v General News

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21967, 16 December 1936, Page 10

v General News

"No Scotland, No British Empire" "I suppose I am speaking mainly to Presbyterians," said Mr T. D. Burnett, M.P., when opening a garden party at Springburn, MidCanterbury, "and I sometimes think that if there had been no Scotland there would have been no British Empire. Presbyterianism was founded under great difficulties, and resulted in a sturdy spiritual independence. The easy conditions and pleasures of our way of living may now throw up a set of mind not inducive to the progress of Presbyterianism in its old sense. But the old faith and conventions—for instance those affecting man and woman—are something that cannot be ignored or our social structure, which has been bu'it on the law of God, goes by the board. So let us hold on with both hands to the old conventions, for religion is necessary for the good health of the State." Goods Traffic Delays Express Through the late arrival of the train from Lyttelton a delay of about five minutes was caused last evening in the dispatch of the In-vcrcargill-Lyttelton express from Christchurch. The late arrival of the train was due to the abnormal goods traffic on the line to the port through the heavy increase of shipping in recent weeks. Added to that was the accumulation of goods traffic because of the unexpected holiday traffic on Monday. Last night one goods train left port shortly before the steamer train and another was dispatched immediately after it had left. Record Season Anticipated For this summer it is anticipated that tourist bookings will be a record, Mr L. J. Schmitt, general manager of the department, told a representative of "The Press" last evening. Mr Schmitt had just finished a tour of southern districts, and he found that bookings were far in excess of those of previous years. The figures for the seven months ended October reflected the increase, he continued. This year 3500 overseas tourists were booked through the department in that period, an increase of 1100 on the number last year. Considering that the figures covered the winter, Mr Schmitt said the department was expecting that the summer, particularly the Christmas holiday period, would see a great increase on other years in the number of tourists. Modern Youth Defended "In defiance of all that is said to the contrary, I make the positive assertion that the moral codes by which boys of to-day are'actuated, are no whit degraded in their essential worth because their outward expressions do not conform to ideas of a Victorian era," said" Mr F. W. Gamble, headmaster of the Mount Albert Grammar School, Auckland, at a recent gathering. "Adverse criticisms of modern youth cannot be given real consideration unless they come from those whose business it is to make the question a close and continuous study," he added. Vocational Training "Some parents think that an early vocational training is the best preparation for commerce and industry. This is a mistake. All employers will agree that a trained intelligence is a better equipment for the work of life than a perfunctory and elementary acquaintance with the details of any trade or profession," said the headmaster, Mr E. Wilson, at the Hamilton High School. "A narrow technical training is not enough. Let us not put too high a value on utility or encourage the thought that success or power are things that matter most in life. Our supreme task is to make good men and women—to strengthen the will, to establish good habits, to implant high ideals of life and conduct, to prepare for good citizenship." Effect of Housing Scheme New legislation has led to a slackening in trade in the last few months and also to a difficulty in securing firm quotations for all kinds of material, according to the annual report of the Auckland Master Builders' Association, presented to members at the annual meeting. It was said that the Government housing scheme was anticipated to affect builders who confined their activities to residential work, and that there were so many such builders in Auckland that they could have built all the suburban residences necessary without the proposed scheme in mass-production. High Standard of Music "I have had a most interesting time in Sydney," said Mr Gordon Short, the Wellington pianist, on his return from New South Wales, where he acted as joint adjudicator at the annual examinations of the Conservatorium of Music. "The conservatorium is doing very fine work indeed. Not only does its staff cover the whole ground of musical pedagogy in Sydney in a most competent way, but its influence extends to every nook and corner of the state. For instance, examiners are sent out every year to conduct practical examinations in the various cities and towns of the state. This year there were about 8000 candidates o examine, so you will see that the influence of the New South Wales Conservatorium is considerable. As for the examinations, I do not suppose there is a more severe test in the world than that for the diploma of the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music," said Mr Short. "For instance, each pianoforte candidate has to give a full recital of the works of representative composers, half of which has to be played from memory in a big hall which is quite open to the public' In addition to that they have to be able to play a concerto with orchestra in public, and have to prepare at least six chamber music pieces. I heard students play the Rachmaninoff concerto in C minor, the Grieg concerto, and the Mozart concerto in E flat; and one of the pieces of chamber music selected for performance was the Strauss quartet in C minor. So that you see the standard of playing has to be pretty high to gain the diploma of the conservatorium in Sydney." Norfolk Island To-day Norfolk Island is described as a pleasant place in which to live by Mr D. Long, formerly of Auckland, who has been visiting Wellington after five years' residence on the island, which contains about 8500 acres, eight miles long by four miles across, with a coastline consisting mostly of sheer cliffs. Mr Long said the population now numbered about 1000 souls, a drop from 1200 having been registered since the depression. Of the 1000 people on the island, probably about 700 were natives, half-caste descendants of the mutineers of H.M.S. Bounty, transferred to Norfolk Island in 1855, when Pitcairn became congested. The chief source of subsistence was the growing of bananas and beans, but since an embargo was placed on importing Norfolk Island produce into New Zealand, the islanders had had a lean time. New Zealand was quite a good market, and the islanders got a good deal of their requirements from New Zealand, but it was all ended by the trouble between the New Zealand and Australian Governments. Now the settlers were going in for passion-fruit culture, for which the island was well adapted. Summer temperatures went as high as 85 degrees, and in the winter were seldom below 50 degrees—with no frosts. Child Marriages in India Although child marriages in India are to-day forbidden by law, they still take place, according to Miss Joan McGregor, a New Zealand missionary from Poona, who has returned to Wellington after 36 years in India. As the law stands in that country, it is illegal for couples of under 14 years of age to marry. This is one of the provisions of the Sarda Act, a measure named after the man who introduced it as legislation. Miss McGregor says that this law is at present more honoured in the breach than the observance, particularly among the villagers, who comprise nine-tenths of the Indian population. Education of the native races, however, was helping to improve the situation. "People get the idea that parents in India are cruel in allowing child marriages," said Miss McGregor. "It is the system of teaching that causes the trouble. I am pleased to say that the scheme of things is changing, particularly among the educated, high-caste people." More than 600 child widows and orphans of high caste are under the care of the Ramabi Mukti Mission, to which Miss McGregor belongs.