's Spitfire Fund. Samoa's Spitfire effort has been closed with the fine total of £5672. The grand finale was the "queen carnival," which was held at the Tivoli Hall. There were three nominations for the premier position—Administration, Miss Agnes Mann; Sports-Commercial, Miss Hazel Betham; and Samoan, Miss Sala Mataa'afa.. Each queen was sponsored by an active committee, but the paim for personal energy must go to Miss Mann. Besides this effort she had already assisted the general fund by raising over £(50 with her cora-ert party, which even went as far afield as Pago Pago to give entertainments. The final figures were:—Miss Betham, 29.232; Miss Mann, 24,495; Miss Mata-a'afa, 21,777. A sum of £945 was raised by threepenny votes. Otago's Anniversary Day. To-morrow is Otago's anniversary day, when that province will commemorate the arrival of the first emigrants at Port Chalmers on March 23, 1848. After the landing they named the settlement Dunedin, the Celtic word for Edinburgh. Its founder was a Scottish member of the British Parliament, Mr. George Rennie, who, distressed by the poverty and conditions in England, suggested that a chance should be given those desirous of becoming pioneers in the new colony. These people were joined by Scottish members of the Free Church, who became the backbone of the settlement. Under the guidance of Captain Cargill and the Rev. Thomas Burns, the settlers worked industriously to establish their town, and for several years Dunedin was the most prosperous settlement in New Zealand. Larrikinism in Wellington. Destruction of property by mischievous children was discussed by the Wellington Education Board, which decided to ask the of its schools to assist in the discouragement of juvenile vandalism. Mr. C. H. Nicholls said that a. man had complained to the headmaster of a school that children had damaged his garden, but the headmaster had replied that it was not the headmaster's business. While going through the Botanical Cardens himself he had seen children acting in a way that made him wonder that the police did not take action against them. The senior "inspector, Mr. S. J. Irwin, said he had seen zoo custodians trying to round up larrikins who had been seen throwing stones at monkeys. Talking to such children was no good; the only appeal could be through the bare skin. Critic of School Exams. "You will not be able to teach a child how to live as long as you regard his livelihood as the most important objective; you won't develop him to the •full, mentally, morally, physically and spiritually, unless you relegate to second place the passing of examinations and your ambition to secure a good job for him after he leaves school," remarked Mr. F. Martyn Renner, principal of Rongotai College, in addressing the college Parents' Association at Wellington. "Physical development, power of application, industry and general knowledge, rather than partial specialisation in any | one subject or any set of subjects, are things that cannot be tested by any written examination; but they arc ail of far greater importance than the ability to score an aggregate of 45 per cent in five more or less academicallytreated subjects." Cranks Indicted. "Let us beware of the enemy within our own gates," said Dr. O. C. Mazengarb in an address in Wellington. "I am not thinking of aliens and spies and people who may want Germany to win. Let us hope the police have taken charge of them! lam thinking of the other fifth columnists—the cranks and the theorists, some of them in the Civil Service, in our colleges and various learned bodies, who speak disdainfully of our commercial institutions and of our affectionate regard for the Homeland. I am condemning those of our own young people who go abroad to study or imbibe their ideas from foreign countries and then write scattered articles decrying our 'system' and the things we have learned to revere. Do not imagine that they are all in. the ranks of the Communists. A goodly number of them are to be found in the universities and in societies with highsounding titles and apparently respectable objects. These leftists, these faddists, these doctrinaires and know-alls very nearly reduced England to slavery. They were wrong; Churchill was right. The English system and the English way of life—the institution's and conventions of Great Britain firmly planted in New Zealand's democracy—should be good enough for us without any foreign doctoring."