NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 152, 24 December 1926, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

Children's Competition. Particulars of the Children's Noah's Ark Christmas Competition results will be found on another page. Building Activity. The building activity in the four cities of tho Dominion and their suburban districts is shown by the following figures for the month of .Tovembor:—Total value of building permits ■ Auckland, £220,619; Wellington, £248,089; Christchurch, £60,757; Dunedin, £123,052; making a grand total of £652,517 for the centres mentioned. Ngauruhoe Active. Mount Ngauruhoe is again displaying signs of activity. On Tuesday (writes -a local correspondent) a strong column of steam issued from the crater with occasional bursts of black smoke ascending to a great height. For the Duke and Duchess. ,' A. handsomely-bound album, conj taining views of the Port of Auckland, is to be presented to the Duke and Duchess of York by the Auckland H'arI bour Board. It was stated at the meeting of the board1 on Tuesday that the j album would be enclosed in covers of ' choice. New Zealand woods, suitably inlaid and characteristic of New Zealand artistry, and that the contents would consist of historic views of Auckland Harbour and tho Hauraki Gulf, as well as-shipping and yachting scenes (states tho "New Zealand Herald"). Paintings and photographs in the Old Colonists ' Museum are to be drawn upon for the historic reproductions. State Factories' 5.0.3. In the West Australian Legislative) Council, on a Loan Bill, Sir William Lathlain said that aii act had been passed some time ago forbidding further expenditure on State trading concerns, yet an immense sum was asked for under tho Bill. The State sawmills were now advertising corrugated iron and joinery for sale, and Parliament was asked to permit the Ministry to borrow an additional £50,000 to help the sawmills carry on. An amount of £25,000 was sought for the State implement, works, although that concern already had ;i 78,750 worth of stock. AVere it an ordinary business undertaking, tho manager would be told to take tho amount needed from the sale.of stock. He suspected that that value was fictitious. The State brickworks also dosired to borrow £50,000, although it ! had vory large stocks. Ho thought that such borrowing for State concerns was [ grossly; immoral.

Surveyors' Board. The Government has appointed the following members to the Surveyors' Board hs from Ist January next: — George Henry Bullard, Thomas Brook, Samuel Thomas Seddon, M.C., and Archibald Hugh Bogle. The two firstnamed were nominated by the Minister of Lands, and the others by the council of the Institute of Surveyors. The Honest Motorist. According to Pope, in his "Essay on Man," "an honest man's the noblest work of God." Appreciation of tho action of just such a man is expressed in the following letter, which has been received from one of its members by tho Otago Motor Club:—"Yesterday, whilo Diy car was parked in the street, it was bumped by another motorist. Evidently ho endeavoured to locate mo to report the incident, but failed to do so. He had tho courtesy, however, ,to leave his card in tho car admitting the accident and instructing me to have the car repaired at his expense. My ear has previously/ been 'in fhe •wars,'' but this is the first time the person responsible has had the decency to acknowledge responsibility, much less to offer to foot the bill." Meal Allowances for P. and T. Officers. Meal allowances for officers in the Post and Telegraph Department form the subject of a "Gazette" notice issued last night. In any case where an officer i 3 directed to commence duty at least two hours before the ordinary time, or is required to perform at least two hours' duty after the time ho ordinarily obtains release, without an interval sufficient to admit of his travelling to his home, or who, without previous warning of the circumstances of his employment on any particular day, cannot be given the opportunity to follow his usual practice of obtaining a mpal at midday, he may be granted a meal allowance on the following scale:-^-Officerg receiving £400 a year or over, 2s 6d; officers receiving under £400 a year, 2s. Train fares to and from the officer's residence may be paid only when no meal allowance is granted. A meal allowance. shall , not be paid to officers on regular day duty who can be released without difficulty for sufficient time to take their meals at home. The Season's Lambing. The complete estimates of the current season's lambing, computed from estimated average, percentages furnished by inspectors of stock in the various districts of the Dominion, show an increase of 488,841 lambs this year over the number last yeai*. The estimated number in the North island is 6,329,338; South Island, 5,465,361. For all New Zealand tho number is 11,794,----699, as compared with 11,305,858 last year. Caterpillar Invasion. Thio prospects for a heavy oat and' wheat yield in Tasmania this year are not so bright as previously owing to the appearance of caterpillars in several districts. On the north-wesi coast on 10th December a few small black caterpillars were seen on the • Summerless road, bounding Mount Pleasant, a dairy property. At Kingston, 12 miles south of Hobart, on the following day rand on Sunday, their numbers had increased until the road from fereo t»tfence for a distance of about 300 yards was black with them. Tho graßS on the roadside, which before the advent of the pest was beautifully green, by Sunday night looked as though it had suffered from a protracted drought, or had been scorched by fire. The caterpillars swarmed through the fences and attacked the crops. They were soon in countless millions. At midday on 14th December they had spread over an area of 60 acres, and the crops and grass on the area were ruined. It was impossible to take a step without crushing scores of the pest. Reapers and binders were at work until a late hour in an endeavour to save a portion of the crop. Coroner's Tees Depressed. At times when there is a balance of imports over, exports the Finance Minister is compelled to adopt every possible means of keeping tho public expenditure down to reasonable limits. An indication of one of the Government's1 New Year economies was given in last night's "Gazette," and showed that Coroners' fees, like primary producers' returns, are entering upon a "'period of stabilisation at lower values." As from Ist January, 1927, a Coroner, De-puty-Coroner, or Justic of tho Peace^ other than a salaried Stipendiary Magistrate, holding inquests, will be entitled to receive only £1 Is instead of £2 2s for every inquest. Stipendiary Magistrates were granted increases of salary under the Act passed last session, so they will not in future receive any fee for conducting inquests. The Government's New Year resolution relating to inquests also contains another funereal feature in that Coroner's travelling allowances have been altered from the rate of Is 6d per mile to 2s per mile "counted one way only." Medical witnesses, too, will be losers under the new scale, ag they will receive allowances at the rate of 2s per mile counted one way only, instead of the former straight-out fee of 2s per mile. When tho new regulation operates, coroners will doubtless feel a meed of sympathy with those individuals who, when the custom of summoning juries for inquests fell into desuetude, lost what had become almost a part of their professional occupations. New Zealanders' Association. The establishment of a New Zealanders' Association or Society to watch the interests of New Zealanders in their own country was suggested by the principal of the Hawera High School (Mr. A. Gray) in the course of an address to students about to leave school, at the annual brealdng-up ceremony. "It appears to me," he said, in'enlarging upon his idea, "that there is a danger of tho descendants of the pioneers who suffered all the hardships not reaping the benefits their fathers had a right to expect there would be, and as tin>e goes on it seems to mo that moro than ever there is a necessity for keen watchfulness on the part of New Zealanders to soo that they do not lose what has been won for them by their forefathers at such groat cost. A society such as I suggest would be undenominational and nonparty, and no doubt would have an extensive platform, but four of the main planks should bo: (1) The encouragement, even if made compulsory, of the study of New Zealand history; (2) the control of the immigration policy of the country; (3) the placing of young Now Zealanders on the land; (4) tho control of the education system of the country. 1' It had been suggested, he said, that steps should be taken to help young immigrants on to farms, but he had never heard of any proposal to help our own boys on to farms. Whcro we Imd so many thousands of young New Zealanders who would gladly become farmers if they could get the land, they should be the first consideration. He doubted the wisdom of taking too much notice cf tho 'education systems of other lands in evolving the system for New Zealand. The conditions in this country might bo totally different from those of a country from which we wore borrowing ideas, and it is just possible there might be H danger of principles being thrust upon New Zealand just because they had been fairly successful in another country, and under totally different conditions.

Partridges from London. A shipment of 300 brace of partridges is expected to reach Auckland from London by the Eimutaka in Februar/ or March next. At thoJast meeting of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society tho allocation committee asked for advice regarding suitable places to liberate the birds. It was tentatively agreed that they be released in batches of 25 to 50 pairs in tho following districts: Putaruru, Hinuera, Miranda, Thames, Waipa Valley, Cambridge, and Kaiwaka. Further consideration to thd matter will be given at the January meeting. Thorough Education. In an interesting report of his recent visit to Japan Dr. C. Coleridge Farr, who was tho delegate of the New Zealand Institute at the recent science congress held there, states: "Japan lias' realised that tho thorough education —specialist education, of course, in every case—of a comparatively few is moro tho function of the university and pays the nation better than the cheap and nasty sort of education of a great many. I am afraid nome Eng-lish-speaking countries which are alleged to bo enlightened have still to make that discovery." Another Pest. Not long ago the oxistence of flying foxes was reported in tho North, and questions were raised as to whether theße destructive bats really had a footing in New Zealand; and, if so, whether the case was one for immediate extermination, at any cost. Jusl; now the Sydney papers contain strong evidence of their post character. Writes one paper:—"The flying fox is at its seasonable work of fruit destruction, and tho fruit crop being light, as a general thing, the post appears to have spread over a wider area than usual. The only measure of Government assistance in the destruction of these elusive animals is the payment of a bonus of 2d on scalps. This bonus is paid by the Department of Agriculture. No limit has been set by the Government to the money allocated for this purpose, but so far very little demand has been made for the bonus by shooters." Another paragraph from the Wellington (New South Wales) district says: "For the first time in the history of Wellington flying. foxes liave made their appearance, and are attacking the early fruit. The pest has also been reported in several places farther west. It is thought the recent bush fires on the North Coast wiped out their old feeding grounds, and they have been forced inland. What with late frosts, thHp, and now flying foxes, there will be little fruit this year." Changes in Solomon Islands. Great changes have taken place in the Solomon Islands Group since lie first went there 25 years ago, said Dr. C. E. Fox, one of the missionaries, on his arrival at Auckland on Wednesday. Dr. Fox, who is now on a yearn furlough, said that even as late as 1914 cannibalism and head-hunting were not stamped out, and it was unsafe for a white man to walk inland for any distance on some islands, whilo on others it was almost suicide to land at all. This was now a thing of the past, bul since the Great War progress had not been as great as it should have been. There was no encouragement for planters, and the white population of the group had not increased very much in tho past few years (reports the "New Zealand Herald"). The islands were under the control of the Fijian Government, which was to their disadvantage, as they were not sufficiently in touch with Fiji. The land was bought from the natives and leased to plantersi at a rate which made development unprofitable. Art In Auckland. - ■ The Auckland Society of. Arts has decided to ask its trustees to dispose of its two-story building in Kitchener street in order to relieve it of the upkeep and to realise a fund to be devoted in the future to the erection of more suitable and remunerative premises (states the "New Zealand Herald,). This decision was reached at a special meeting on Tuesday evening, the president, Mr. A. 8. Boyd, presiding over an attendance of about 40 members. On the Beach. Melbourne's St. Kilda beach, and what happens there, are being discussed in the Victorian capital. In the Victorian Legislative Council one of the members, Mr. Edgar, said that the beach was being turned into a plaguo spot, where it was not considered decent for a respectable man to take his children. At St. Kilda, Elwood, and other beaches there were bathers who, if they were not wholly obscene in their dress, were obscene in their language. Some bathers bathed almost in the nude. Parents could not take their young daughters to the beach white such conditions prevailed. There was an element, known as the "flapper" element, Mr. Edgar continued,, which seemed to be sub-normal, with regard to both clothing and habits. Mr. Williams, M.L.C., defended the "flapper." He said she could hold her owii with the Collingwood "flapper" of 40 years ago. Because a girl developed her form and enjoyed life more than her mother did, he did not think there was anything wrong with her. "No Pretence of Ooveming." During the recent cruise of the Southern Cross to % the Melanesian islands, a visit was paid to the islands under the Condominium Government. When interviewed by a "New Zealand Herald" representative in Auckland on Wednesday, Dr. C. E. Fox, one of th missionaries, said the Government j made practically no pretence of governing the natives, which was indicated by the fact that a man at Vaiiualava, in tho Banks Islands, recently killed his wife, but could not .be punished for the crime. Only white men came under the jurisdiction of the law. It was understood that a movement was afoot to conclude the Condominium by division, Britain taking the southern islands, including Vila, the capital, and France the northern group, including Banks and Torres Islar-^ and Segond Channel in Sasito, .the best harbour in the group. The Melanesian Mission was established in the northern area. Dr. Fox added that Bishop Molyneux was landed at Lolowai, Opa, where a college for native teachers is beingopened. His residence is not yet finished, and he is occupying that of Mr. Godfrey during the latter's absence. Missionaries Ketur:i. Tho Melanesian Mission steamer Southern Cross, which returned to Auckland on Wednesday, after an absence of three months, brought six missionaries to New Zealand on furlough. They were the Rev. Dr. C. I). Fox, headmaster of Ail Hallows School, Pawa, Ugi, Solomon Islands, the Eev. R. Godfrey and Mrs. Godfrey, of New Hebrides, the Rev. C. Montford, of Guadalcanal1, Solomon Islands, Miss Hursc, headmistress of Torgil girls' school, and Miss Satchel!, of Banks group. i The Cassiopee. After a stay, of eight days at Auckland the French warship Cussiopoe sailed yesterday afternoon for Dunedin, where she will remain for about a week. During tho Auckland visit the vessol was in dock for cleaning and painting. From Dunedin she will go to Sydney to meet the relief crew from France. Afterwards the Cassiopee will return to her station in the Society Group,

Tariff Revision. The Commission appointed to report on tho revision of the Customs tariff will commence its sittings at Auckland on 18th January next, for the purpose of taking evidence from such persons in that district as desire to make representations respecting the Customs tariff. "Teeming With Fish." According to Captain White. th« streams in tho Kawhia district an: "teeming with splendid fish." He told members of the council of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society that tha trout would rise to the fly in January. "You can get the finest fishing in New Zealand there," he continued, "better than at Tongariro or Taupo, but there is little or no accommodation." The Modern Holiday. An unusually large number of motorists is arriving in New Plymouth for the holidays, their cars reaching town heavily laden with luggage and camp equipment. In many instances camping parties have been formed, and, while two and three cars are occupied by parents and their families, another car carries all the equipment. Among the visitors this week have been several South Island parties.