NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 137, 14 June 1927, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Opinion to be Sought. The "Wellington School Committees' Association recently passed a resolution criticising the action of the Minister of Education in regard to his attitude, over school registers and tho proposed referendum on Bible-reading in schools. The association is still dissatisfied with tho Minister's attitude, and at its meeting last evening decided to obtain a legal opinion on tho matter. Abusing the Party System. "Quite a number of recent appointments to the Legislative Council have been scandalously bad, "declared Mr. W. A. Veiteh, Leader of tho Liberal Party, in tho course of a speech at Foilding on Friday night. Beforni could, out of its party funds, afford to reward its supporters without asking tho public to find £315 per year for seven years for the each of its apI pointees to tho Council. Tho speaker said he knew of an occasion when a seat | on the Council was offered Uy Beform to a candidate provided he stood down to prevent vote splitting. That candidate refused and'went on with the fight, was disqualified, but to-day"had a seat in the Chamber. He claimed that this was abusing the party system. Proposed Boundary Alterations. Consequent upon , petitions received by the Department of Internal Affairs from M.. E. V. Eiddiford, Mr. J. Parker, and others, a Commission has been set up to consider the matter of tho proposed alterations of boundaries of the borough of Upper Hut't. Tho I Commission will sit on* Friday, and its members are Mr. \V. G. Riddel], S.M. Mr. H. W. C. M'lntosh, Commissioner of Crown Lands, and Mr. F. N. Mar- | tin, District Value?, Valuation DepartI ment. •..'■' Epidemic of Distemper. i . A serious epidemic of .distemper is raging among dogs in Auckland. "The | outbreak' is the worst I have seen'in Auckland during the past twelve or fourteen years," said a veterinary surgeon. "The mortality rate is very high, and dogs belonging to all sections of the community are being attacked by the malady.' 3 In its most serious form —the pneumonic type—death often takes place quickly, but in its other forms the affected animals may linger for three woeks. The veterinary surgeon added that vaccination was believed to be a safeguard against infection, but it was no use treating tho animal once it was attacked. So far as treating valuable dogs was concerned, vetorinary surgeons often encountorcd the initial difficulty that their sorvicos were not requisitioned until tho disease had become highly doveloped. "Dog distemper will not affect other animals or human beings," said I tho surgeon in reply to a question. Teachers' Bights. "We want to be given tho right to know why the grading list was departed from," stated Mr. H. A. Parkinson, secretary of tho Now Zealand Educational Institute, when speaking at a meeting of the Wellington School Committees' Association last evening. Mr. Parkinson said tho institute intended approaching Parliament to endeavour to obtain tho right of appeal regarding tho appointment of teachors when tho grading list was departed from. Sometimes the education boards had reason to depart from tho grading system, but tho teacher concerned had no right of appeal. There might be good reasons for departure from tho list. All tho nistituto wanted was the right to ask the reason. Tho grading system, ho could honestly say, was quite the best system m the world; at all events, in tho British Empire; he would go further and say in the English-speaking world. It gave the school the best teacher available, and assured the teacher of due promotion for efficiency. Only Firemen Need Awaken Lower Hutt residents are hopeful that very shortly their slumbers will not bo disturbed by the weird "music" of the fire siren. Councillor A&ldrum reported last evening that all the firemen s residences had now been connected by telephone, and that three sections out of four of street fire alarms had been installed and might now be used. After 11 p.m. tho siren would not be needed. A Public Spirit. "Tho public spirit shown in an offer accepted by tho Finance Committee of' the City Council last night was much appreciated," said the Mayor (Mr. 6. A, Troup) this morning. "The D.I.C. i is about to erect a sevnn-story buildin» fronting Lambton quay, Brandon street, and Panama street, and the offer was I to splay the corners in Lambton quay to the oxtent of nine feet to the Lambton quay frontage, at no cost to the City Council, for the additional land given up for street purposes." This represents a considerable property value in this part of the city, and tho offer was accepted, councillors voicing hearty appreciation of the spirit shown. | Skulls in the Roof. ; Two skulls peered through the dust at the first man who broke his way through the ceiling of the old building next to the Bank of Australasia, Auckland, when it was being pulled down to I clear tho site for the Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society's structure states the '' New Zealand Herald. '' Skeletons havo been unearthed in Queen street excavations but no wrecker is quite prepared to encounter human skulls beneath the roof. Thoughts of mysterious crimo crossed the mind of the man as ho crawled in to investigate, but tho abseuco of bones and the presence of an old apothecary's scales and other paraphernalia of a laboratory at once explained all. The skulls were simply the discarded dunnage of a chemist's shop. The incident may serve tho purpose of the moralist and it will lose nothing from the fact that one of the skulls contained | tho nest of a :i>.ouse. Indeed, man in I his time plays iwuiy parts^

A Stay-at-Home Farmer. The farmer is frequently accused of spending more of his time off the farm than is good for his prosperity, says an exchange, but, even if this ia the case, thero aro notable exceptions. Ono of the party of Canterbury farmers who visited Otago recently after a residence of 54 years in Canterbury saw Dunedin for the first time, and it was in the southern city that he saw a Bteamcr for the second time. "Times hare been too bad," ho told a newspaper man, "to trip about much, and. it is only this last year or two that one has been ablo to get ahead of it." "Silver Lining in Sight." "Although 'unemployment is still widespread in England, there appears to be a general feeling of expectancy that the silver lining is in sight, for industry is recovering from the trade depression," said tho Eev. F. Harty, of Frankton Juncton, on Sunday, upon his return by the Bemuera after a year's sojourn abroad (reports the "New Zealand Herald"). He added tho feeling of optimism was remarkable, and indicated the heart of the country was still sound. Snow at National Park. Snow was lying to a depth of four inches at the Whakapapa huts in the National Park on Friday. At this level, whiqh is not much higher than the altitude of the National Park railway station, snow quickly melts, unless the wind remains in the south, but later in the season—in August as a rule—the ski enthusiasts have a reasonable chance of getting suitable snow conditions for their sports (states the "Now Zealand Herald"). A fall of four inches of snow at Whakapapa at this time is most unusual. Farmers and Arbitration Court. Discussing" in the course of a speech in the South the suggestion that tho Arbitration Court should be abolished, as it presses too heavily on the producers, Mr. J. E. Hamilton, the Reform member for Awarua, expressed tho opinion that the Court must be remodelled or abolished. Doubtless, ho said, it was set up for a very worthy reason—to counteract "sweating" in various industries —and a certain amount of good had been accomplished,, but it had fnr exceeded the scope of the original intention. Awards, he added, must bo made with a view to securing maximum and efficient service for the remuneration given, and any suggested improvements would receive his whole-hearted support, even to the abolition of the preference to unionists clause. '' Wo certainly want that deleted," exclaimed a voice from the audience. Legislation, continued Mr. Hamilton, was required to get away from the present system, .and he was prepared to support any suggestion that would give the farmers relief. Beserves In Hutt Valley. In the subdivision of the land belonging to the Government in Lowsr Hutt provision has be^en made for a number of reserves which vary in size from quite small plots to areas of several acres. Tho Lower Hutt Borough Councillast evening decided to request the Government to hand over these reserves to the council so that provision could be made, this season, for laying out and planting of the plots. The council also decided to make request that a piece of land lying between the Eandwick road and White's Line ramp should be vested in the council. The Bailway Department is also to.be asked if it will plant vacant land near the new railway stations and round tho new workshops with trees this season. Ice-cream Manufacture. "In Wellington City," states Dr. W. F. Findlay, Medical Officer of Health, "I recently visited the more important premises whero icecream is manufactured. Our requirements have been instrumental in practically eliminating the manufacture of ice-cream by small yendbra. It is thus possible to gradually attain a higher standard in the remaining factories. This work is being continued, and improvements effected as opportunity offers." Eating-bouse Inspection. During the past year tho Medical Officer of Health has paid various visits of inspection to eating-houses in the city, in .company .with the City Council officers, says Dr. W. T. Findlay in his annual report. The regulations, ho says, are again proving effective in improving conditions, and unsuitable premises are gradually being eliminated or improved. Whero long leases aro in oxistence, the position is rendered increasingly difficult. Private Hospitals. Tho Medical Officor of Health of Wellington, Dr. W. F. Findlay, states in his annual report that there are now ten private maternity homes in the district, and eight medical and surgical homes, in addition to tho Alexandra Homo and St. Helens Hospital for maternity cases. During tho year the new Alexandra Homo was completed. Inspection showed that all maternity homes wero becoming increasingly efficient. Extreme difficulty was now exporienced in tho obtaining of suitable ' houses for maternity homes in the modern houses now existing in tho suburbs. Tho private houso as built today was usually too small for conversion without the expense of several hundreds or" pounds in addition by nurses who aro often unable to find tho required finance. Matrimonial Intentions. The matrimonial intentions of a man who happens to, get killed in the course of Ins employment, thereby giving rise to a claim for compensation, have to be taken into consideration by the Arbitration Court. The Court to-day stated that the amended Act gave them absolve discretion in the matter, but whore there wore no special circumstances they usually awarded compensation on the three years' basis. It was reasonable to _ suppose that a single man in the forties who evinced no matrimonial intentions was likely to continue in that state. If he was supporting a widowed mother it was reasonable to suppose that he would continue to do so until her death: compensation therotore in these cases might be extendod beyond the three years' basis. But in the case of a young man in the twenties it was likely that ho would marry and any contributions hitherto mado to tho support of the family would be likely to be curtailed considerably, if not stopped altogether. It was therefore reasonable, should 1 such a young man be killed, to assess compensation on a three years' basis. Sentiment, however could not!enter inti the question. One might feel sorry for the bereaved, but compensation could bo awarded only for monetary lass.