LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 143, 20 June 1925, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

"If you asked me how philanthropy goes," said Mr. L. M. Isitt, M.P., at a meeting of the Dominion Scout Council at Chnstchurch, "I would say Auckland first, then Dunedjn. They are Scotch there, bnt the notion that Scotchmen are not generous is foolish. They are thrifty to a degree, but convince a Scotchman that a movement is worthy and he will support it." A striking testimony to the new spirit in the New Zealand railway service was seen this week at the Winter Show afc Palmerston North -in the shape of a well-displayed booth opening on one of the aisles in the agricultural section of the show under cover. Here Mr. A. M'Neil, of- the Commercial Division of the railways, was able to discuss directly with farmers and other visitors to the Show any question of mutual business interest and to answer inquiries on points about which there was any doubt. This enterprise on the part of the Railway Department is bein™ highly appreciated by the public, and the courtesy of officials in charge has been a matter of very favourable comment.

"I have- .nothing to say against technical education," said Mr. Hoe at the Auckland Education Board meetirg this week, "but we have to lace the fact that boys are being turned down on account of the time they have spent at the technical schools." The speaker quoted an employer who had said that hoys'who came _to him with two or three years' technical school commercial training thought they knew- all there was to learn about accountancy, yet they sometimes did not know how to address a business envelope properly. They were suffering from swelled head (reports the "New Zealand Herald"). "I do not think much of that man's judgment, then!" spoke up a member of the board "Well the employer is the judge erf the situation, ( returned Mr. Hoe, "and after 20 years experience we find the employers W Do fc ff T^S Ye an hour off to attend classes,* nor do the boys receive one penny extra in wages." At a later stage,of the meeting, Mr. Hoe explained that he had not wished Weft °? tha *«haical colleges bat was merely repeating a statement of an opinion based of an employer s personal experience.

The nine lepers, consisting of four Mao™, two Chinese, and three Europeans who are shortly to be trusteed from Qu_ a fl Uoad, Lyttelton Harbour, +o Mokogai leper station in the Fiji group arc assured of" a delightful homo (states a correspondent). Dr. Frengley of £"* m Hostel, who returned to Auckland on Thursday by tho Navna after nvivweeks among typhoid cases at fcnva, had the opportunity of visiting Mokogai, and stated that it was out ot the most boaatifnl and attractive Kjands that could be found anywhere. Mokogai, an island with an area of about nve square miles, lies about twenty-five north-east of Levuka. "There are some 300 lepers living on this delightful Place said- Dr. Frengley, "and lam told that. many who recover from the scourge of leprosy do not want to leave it. Here in a tropical climate, surrounded by all the beauties of Nature, the lepers pass away the time as happily aa is possible. Indeed, the New Zealand lepers could not go to a better place " Dr. Neff, a Canadian, was in charge of the station, and he had eight nnns assisting. They were wonderfn] people and were doing splendid work. The island was equipped with schools arid an np-to-date hospital with proper wards, etc. Everything possible was done to ensure the happiness of the lepers, and among other things there was a picture palace. "Sing songs" were a popular form of entertainment. Few of the_ lepers were in a bad state, but the majority of them were improving. Mar, riage is prohibited, and the men and the women live in different settlements. Both sexes are allowed, to intermingle, however, at certain periods during the day. Dr._ Frengley \\;as greatly impressed with tho economic conditions existing on tho island. The lepers grew all their own food, mid wore paid for their labour. They also ran a co-operative store, and generally spent (heir earnings in small luxuries, 'such as tobacco, etc. The community was run by lepers for lepers. They had their own policemen, whose duty it was to see that everything proceeded smoothly. All the patients at present at Quail Island have consented to go to Jlokogai. The Quail Island station will be closed, and the cost of maintenance, of the lepers at Mokogai will be borne by the New Zealand Government.

"•Are yon a member of the Salvation w y T?^- ked the Magistrate, Mr. tession of religion," was the ans^eE _ SL wthont religion there is £0 standard of morality ' vied to give us freedom. Mount Cook « ""questionably the site for ffiariSS thS^? °t to the Government that jt should use the site at the X? °f Lambton quay and Molesworth street which has been granted to the Wellington. Memorial Committee for the purpose of burying- jST ew Zealand's Unknown Soldier there. It will be remembered that the officers' of -the French Fleet when visiting A Tew Zealand ?S gH,a to place on the tomb o. JN ew Zealand's Unknown Soldier The Government also is committed to the National Memorial and it has occurred to me that something suitable in this way might be placed round the whole of Parliament House. This would also serve a double purpose. It would make a beautiful symbolical memorial and would do away with the unsightly fence enclosing Parliament grounds and impress upon New Zealanders that a fence is an ugly thing which always destroys the handiwork of the architect and builder."'

Eepresenting the famous Bishop Museum of Honolulu, Dr. Gerrit P Wilder is at present in Auckland. The doctor, who is accompanied by his -wife, has just completed a research expedition of.the islands in the Tahitian group, and he is engaged primarily in the unnsual task of introducing various specimens of breadfruit from the different islands into Hawaii (states a correspondent)^ Dr; Wilder is one of a party of scientists from the Bishop Museum who left Honolulu on a private yacht in November last. They touched afc Fanning, Christmas, Maiden, and Penrhyn Islands, and then went to Tahiti. Dr. Wilder has already introduced the Tahitian breadfruit into Hawaii, and he now intends to do the same with the Apian species, which is a very good one. He holds a special commission from the Government, of the United States, which empowers him to introduce fruit into America. Specimens which the doctor sends, home will be put in the United States experimental stations in Honolulu, and after a time they will be distributed to responsible people throughout the Hawaiian Islands. Breadfruit is one of the staple foods of the natives in the islands of the Pacific. It is about the size of an ordinary football, green, and when baked resembles in taste a fresh scone. To show what interest the breadfruit has as far as New Zealand is concerned, Dr. Peter Buck" supplied the following story: The chief of the Arawa canoe, one of the colonising fleet of 1350, had become embroiled with the high chief Nenuku, of. Tahiti, or Hawaiki of the Maoris. . He had taken fruit from a special tree at the back of Uenuku's house. Thai, is the cause attributed to the leaving of the Arawa canoe for New Zealand. In the ordinary traditional account the tree was called the "Poroporo" (Solanum avictLlare). , ■ . ■

Though the Big Exhibition directors have not let it out officially, it is common knowledge that they have had before them a tentative proposal—or per^ haps a suggestion—as to securing a rodeo as one of the attractions at Logan Park from November onwards . (states the Dunedin "Star"). A rodeo, be it explained, is a rounding up of cattle according to ranch custom, as exemplified by Colonel Cody and his imitators, with spectacular accessories, such as the throwing of the lariat, and the subjugation of .unruly steers. The very idea is exciting, and it would be novel in NewZealand. But the proposal, or whatever it amounted to, is nipped in the bud. Dunedin is not to be the theatre, at present, of such thrills as a rodeo provides. The position as it stood a /week ago was that certain persons who are successfully running open-air amusements in Christchurch have the idea of importing the necessary performers—Mexicans, Argentinos, and perhaps Australians—to show off their skill as practised in the world's big ranches, and these promoters, thinking that Dunedin would like to participate as one of the Exhibition features, appointed a delegation to visit Dunedin and make inquiries. But this preliminary has sufficed to strangle the scheme so* far as Dunedin is concerned. The delegation visited Logan Park on Wednesday, and asked about the possibility of seating thousands and effectually excluding the other thousands who might not want to pay, and as the demands in that direction could not be complied with they at once voted the proposal unworkable, and have gone back to Christchurch to report to that effect. It is a pity. The people at large will, want novelties, and it will be a great step towards the continuous success of the Exhibition if the first batches of visitors can, upon returning to their home districts, tell their friends that in Dunedin they can see things that they never saw Before, and may never see again.