NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 107, 2 November 1926, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Too Valuable to Sell,

The Petoue Borough Council decided last evening to withdraw from sale all the sections it owns in. Bouverie street. The motion of withdrawal was passed on the motion of Councillor J. Sharpe, who contended that the council should hold the sections with_the idea of increasing the area of the recreation ground or putting the sections to use j for some other public purpose. Sec- | tions in, Petone were now so scarce I that once- thes.e were disposed of tho council would. ..find it a very difficult matter to acquire others.* ; The Famous Redwood Tree. "The readiness "with which Sequoia sempervirens, to give, the famous redwood its proper title, has already adapted itself to the climate,. of New Zealand lias excited great interest amongst forestry exports. Tho growing of redWood in the Dominion exceeds'that of its natural Calif ornian -liabitat..... For constructional and-'furnituro purposes the redwdbd tree' has no equil,", said Mr. W. J. Keyes, in a lecture at .Auckland. "The redwood seems to have been designed by Nature.to. resist every destructive agency. The forest authorities have actually proved that the redwood can resist fire. This may surpriso s many who, have not made a careful study of the extraordinary redwood qualities. The tree lacks resin and pos-sesses-a great amount of' moisture in its cells; its ■ 'bark' is-: unusually thick, and a largo redwood.is virtually' fireproof. No:forest.-flVe.is capable of destroying, or i.eten seriously injuring/ a mature reedWodd ..forest, even . though it may destroy other species in tho forest, and singe or scar the huge boles." Views on Wanganui., One or two things impress the visitor to Wahgauui (writes a.Dunedin visitor to Wanganui,! in tho, '<Otago Daily Times")-' It' is certain that the optimistic reports which have come south regarding, tho groat success of the riverdeepening' "operations at "Wanganui havo not been .warranted. Much.money has been spent-on this work, but the results achieved cannot bo regarded as very encouraging—they are not commensurate with tho expenditure, and much water will have to run under the Wanganui bridge. „J)Qflore,, the., riverdeepening schemes can be said to have been 'justified—maybe thiey will' "never bo justified. ■■ Another thing catches the eye of the southerner who may visit Wanganui at this time of the year. That is the wonderful greenness and prolific growth' of the grass. Otago and Southland at the very best grassgrowing "period of the year compare unfavourably in this respect with the Wanganui district in the month of October. One more thing that arrested attention was the ■ absence of • sheep. Looking over the country-from the top of the soldiers' monument if was noticeable that not one sheep was in view. There were, however, a few cattle. Inquiries failed to elicit any satisfying explanation in respect to- where the sheep had gone. ■■•-■ —: A Growing Asset. .'...', "The State forests of New Zealand are estimated to-day to possess a commercial value of not less than £35,000,----000," remarked Mr. W- J. Keyes, in an address in Auckland; "New Zealand is rich, in native timbers, such as rimu, matai, and totara, which have increased from 500 to 1000 per cent, in value during the past 36 years, according to statistics compiled by Dr. M'lntosh EUis> Director of the New Zealand Forestry Service. Despite'the fact that the Dominion possesses .many valuable indigenous timbers, ■ "it: is now recognised" by competent authorities that a timber famine Is'imminent, unless provision is made to reafforest areas which are rapidly becoming- denuded.;. ■• The Government has not . overlooked this possibility, and'lias done'really remarkable work .in the' afforestation, field. The activities-'of the "Governmeiit in tree planting are particularly evident in the North Island^ of the Dominion, where large forests liave ,been laid out; a sound and growing "asset both for this generation and for posterity. ' Five Years' Industrial Truce. The proposal made, by the president of the Employers' Federation ■ ■ (the Hon. T. Shaii.er Weston, M.L.C.) for a five years' industrial, truce does not appear to.be meeting with a hearty reception in Labour circles.. Reference to the matter was made oy the presi- j dent of the Typographical Federation (Mr. R. H. iStickney) when opening the federation's biennial . conference yesterday. "Printers need no homilies j from the president of the Employers' Federation as to what is.best for their j economic well-being," said Mr. Stick-! ney. , "The suggestion of the .Hon. Shailer Weston that there should be a five years' truce on the question of wages cannot be "taken seriously, as my memory reminds me of t ve fact that during the'war, while profits soared rapidly, the 'workers'' reward was j held down, by legal enactment for a period of years. But immediately there I was a contraction-of profits the Employers' Federation successfully urged upon thi Government of the day that the .Industrial, Conciliation, and Arbitration Act should bo so amended that a general reduction of wages could be brought about, and this was put into effect with disastrous results to retail traders. With the rapid changes in the world 'a markets and the consequent 'booms' and 'slumps/ workers will bo well advised not to bind themselves down to' long periods as suggested by the Hon. Shailer Weston." The Use of Land. The value of the fruit-growing industry in promoting closer settlement and greater productiveness was emphasised by the Minister ■■ of Agriculture at Auckland. He saicl that; he had inspected in Hawkesßay an area of 3000 acres which was devoted to fruit cultivation, and had been informed that the area provided work for 700 families and was the, means of distributing about £125,000 a year in .wages. As a sheep farmer, Mr.'Hawken said it was forced on him that h^d he used the area for raising mutton and wool all he would have had on it would have been about five shepherds,

The Results of Frost. The devastation wrought by the recent frosts iv Central Otago has proved a Borious thing for many growers, who in a night have seen the fruits of their arduous season's labour wiped out. An ox-Invercargill resident, writing to a member of tho "Southland News" staff, states that in the Alexandra, Clyde, and Roxburgh districts acres upon acres of apricots, peaches, cherries, and apples have been completely destroyed and many are wondering what they cau do to earn sufficient to tide them over the season. Some.are buying, cows to make a cheque from milking. Tho writer states: "Even tho Rtrawberrics are practically rained, and I saw a huge bed of lily of the valley blackened by the visitation. Though it is twenty years since they suffered a similar disastrous frost, I am satisfie^ that fruit growing is not only a hard but risky occupation." Attracting Native Birds. Native birds, according to the Native Bird Protection Society, can be attracted around homes by artificial feeding, as well as by planting suitable berry-bearing plants (says au exchange). Three tuis were Successfully supplied with food iv the Oamaru district for many weeks by placing a bottle filled with thin honey up a tree. A better mix ye would be fou'of water to ono of sugar by me&sure, ias this is akin to tho nectar, upon which tui3 feed. The silver eye can be made a regular visitor by feeding with beef suet, and the aphis on roses kept exterminated by the birds at the same time. AU artificial feeding is doubly effective during winter months. All, food should be placed in a suitable receptaclo well up a tree or a thin pole. Paving at Petone. Paving operations are going ahead I well at Petono now in.tho fine weather, j The aljsenco of rain last week enabled the gang on the Hutt road to finish its work, with the exception of the ramped approaches to the railway overhead bridge, and now the men have been transferred to Jackson street east. The work of clearing off the old asphalt started last week outside Lever Bros.1' soap works, and already a good length of first coat hot mix has been laid, and two or three weeks of fine weather should see the finis'i of' the work at Cuba street. After that the work of finishing tlie Day's Bay road will commence. When that is finished there will be an eighteen .or twentymile stretch of bitumen road between Wellington and Eastbourne, and then motorists will have a drive equalled by few in the Dominion. A Petition For Severance. Although last Wednesday's watet loan poll for a supply of water to Trentham and Silverstream area was carried by residentg of the Upper Hutt Borough, thirty-six Silveratream people voted against the proposal and only twenty-one for it. A petition has now been extensively signed by residents of the Silyorstream district and forwarded to the' Governor-General through the Department of Internal Affairs, praying that the district shall be severed from the Upper Hutt Borough. The chief reason for the objection to the new loan is that most of the people havo settled at Silverstream in order to have larger holdings than are possible in town, and the new loan will mean heavier taxation upon these lands, and maybe tho forerunner of other taxation, which many left the city to avoid. Should,-the petition be< upheld the question of local body government wjuld arise, and it might be that the Silverstream area would revert to the Hutt County Council or establish a Town Board of its own. While opinion against the loan and for severance is being decided in the one district, tho Wellington Bating Club, with its many acres' of land at Trentham, has for the second time petitioned for admission to the Upper Hutt Borough.

"A Monument to Faith."

The consecration of the Ohristehmch Cathedral took place in 1881 on the eve of All Saints' Day, and on that date all that was standing was the navo without transept or chancel. Sunday last being the eve of All Saints' Day,, 192 C, Bishop West-Watson made reference to the history of the building of the Cathedral in his evening sermon (reports the "Press"). The building of the Cathedral, he said, fulfilled one of the great hopes and desires of the Canterbury Pilgrims. They had dreamed of a great Cathedral, and had had the faith r,nd courage to realise that dream. "Distance sometimes lends' enchantment to the historical retrospect, and one cannot believe what is sometimes said, that th« age of faith has passed. The first four ships lamled_their passengers in New Zealand in 1850, and there have been many landmarks in the intervening history. . Now it is a monument of faith and hope, and but for such the splendid site in the centre of the city might havo been occupied by other buildings to- i day.",. ■ . I Training the Young Athlete. .A deputation consisting, of Messrs j H. Howell, Director of the Wellington Technical College, Father Kingan, St. Patrick's College, and Mr. .B. a[ Everiss, waited upon the Reserves Committee of the City Council yesterday afternoon to ask that the use of the Basin Eeserve should be granted to the members of the Kiwi Athletic Club on two evenings of each week. The speakers, after apologising for the unavoidable absence of Mr.' J. N. Murdoch, principal of Scots College, explained that the club had been recently formed to look after the interests of young athletes of secondary school and immediate post-secondary school age, and had obtained the promise of the services of a number of very capable coaches. It was remarked that young athletes were often spoiled by being asked to perform in open company at an .early age, and the club would set out to remedy this. Nothing could be done, however, without a centre; the Basin Keserve would be admirable in every way. The speakers suggested that a general fee should be charged, but that no individual fees should be charged for boys under the'age of 21. They were prepared to leave the terms of granting the Basin to the committee. The chairman of the meeting, Councillor W. J. Thompson, assured tho deputation of the committee's desire to assist if it could, and promised that the requests would be given every consideration. Kent Terrace Reserve. ■ "The council anticipated the necessity of applying to the Government for an Order-in-Council to go on with the work, and passed all the necessary resolutions to enable the authority to be sought at once," said the Mayor (Mr. C. J. B. Norwood) last evening when asked what the council's next step would be. in regard to Kent and Cambridge terrace terraces. The application, therefore, will be made immediately. The position is that the Judge has adjourned tho application for an absolute injunction in order to give the council tiro opportunity to go to tho Government to ask for a proclamation setting aside part of the reserve as a road. The council now must apply for that proclamation. Since the Judge has adjourned the application made to him I see no reason why the Govern-, meiit should not deal with the, matter of granting the proclamation or'otherwise. Tho importance of the work makes one feel that the applicants themselves would not want to hold up the Government'a decision unduly.'*

A Curious Assumption. A strange case of mistaken identity has just come under tlio notice of the Auckland "Star." In a Christmas annual for 1924 there wag a striking picture of old Mita Taupopoki, Who used to figure in every Maori gathering down at Botorua, being a sort of hereditary host. The old chap was shown in "full rig," after the pakeha style, top hat and all. The othrv day the "Star" received a letter from a man in England saying that an uncle of Ilia had , gono . out to New Zealand many years ago and all trace of him had been lost. The photograph of Mita was so exactly like the writer's uncle, even to the manner of grasping his walking stick, that the family concluded that the picturo was that of the long-lost one, and they accounted for his Maori name by surmising that he had forsaken his European ways and had thrown in his lot with the; Natives. Old Mita, however, was a Maori through and through, with a lineage going back hundreds of years, and proud of his race. Transmission of Tradition. "Polynesian historical narratives/ states Dr. P. H. Buck, in an aHiclfl in '-'The Journal of the Polynesian Society," "were not idle stories that j were bandied about from lip to lip without supervision or restraint. Taking the Maori as an exatnplo, their oral history was transmitted from genera- j $011 to generation in proper courses of study by priests and teachers who had themselves graduated in the Whare Wananga, or sacred Houses of Learning. The god Tane obtained from lo the Pareutless the three baskets of knowledge. They contained the knowledge of Things Celestial, Things Terrestrial, and Ritual. The contents of those baskets were taught in properly constituted Houses of Learning, which had an unbroken succession from ancient times. In Best's monograph, a list of tho ancient schools that succeeded one another is given. The wise men of the various canoes, after they settled in Now Zealand, established their schools Too much emphasis cannot be laid on this phase of the canoe traditions, the almost immediate establishment of tho Schools of Learning on their arrival in New Zealand in order that the unwritten records might be carried oa in unbroken succession."