NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 92, 15 October 1927, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

The Day in Parliament. The biggest hurdle of the present session of Parliament was cleared by the House of Eepresentatives at yesterday's sitting, the Customs Amendment Bill being put through its final stage arter the remaining items on the schedule had been passed. The amended wheat and flour duties wore approved in the afternoon after brief debate, and the_ only other items which provoked serious discussion before the schedule was finalised were those of building stone and slashers. The Minister of Customs introduced a new amendment permitting all sewing machines to enter duty free, and the other alterations which he had brought in earlier in the week were all given effect to. Somewhat unexpectedly, the changes in the duties on timber were approved without any discussion, and early in the evening the third reading debate afforded the party leaders and others to justify and place on record the attitude they had adopted in the consideration of the schedule. In the course of his remarks the Prime Minister stressed the importance 'of efficient organisation in industries, and pointed out that duties alone would not place them on a true economical basis. The Minister of Customs replied at about 1.30 a.m., being greeted with applause. Tn concluding his speech, he remarked that if he had shown any irritability or petulance during the lengthy debate he hoped members would recognise that he had been under a considerable strain. "I had just emerged from a sort of half-gale of criticism on the Land and Income Tax Bill," he said, "and I have had a hurricane on this." The Bill was passed at 1.50 a.m., and the House then adjourned until Monday evening. ' • ' The Solitary Child. A part of an address delivered by Dr. J. H. Beaumon,t on •' Children's Diseases," under the auspices of the Wellington branch of the Bed Cross Society, was devoted to what he termed "the problem of the only,child." The solitary child, he explained, was not necessarily an only child. Any child brought up among adults may suffer from "only childism." The most pronounced, examples of all perhaps occurred among children who are brought up alone by grandparents. There was sound common sense (and a certain amount of bravery) in the doctor's advice to the mother who was always worrying over her only child, "Is there nothing I can give him, doctor?" she begged with tears in her eyes. "Yes, madam, a little wholesome neglect!" he replied. Let us consider for a moment the peculiarities of the environment of the solitary child. A child so situated is constantly associating with grown-up people. It is therefore, standing always intellectually on tip-toe reaching up to ideas and conceptions which are really beyond it. The result I on the mental side is the development of precocity and what is termed "old- | fashionedness," and on the physical side nervous strain with all its concomi- j tants. . ... -'."'.'

Rotorua Excursion. The special train which left Thorndon Station at 4.30 p.m. yesterday for Rotorua carried about 200 excursionists, who will spend the week-end in the thermal regions. The party is due back at Wellington at 8.55 a.m. on Monday. Tawa Tlat Valuations. The hearing of the objection of the beneficiaries in the estate of the late | Patrick Mungavin tp the increased valuation placed on their property at Tawa Flat was concluded before the Assessment Court yesterday afternoon. Mr. J. G. L. Hewitt, S.M., presided, and the assessors were Mr. Ewan Campbell (Valuation Department) and Mr. H. E. Leighton (Makara County Council). Evidence was given by F. W. Martin, district valuer, with over twenty-six years' experience, that land at Tawa Flat no longer,had merely a farming value, as the new deviation would bring it within fifteen minutes of the city. He did not consider that the allegations of flooding were justified. Decision was reserved. Payment of Timber Royalties. A Native petition presented in the House of Eepresentatives by Kira Kapu and forty-seven others praying that no further extensions of time be allowed for the payment of royalties owing to. the Tongariro Timber Company, and that power be given to the Natives to recover their land with a view to incorporating all owners in order to ensure proper use of the land, was reported upon by the Native Affairs Committee yesterday. The Committee expressed the opinion that the petition should be referred to the Government for consideration, with a recommendation that no extensions be granted after the end of March, 1928, of the term within which the company may make financial arrangements for the construction of a railway. Mayor as a Cobbler. Opportunity was given to the Mayor of Christchurch (the Rev. J. K. Archer) to display his skill as an amateur cobbler at Wednesday afternoon's Soccer match between H.M.S. Diomede and a team representing the Christchurch clubs (states the "Sun"). Nails wera | coming through the sole of one of the boots of Alee. Sutherland, centre-half of the clubs' team. At half-time he took the boots off, with remarks indicative of his displeasure, and soon afterwards the Mayor was observed, football boot and clasp-knife in hand, busily engaged in prising off one of the studs of Sutherland's footwear! The Übiquitous Match. "It is amazing the lack of care taken by garage employees in all parts of the country when handling benzine," said a Wanganui motorist who returned last week from an extensive motor tour of the Dominion. He referred, says an exchange, to the practice of smoking while filling tanks with petrol and cleaning parts of vehicles with the inflammable spirit. "It is a wonder to me that more accidents dp not occur," he remarked. "It only requires a spark to ignite benzine fumes and the damage is done." The Wanganui man, who is a motorist of long experience, considers that smoking near exposed benzine is the greatest risk a motorist could run. One Rushed and Not the Other. Last week a Dunedin firm advertised for a typist at the commencing salary of £1 per week. The position, says an exchange, was rushed. Girls from fourteen upwards applied, and the advertiser had over fifty names to select from. In the same issue an advertisement of a similar size called for applications for the position of a "general." Not one girl made inquiries about the position, although it was worth double the remuneration of the typist's position. Wireless in the Country. A trip through the back country roads in any part of the Hawkes Bay Province will prove an eye-opener to many observant people, with regard to the number of wireless aerials that may now be seen in the vicinity of country homesteads, says the Napier "Daily Telegraph." A pressman on a recent visit to the Public Works Department settlement at ■ Waiokau was surprised to find numbers of sets in full working order, bringing music and entertainment to the" gangers after their day's work. Sir Philip Gibbs, in an article, recently expresesd the opinion that wireless would do much to combat the town drift in the countries where it was introduced, as the want of some form of amusement after the day's work is done is the main trouble in the life of the average farmer or farm hand. v