NEWS IN BRIEF

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 150, 21 March 1939, Page 11

NEWS IN BRIEF

Equinox Today

Summer will officially pass today with the autumnal equinox. Though the meteorological season cannot be fixed in advance with any certainty, it has been found that in most localities the actual season coincides fairly closely with the calendar season, which is arbitrarily attached to the occurrence of equinoxes and solstices. At midnight. tonight the sun will cross the equator and enter the northern hemisphere, and it will move northward till the middle of June, when the shortest day will occur.

Infectious Diseases. For the week ended yesterday, 10 cases of infectious disease and one death, from tuberculosis, were reported to the Wellington office of the Health Department for the central Wellington area. There were four cases of tuberculosis, three of septic abortion, two of diphtheria and one case of erysipelas. Maori War Canoe.

The second craft to be completed of seven Maori war canoes which are being constructed by Princess Te Puea for the Centennial celebrations next year made its appearance ou the Waikato River at the Ngaruawahia Regatta on Saturday. Built in three massive sections to give it an overall length of 98ft., the canoe is carved with the grotesque imagery of Maori symbolism, and, manned by several score of Natives in their tribal costumes, it furnished a striking spectacle as it swept along the river.

Dead Norfolk Island Pines. A dozen years ago Oriental Parade, Wellington, was planted with Norfolk Island pines, the most picturesque tree for the purpose, and one which flourishes as a rule, near the sea. Most of these trees took firm root and are doing well, but there are half-a-dozen, behind paling guards, nearest to Fitzgerald’s Point, which have given up the ghost. These are to be uprooted during the coming winter and replaced with pohutukawas 6ft. high. It is considered that the position is a little too exposed for the pines, and pohutukawas may do better.

Garden Plots in Aotea Quay. A fairly large gang of men wars employed yesterday throwing bricks to one another on the plots of ground in front of the new Social Security building in Aotea Quay, Wellington. The bricks are being used to outline the garden paths in front and at the southern end of tiie new structure. Quite a large area on the corner nearest Waterloo Quay is being laid out in garden plots, and also a strip extending along the front of the building. The director of parks and reserves, Mr. J. G. MacKenzie, has been requested to do this work by the contractors, the Fletcher Construction Company, but the time at his disposal is very limited. Soil was carted to the spot yesterday.

Beautiful Begonias. Wellington’s Botanical Gardens, despite the long dry spell and the warm days, are looking very beautiful at present, and those who have a spare hour can find cool repose and colourful loveliness band-in-hand in these care-fully-tended grounds under the Tiuokori hills. There is also the added attraction of the begonia house ou the hill in the centre of the gardens. To miss these aristocratic exotics of the garden is to forgo pleasure born of rarest form and colour that only nature could devise. Though there were counter-attractions on Sunday afternoon and the sky was' overcast, there was a large attendance at the house on the hill. A New Transport Problem.

The situation of the new Social Security building on Aotea Quay, Wellington, presents a new problem in transport. The building, which will afford' office accommodation for 409 clerks, has been placed ou the waterfront, well away from the chief means of transport. ■ The manager of the municipal tramways, Mr. Cable, has been asked by the Government to give attention to tlie problem. The new building is a good half-mile from the railway statioii, and there are no means of travelling that distance down Waterloo Quay except by walking or by taxi. And it is a hot, dusty walk. There is an approximate tramway approach by taking a car to Thorndon Quay, leaving it at the Davis Street intersection, and walking across the railway bridge, but even that walk would occupy seven or eight minutes. The only other alternative is a bus service morning, noon, aud evening. This offers some difficulty as there is no business to be picked up on the journey other than that to the new Government building, and that would' be only one way. From wbat point buses serving the Social Security building should start to serve the majority of the people concerned