NEWS OF THE DAY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 273, 18 November 1941, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

Railway Bowling Greens Two bowling greens, on the Gladstone Road Reserve, which was developed by the Auckland City Council, have been taken over by the Railway Bowling Club, at a rental of ' £150. A little over a year ago the Railway Bowling -Club accepted the use of one of the bowling greens and the bowling pavilion at a rental of £100 for the season, as the second green was not then ready for use. During the past winter alterations were made to the pavilion to provide additional accommodation, and the maintenance of the greens was continued by the council. Professors' Leave Sabbatical leave for professors of the Auckland University College staff has been gradually accumulating since the beginning of the war, and the total liability is now estimated to exceed £2000. "We shall have to face the position when the war is over that at least two professors will be away each year," said the president, Mr. W. H. Cocker, at a meeting of the College Council yesterday afternoon. "Nearly every member of the staff is due for his sabbatical year," remarked Professor H. Belshaw. Another member suggested, amid laughter, that perhaps it might be a good idea to send all the professors away together. "And the students, too," was a further suggestion. Interred on Mokoia Island A funeral took place on Mokoia Island, in Lake Rotorua, last week the first in five years, when Ramari te Kowhai, a well-known resident of Ohmemutu, aged 66 years, was interred in the old burial ground at the summit. The old lady was of the Ngati Whakaue section of the Arawas. Owing to the rare use nowadays of the burial ground, the track from the wharf to the summit had become so overgrown that a party had to clear the Way with slashers. The Opossum Season T ]} e Dunedin sales are looked on as the clearing-house of the rabbit and opossum skin industries in New Zealand. Most of the 'possum trappers in the country sell their catches there, and when the last sale closed the other day it was estimated that about 200,000 opossum skins had been sold, returning over £60,000 to the trappers. In a number of North Island centres there are trappers who sell privately, but the bulk of the season s catch goes through the Dunedin market, where the prices at times reflect a keen overseas demand for the fur. Over the season the prices this year have given an ST"'"

University Students' Training Students of the Auckland University- College will enter camp for three months' training in the Territorial Force on December 1. / Thev will be posted to the 3rd Battalion, Auckland Regiment, at Rotorua. j Cost of Living Bonus At a recent meeting of the Auckland Electric Power Board in committee it was decided on the motion of Mr. C. J. Lovegrove that the Power Boards and Supply Authorities' Association be advised that the board was not in favour of a further increase in wages being granted by way of a cost of living bonus. Mr J. Sayegh recorded his vote against the motion. At a meeting of the board yesterday the report on the question was adopted. The report stated that a letter from the association advising that the Engine Drivers Union had made application to the Arbitration Court for a general increase in all award wages had been considered. The board had been asked to express its views, as m the event of the increase being granted it would probably affect all wages costs. Wizardry of Figures The wizardry of figures was commented on by members of the Auckland Electric Power Board yesterday afternoon, when the general manager Mr. R. H. Bartley, reported on the discrepancy which was occurring between the units of power purchased from the Government and actually sold by the board during the six months ended on September 30 last. Mr. Bartley said that while the board had purchased only an addiV?™!- 1.000,000 units, it had sold an additional 7,000,000 units, bringing the percentage sold to 85.7791 per fw? compared with 82.1346 per cent the c° rre sponding period last year. There is obviously someandgTWro"g with these percentages, i again attribute this irregularity to the fact that our metering owirT?n C th° n wi i h -units purchased® ? w ' n |. to the conditions of operation, matt correct, he added. "This to at tii2 lowever * is being attended lo*},I o *}, the Present time. It does not nnnna anything except records for ksTlf The'lnari ev ® ntua "y right , from 4Q rLl oad factor has increased 49.5804 per cent to 50.7190 per s a , lso may be fictitious." The chairman, Mr. S. J. Harbutt, said the board knew how the position disC l3f e ? Mr - Bartley had come about—through supplying the Government with power from 8 the King Y s wharf steam plant, and then buying power back from the Government hoTh tha t meters had been installed' hf thought it would be found that rhfi t positlon w ould oome out all A l&XlU ;