NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 48, 26 February 1927, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Labour and Liquor. Two remits relating to the licensing poll appear on the agenda paper for the annual conference of the New Zealand Labour Party. The Palmerston North Labour Representation Committee intends to move that the national executive of the party and the Parliamentary representatives be instructed to call upon all supporters of Labour at the, next General Election to record their votes against the trade, "which consistently uses its organisations, both financial and otherwise, to : defeat Labour candidates, at the elections. The Tauranga branch of the Party asks that national prohibition be made a plank of the, platform. : : , Travel By Air. People living in most parts of New Zealand so rarely see an aeroplane that it.is difficult for them to realise to what extent the air lines in England and on the Continent have developed m every-day commercial life. Last year, remarks "The Aeroplane," was an extremely satisfactory one for the air lines. Machines which came into and out of Croydon totalled 5446, carrying 26,531 passengers, of whom 1665 were carried by Imperial Airways, Ltd. Including crews, 33,460, people crossed the Channel by air. There was no accident which caused injury to a single passenger. Imperial Airways has a number of regular passengers who use the air lines constantly, in some cases four and nve times per week. A Warning to Cyclists. "This is the first prosecution for a number of years- arising out' of push-' cycles hanging on to the back of motorvehicles and free-wheeling. Your Worship will remember that some time ago there.was a fatal accident in Kent terrace as a result of-this practice, and the City Council wishes to stop it " said tho Assistant-City Solicitor (Mr J.Lockie), in the Magistrate's Court on Thursday, when Maurice Hennessay, a. 17-year-old youth, was charged with negligent driving. Observing that the practice was a very dangerous one, and should be put down, Messrs W. B.'. Coy and R.--W. Burbidge, J.P.s, imposed a nominal penalty of 5s as a warning to others. .Tames Maitland and Hugh Scarfe were similarly dealt with, and Frank Twort-was convicted and crdered to pay costs.Pressmen on the Renown. The official press staff on H.M.S. Renown numbers only three, of whom two are Australians. Mr.. Lan Lucas is the sole representative of the Press of Great Britain, and^practieally every daily newspaper of any standing looks to Teceive its news of the Eoyal tour from his pen, though some of the" important city papers will have special representatives sending news from New Zealand and Australia. The other two pressmen are Mr. William Tonkin, formerly of the staff of the Sydney "Sun," but now representing a group of Australian papers, and Mr. Taylor Derbyshire, representing the Australian and New Zealand Press Association. Mr. Derbyshire is very well known in Australia where, at one time he was associated with J. C. Williamson, Ltd., being manager of the firm in Melbourne. Some three years ago he was appointed to represent the Australian Associated Press in Fleet street (London), where his intimate knowledge of Australian affairs and, what Australia wished to know were of the greatest possible service. The official protographer on board is Mr. W. J. Fair. Advice to the Unemployed. "It has teen brought to my notice," said Mr. E. L. Hills at a meeting of the unemployed at Christchurch, "that one of the large warehouses-—in fact, one of the largest—asked for a man for six weeks' work?' (reports an exchange). "One of. our number took that job, but after two days he informed the manager that he thought he would leave and try to get a better position. He was sick of his present employment. He did leave, but was unsuccessful in getting another job, and went back to try to obtain the old one. That is what we have to avoid and stamp out," continued Mr Hills, vehemently. "When you get a job, stick to it like glue! If you do not, you not merely spoil your own chances, but you leave a stigma on all the rest of the unemployed who are willing to do an honest day's work. I hope such cases as that I have just told you will be few and far between."

"England's Strength.' ' A Wanganui lady had the pleasure of travelling down the Wanganui Biver with the American passengers on the Franconia, and had a very interesting conversation with the visitors, who were particularly interested in listening to the historical facts she could relate about the river, says an exchange. She happened to i °er to the Old Country as "Home," which most Now Zealamlers do. A distinguished American asked her where she was born, and she replied, ".Wanganui." <'And your mother?" "Wanganui, also," replied the lady. "And yet you call England 'Home'! That's where the strength of England lies," he replied. Overhauling School Curricula. The task of the special committee set up by the Minister '■f Education to make recommendations for the revision of the school curricula is proving a much larger one tfhan was at first anticipated. The committee has held sev--: earl meetings since it commenced its sittings shortly jefore Christmas, and much constructive work has been done. Considerably greater difficulties have been encountered, however, than was expected, and the 'tommittee will- probably find it necessary to take advantage of the freedom of action given it by the Minister in his inaugural address, and go outside the order of refer : ence in drawing up its report. It. is felt that it is better that the work should be done thoroughly while the various syllabuses are • under revision than to have the necessity arise again later for further overhaul. The committee has now got so far with its work that it is possible to deal with details. Accordingly, an adjournment was made last evening until late in May, to enable the members •to workindividually in the meantime. When it meets again the committee probably will be in a position to draw up.its report. ■. * ,

Publicity on the Franconia. The services rendered by the Government Publicity Office during ' the visit of the liner Franeonia'to New Zealand waters were acknowledged in a radio message received yesterday by the Min-ister-in-eharge of the Department (the Hon. G. J. Anderson) from Captain Ross Skinner, cruise director for Messrs. Cook and 'Son. Besides distributing literature, the Department had on board the steamer, on the voyage from Auckland to Wellington, a representative who. gave short lectures to the passengers upon the scenic attractions of the Dominion, its industrial development, and progress generally. - The Duke and the E.S.A. '. • During his visit to the Christchureh Returned Soldiers' Club on the evening of Tuesday, 15th March, x the Duke of York will be presented with "the gold badge of life membership of the New Zealand Returned Soldiers' Association. It was originally intended that.the pre- . sentation should be made in Wellington, but in view of the fact that the Duke has consented to visit, the Christchurch Returned Soldiers' Association, the Dominion executive of the association decided that it would be appropriate for it to take place on that • occasion. It will be made by Sir Andrew Russell, the Dominion president, who is coming to Christchurch specially for the. purpose., ;..'.• A Great Explosion. The explosion of two* and a-quarter tons of gelignite at Muku Creek quarry, to provide. stone for the huge dan. at the Arapuni hydro-electric construction works, was carried out according, to schedule on Tuesday , afternoon, at about 6 o'clock in the presence of. a number of officials and ladies (writes a Te Awamutu correspondent). The, face of th- hillside had been tunnelled for over '50 feet, with crosscuts and chambers at the ends'for the explosive. The charge was detonated by electricity. Mrs. M'Neil, wife of the.quary contractor, pressed the button; With a muffled roar and reverberations-echoing for many seconds, the whole face of the cliff, nearly 400 feet high, trembled and crumbled, sending up a dense cloud of dust and smoke. It had been planned to dislodge about. 18,000. tons of rock from the toe of the face,.with expectations, that, with luck, a further 18,000 tons might be loosened. The result exceeded all expectations, for fully 50,000 tons came down, providing plenty of work for the quarry staff for' many months to come. The dam construction work at Arapuni has progressed so satisfactorily of late that the full capasity of the aeiial ropefay for transporting the stone- for the nine miles from the quarry, to. Arapuni is now needed. The ropeway can deliver 300 cubic yards a day of 1\ hours, and as the quai-rymen work-in two shifts the ropeway will thus deliver 3600 cubic yards a week. This rate of. delivery will probably be maintained -for the next eight or nine months.

Ambergris. ' . : - , Several fiiids of ambergris: are reported from Coromandel and Mercury Bay beaches, says an exchange. The most valuable proved to be worth £30, and was found by a Maori whilst making a collection of shells and coral. Unaware of its value,, he picked up a piece of ambergris, and on arrival; at his whare encountered a horseman^who ■happened to be a.bank official in search of a cup of ?tea. Whilst the billy was boiling the Native showed his collection of rare shells. The ambergris was detected by the official, who' conveyed it to headquarters to accurately, test its value. A fortnight later ' the Native'was rewarded .for his hospitality with a cheque for £.30. Striped Marlin Captured. ■ After 19 days' deep-sea fishing at the. Bay of Islands, Commander E. W. B. Leake, R.N., D.5.0., of England, has returned to Auckland, states the. "New Zealand Hen.id." . He caught three swordfish and two mako shark, and is delighted with the fishing to be obtained, in the North. The ; weight of the swordfish were 3091b, 3161VJ, and 3811b. The last-men'^ont fish was. a. striped marlin, believed to be the third largest of its kind captured in New Zealand. Commander Leake aade his. headquarters at the Zane Grey Camp at Urupukapuka. On many days the. weather was unsuitablo and ' swordfish were scarce. However, fish were now coming south in greater numbers and some excellent spo:-t should be had during the next few weeks. "Urupukapuka is' a delightful spot and I am comi g back to it," said Commander Leake. "My fish gave me an excellent fight and I am well satisfied." The opinion was expressed that most of the fishermen, especially New Zealand sportsmen, were inclined to use too heavy tackle. Too much advantage lay with the fishermen and not enough chance was given the fish. "New Zealand-made rods want to have more whip in them," said Commander Leake: '' They are not supple enough. Swordfishing is only a sport after all, and one does not want to use rods like telegraph ,les. Of course, the line used must be very.strong."