NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 49, 28 February 1927, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

St. David's Bay. To-morrow, the first of March, is St. David's Day, St. David (or St. Dewi) being the patron .saint of Wales. He is first mentioned in the "Annales Cambriae" £_f .the 10th century as having died a .Tiishop in the year 601. Eich legendary history supplements these meagre but authentic details. He is said to have journeyed through Wales preaching and performing miracles; to have visited Jerusalem (no mean feat in those far oil clays); and even to have been the uncle of King Arthur. No special observance marks his day in this part of the world, Welshmen not being here in sufficient numbers to give the clay the importance of a holiday. Bands' Wrong Methods. The adjudicator in the recent band contest (Mr. W. Halliwell), of Wigan, England, gave an interesting dempnstration and lecture in the Town Hall to the visiting bandsmen. Using the Wanganui Garrison Band as a medium he demonstrated his method of play and interpretation. The opinion was subsequently ventured by several conductors that New Zealand bands have drifted into quite, a different style to that adopted by the leading English bands, and have been working on entirely wrong lines, the hope being expressed that as a result of the visit of Mr. Halliwell the Dominion mass bands will become vastly improved musical organisations. . ' In Too Great a Hurry. Those motorists who are in so great a hurry to reach the end of their journeys as to ignore road barriers and run on over half completed road work will be well advised if they take heed of a warning given by the engineer of the Horowhenua County Council, lest the authorities* under the powers given them by the Main Highways Act, close the roads altogether while the work is in hand. Something like 50 miles of bituminous penetration surface is being laid in the Horowhenua County, and time after time the work has been delayed and considerable damage done by motorists who carry on through the rope barriers and cut deep ruts in the new surface before the final rolling can be given. At most, the engineer explained, the delay would be about ten to twelve minutes, and though there was no desire to close the road, there would bo nothing else for it if more consideration and common-sense were not displayed. Drivers of fcervieo cars, he remarked, were not the offenders, and had never m his district failed to take notice of the warnings and requests of the men.at work. Apart from the damage done to new work, he added, the men on the job were expoEed to quite unnecessary dangers, and one rather serious accident had been in great, part due to the action of a motorist in running past a barrier.

Souvenir of Ducal Tour. As a souvenir of the Royal visit, the Railways Magazine for February has been issued in specially enlarged form. The matter it contains is appropriate to the occasion. The part which the railway system is playing in the transport of the Royal party through New Zealand is dealt with in introductory articles, and the Minister of Railways stresses the value of co-operation in the railway service. There are the usual contributions dealing with various phases of railway administration. A special feature of the magazine is an outline in brief of British history, supplemented by crisp biographies, in chronological order, of the Kings and Queens and statesmen of England, generously ancl excellently illustrated. As the editor explains, the idea of devoting the issue largely to Empire subjects is to help '' in some degree to refresh our readers' mental picture of Empire development and achievements."

Were the Explosions Responsible? A good deal was said at last week's meeting of the City Council' about the use of explosives in the city, but not nearly as much, even though there are sixteen councillors, all gifted with the art of speech at length, as by the members of a certain family yesterday morning. "Whether or not the long series of explosions in the next section during the preceding week had loosened its grip upon -the beams above, the plaster ceiling of a bedroom gave out about 6 o'clock, making a great mess, but, fortunately not causing bodily injury. The position of the council .in regard to the granting of permits for the use of explosives appears to be rather ambiguous; if a permit is granted, then,' seemingly, the council may be held responsible for damage that may be done; but if the council says neither yes nor no, it may evade that possible responsibility. This winking at its own bylaw may, however, results in the use of gelignite or other ex plosives under rather risky conditions. Councillor. J. Aston, who brought the matter up at the last meeting, maintains that air .or electric drills could very well take' the place of gelignite within the city boundaries, particularly as, speaking generally, Wellington's rock is' not hard blue rock which defie3; the drill point. Councillor R. Semple holds that to prohibit blasting is ridiculous, but that blasting must be done under proper supervision and safeguards, which is not always the rule at present. The Mayor has undertaken to inquire into the council's position in the matter of the use of explosives. To Restrict Motor-car Importations. "With a view of restricting importations of motor-cars and encouraging their manufacture locally the Auckland Coachworkers' Union proposes to move at the annual conference of the New Zealand Labour Party that an endeavour be made to alter the present legislation in respect to the importation of ears to provide that only one finished car in four be allowed to enter the Dominion, and that the tariff on spare parts be raised v to 35 per cent.