NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 34, 9 February 1926, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

"Better Off Than Me." . '' I want you fellows to carry away something," said the Rev. T. Fielden Taylor, speaking to a room-full of Senior Cadets on ,the subject of "Toe H" at the Community Club last night. "You chaps are better off than me. You can walk, I can't; you can run, I can't. You have the whole of your lives in front of you; I have only a little bit left. I wish to God I had your chances, you who are healthy and strong with every opportunity at the beginning of life. Listen. .. . Can you make up your minds to get the spirit of Toe H, to do what you can to help someone outside your own circle, when you can, where you can, all your lives f If you do, then, later in life, when you are full of years, you will have the fullness of the joy of being able to say: 'Well, I have been of use to somebody.'" (Applause.)

Yes—Not Learned counsel are often moved to protest against what they term "Yes— no" answers on the part of clients. v ln the main such answers are given with malice aforethought in the hope that an awkward question may be avoided, but there was no such intention behind a somewhat surprising answer given by a witness in the Supreme Court yesterday afternoon. The witness was asked a certain question, and the answer came: "Oh, no, no. That is so. No!" An Absence of "Crooks." Dunedin itaelf is admittedly a lawabiding community, but as the weeks go by and tens of thousands of strangers pass through the city, one wonders more and more at the-fact that crime in our midst not only does not increase, but is practically below normal, states "The Post's" Dunedin correspondent. Such offences aa thefts from hotels, cheque frauds, and luggage thefts, which might reasonably be expected to increase in the circumstances, have been few and far between during the Exhibition period. Few of the graver crimes have been committed, but the offenders so far as the police have ascertained, are not "crooks" from other parts, from" whom we were led to expect visits. , * ■ Story of a "Pag."

"11l tell you another story, the story of a 'fag,'" said the Bey. T. Fielden Taylor, Padre of Toe H., addressing 350 Senior Cadets on the subject of the "Toe H. Movement" at the Community Club, Buckle street, last night "It was at the Dardanelles. In the trenches one man had a 'fag,' a glorious 'fag,' » whole 'fag.' (Laughter). And 100 men had none. There was no shop. If en had money rattling in their pockets; it was no good to them —there were no shops. Turkey was in front of them, a little bit of New Zealand at the back. . . . And there was one whole 'fag.' 'Bill' had that 'fag.' There were 24 men in a row, in the trench. 'Bill' took a whiff of that solitary 'fag,' then passed it on to the next man, who took a whiff, and so that 'fag,' a glorious bit of nicotine, giving pleasure wherever it went, was passed on down the line until it reached the last man the 24th man. When he got it it was so small and so hot that he simply put it to his lips, took his whiff, and blew it from him. And so the 24 men shared in that wonderful 'fag.'. It showed the spirit of unselfishness, the spirit that was evidenced at the Dardanelles. I want you to emulate that spirit, the spirit, of Too H." (Applause.) "Grandmother" Council. Besides the possession of a judicial mind, the attributes of a Magistrate must sometimes include a greater share of patience than in usually meted to the average man. The benevolent temperament of Mr. J. Q. L. Hewitt, 8.M., was sorely tried in the Magistrate's Court, at Wellington, recently, when he was dealing with an application made by the City Council asking for the demolition of a 50-year-old building on Wellington terrace. The defendant was an elderly spinster, and she informed the" Court in a very emphatic manner that the building should not be demolished,, and incidentally gave the Magistrate her opinion of the City Council, which she thanked in sarcastic tones for the "grandmotherly" w*y in which it had been r looking after her business. The council alleged - that her house was unfit for habitation, but the defendant replied that sho had other houses which were worse. His Worship argued with the woman, and tried to persuade her to take some action in having the building repaired. He suggested she should meet him in the matter. "I don't want to be met," tartly replied the defendant. "I have power to order you to pull it down," explained the Magistrate. "Well, do it," answered the defendant. The Magistrate made an order that repairs would have to be commenced within six months. "I won't agree to that," added defendant, as she left the Court. "At anyratc, I will be ia England then." t

' 'Not a Fair Question," Heard in the Maintenance Court yesterday: Counsel (to defendant): "Your wife is 10 years older than you; how many husbands has she had!" Defendant: "Not more than two." Counsel: "Did you marry her, or did she marry you?" "That is not a fair question," laughingly remarked Mr. C. E. Orr Walker, S.M. The Ideal Pacific Island. "The islands are fertile, and native products grow abundantly in return for little effort," states Dr. S. M. Lambert, M.D., in a report on the Cook Islands to the Rockefeller Foundation. "One sees ripening oranges, and on the same tree blossoms for the second. crop that year. Native foods, yams, taros, bananas, kumaras (sweot potatoes), manioca, and many other fruits are profuse. Snail sucking pigs are valued, at ten shillings. In the taxo swamps grow eels that have the most delicate flavour of any fish I have eaten, especially that from Mitiaro Island, which is sui generis. Near many islands fish are abundant. These is- | lands, and especially Aitutaki, nearly approaches the average man's conception of the ideal Pacific Island." Self-firing Coal. In the course of the discussion at the Mining Conference at Dunedin on Thursday afternoon on "Spontaneous Combustion and Underground Fires in Coal Mines," Mr. A. G. Macdonald (an officer of the Mines Department of the Federated Malay States) ■■• stated that, they had in the Malayan collieries a coal very similar in composition to Kaitangata coal, but even more fiery. It was so fiery, indeed, that it was well night impossible to store it. If a truck full of the coal was left for a mon Jh it would catch fire; and it would fire in the mine to such an extent that they could not work it on the pillar Bystem. They had to cut the coal out in sections and fill in with sand as they went along. The sand was obtained six miles away from the coal mine, reports the-"Star." They worked a tin mine there on purpose to get the sand, and the tin they got just paid for the sand. The sand-filling was done hydraulically. Ono of the advantages of this system was that they got out 100 per cent,'of coal.

A Road Improvement. Just beyond the Akatarawa turn-off from the main road north of Upper Hutt, this Public Works Department has in hand the straightening out of the dangerous "S" bend, quite well known to motorists, by a heavy cutting through a clay and boulder bank, and filling in, with the spoil so obtained, a steep-sided gully head round which the old road ran. It should be possible for the new length of road to be thrown open ot traffic in a few weeks' time, that the consolidation of the filling, helped along as rapidly as possible by rolling, may be completed by ordinary road traffic, but as the original gully bottom is fifteen or twenty feet below the new road level the settling down to real solidity will be a matter of months rather than, of weeks. Possibly the road loses some of its attractiveness by running straight %head over a short embankment and through a cutting, instead of by a double curve with a different grade at each turn, but if it loses in appearance it will make it all up in greater safety.

A Health Survey. The opinion is expressed by Dr. S. M. Lambert, of the Rockefeller Foundation, that the Cook Islands have no grave public health problems to face except the serious one of soil sanitation. Leprosy, which has been difficult to handle properly heretofore, should, he says, cease after a time if those at present infected are carefully weeded out and sent to Mokagai, the leper station, at Fiji. Yaw,s, on the whtile, has been handled well. If present plans as outlined by the medical department are carried out, yaws will cease'to exist, except in a sporadic form as carried into the group. Hookworms could be eliminated as an economic factor, in all probability, by two thorough mass treatments separated by an interval of a year. Hookworm work should carry with it instruction in simple sanitation. Dr. Lambert, however, utters a warning that steps should be taken to guard against an epidemic of typhoid, and suggests measures that should be adopted to' prevent such a calamity. <• Fishing In IC&rtborough Sounds. ' Visitors to the Marlborough Sounds this year, while appreciating the excellence of the Sounds as a holiday resort, express disappointment at the poorness of the fishing in comparison with what it was a few years ago. So far as Queen Charlote Sound is concerned, it is said to offer better facilities from a fishing point of view than Pelorous Sound, especially in Tory Channel, where cod are fairly plentiful. There are wider expanses of water in Pelorus than in the other sound, but it is only by going well down towards the entrance to Pelorus Sound that schnapp^r and blue cod are to be obtained in any quantity. The cod season, of course, does not commence properly until June, but at this period of the year they were formerly to be caught in plenty. A resident of Pelorus Sound gave it as his opinion that the denudation of the hills overlooking the Sounds of their former coverings of rich native bush was reponsible for the fishing having been spoiled. "Years ago," he said, "the numerous streams coming down from the hills used to be clear, but now they are full of mud,"and fish do not want to feed in muddy water." Another Sounds resident was inclined to the opinion that the great increase in the number of launches plying about in the Sounds was a factor contributing to the falling-off in the number of fish to be had, his theory being that there was now such a quantity of oil in the water through the practice of throwing empty oil cans overboard, that the fish had shown their resentment by moving off elsewhere. The real explanation, of course, may be that amateur holiday fishermen require a few lessons on how to fish, but whether that be the case or not, the fact is that "fish-yarns" from the Sounds have been, like the fish, a rarity for a year or two. ; . "Dear Old Khaki." "I have the greatest pleasure at seeing you in dear old khaki," said the Rev. T. Fielden Taylor, Padre of "Toe H.," addressing 350 Senior Cadets on parade at the Community Club, Buckle street, last night. "I make no bones about it. I believe in khaki, the more the merrier—(applause)—because I spent five years with it. It is not so much the khaki that matters; it is what's inside it I used to talk to khaki hundreds of times in Trentham, on board troopship, in the desert, at the Dardanelles, in France, in England; but this is about the first time since the War I have had the priceless privilege of talking to khaki. There is a sort of spirit behind khaki that you will not find any■rfhero else in the world. It is the spirit of Toe H. . . . One lesson we learnt during the War was that any man would do anything for anybody at any time anywhere if he needed it. It was in. that spirit that Toe H was born, and is now growing up."

Upper Hutt Mayoralty. A deputation representing residents and ratepayers of Upper Hutt, Trentham, and Silverstream, in the east and west ward of the newly-formed Borough of Upper Hutt, waited upon Mr. W. H. P. Barber with a request that he should contest the Mayoralty of the borough at the forthcoming elections. Beference was made by the speakers to their high appreciation of his past public services, which included a term in Parliament and twenty-five, years' work as a member of the Wellington City Council. Mr. Barber, in reply, said that he had felt that he should retire from public life altogether, but he now felt it his duty to accede to the request and allow his name to go forward. Loans and Bates. If there is one point on which the ratepayer is touchy it certainly is rates, and consequently the announcement that a City Council loan of £330,----000 has been floated on the London market has prompted quite a few anxious inquiries: "What about my.ratjjs next year?" Happily, if all goes according to plan and estimate—which has, unfortunately, not always been the case in city work, but may well be in this regard—rates will not go up an account of this loan. The £330,000 is made up of £200,000 for the paving of city streets, as authorised by the ratepayers last year, and £.130,000 for paving under the City and Suburban Highways scheme. It has been stated (in fact this was the main argument when the proposal was put forward) that heavy traffic fees, plus savings in maintenance, would be ample to meet interest and sinking fund charges on the £200,000 loan, and that Hutt road fees, which aro' the concern of the motorist, who may or may not also be a ratepayer, would take care of capital charges upon the £130,000 loan.. Popularity of .Athletics. A notable feature of the growing popularity of athletics in "Wellington is the evening sports meetings. Certainly it is praiseworthy on the part of the local Amateur Athletic Centre to encourage the early evening meeting, for not only is greater inducement afforded the competitor to keep wellmaintained his fitness, but the public appetite for this form of sport has been whetted. It is now no common happening to find crowded tramcars bound to the scene of the evening athletic contests, and as one old-time sprinter remarked last night, 'Tootball is now not the only sport to attract the publicl" The presence in New Zealand of,, two American champions has given a fillip to the athletes' enthusiasm. At a sports meeting held at Athletic Park last evening there was a fine gathering of enthusiasts who were rewarded by attending, for there were some good performances, considering the cold conditions. A Tribute. In the introduction to his health survey of the Cook Islands, Dr. 8. M. Lambert, of the International Health Board of the Rockefeller Foundation, says: "The survey was begun, on 15th November, 1925, and lasted till 12th January, 1926. The party consisted of Malakai Veisamasama, a Fijian medical practitioner, and the writer. It is well to assert here that Malakai, who has been intimately associated with me for more than three and a half years, is the best microscopist I have ever had under me, and has always been a cheerful, competent, faithful assistant. He is a credit to the system of. the English fash-' ion of education given him by the colony of Fiji. For the success of the survey I am indebted to Sir Maiii Pomare, a great man of a great race, who paved the way for our trip, and made it an easy one. He has the confidence of the Maoris of- the Cook Gtoup, and I heard little criticism of his administration from the Europeans." Another Naval Visit, Visits of foreign men-o'-war to New Zealand waters are now much more frequent than they used to be before the war. A couple of years ago the French warship Aldebaran came to Wellington; there was also the visit of a Japanese training squadron; then followed the arrival of the American battle fleet; a French warship, the Cassiopee, is now in Wellington; and on Thursday week, 18th February, another Japanese vessel, the training ship Iwate, is expected to arrive here, and will be in port for five days, proceeding thence to Auckland and Fiji. The Iwate was built in Britain and is of 9770 tons. She fought in the Busso-Japanese War, and at the Battle of Tsuchima sank the Russian cruiser Burik, drove off two other enemy ships, and was holed by seventeen shells 'in the process. While in New Zealand waters the officers will receive free railway passes, and a big complement of officers and men will be taken to see the sights at Botorua.

Soon it will be possible to telephone to any part of the South Island from any town in the North Island. There will be no increase in charge on the present rate 'of trunk communication in either the North or South Island, namely, one-fifth of a penny per mile. The cost of a conversation between Wellington and Nelson or Wellington and Ghristchurch will be about 3s for three minutes.

"There are very few criminal offences to punish,'' says Dr. S. M. Lambert, of the Rockefeller Foundation, ia a report on' the Cook Islands,; "most of the derelictions being nonpayment of taxes ) and, except for graver offences, the prisoners return to their home each night after their day's task for the Government is done. The avowed plan of New Zealand in the Cook Islands is to teach the natives to govern themselves so far and as soon as possible. The natives are contented with the administration given them by New Zealand.' 1

An interesting exhibit was produced at the Onehunga Court yesterday wHen George White and Arthur Whiteman were charged with shooting a godwit without a license. The game, which was shot a month ago on the Mangere Beach, was produced, but having been kept in cold storage inthe interval, it was quite inoccuous. White pleaded guilty and was fined £5. Whiteman admitted being in White's company,, but stated that he was "looking out for sharks." He was given the benefit of the doubt, the information being dismissed. "I have enjoyed my trip to New Zealand, and I like its people," said Mr. "Bengtsson, a Swedish journalist, who recently visited Auckland, "but in it necessary to look so serious? Life is a serious thing, that is true, but when walking about Auckland I always have a feeling of taking part in a funeral procession. I do not mean to say that you should laugh loudly in the streets, but you can look Berious in many different ways, and I certainly did not expect more stiffness in New Zealand thanin England." ■

Officers of .the Wellington Engineers, Stationary, Traction, and Locomotive Engine-drivers and Firemen's Union for the ensuing year have been elected us follows: President, D. Baird; vifcepresidont, C. Adams; trustees, 6. Adams and W. IVazer; committee, O. C. Hewison, 11. C. Hodge'tts, P. Meehan, W. Eudduck, and H. Hewson; delegates to Wellington Trades,and Labour Council and to Wellington Labour Representation Committee, J. Bead and W. Baird; delegate to Workers' Educational Association, C. Adams.