NEWS OF THE DAY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 270, 13 November 1943, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

Summer in the City The humidity which accompanies much of Auckland's summer weather is beginning to affect workers , in the city. A drowsy afternoon feeling is . noticeable in many offices, and fine days have caused many to think mainly of the beach. Tnahine Light Repairs The Tuahine light, which has been undergoing repairs, is now functioning normally, according to advice from the Marine Department. A warning to shipping was issued earlier in the month. Yachting Up-harbour The first races of the season in the upper harbour took place to-day when the Richmond Yacht Club helc a series of races for smaller classes. A fair south-westerly breeze and warm sunshine made sailing conditions perfect, and competition was keen in all classes. Rose Sunday Roses in a great variety of wonderful tints are making Parnell Park one of the most attractive places in Auckland at the moment. There 4450 rose bushes are in full bloom, and it is claimed that as a display it could not be surpassed in any other, pant of New Zealand or Australia. To-morrow will •be the field day of the National Rose Society of New Zealand at the park, and it is expected that there will be a large attendance. On Rose Day last year the attendance was estimated at 3000. . . Instruction to Motorists "Stand erect, place right foot on the ground, push foot down as in operating throttle and shift weight to right foot," says an extract from Bulb Horn, journal of the Veteran Car Club of America. "Place left foot forward to repeat operations as previously carried out with right foot. Alternate at a speed of 60 steps per minute and, when proficiency has been attained, increase speed to 80 per minute. This is known as 'walking,' a form of transportation used before the development of the automobile and said to be healthful. It is likely to be revived." Main Trunk Anniversary Thirty-five years ago last Saturday the North Island Main Trunk line between Wellington and Auckland was opened to through traffic. The opening of the Main Trunk marked the successful conclusion of a movement that had, originated 40 years earlier. The railway was first proposed by Sir Julius "Vogel in his 1870 public works policy. The first regular service, which began on November 9, 1908, provided for a journey of two days between Wellington and Auckland. In these more modern times the Limited does the journey in slightly more than 14 hours.

Negro Progress The promotion of the negro's progress in the United States of America is one of the social changes brought about by the war, according to Professor Allan Nevins, who is visiting New Zealand as a special representative of the Office of War Information, Washington. Equal pay for equal work was granted, one of President Roosevelt's earliest orders since the outbreak of war being that the scale of payment should be the same as for the white man. Larger numbers than ever are finding employment, and they are being admitted to unions to a much greater extent than before. There were 13,000,000 negroes in the United States, said the professor. Stray Dog Problem "The stray dog question still causes much concern, and it is a peculiar fact that, notwithstanding the lessened motor traffic, the number of animals injured in street accidents is greater than ever," stated the annual report of the Canterbury Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "It is a pity we cannot educate motorists generally to a more humane understanding of animal suffering. Animals are frequently run over and left injured on the road, and the motorist continues unconcernedly on his way, when "it would be little trouble to pick the dog or cat up and take it to a clinic, or ring for the society's ambulance." "How Many Worms an Acre?" In an address to the Christchurch branch of the New Zealand Humic Compost Club, Mr. L. W. McCaskill described as fantastic the claims of the Auckland club and its magazine "that fertilisers, especially sulphate of ammonia, poisoned earthworms, and that worms would crawl mile's to get away from such material." He said that whereas Darwin claimed that 53,000 worms to the acre was a satisfactory number, the lawn at the Christchurch Training College contained 220,000 worms to the acre— and the only manure used for the last 10 years was an annual dressing of sulphate of ammonia. He showed his audience some compost "full of juicy red worms," the activator in the manufacture' of which was sulphate of ammonia. Truth Without Art "We are paid to teach logic, or the theory of truth, falsity and validity, ethics, or the theory of natural and moral good and evil, but no one has apparently thought it necessary that New Zealand youth should be instructed in aesthetics or the theory of the beautiful and the ugly," said Professor J. N. Findlay, addressing the Otago Art Society. "It seems to be considered sufficient in New Zealand that men should reason corf<; c Uy and-behave Properly, but not that they should have good taste or admire what is truly admirable in art and Nature. This is, of course, a shocking gap in our university curriculum." • ■