NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 4, 5 July 1926, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Conciliation Council Sittings. A sitting of the Conciliation Council was to have boeit hold to-day to consider claims filed by the Wellington Buildors' Union, but owing to the indisposition of the secretary of the union (Mr. J. Road) it was necessary to postpone tho sitting indefinitely. A Con-, ciliation Council will sit on Wedncs' day to consider the hairdressers' dispute, and on Thursday and Friday an application by tho Cooks and Stewards' Union for a Dominion award will bo under review. Red Cross Society. _ Advice has boon received from tho Director-General of the League of Red Cross Societies that the president of the French . Society for the encouragement of national industry, on behalf of that society, lias seen fit to confer its highest distinction, the "Chaptal Gold Medal," upon the Leaguo of Red Cross Societies, in recognition of tho great work performed by it throughout the world on behalf of sick and suffering humanity. The medal is conferred once in six years, and this is first time it has been bestowed upon any international organisation. An Eternal Law. The "New Zealand Railway Magazine" does all in its power to further the "safety first" campaign, and its last number contains a list of injunctions t~> railway workers in order to minimise risk to life aud limb. It concludes this portion of the issue with tho following: "The law of cause and effect takes no account of modern conditions. It was the same when Noah built tho Ark as when Dunedin built the Exhibition. But whereas Ham and Shem had little to take their minds off boatbuilding, tho modern worker has a thousand outside interests to divert his mental processes from the mechanical work in hand —and with every diversion the hazards aro multiplied. Hence the need for constant vigilance and observance of the laws of Safety First.'' Statistics Wanted. Officers of local bodies in Canterbury, and presumably in other parts of the Dominion, have not received with any outward manifestations of joy a communication from the Government Statistician asking for more statistics (remarks the Christchureh "Press"). In order to remedy a long-standing defect in the statistics of production, it has been decided to collect statistical information relating to the building industry, and the co-operation of builders, contractors, and others is asked in tho initial collection of such information. The forms to be filled in are imposing, and the information asked 1 for ranges from the value of land and buildings used for workshop purposes and the cost on tho job of material used, to a list of the wages paid to employees. The roturn is to be made available to officers of the Forestry Department, "who will treat tho particulars as confidential as far as individual returns aro concerned." The information is to bo supplied by the end of the present month, and there is provision for a penalty of £20 for failing to supply the information desired. Delightful Norfolk Island. The Hinemoa arrived back at Auckland on Sunday from Norfolk Island with a number of returned trippers, who are delighted with their experiences, states a Press Association message Thirteen of the party were so pleased with tho attractions of the island that thoy are staying over till the "next trip of the steamer. Mr. B. H. Turner, who has travelled extensively in the Cook and Society Groups, says that Norfolk Island is the plcasantest spot of them all. Keeping tho Camp Fires Burning. In establishing tho camp for road workers at North Balclutha tho Public Works Department neglected to provide firewood for the men (reports the Balclutha correspondent of the "Otago Daily Times"). In/ consequeneo tho men have been rendered desperate, and anything removable in the shape of firewood in the vicinity of the camp has been disappearing like snow before the midday sun. The borough foreman's j report, read at tho meeting of tho Balclutha Borough Council on Wednesday | night last, contained the following sentence: "About 64 posts and 100 droppers, or the whole length of one fence protecting a ditch in North Balclutha reserve, have been used by Public Works men for firewood; also about two loads of macrocarpa wood from . the quarry and a small platform, ladder, and protecting timber at the crusher." It was also stated that tho bunks and wooden floors from unoccupied tents at the camp have been taken for firewood, and portions of the Barnego settlors' fences. A councillor (jocularly): "It is a good job tho borough chambers arc this side of the river, or they would have removed them piecemeal." It was decided that the clerk should write the district engineer (Mr. J. R. Marks) on ,| tho subject, so as to get an undertaking in writing that the damage to the borough's property would bo made good when the camp was struck. A Homeless Bishop. It is announced (say 3 "The Post's" Loudon correspondent), in "Tho Southern Cross Log," that tho English Committee of the. Melanesian Mission has undertaken to raise £500 by July to provide a house for Bishop Molyneux, who, "far from living'in an Episcopal palace, is at present homeless." The sum of £200 is already in hand, and further donations are asked for. It is felt that many English friends of the Bishop will bo glad to have an opportunity of helping him in this way. The Rev. F. Lylo Uppleby has entered upon his work as travelling secretary for the Melanesian Mission in the Mother Country, with great zest and energy. From February to mid-May ho had covered a distance of more than 6000 miles in his motor-car, aud had addressed meetings in nearly every part of England, everywhere exciting keen intcre_J concerning the mission. Deaths From Drowning. "Drowning fatalities are all too common in New Zealand, as will be seen from tho following table, taken partly from the New Zealand Official Year Book and partly from figures supplied by the Government Statistician," stated tho annual report of tho Now Zealand Council of the Royal Life-saving Society, presented at the annual meeting at Christchureh last Thursday. "Auckland, total for five years (1921----25), 260, equal to 63 per 100,000 population; Hawkes Bay, 42; Taranaki, 42; Wellington, 156; Marlborough, 11; Nelson, 27; Westland, 22; Canterbury, 70; Otago, SS; Southland, 31. ■ Total number of deaths, 719. With a spread of the knowledge of swimming and lifesaving, this heavy death rate from drowning ought to bo substantially reduced, and not until a largo reduction has been effected can the society's work be regarded as anything like thoroughly done. In this connection, we must express our deep appreciation of tho educational, work of the New Zealand Amateur Swimming Association, which in 1924, the last year for which returns are available, issued no less than 12,539 certificates to schoo'3 children learning to swim. "As the number of proficiency certificates issued during the past season is only 448, or loss than ono and a half per cent, of tho possiblo total, it is evident that wo have a very long way to go before wo attain tho 'idoal of having ovory man, woman, and child a swimmer, and every; swimmer a life-saver."

Spring Coming. The latter part of June saw the early lambs in tho Manawatu district. It will not be long before the spring make of butter will begin. The off-season on tho farm is roally not a very long one. At the prico. of land it can hardly afford to be. Swimming Awards. During tho 1925-26 season, 1156 awards were made by the New Zealand Council of the Royal Lifo-saving Society, of which 511 were issued to the Wellington Centre, 281 to Canterbury, 160 to Hawkes Bay, 152 to Wanganui, and 52 to Taranaki; No awards of any kind were issued to either the Auckland or Otago Centres, and in this connection tho annual report of tho society, presented at Christchureh last Thursday, says: "It is a matter of groat concern to the council that two of tho seven centres are doing practically no work at all; this deplorable state of affairs must bo remedied, if possible, during the coining season." Building Activity in Christchureh. Building activity has shown a great recovery in Christchureh as compared with last year, states "The Post's" Christchureh correspondent. During tho first three months of the present financial year, 342 permits were issued, for buildings of an aggregate value of £286,469, representing an increase of 70 permits and 88 per cent, in value. The principal cause of the increase has been the commencement of a number of large contracts in the central busiress area. There has also been an increase in all the residential areas except Woolston. Provincial Co-operation. Tho Minister of Education (Hon. R. A. Wright) on Saturday made a suggestion to the people of Hawkes Bay in regard to tho use of the money from the Howard bequest for agricultural education, says a Press Association message from Napier. He asked the people to consider associati. g the money from the estate with one big agricultural college, instead of a number of small institutions all over the place. If they would agree it would strengthen thoir position and at the same time give Hawkes Bay tho uso of tho money immediately. His idea was not to absorb the money or neglect Hawkes Bay. "Wo already, have Auckland and Wellington pulling together," he said, "and we aro now trying to get others in to make one good college. As it is now tho money from the Howard bequest is accumulating, and you aro getting no benefit. It is purely a matter.for tho Hawkes Bay people, and let me reitorate that the'ro is no desire to absorb the money from the estate. We could not expect that. I can see, howover, advantages of united effort. If we can got Hawkeß Bay in wo will have a very fino affair." Boy Scouts As Farmers. An interesting scheme for training Boy Scouts to become successful farmers is being carried out at Te Poi, in the Matamata district, as the result of a proposal which originated from Mr. F. G. Southon, who has a large property there, says the Manawatu "Standard." Mr. Southon was for many years a Scoutmaster in England, and through his efforts nine lads wero sent out to New Zealand under the auspices of the Boy Scouts' Association of England. Four of them are now employed by Mr. Southon, and the rest have been.placed on other farms in the district. The boys were formerly all members of the First Crow-borough (Sussex) Scout Troop. The intention is to give them a thorough experience of practical farming, and judging by the way that the young immigrants have been shaping, they are expected to make good. The New Zealand Beech. The New Zealand beech, as is well known, is.' a tree found usually on the poorest ground or at a considerable height in the mountain ranges. The layman, seldom stops to wonder why this is so. Dr. Cockayne in a new "Monograph on the Now Zealand Beech Forests," however, says the beech has no particular affinity for poor ground and exposed positions, says an exchange. He takes tho interesting view that our beech, which occurs also in South America, Tasmania, Southeast Australia, is the old original forest covering of this country, and has been crowded off the good land by its better-equipped antagonists, the broadleaved trees, which Dr. Coekayno regards as later arrivals, coming when New Zealand had land connection with tho Tropics. Tho beech is thus the original inhabitant who has gone down in the world and has been obliged to move into cheaper quarters out-back, while, tho upstart vegetation takes up tho sunny sections and airs itself in tho front row.