NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 18, 21 July 1926, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Town Planning Bill. The Minister ;of Internal Affairs (the Hon. R. F. Bollard) informed the Counties' Conjerence yesterday that it is not intended to provide any mandatory provision in the Town-planning Bill in regard to the preparation of schemes by county councils, except where it is considered necessary in respect of an area adjoining a borough. It was thought probable that a town-planning- scheme of a borough could not be properly considered by a Town-planning Board unless it had an idea regarding the planning of the area adjoining the borough. County Machinery Replacement. Counties, said Mr. X; W. Dalrymple, j at the Counties' Conference yesterday, were faced with the employment of machinery' the life of which it was impossible to estimate. Heavy replacemerit expenses might occur in any year, and at present these had to be met out of revenue. He moved '' That county councils be empowered to establish a replacement fund for machinery," which was carried. A Forgotten Art. If there is one member of the House of Representatives who does not speak —and surely there is only one —it is Mr. Speaker. When Sir Charles Statham addressed Rotarians yesterday afternoon ho referred to that fact. "When I came here," said Sir Charles, "I was told that I would not have any difficulty in speaking to you, that it was second nature with me. Well, tho truth is that I have done so much listening . during the last three years that I have almost forgotten how to talk." "Born Politicians." "It has often been remarked that in probably no other country in the world is a greater interest taken in local and general politics than in New Zealand," remarked the Minister of Internal Affairs (tho Hon. R. F. Bollard), when opening the Counties' Conference yesterday. "New Zealanders are bom politicians. They do not sit back and let matters of governmental concern drift; they want to be in any scheme which has for its aim the development of their country.'' The Red Cross at the Show. With the large crowds daily attending the Winter Show, minor accidents are inevitable, and tho St. John Ambulance has found its services in more or less steady demand. Besides dealing with accidents, of which there have been over twenty already, tho association's activities have extended to the care of infants and to the assistance of harassed mothers, who have temporarily mislaid their offspring in tho crush. Tho most serious : ceident that the workers have hitherto been called upon to deal with occurred on Saturday night, when a demonstrator of a mangle crushed her hand between the rollers, fortunately without breaking any bones. This incident was used to extol the merits of that mangle—it obviously would not break the buttons of father's shirts.

Quick and Effective. A classical example of sharp repartee was quoted by Sir Charles Statham when he addressed Rotarians yesterday. On one occasion a member of the .House, lying full length on his seat, persisted in interjecting, until the member who held the floor was constrained to remark: "The hon. member is doing all his speaking lying down." In a flash came the retort: "And you are doing all your lying standing up." A Relic of the Good Old Days. An amusing reference to an old custom at Home, by which members of Parliament used to be allowed to frank their letters, was made by Sir Charles Statham when he was addressing Rotarians yesterday. The privilege was very much abused, remarked Sir Charles. One member went so far as to frank his household furniture when he wanted it shifted, and another member franked his wife and family from Galway to Dublin. There was yet another instance. A noble gentleman died while engaged in franking a number of wrappers, and the members of the family improved the occasion by using the franked wrappers for the purpose of sending out the notices of his death. Needless to say, said Sir Charles, the privilege was withdrawn. Schoolboy Immigrants. The first draft of the 1926 quota of English schoolboys, who are being brought out to Taranaki under the Chamber of Commerce immigration scheme, arrived from Wellington by the mail train on Saturday evening in charge of Mr. C. E. Bellringer, M.P. (says the Taranaki "News"). These boys came by the Tainui, and arrangements having been made to billet the boys in New Plymouth over the weekend, they were met at tho railway station by members of the chamber's immigration committee and introduced to their respective hosts. The draft comprises 19 boys, one of whom will take a course at the New Plymouth High School before entering upon farm work, and the others have been allocated to farmers in the Taranaki district. The Immigration Committee records its appreciation of Mr. Bellringer's kindness in offering to look after the boys on the journey from Wellington. An Atmosphere of Refinement. "I must congratulate the welfare branch of the Education Department on the excellent provision that has been made for this Court," said Mr. E. C. Cutten. S.M., when the Auckland Children's Court met in.its new quarters in the Unity Hall, Upper Queen street, on Saturday morning (reports the "New Zealand Herald"). The new courtroom is certainly a great improvement on the old one in the V.M.C.A. It is well appointed and there is an atmosphere of refinement about the whole place. Against Hoardings. In an interview at Auckland, Mr. S. Hurst Seager, president of the New Zealanl Institute of Architects, did not mince words in his condemnation of hoardings. Not on aesthetic or architectural grounds alone did the town-planning expert, who has been interested in the question of hoardings for twenty years, base his criticism (states the "New Zealand Herald"). "It amounts to this," he said. "Hoardings do not pay the advertiser. The only notice the passer-by takes of a hoarding, especially if he sees it day after day, is of a hostile character. In the end it is the consumer who pays the cost, anyway. And he is in the anomalous position of paying for the disfigurement of his own countryside." Instances that had come under his notice were quoted by Mr. Hurst Seager to illustrate his contention that persons and firms who consented to have their wares advertised at the expense of the public's sense of the aesthetic did so through thoughtlessness. He mentioned the case of a firm in Christchureh which had erected a hoarding that stared through a fair vista of trees. When Mr. Hurst Seager had shown them a photograph of the scene as it looked with the hoarding, and one with the hoarding erased, they agreed immediately that it was an eyesore, and had the hoarding removed. Big Transformers. Four of the big transformers to be used at the Arapuni power station arrived at Auckland on Sunday by the Maimoa from London. The transformers are so bulky that they will not pass some of the bridges on the railway line between Auckland and Putaruru. particularly the Parnell overbridge, and the bridge at Ngaruawahia, if carried in tho usual horizontal position on the trucks (states the "New Zealand Her aid"). To overcome the difficulty a number of trucks have been fitted in the railway yards with temporary timber carriers to enable the transformers to be carried at an angle of about 45 degrees. This will give the necessary clearance. Farmers and Daylight Saving. That the hours of work were better regulated by the sun during harvesting operations than they would be by putting the clock back an hour, and that daylight saving was being introduced chiefly as a concession to sport, of which there was quite enough now, were some of the objections raised to daylight saving Yesterday by the New Zealand Counties' Association Conference, which was given an opportunity by the chairman (Mr. A. E. Jull) to discuss the matter in view of the fact that it would como before the Upper House to-day. Mr. P. F. Ryan, Paparua) said farmers were astounded that the measure had passed the House of Representatives, and he moved that the conference strongly protest against it. Mr. W. W. Scarff (Heathcote) said he did not see how putting tho clock back could seriously affec. either town or country. Mr. E. Bowman (Southland) said that the schools would have to open an hour sooner. Not only Southland's dairying wealth, but that of the Dominion, would be detrimentally affected by the measure. Mr. W. Morrison (Waitotara) said that the measure was introduced solely in the interests of sport, of which it was a question whether we were not having to much. Mr. J. D. Connor (Taranaki) thought most people would be at a loss regarding the time without looking at their watches. The change would make little difference, as it would do the towns good without doing the country any harm. That it would be an injustice to country children to ask them to get up an hour earlier was the opinion of Mr. C. K. Wilson (Piopio). Difficulty in attending sales if thoy were an hour earlier, was foreseen by Mr. 11. A. Hunt (Manawntu), It would bo unwiso to start harvesting an hour earlier in the morning, said Mr. J. Cunningham (Kllesmcre). It was better to harvest by the sun than by a clock. Tho motion was earned, Messrs. Bowman, Ryan, and Cunningham to wait upon the select committee of tho Upper House to-day to voie.o farmers' objections to the Bill.