NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 134, 3 December 1926, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

To Improve a Bad Corner. j In accordance with a general policy laid down some time ago in the direction of setting back corners to give better visibility and also as a city improvement measure, the City Council last evoning decided upon the splaying back of the Manners-Taranaki street corner, where a steel frame building is now in course of erection, the necessary land to bo taken under the Public Works Act. Land required for widening Thorndon quay at the corner of Mooro street is also to bo taken under the Public Works Act. Business Without Capital. "I do not know that it is a crime to start business without capital. Ninetynine per cent, of the people who do start have littlo or no capital." This was the reply of the- Official Assignee (Mr. S. Tansley) yesterday when a creditor in a bankrupt estate said that there had been too many bankruptcies caused by starting with little or no capital, and that it was time to invoke tho law. The Official Assignee suggested that often the root of tho trouble was tho granting of too much credit. Re-roofing Corporation Houses. Almost from the day they were plac'cd in position, certain of the roofs of the Corporation houses at Northland have given trouble, and numerous complaints have been made by the tenantowners. The council decided last evoning, on tho recommendation of the Works Committee, that the owners should mako their own arrangements for the re-roofing of these houses with iron, and that the council should contribute £25 towards the cost of each house which is at present roofed with I defective slates, subject to an absolute I clearance being given the council from any further liability in this connection. Tho City Engineer is to determine which houses require re-roofing, and all the work done in this connection is to be passed by him before any payments aro made. . Councillor R. A. Wright referred to the matter of re-roofing of the houses as a hardy animal. Tho Mayor (Mr. C. J. B. Norwood) said the proposal would Clean tho matter up once and for all, and the council would have no further responsibility. The people would bo required to pay half tho cost. Weak Polling. Discussing the smallness of the poll for the Hutt Valley Electric Power Board's loan, Mr. S. Blackley, at a meeting of the board yesterday, stated that it looked very much as if legislation would, have to be introduced to make voting compulsory. Mr. H. Jay said the non-attendance of the majority of the members of the board, to support the chairman at the public meetings held to explain the proposals, perhaps indicated that members themselves were lax in their duties. Mr. Blackley explained that his absence was due to ill-health. Pictures on Christmas Say. The principle of permitting ciucma shows to be held on Christmas Day was taken to a division in the City Council last night, Councilor F. W: Meadowcroft remarking that ho wished to test the feeling of the meeting on a recommendation, by the Bylaws Committee that authority be granted for-picture theatres to be open on Christmas Day, subject to the programmes being approved, by the Town Clerk. Pictures on Christmas Day, he said, had been turned down in one of the other cities. Councillor M. F. Luckie said the council had permitted picture entertainments on 25th December "for 40 years past." The people's time, remarked Councillor F. W. Manton, would probably be better spent at the pictures than in a good many places in the open air. i "Never," exclaimed Councillor Mcadowcroft. The amendment to the motion for adoption of the clau: : was defeated by 13 votes to 2, Councillor Troup being the mover's only supporter. The Ban on Rats. A stock of three classes of rat poison is to bo kept on hand at the office of the City Health Inspector, by decision of the City Council last evoning, and issued free of charge to tho public, accompanied by a pamphlet with suitable information regarding tho destruction of rats. A supply of traps is to be purchased and issued on deposit of cost, the deposit being refunded on the return of the trap. A Bock Garden Advertisement. 11 In the course of an rddrcs3 on horticulture at tho Cawthron Institute, Nelson, Mr. G. A. Green, organiser for the New Zealand Instituto of Horticulture, recently referred in enthusiastic terms to the Nelson rock garden. He said that those who had worked for its establishment had done a wonderful work for the city, and through it Nelson had had its best advertisement for toD years. "Wherever I go 1. hear about Nelson's rock garden," declared Mr. Green. "No other place can yet come up to Nelson in this respect." The cost to tho city, Mr. Green added, had been very small, private subscriptions having, furnished the money required. Auckland had now formed a rock garden society, and at every meeting members talked about the Nelson garden. The Auckland City Council was showing enthusiasm regarding the matter, and the Northern city would endeavour to mako a rock garden display that would excel Nelson's. A visit to the Nelson rock garden, said Mr. Green, was an education, for every, plant was named, which made a visit intensely interesting. Nelson had sown the seed of a movement which was spreading and , producing results in ether places.

Steel for Northland Tunnel. Tenders aro now to bo called for tho supply of tho necessary steel for tho strengthening of the Northland tunnel in accordance with specifications to be prepared by the City Engineer. Do It By Telephone. A clevor telephonic arrangement which is being tried in connection with two of the city water servico reservoirs enables the waterworks engineers—or anyone olse who knows the numbers— to ascertain how much water thero is in tho reservoirs by going to tho tolophone and "dialling" the'reservoir itself, not someone who is stationed at the reservoir. Tho syßtcm being tested does not talk back, it merely buzzes off feet, but a more elaborate and also more expensive telephonic recording system gives the information in spoken words, by means of a record which is adjusted in relation to the soundbox of tho telephone-gramophone by the rise or fall of the water level. At tho main reservoirs, in the Wainui and Karori valleys, thero are permanent staffs who see to tho levels and tho operations of valves, etc., but the several service reservoirs about the city carry on with merely what inspections are considered necessary. To go to the telophono and dial five numbers is a very much quicker business than to go to the garage and drive five miles. Assured Hospital Finance. At the laying of the foundation-stone ceremony of tho new Wellington Hospital blocks yesterday, the chairman of t c ooard (Mr. C. M. Luke) referred' to the advantages of tho assured finance of tho hospital boards, and re- i marked that some people held the j opinion that the assured finance mean' "the drying up of the channels of benevolence." He denied that, and in proof of his denial said that in ten years tho Wellington Hospital Doard had received over £27,000 in voluntary contributions'. Tho Minister of Health (the Hon. J. A. Young) pointed out that last year the voluntary confiv'--tions to hospitals throughout the Dominion amounted to £18,000, which showed that notwithstanding the system of assured finance, the .haiuu.. of benevolence had not been dried up. Examinations in Full Swing. To the majority examinations are not looked forward to with any degree of keenness. The examination room seems to send a cold shiver down the spine, and when the papers make an appearance there is a further uncomfortable feoling. Examinations at the various schools and colleges are in full swing at the present time. The annual matriculation examination has been commenced at Victoria College, and at different times of the day young students are to bo seen making their way to Kelburn. The tests in some of the subjects over, the usual comparison of answers is made, and in the city and in tho tramcars the papers confront those returning to their homes from work. There are such queries as, "What did you give for this, Dorothy?" and the highly descriptive replies in some cases are beyond the comprehension of the average every-day toiler. The Deadly Worm. Fly fishermen have hitherto had bleak and lowering skies, and trout have been consequently unresponsive to their lures, preferring to feed on the stream bods and off more solid nutriment. Tho majority of fish taken in the rivers have been secured with natural baits, amongst which tho worm and creeper have proved tho most deadly. Worm fishing is prohibited in most of the fly'streams, apd with some reason. It is possiblo (though illegal) to sit comfortably on the bank with the rod in a forked stick, and practically empty a pool of trout, especially when tho water is coloured, with tho most rudimentary of tackle, but the chief objection to worm fishing is that the bait is swallowed, and all small fish, which would otherwise be returned to the water, have to be cut open to extract the hook. Trout aro reported to""' bo fairly plentiful in the upper tributaries cf tho Hutt, and in tho Waikanae, and the Waiuui, and if tho present bright spell of weather extends over tho week-end, anglers will have a chance of better sport with the fly. A Problem for Naturalists. An extraordinary and perhaps unprecedented occurrence took place on a local farm one day last week (writes a correspondent of ( tho "Hawera Star"). The owner of tho farm is a lover of bird life, and the farm is really a sanctuary for wild ducks and pheasants. A pair of wild ducks have made it their home for some time, and about a »veek ago the farmer was quite pleased to see a nice brood of about a dozen ducklings swimming in a dam. A day or two afterwards some members of the family, upon visiting tho spot, was astonished to see ono of the ducklings struggling in the clutches of a number of frogs. With the aid of a long stick an attempt at rescue was made. Some of tho frogs let go, but the remainder dived under a log, taking their victim with them, and that was the last that was seen of it. The action of the frogs presents a problem which perhaps some of our naturalists can solve. A Gentle Hint. An unrehearsed incident at to-day' 3 brcaking-up ceremony at tho Training College caused much amusement. Just as Sir John Luke was beginning an address to tho students, the green baize curtains in front of the stage began slowly to descend as if giving a gentle hint that no more speeches were wanted. But the falling draperies were stayed before they quite obliterated the august personages on the stage. "Never yet in Wellington," said Sir John Luke amidst laughter, "has the curtain been rung down upon J. P. Luke." "Not Always the Best Policy." "I want to ask our secretary," said Dr. Thackor at Wednesday's meeting of the Lyttelton Harbour Board, "whether it is not possible to invest our surplus moneys in our own loan?" Mr. Cyrus Williams replied that it could be done, but it was not always the best policy, reports the "Press." The board had done it in the past. "With regard to our last loan," ho added, "I think our best policy is to raise tho money in England." Dr. Thacker:' "That will be another trip for you to England, or the chairman." Mr. Williams: "Possibly, possibly; that is for the board to say." At a later stage, Mr. 11. Holland, M.P., said that it was. quite on the cards that the money for tho board's loan would be available in the Dominion. Finding Work for Teachers. The problem of finding immediate employment for the 578 students trained as teachers leaving training colleges this year was mentioned at to-day's breakiug-up ceremony of the Wellington Training College. The vacancies for teachers in the schools at the beginning of the year would be insufficient to absorb the number, although ultimately all might find employment, it was stated, and the suggestion was made that tho difficulty might be got over in years to como by admitting and liberating training college students at intervals throughout the year when their services could be utilised. This, however, said Mr. J. Caughley, was impracticable, as it would interfere with university work. Tho Government could not be held responsible for the non-em-ployment of trained teachers, but every endeavour would be made to utilisa their services. In other professions students had often to undergo long training at their own expense, and then to wait somo time for an opening, and teachers would have to learn to possess their souls in patience too.