NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 709, 7 January 1910, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

.The business people of the "Waira* rapa : and Hawkc's" Bay . districts', who' have been making protests against the .Bcrious inconvenience caused bj; the changes in the; rail-, way services for their respective districts, will find the whole weight of public opinion behind them. Hardly a day passes without additions -to the .ranks of sufferers by the lack of forethought on the part of those responsible for, the changes/ made/ Not only are the trains /provided running to a time-table which causes ! almost the maximum of inconvenience possible, but the trouble and 1 loss to the public are aggravated by - the seeming impossibility of the trains running to the, time-table prepared. From.all quarters complaints on this 'latter ground; continue tqcour in and swell the chorus of .protest.. It is, of course, ', quite, impossible that the new : time-table can be .retainedj, but what the' public must make certain of;' is that .what they' are going to • do,;. will meet/requirements, and..that the change will-be/ made speqdily. ■No'one has been'more persistent than ourselves in pressing on the Government the/need for improvement -in the administration of our railways. Thefeis hot a shadow of : doubt that there/is room for great economies. l ''But it-is. a : very false form of; economy indeed that saves a few-hundred pounds/by;-.cutting,off-a train; here and there without, consideration for, the general needs of the' public, _and makes unpopular the whole, service. .In. our -issue;/ of De--cember'l6 we put forward a suggest tion'■ showing how by,.'dispatching the 9.15 p.m. through train from; Auckland at 7.30 p.m. a readjustment of the existing-services; could''be made which- .would '.benefit'/.-,-: Wairarapa; Hawke's Bay, and fact,, the whole' of the district' covered by the.'triangle; formed by .the.; three ipoints,.New; Plymouth,/Napier,-ahd;l Wellington.;; ;We need:. hot,; recapitulate what we 'said "on that .occasion, but .the suggestion appears .to; us ,to be ;-v?eH,worth consideration. In anycase,. howeyer, it: is quite impossible that .the present scandalous .state of permitted to continue.'' The .. Dorjartment,- we' be-: lievej recognises/thisj'.-it remains fo;': the Minister, in ' chargo- to admit /it" and to-provide the service which, the.public interest.demands..';,';: '.;■': : -/

The preparations for observing the coming eclipse of the sun, which will be total at Hobart, aro referred to in our cablegrams to-day. Solar eclipses may be total, partial, and annular. Me. Hectou Macpherson, in his Primer of Astronomy, explains that a total eclipse takes place when tho moon is at its nearest point to the earth, and appears large enough to hide the sun; a partial eclipse occurs when the moon is not exactly "on a lino with the sun, and only covers a portion of the disc; an annular eclipse takes place when the moon is at its farthest point from the earth, and does not appear large enough to cover tho disc of the sun. The importance of solar eclipses from I the astronomical point of view is very great, for by their means scientists I "haye. been onabled to observe tho I regions in the vicinity of the sun, i which, but for thp obscuration of the main body of the sun, are lost in the solar glare. Tho solar corona and 1 prominences were first detected during eclipses ; consequently, when a total eclipse of the sun draws near, 1 there is much activity in the astronomical world, and expeditions are fitted out to proceed to the regions crossed by the track of the eclipse. There has not been a total eclipse visible in the United Kingdom since 1715, when the eclipse of that year 1 was observed by the famous astrono- | mer Hmley. AH tho valuable know- ■ ledge which springs from the observation of theso eclipses is due to the I two facts that the moon revolves I round the earth in almost the same plane as the earth's orbit, and that | the moon appears to us about the I same size as the sun." /

A very serious position appears to have arisen in the slaughtering trade. The members of the Slaughtermen's Union, dissatisfied with the rate of payment that is made by the meat freezing companies, _ have presented a demand lor a higher rate, and one which the companies have not seen their way to accede to. Some two years ago the men received 21 shillings per hundred sheep or lambs; but in 1907, after the strike' of slaughtermen, the rate'was'raised ,'to;'-?3.- : snilling's.--per;.--hundre'di---,':N6w i .- a demand is stated to; have been made for 25 shillings.', Conferences have been held,; but so far as Ave can learn jthey have proved abortive. The- latest hews on the subject J is that the' men, ;in compliance -with '.tho--terms.:-of '-the Arbitration .Act which provide for formal; notice of intention : ' to strike,being gjven in certain: cases directly-; affecting the food or other domestic; requirements of .the./public,; have given the/required intimation. .It will bo a very serious matter, for. everyone- should this mean 'that there is;no hope/of settling the/.dispute in any/ ; :other way'--than"-'by.V-.a general '•'strike".-:•■•of: slaughtermen. With the experience of the ; coal workers. of New South Wales before us, with the/attendant loss and Buffering both to the strikers and to the community at large, we/ carl only hope : that before embarking on a:course from/which it may' prove difficult for either side to withdraw, every effort to; arrive at an amicablo settlement will: first be .'exhausted. At. the present stage of affairs we:do not'.think it desirable :to enter :.into the merits of the dispute./';'/;' ':■/■-■"• .';;/., '■' /;

; Disoussinq the imports and ex- : ports for.the 1 December quarter; of the year just,ended). the Ifew Zealand Trade Review writes hopefully of the'outlook. "The'banking and trade returns for the quarter just concluded," it remarks, "are looked forward Ito with considerable interest, and we think there, is every reason to anticipate that the results will prove to be unusually 'favourable and satisfactory. We expect to seo,; as xompared with .the statistics of a year ago, a shrinkage in the value'of impprts ahdan increase;in exports sufficient to negative tho experience of recent; years and bring the two sides to an approximate cdu'ality, possibly even showing} a slight excess of exports over imports. As regards exports, wool and dairy produce have come forward exceptionally early. Shipments of butter and cheese' to December 31 exceed in value those of the corresponding per-

iod of last year by about £250,000. The quantity of wool brought to auction to the same date also exceeds that of last year by some 28,000 bales. The proceeds of 'these: products com-' ing to book unusually early must have a favourable, offect oh the financial position. Of course the JanuaryMarch Quarter is the. important period of the year in respect of our export trade, the. proportion of our products going forward in that per-' lod being usually about 40 per cent, in value of the "whole year. . The total value of our exports: for that 'period is usually about £7,000,000, and the current'season promises to be an exceptionally ;gobd one. • With improving' commercial prospects- in the world generally the outlook before the Dominion for: the year upon which we have -just ohtored >is most oncouraging." Our -contemporary's views coincide with, those expressed 'm these columns, and we think will find endorsement amongst thoughtful people. There is still;! leeway .to make up, but the prospect to-day-is more pleasing :than it was this time twelve months ago.: : -