NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 4, 6 January 1927, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

AU for the Duke.

'■/;. The Parliamentary Buildings are not the only ones to be-'given a fresh, coat of paint in, view of the forthcoming j visit of the: Duke and Duchess of York. The Railway Department's office buildings in Featherston ■ street are about to be made resplendent with.a new,.coat of paint for the great occasion, and a commencement with the erection of the scaffolding was made yesterday. „: , Health'in;New Zealand. ;■ '.' ■ vln a review of. the last annual report of the Hew Zealand Department of Health,'the ''British Medical Journal just received says' that the* part which is of most, general interest; is Dr. M' Kibbin 's ro'p ort, in : which, the. vital statistics of the Doxninidn are tabulated! After quoting the satisfactorily low general .arid' infantile death rates, ; the journal remarking that "probably: in no other 'country in the';world is. the death rate from all causes so low, " it is pointed out. that:'' special features of an outstanding character in the re» port are the expansion and influence of the Health Department's maternal welfare services under. Dr., Jellett; Dr! Paget, and Dr. Elaine.: Gurr,: as-also the excellent account of- the Division of School. Hygiene under the direction of Dr. Ada Patorson. An inquiry into the geographical distribution: of goitre in. school children and its "relation to the amount of iodine in. the .soil was conducted by Dr. -Baker-M'Laglan; and is of much interest/aa: it demonstrated in. a strikingjmanner the relationship of goitre ineidenceto low iodine con-' .tent." l/ ■ . ■■■ -■. :.•;.-. '■, ■"■• ;. ■■: Shooting at. Trentaain.' • • : Riflemen in all parts of New' Zealand are, beginning to turn towards Trenthain, where the annual meeting of the National Rifle Association will be held in March. The programme for the meeting, which will commence on 17th March, and will extend over six days/ has already been issued, and it offers a big attraction to marksmen. One of the main features of the N.R.A. meeting is that it'caters for all,classes of riflemen, entrants being divided into three grades—A, B, and' Tyros. The programme of matches is similar to that ,01 _last .year., Proceedings will-, /open with four service, matches (rapid, snapshooting, tile competition, and moving target), and,these will "be. folio wed by ! ann °P°ninS mat<* (seven shots each at 300, 500, and 000 yards), which does not _ count in' the aggregate for the Balhnger Belt. When the opening match is completed, a start will be madt with.the Belt, matches, which are the Marlborough Match (ten shots at 300 a£ d, ?00 yards), Auckland. Match (ten shots at 300 and 600 yards), Wellington Match (ten .'shots, at 500 and 600 yards), Canterbury Match (ten shots a* 600 yards), Cltago Match (ten shots at 800 and 900. yards), Hawkes Bay Match (ten shots at 900. yards), Taranaki Match (ten shots at 800 yards) af onn 6 "Kins' a'':pr«« Match (ten shots at 900 yard). Those taking part in the^King's Prize Match will be those with the highest aggregates in the preceding seven matches. .'•.... ■■■ Raglan a HealthKesort. - ' ■ The Minister of Health (the Hon J A.; Young) has just spent, a week at Raglan,..which .township, with its harbour and sheltered beach, is rapidly coming into notice as a summer health resort. While in Raglan, t.ho Minister was given a reception by. the townsfolk and, settlers'of the district; and m the .course' of his re'p)y. lie urged the adoption of some scheme of seasonable supervision 'of sanitatita in the close-ly-peopled parts. .With-the largo influx of visitors for the holiday-season and the. innumerable camping, .parties scat-tered-.about; such measures were : essehtial .if .Raglan were £6 ; ' preserve its good. name. The Minister promised to authoriso an officer from his Department to :corifcr with th 6 local authorities with; _a. view to; devising some suitable, eflficient, and inexpensive sani-tation-scheme under the control of the Town Board!' They; ' could not, he said, afford to take risks, arid, he would render the authorities every assistance '."'.■■..'.:'.■,;.'■. I.. 1-;- '■'....-. '■• Encouraging the Young to Sing. . Music in'thp.pi-imarj-; schools of. : New Zealand is gradually .'-being.:, put on a sound basis, by Mr. E. D. jay lor, the ditector of niubic in schools. A collection of genuine. Maori,airs has been arranged by Mr. Alfred Hill, formerly of Wellington, and now; on the Sydney Cousoi'v'atorium staff, and Mr. Tnyler intends to introduco these: into the "Dominion schools dtiring the present year. The songs include "Poi Paritireti" (gliding poi song), "He Waiata Aroha" (a love song), • "Nonsense Song,"- " Two^ \Poi-; Songs," "Poi Waka" (canoe song), "Titi Torea" (stick-throwing song); and "The Locust Song," Air are claimed to be genuine Maori melodies, to which only a set musical form has been given- by Mr. H,ill. Another, and perhaps the beat-known and most popular, is "Pokare Kare," which has Bpleridid.rhythm aaid a catcliy ; melody.' ''"

Train Delayed. '..,..-.. . A mixed, train leaving Napier yesterat 2;45- p.m.' for Palmerston North •met-with a slight* mishap when apiproaching Woodville, a wagon leaving the rails. Although no serious damage was done;-a delay of ninety minutes somewhat inconvenienced' 'the passengers. .Those intending, to connect witli "the north-bound Limited express were,' enabled to do so' by means of motor-cars. '"■■•,,-.• . ' - :■.-. Auckland Excursionists. " ■From the day on which- the holiday excursion" fares . came into force, 7th December,, .the. stafi at the Auckland railway station has been kept exceptionally busy- handling, the. enormous rush of passenger trafiie, telegraphs "The Post's" Auckland correspondent. "Up to noon ' yesterday * over 46,000 tickets had been issued, involving a total cost of about £40,000. This figure is between £4000 and £5000 in excess of the amount taken last year, when the Dunedin Exhibition was the great attraction to travellers. The Next Tourist Vessel. The'next ocean leviathan to ' cruise in the. waters of New Zealand will be the Franconia, a sister ship to the Carinthia. Following -a different route from that taken by the Carinthia, the Franconia is due. to arrive at Auckland on. 21st February, and at Wellington two days later. .■ All the 410 passengers are to. visit Eotorua, and of that number 105 intend' coming through the North Island by way of the Wanganui River—the. largest. conducted party to' go by water down the river at one time since the Maori wars. These people 'will arrive here a day; before the rest, and will be acconiino-: dated.at hotels. AVhilst in Wellington half the day will be spent ou a motor' trip round the; bays, and the other half will be spent sight-seeing in the city. In, order to. accommodate: the Franconia's .passengers, arrangements have been, made; ior.o, specialtrams, arid for special boats on the Wanganui, this being the biggest con-' ducted' tour to New Zealand '"ever arranged by Thomas Cook;arid Sons. St.; John's Wort.' The wide expanses, given up to St. John's wort in ; this, district, may give interest to the following advice from Albury (New South Wales): "Although there is at present a very heavy crop of St. John's wort in flower in the centre of the soldiers' settlement at : Manus, Tu'mbafumba, local landowners express the opinion that by giving close attention to their holdings and digging : out, and burning every, plant that is located it will be possible to confine the trouble to the area already-infested. During the year success has been met with; by- the adoption; of this system.- It is felt that the afforestation scheme undertaken by■'.', the Lands Department cannot be immediately "effective owing to 'the time that will be necessary to permit of fhe, pines growing sufficiently to choke out the wort." .'-.'■ ' ■;■■;.■ ■"'".■, Disused Sleepers. '■■;■'■'■ : .•■What becomes of the"disused sleepers of the New' Zealand Department of Railways ? la; a Sydney paper recently the .following appeared: "The Minister of Agriculture (Mr. W. F.. Dunn) re : ,cently made representations to the Railway. Commissioners .regarding the matter of supplying second-hand sleepers at a reasonable rate, for the of fences destroyed by the recent bush. fireß. Mr. Dunn has been advised' that the Commissioners- have decided that in bona fide cases where fences have been destroyed" through the bush fires, old, unserviceable railway sleepers will be "made available at the rate of 6d each where lyingj and that, where'the demand is greater than the supply the sleepers" will'be rationed on.' a proportional basis.- Farmers . desir'ouS"of obtaining supplies Of :'these sleepers should apply to..the'railway di r •yisional engineer at Bathurst in the case of western districts, and at Goulburn in the case of southern districts." Christmas Telegrams, -■ The telegram,as a form of Christinas' greeting seems to be hardly a3 popular as it was. ; Figures supplied by the Post and Telegraph, Department shop; that:the: number of telegrams; forwarded throughout New; Zealand from 21st to 24th December (inclusive) was -137,991, as against 142,373 for the previous year. . Received messages also showed a i decrease, the number being 170,605 as against 176,640 :in ; 1925. Transmitted^ messages,' however, showed an increase from 258,349 t0'265,600. Mail matter continues to -increase in quantity every .year, and the number of parcels handled at Wellington this Christmas reached the. huge total . of--86,401. ' The number in ■ • 1925 was .75,852." -' ■ ;■•- -■:•.-:■• ; ■:•■/;.' ■ ■ •": Salvation and the Law. : - . V ■ A iew days ago .most'of the barristers and some Of the solicitors practising in Sydney'received Bible texts,; a religious poem,; and an eloquent - and appealing tract from. Mr. E. P. Field,, now of London. . Few of the addressees remembered> him, or-.- anything .about him, ■ for jit is more than thirty, years since he left Sydney; but when practising as: a barrister there he was dis-tinctly-conspicuous; "His continual, conflicts with Sir William Windeyer ■and his other acts and deeds (says one paper) made him extremely prominent, but he will best be remembered by men of his. time because ?ie;'claimed that upon him a miracle had been performed', in answer to his prayer. In August, 1890, ho was examined by some Sydney doctors^ who said that he had a malignant growth; in his throat, and that his case was beyond surgical or medical aid.. He determined to go to London, but while on the way to Melbourne (not Damascus, just Melbourne) be prayed that a miracle might remove the growth, and promised that if this were done he would devote his life to God's service. From Melbourne hc;returne'd. to Sydney eompletely;cured, and now,.. thirty-six years afterwards, his anxiety for the spiritual welfare of Sydney's 'lawyers and the literature "he has. sent them, are evidence pf his faithfulness in performing his part '■ of the contract." .. .■"'•• ' . Coal's Weak Spot. . ;; ' - The use of Victorian ' (Yallourn)brown coal deposits for the generation of olectrical power is helped by tlio fact that the deposits can be worked on the open cut principle at a very low cost, instead of'having, to be mined in the usual way. The -Victorian Electricity Commission says • that engineers have pronounced these brown coal deposits to bo as nearly perfect for commercial exploitation in regard to the etxent and physical properties of the coal as it would be possible to find in brown, coal deposits. Herr J. Klitzing, the Geiinan engineer, who submitted a report to tho Commission ou coal-win-ning operations at Yallouru, was surprised at the .favourable situation of the deposits. "Whereas in Germany a ratio of one to two between tho.depth of the over-burden arid tho depth of the coal seam was regarded as unusually satisfactory, and a ratio of one to one was considered.a very good commercial condition, the ratio at Yallourn waa one to live.." The cost of coalwinning, being thus -reduced, it is thought that olectrical power,from this coal will be as cheap r« or cheaper than hydro-electric. But water-power does not strike, whereas the Yallourn open cut labourers, by ceasing work despite an Arbitration Court award, recently placed Melbourne's .electrical suppljr in. jeopardy. _ ■"'■ ■'■.■

Clothes lime Thieves. Clothes line thieves reaped" a profitable harvest at Point "Chevalier during 'the holidays, telegraphs "The Post's" I Auckland correspondent. A't'least ten i householders have reported that clothes left on the lines were-taken at night. The loss in one case, where a .whole j lino was stripped, was assessed at £7. Sheets, towels, .and underclothing are among the articles .taken. .;. "' ,' ; : A Eival to Eatana. A report is current that Batana has a rival in another prophet (states the "New Zealand Herald"). Eatana, however, has always denied that he is a prophet, .his creed being that he is merely an instrument in God's hands for doing good. This new prophet hails from Karioi, on: the Main Trunk, and it-is said that a number of Katana's followers in the Ohakune district are linking up with him. He proposes to lead a delegation throughout the North Island. : . . • -„.., The 'Speedy Child. . . : The sight of numerous "motor-cars standing outside a school- in California aroused the interest :of Dr. Alister.MacKenzie,: golf architect, according.to a story-which he told members of -the Sydney Millions Club. He inquired, and found that they were used.by the children to drive themselves to and 1 from, .school.'-/. Later,' said- Dr. MacKenzie, he -learned of another 'school which provided parking space for sixty children's "autos." Is Hard Worfc Out of Fashion? Under the miscroscope of- a New South Wales college headmaster who recently toured Britain, the British business man's faults appear large, the man himself small.'. It could hardly, have been an English-made microscope. The headmaster (Mr. W. C. .Carter) stated in . Sydney that from what he; saw. of business men during his. stay in England, he gained the impression, that many "of them, were just, as- leis-: urely .in their work as so many-of the working men 'were reputed to be.; They arrived late at their offices, and left early. In a word, they^ were not imbued' with the energy and constancy which .seemed to be necessary if Britain was to recover i her pre-war posi-. tioh in the'world; of commerce and in-: dustry. '// ■, '.. ''■■:■ ..'. '. .'■■■. : Sport.and the Sclxoolboy.■■: V ' Undue prominence is given to sport in English public schools, .stated- Mr. W. C. Carter, headmaster of Barker College, New, South Wales, who' return-! Ed to Sydney- recently from a: visit to Europe., There is, a tendency, he states,; to make a hero of -the athlete, and. every time a boy scores a'century the school is assembled to applaud him; In educational matters, he thinks Now. South' Wales public schools are well abreast of the times. - During the general strike in England, Mr. Carter .was in France, and - found the French people wonderfully impressed by the fact that no bloodshed .had been associated with the hold-up of Britain's industrial life.;'.■■.■ ;■ '„";.,■•■■■ ,■;.■: ■•.■/:V.',.; •,■■•:";. A Lick and a Stick. '■•'■, ; , , '>' Stamp. sales at the Post Officer in Wellington totalled £5.862, during the four days. 21st, to 24th December. The receipts •in Auckland during the same period were : & 136 less. The amount of money spent in stamps during those four day 3. just - before Christmas by the people in the larger townß of 'the Dominion reached, the, . phenomenal 'total- of & 29,990, which : is, oyer £2000 more than the previous year's record. These .figures coyer the eighteen chief post offices of-the Dominion, where the amounts of "'stamps :'.-. were sold, the values for 1925 being .shown in "'' parentheses:—-Auckland, £5726 (£4848); k;BlenheimV \ £395 ; . (£187); Ghristchureh, £3737 (£3481); ■ Dunedin, £2300 (£1619);- Gisborne, £470 (£498);. ;'■• Greymouth, ; ' £720 -.: (£753)'; Hamilton, £1523 (£1530);.: Invercargill £1196 (£1094)V-Napier, £2265 (£1647); Nelson, £283 (£569); NewPlymouth, £ 914 V( £ 1264); '. Oamaru, £346 - (£269); Palmerstqn North, £1558 (£1528);.' "Thames, '£664 (£812); Timaru, £759 (£1011); Wanganuii £1122 (£1311); Wellington, £5862 ■■•-' (£5046); Westport, £252 (£255). ..-.-.:: ■-:-,; ■•.-■;,.; ;.,-■'.„■■.