NEWS IN BRIEF

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 174, 20 April 1937, Page 11

NEWS IN BRIEF

Large Sunspots A group of sun-spots fully 50,000 miles in length lias broken out since Sunday afternoon, when there was no trace of it, states Mr. G. V. Hudson, Karori. There are five component spots of moderate size and several smaller ones. The group is situated in the sun’s Eastern Hemisphere, nearly halfway between the eastern limb and the central meridian. It will be favourably placed for observation for about a week, and may be well worth watching, as its development has been unusually rapid. Wreath at the War Memorial. The executive of the Combined English County Societies has resolved to place a wreath at the Wellington War .Memorial on the morning of St. George’s Day, April 23. The Rt. Hon. Sir Michael Myers, F.C., K.C.M.G., has consented to place the wreath on the memorial on behalf of the combined societies at 11 a.m. There will not be any service. N.Z.A.F. Candidates. A meeting of candidates for shoi-t service commissions in the Royal New Zealand Air Force will be held at Parliament Buildings this morning, and it is expected there will be a large number present. The meeting is the outcome of the recent call for applications to serve in the Air Force. The candidates selected to receive their training in the Dominion will first undergo aii elementary course of instruction in ground duties, and flying, and upon the successful completion of this course, if satisfactory, they will be sent to England where, as soon as possible after arrival they will be posted to R.A.F. units. Federation of Labour. The conference of the New Zealand Federation of Labour, the new unified organisation of industrial labour, concluded yesterday. The national executive appointed by the conference will meet to-day to make arrangements for carrying on the work of the federation, the headquarters of which are to be established in Wellington. The concluding stages of the conference were attended by the ActingPrime Minister, Hon. P. Fraser, who was thanked for presiding at the opening of the conference, and for the interest he had shown in the proceedings. Mr. Fraser wished the work of the federation every success. The conference concluded with the singing of “The Red Flag.” Guaranteed Prices. Canadian interest in the New Zealand Government’s scheme of guaranteed prices for dairy produce is referred to in a letter received by the secretary of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union, Mr. A. P. O’Shea, from the secretary of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. The letter states that in view of the fact that the wheatgrowers of Western Canada had been advocating the setting of guaranteed prices for wheat and that the 20,000 patrons of Ontario last year asked for a guaranteed price on cheese, the experiment New Zealand is trying in the matter of guaranteed prices was being watched by the Canadian producers with extreme interest.

A Traveller’s Impressions. A very favourable impression of the thoroughness with which arrangements are made for tourists in New Zealand was formed by Mr. G. I. Henderson, Glasgow, who is visiting the Dominion. He said that the arrangements were much more complete than in other countries. He considered New Zealand a very attractive country for tourists, and not unlike Scotland. It appeared, however, that it was rather underpopulated, though he did not know whether immigration on a large scale would be commercially justified. One of his least favourable impressions was that the prices of goods were very high, in some cases twice as much as those in Britain.

“Coffee” From Baked Liver. “Coffee” made from baked liver was one instance of dishonesty in the making of foods in the last century in England, given by Mr. R. L. Andrew, acting Government analyst, in an address to the Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry. A report of the Analytical Sanitary Commission (1851) recorded that there were in London “liver bakers,” who took the livers of oxen and horses, baked and ground them into a powder, which they sold to low-priced coffee-shop keepers. This powder was generally mixed- with coffee and with vegetable imitations of coffee. Artificial peppercorns were made of linseed cake, clay and cayenne pepper; while the cayenne itself was artificially coloured with red lead, Venetian red /■ and occasionally vermilion. It was abuses such as these which led to legislation governing the sale of foods and drugs.