NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 62, 15 March 1927, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Living in a Shed. An example of tho acuteness of the housing shortage was given to the Petono Borough Council last night, when, in his report, tho borough inspector cited a case-of a person having converted a shed in the backyard of premises on the Esplanade into a dwellingplace for the use of which a man, who had a wife and two children, was paying £1 per week rent. A Compromise Wanted. "It is nonsense for the Prim.. Minister to state that it would cost millions of pounds to eliminate the 3000-odd railway crossings throughout New Zealand," wrote an intending member to tho Wellington Automobile Association last night. "This is" only dragging a red herring t '.ross the trail. Tho motorists don't want Mr. Coates to eliminate all the railway crossings—all they want the Government to dv is to pro"ide reasonable protection at the more dangerous crossings." The writer suggests a rod flag with a glass reflector for use at night, which would drop or wave when a train was approaching, and revert to a vertical jr perhaps lowered position when the train had passed, and urged that the "X" signs be put 200 yards from tho lino, to give the motorist a chance of taking precautions. At present numerous dangerous crossings still had only lft Gin signs almost on tho lino itself. The association made tho reply that the Govornmcn* was gradually improving dangerous crossings, and the Highways Board had agreed to subsidiso the needed improvements if local bodies would "go 50-50" with them. Deep Sea Fishing.

Good sport was obtained by anglei-3 off Mayor Island last week, swordfish, sharks, kingfish, and other fish being very plentiful, writes a Tauranga correspondent. Pour makos and one hammerhead shark were secured, as well as 11 swordfish. Several swordfish were lost. The heaviest mako weighed 405 lb. Th ju/s of this fish, which wcro brought to Tauranga, when opened, measured ISm vertically, and the width from side to side was 15Jin. Inside were dozens of teeth of razor-edge sharpness, many of them boing ljin long. The fish was caught after a strenuous fight of an hour, during which it leaped out of the water repeatedly. Mr. A. Williams (Tauranga) captured a mako shark of 2801b weight which gave half an hour's thrilfiu^ sport. Major Dansey (Rotorua) caught a swordfish weighing 2901b, which also put up a great fight, lashing the water for 38 minutes. Major Dansey also hooked another swordfish, which broke away after 20 minutes' play.

New Motorists' Peril. "In addition to the cyclists training behind buses, wo have now a new peril," said the secretary of the Wellington Automobile Association last night. "They have started rollerskating on the bitumen on the Hutt road. What hope has the motorist of knowing which way the roller skater is going, which way he will turn, or where he is going to pull up?" A member: "He might skate under you." It was decided to protest against such a use of the bitumen. A Councillor Farewelled. Councillor L. T. Watkins, who left to-day with Mrs. Watkins and family for a world tour, was farewelled last evening by members of the Lower Hutt Council. The Mayor, Mr. W. T. Strand, and each of the councillors eulogised' the groat services rendered to the borough by Councillor Watkins, especially emphasising his duties as chairman of tho Drainage Committee at a time when the whole sewerage system of the borough had been overhauled. The work he had done was all buried out of sight, but it was perhaps the most important work in the borough. It had been work well and ably accomplished, and the borough owed him a debt it could not repay. Councillor Watkins, in returning thanks, said his best reward had been the freedom of tho borough from infectious diseases during the past summer. Tho council was too modest, and did not take credit to itself for the great progress made during the last four years. He paid a tribute to the time and energy given to public matters and the originality displayed by the Mayor, Mr. W. T. Strand. The' council should not lose sight of the need of providing recreation areas in the borough.

"All Whites!" Councillor L. T. Watkins, at the Lower Hutt Council meeting last evening was mildly critical of the Government in its methods of carrying on the work of laying out c new reas in the district. Some of the streets were, in his opinion, too narrow, and the sections of land too small. He supposed that it was unavoidable that the houses in the Mandel block should be practically all alike in design, but why, he asked, was it necessary to paint 'them all white? Point Halswell Road. Though Point Halswell road has now been gazetted as a public street, the way has not yet been declared open, but, judging from the number of cars which make the trip daily, and particularly on Sunday and Saturday afternoons, the notice in the "Gazette" has been accepted as sufficient by motorists. As the road is not yet officially open, however, drivers make the .trip at their own risk, a real risk, too, for the roadway is very narrow in some leugths, and the surface a long way from perfect. It is estimated that £10,000 will have to be spent on the road to put it in proper order, the whole, or a part of which sum, it is understood, may be provided for in the proposed £.750,000 city loan! Taupo Pishing Laws.

Amid the bouquets that have been thrown at New Zealand lately there is one brick-bat which comes fro,m an American tourist, who thinks the new fish ing regulations at Taupo particularly asinine and designed to discourage the very people New Zealand wanted to attract, states the "Auckland Star." Included in his tour was a visit to Taupq, specially for the trout-fishing, of which he had heard such promising accounts. When he arrived there he applied for a licwise and got one for one day, for which he paid 16s. The usual charge is 15s, but he applied after 4 p.m., and had to pay an extra shilling. His success encouraged him to want to try again, and next day he applied for. a further license. To his astonishment he war told that no further license could be issued to him except an annual one, whish would cost £6. It turned out afterwards that the tourist could have taken out a license for a week at a cost of £2, but he complains that he was not told about this alternative when he first applied for a license. The nev regulations are clear on the point; they do no; allow a person "other than a resident or district resident to obtain more than one weekly license of more than one day license in any one season." * To anyone coming from overseas the regulations might naturally sound very "redtapy," and they should be fully explained to every tourist. It is misunderstandings such as this which lead to irritation, and apparently sufficient publicity has not been given to the new regulations governing this popular sport at Taupo.

Dangerous Child Drivers. The danger of allowing children to drive motor-cars was brought up at the meeting of the Wellington Automobile Association last night. "It is becoming a • common thing to see children who cannot look over the steering wheel driving ears," said Mr. H. W. Lawrence. ''It is a great source of danger. Only the other day I saw a ear with ten people in it driven by ono of these kids. They are not licensed, becauso they cannot be. In the case of an emergency, what chance has such a child got? A fraction of a second's hesitation is enough to cause disaster. Why do wo pay 5s for a driver's license if we are not protected against this?" Children of eight and nine, it was stated by other members, could be seen driving motor-cars, and the view was expressed that even with a parent seated alongside this was dangerous in the extreme. While it was recognised that tho regulations prohibited children driving, it was decided to write to the police urging,prosecutions of all guardians of drivers under 15 years of age. Too Few Entering tlie Ministry. "So that every man must give an account of himsolf to God," was the text that tho Bishop of London chose when preaching to the boys of Christ's Collego at tho College Chapel on Sunday morning. While ho was in England, the Bishop snid, ho had a chance to visit all tho big public schools, and to go back to them if there was anyI thing that ho had left unsaid on any ono visit. This, however, would be his only visit to Christ's - College, and he would give them his big message. It lay in tho fact that too few New Zcalanders were entering the ministry, reports the Christchurch • "Star." "We have sent many ministers from the Old Country, but wo want a New Zealand ministry," said the preacher. "1 entered the ministry at the nge of 2G. I responded to tho call of the world, tho call of humanity, and the call of God, and I havo been thankful over since. Some of you will receive the call, and where should tho ministry be drawn from if not from a Church school? We havo to do what God gives us to do, and give an account of our doings to Him. If wo do, wo will achieve the greatest happiness that it is possible to attain in this world. Two of the men I sent out to this country came a hundred miles to see mo, and'thoy havo been wonderfully happy in the faithful carrying on of their work here. Our characters are what we niako them, and wo will havo to give an account of that making. We have to give that account here in our daily lives, in our every word, thought, or deed. Every day is judgment day. We never know when our lives may be required of us. The great standard set is the life of the first Man ordained by God, Jeaus Christ His Son."

Catcalls and Eggs. A recent occurrence has caused a certain amount of feeling against the sect known as the Pentecosts in Temuka and when they started their usual evening street meeting on Saturday night, it was evident that something -was afoot (writes the Temuka correspondent of the Christchurch "Press"). In a very short space of time some hundreds of people, both men and women, gathered at the corner of Commerce and King streets. When the evangelist, Mr. P. E. Wilson, stepped out of tho ring to address the crowd, his opening. sentence, "I'm very pleased to see such a big crowd around our circle to-night," was greeted with an outburst of booing and catcalls. The evangelist made several attempts to speak, but his efforts were effectually drowned by the laughter and cries of the crowd. Eggs and tomatoes were thrown in showers. After the policesergeant went over to speak to the evangelist, the party were Been packing up their street organ and making preparations for departure. This was the signalfor more eggs and fruit and vegetables and some crackers to bp thrown. On Sunday night there was a similar demonstration, with the differ ence that the tormentors followed the evangelist and his people into their meeting house, and there continued the noise and the fusilade of decayed esres and tomatoes. Any form of worship was out of tho question, and the meet ing broke up in disorder. The rank and file were allowed to leave unmolested, but the evangelist required police protection. One window in the hall was broken.