NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 79, 3 April 1941, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

"All-in Fights." "There ir» no better school for citizenship or war than twenty-six twinkling feet on the football field," said the president, Mr. J. A. Lee, M.P., at the annual meeting of the Auckland Rugby League last evening. "The difference is that on the playing field there is a referee, but with the Hitlers and Mussolinis it is an all-hi Jight. ,, Night Training Difficulty. The difficulty which football teams will have in connection with night training was mentioned by Mr. G. Grey Campbell at the annual meeting of the Auckland Rugfoy League last evening. He said that there could not be any training with lights in the metropolitan areas, but arrangement** could be made for training at Carlaw Park between the hours of 5 p.m. and 7.30 p.m. A suggestion was made that a well-known gymnasium might be taken over for physical training. Word to the Wise. A hint that could be taken to heart by New Zealanders in view of tinrecent trouble over leakages of news contained on a letter received by Mr.-. G. dc Malnianche, of Herne Bay, from her son, Mr. K. V. de Malmanche, who is employed by the Singapore Harbour Board. Across the stamps printed one of the well-known cancellation legends which are changed at interval?. The wording is: '"Don't Write About Ships." Nothing could bo more appropriate in this country at the present timo. Sportsmen*s Badges.

The issue of badges to lieense-liulilrr*. I with a view to discouraging poachers, has been urged on the Department >'t Internal Affairs by the Kotorua K<xl and ftun Club. A reply has been received to the effect that, as there wore j so many different kinds of ] licenses issued, the scheme would be impracticable. The committee of th<local club, however, is of the opinion that the proposal could still be used t<> advantage in respect to game licenses where only one license is granted. The issue of badges, with license number stamped thereon, was a general practice in the United States, it wae contended. "An Eye for an Eye." "If the B.M.A. would read through the code of the day they would be shocked beyond measure." said Mr. K. j M. Blaiklock, in referring to Babylonian days in an address to the Auckland Creditmen's Association yesterday. "The doctor in those days had to be successful in his operations,' , the speaker continued. "If the victim was a free man and lost an eye during an operation the doctor had an eye removed, but if the patient was a slave the doctor escaped with a fine. About 300 to 400 years later there were m> doctors in Babylon," he added amid laughter. Takapana's Finances. Building permits issued in the borough of Takapuna during the year ended March 31. 1941. amounted in value to £')7.SSI !."»/. it was revealed in the Takapuna building inspector's report, adopted at a meeting of the council last night. In reporting on the accounts, the town clerk, Mr. K. •!. Price, stated that the financial position for the year Rave every reason for satisfaction. A very satisfactory rate collection was reported, 02.25 per cent of the current rates having been received and 52.15 per cent of the arrears from preceding years. A considerable decrease in the debit balance of the council's district fund bank account was also revealed, the debit on March 31, 1940, being £12,050 12/9. and on the same date this year £9010 0/1. Mobile Canteen. Since being handed over, the mobile canteen presented to the National Patriotic Fund Board by the New Zealand Returned Soldiers' Association for service with the ISTew Zealand forces overseas has equipped, the work being carried out in Wellington, says a Press Association message. The interior of the vehicle i*> well finished, with cupboards and other storage accommodation, as well as bunks and a small wardrobe for the canteen crew. Under the body is a 50-gallon water tank, and a small pump is installed to draw water from this tank to a lUgallon tank over a sink and tap inside the vehicle. Other special equipment includes a benzine three-burner stove and an extra petrol tank. This mobile canteen is the firet from Now Zealand J for men overseas. Moon's Vagaries Unaccountable vagaries of the moon arc dealt with in a letter received by the. "Auckland Star ,, from Mr. A. Me- i Intyre, Wcstmere. He states, thai.' according to a book he has just read, it. was pointed out that, speaking in London just before Christmas, Commander R. G. Studd said with reference to Luke xxi., 25: "The Astronomer Royal, who. always predicted years ahead of the Nautical Almanac, has observed that i the moon by some means or other has ' 'got out of gear.' Accordingly it ha* been found necessary to recalculate the tables for future years —an unheard-of procedure." The verse in Luke refers to the fact that in the last days of the age "there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon arrt in the stars, and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity." The writer of the letter to the "Star" quotes a statement by a Mr. All>ert Close, who says: "I have been a deep-sea chart publisher for 35 years for the deep-sea fishermen in cooperation with the Admiralty. "When I bring out a new chart I always set the compasses ten years ahead for magnetic variation, so that they may not get out of date so soon. I may explain to those not acquainted with nautical terms that magnetic north at Greenwich is about 11 degrees west of true north and that the magnetic needle for over 100 years . . . has been moving towards the true north at the rate of about five minutes annually; no man can explain why. All the Admiralty can do is to register the change and alter the compasses on the charts to agree with the change. If they were not altered, a navigator would be miles out on a long voyage. In 1925 I set the compasses on my new chart tcj* year* nhead, for 1935, allowing for the usual five minutes annually of decrease in variation. To everybody's surprise, this mysterious increase in speed since the Great War had by 1930 put my chart five years out, so that it was only five V&rs in advance instead of ten jears."