General News

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21087, 12 February 1934, Page 8

General News

Men Not at Church. That the vast majority of the members of his big congregation were women must have been noticed by the Rev. A. K. Warren, the new vicar of 'Merivale, when he preached his first sermon at St. Mary's Church yesterday morning, for he commented on the failure of men to attend church services. "I hope that the services we have here will not be attended only by women, and ■ that men will come to the church," Mr Warren said. "This morning, at the 8 o'clock service, I was impressed when I saw the number of men there. I have been happy to serve recently in a parish where men have been particularly good in their attendance at church." The Growth of Nationalism "I believe that the most important factor in Europe to-day is probably the growth of nationalistic sentiment, such as one sees more particularly in the development of Nazism in Germany," said Mr A. Eaton Hurley, a Wellington solicitor, on his return from a tour of Europe. "The Great War and the inflation that followed it in | Germany brought in their train a breakdown of those ideas of personal profit, thrift, and the advantages of free competition which were the symbols of the liberal traditions of the last century. The nations to-day are tending towards a state of planned, economic selfsufficiency. The absolute in this tendency will never be reached, but the system of tariffs, and the development of home industries and home agriculture is a factor in the growth of national sentiment. Regarded in the light of this growth of nationalism, the Nazi movement, which must be distinguished from the Nazi party, is much more, and much deeper than merely an emotional reaction to a state of inferiority imposed on the Germans by the Treaty of Versailles." No Money for Books I "Of the 500 children at my school there are about 120 whose parents | are on relief," said Mr W. A. Curteis, at a meeting of the Hamilton Borough Council. Mr Curteis, who has been a member of the council for several years, is also headmaster of the Hamilton East School. He ::aid that the poverty of the parents was particularly noticeable at present, when it was necessary to purchase school books. He had received a number of notes from mothers saying that they had no money at all to spare for this purpose. The Mayor (Mr J. R. Fow) referred to the difference in relief wages received by town and country men, and moved that the council should protest against the difference in the rates of pay, and ask the Mayors of other towns in the district to support his action. Mr Fow's motion was carried. Eclipse of the Moon An interesting photograph of the recent eclipse of the moon has been presented to the Christchurch Magnetic Observatory by Mr D. E. Hutlon, one of the founders of the Wanganui observatory, who took the photograph at Wanganui :; - seven minutes before the total eclipse occurred. The photograph shows the correct colour of the moon when the shadow of the earth was passing over it and gives a clear idea of the brilliancy of the illuminated portion with the shadow of the. corona.

Huge Swarm of Flics A huge swarm of flics invaded Ngamotu Beach, New Plymouth, recently, and on the following morning when employees at the Moturoa Oil Fields Company's No. 4 well on the beach went to work they found that myriads of flies had settled on parts of the derrick. The beams, pipes, and iron apparatus were covered by a horde of brown flies, sometimes in layers half an inch thick. The swarm must have alighted during the night, for it had massed in .sheltered places at sunrise. The experience is said to be unique in New Plymouth. In one place the flies were hanging underneath a beam in a mass live feet long and one foot wide and half an inch deep. Specimens of the swarm were later identified by Mr W. W. Smith, the well-known naturalist, as a type quite common in Australia and seen fairly regularly jn New Zealand. In Australia the (lies v.. ere a source of annoyance to cattle and stock breeders, as they irritated animals. They were not usually a coastal fly, but the recent sultry weather no doubt had caused them to swarm. Schools in England

The opinion that school accommodation in New Zealand was by no means inferior to that in England was expressed by Mr W. H. Jackson, a former Mayor of Masterton and the present chairman of the Wairarapa Secondary Education Board. A feature he noticed particularly during a recent visit to England was that the school buildings were scarcely up to the standard of the New Zealand schools. Even with newly-erected schools, he said, the frontage was invariably only a few feet from the street. In nearly all schools a lack of adequate playing areas seemed to place them far behind those in the Dominion. Every encouragement was being Riven, he noticed, to the development of technical education in the schools. Largely on account of modern conditions, technical education seemed to be more in demand than the academic. Deep-Sea Fishing Exciting sport was obtained at the Mayor Island fishing grounds off Tauranga recently, by Mr R. H. Patterson, of Maungatapu. Although the weather was very unfavourable, Mr Patterson caught three fine striped marlin. The first fish, which weighed 3411b, fought for threequarters of an hour and broached several times, while the two others, weighing 2471b and 3361b, each fought strongly for about 40 minutes. Two other swordfish were hooked and, after being played almost to a finish, cast the bait. One was nearly dead and went to the bottom. It was very large and broached more than 40 times, giving a magnificent display. Educational Value of Museum A decision to redistribute more frequently nature study and history specimens provided for schools in and near the city by the Auckland War Memorial Museum authorities was reached at a meeting of the Auckland Education Board. It was decided to vary the exhibits every fortnight instead of once a month, as at present. The secretary, Mr D. W. Dunlop, stated that the cost of cartage under the new plan would be about £SO a year. "Teachers value the use of the museum exhibits yery Jb.igh.ljtf' Jre> added,