NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 22, 26 January 1929, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

'Ware Detonators. v To minimise the danger of accidents Auckland City and country school children will be acquainted through . their headmasters 'with the nature and appearance of detonators and of the danger of handling them. The Auckland Education Board has written Ho the Education Department asTdng for supplies of a special card depicting a standard detonator and'carrying warning notices. These .will bo distributed to schools. ' High Voltage Lines. When reproached because' of the danger of overhead high voltage lines (132,000 volts) in populous areas, th'd Victorian State Electricity Commission replied that the cost of underground conduit would be prohibitive, and. that overhead lines represented the practice of electrical authorities in other countries, notably Canada, • whore no hesitation was felt in taking high tension lines over residential areas. The lines \vere only dangerous if ,they were interfered with/ and adequate warning would be given to the public of the danger of ■interference.- There was really more potential danger in an 'electric railway crossing than in an overhead transmission line of over 100,000 volts. There would be no advantage from reducing the voltage on the overhead system, as a lower voltage Would be just as dangerous to anyono coining in contact with it as a pressure of 132,000 volts would bei 'Even the street distribution lines at approximately 200 volts <were capable of causing death ,to anyone coming in contact with them "without insulating protection. Flight of Fliers. Within two years eleven flying oflicers have resigned from the Eoyal Australian Air Force. Tho drift of experienced personnel from the force into civil occupations was commented upon by Air-. Marshal Sir John Salmond in the report which, ho submitted to the Federal Ministry towards the end of last year. He pointed out that in the two years preceding that time 10 officers and 130 men had voluntarily left tho Air Force to take up civil employment. The matter required serious attention, said Sir | John Salmond, and for such a small force the drain of. experienced per-' sonnel Was excessive and should be prevented. , Rabbit as Ship's Pet. The cat and the rabbit have several points in common, but surely bunny, has never before usurped.. the place of the cat on board ship. Tho motorship Port Hobart, which is now in Auckland, is one of .tho.vfew vessels afloat which does not possess, a ship's eat. When the vessel left Tasmania for Auckland, however, thoro was a cat on board which received its "keep" in return for its services as a ratcatcher. Its disappearance forms part of. a story 'with a triangular aspect, says tlio "Auckland Herald." A canary and a pet rabbit are .carried on the ship, but after the cat showed a certain interest in tho canary it mysteriously disappeared ono night. It is thought it was given a -gravo in the Tasman Sea owing to its affection for tho canary. The rabbit now has the run of the ship and follows its owner, a member of the crew, §vcrywjicxc<

Quick Work. Kapid repair work carried out by the Kailway Department enabled both sets of rails on the- Hutt line, to bo in operation this ■ morning, although trains to town usiug the seaward Hue were forced to proceed'very cautiously. The- places where the sea has scoured under the railway track have only been temporarily filled, and it will mean many week's work before the breaches in the embankment are mended. Haste in temporary repairs was an urgent necessity in view of the race traffic to-day. . Summer Swimmers. Tlio weather during the past few days has not encouraged swimmers to go near the To Aro Baths, which to most people will seem quite natural. It has not been wnrm enough. But of those who visit the baths all the year round, even in the cold,-cheerless days or" winter, when most people are thinking about fires and'radiators and such like, this falling off in numbers is not quite understood. One of them spoke out the other, night. "You know," lie said, "these summer swimmers are not very hardy. A few grey clouds and a drop in temperature and they're inside. They're just like butterflies." That may bo so, but summmer swimmers have a different idea about enjoyable swimming. . v Shops—and Shops. Three now big buildings approaching completion in Sydney will create three hundred new shops. Optimists are do-• lighted. Pessimists point to the number of "to let" notices already visible on existing shops. Optimists reply that the best will always attract and the worst will always detract. A middle, view is that '' this is the time for business men oi! other cities who contemplate a Sydney connection to obtain long leases of either shops or offices at lower rentals than have hitherto been contemplated." • ' , ■ '■ i Under Many Flags. The .uncertainty which those'at,sea liiust always be prepared to face is exemplified in the present voyage of the Ham Lino steamer Tregenna, which arrived at Auckland on Thursday evening from Halifax. The vessel left London toward the cud of last year for the East; but when in the Mediterranean ",Sea on the return she was or. dored to proceed to Norfolk, Virginia. On arrival there in December it was learned .the vessel hiid boon sub-char-tered to the Canadian National Steamships for a' trip from Halifax to Auckland; The charter will conclude when unloading is completed at Dunedin in about a, week's time, but the vessel will then run under the auspices 'of the Weir Line for the remainder of the year. The thirty members of the crew, whose homes are in England, do not now expect to return Home, until early in 1930, although when they left London last year they expected to be there again in a few weeks. Another Long Swim. A girl of 17 years, Miss Phyllis Boucher, swam from Eussell to Paihia on Sunday (states an exchange). It is 'believed this is the. first, time the Bay of Islands has been crossed by a. swimmer from Bussell to Paihia.' The girl, ■who lives at Eussell, entered the water near the Russell- Wharf, and finished on the beach near the- Paihia Wharf. She was quil.o fresh and walked up the' beach. The distance- of the swim was ■2. miles 524 yards, and the time taken was 1 hour 56 minutes. .■' : "Sir" the Safest. , Witnesses occasionally find the task of giving evidence at the Courts a somewhat trying experience. Apart fromj the difficulty of limiting their replies to tho questions of counsel, they aro apt to ihako-a mistake in addressing the Bench (remarks tho Auckland "Star"). The-expressions, "Your Honour" and "Yo,ur 'Worship".' are sometimes, misused by inexperienced barristers, which makes the slip fairly excusable in the witness-box, but terms of conversational address are "taboo." At tho Magistrate's Court tho other day a witness, who was involved in a case for the first time, addressed'the presiding Magistrate as "My friend," and tho chief detective as "My dear friend." In tho stress, of the moment the man appeared to be unaware of the importance of tho slip, though he was promptly checked b^ counsel. A frequent and safe term of address is "Sir," which 1 is admissible either in the Magistrate's Court or the Supremo Court, although it is correct to address a Magstrato as "Your Worship" and a Judge as "Your Honour" in Court procedure. At Home they have an expression, "M'Lud," which .means "My Lord," and sounds liko a monosyllable when iiscil by an experienced counsel. Teachers' Refresher Course. : , A teachers' refresher course is to be held at the Thorudon School foi a week, beginning next Monday. At yesterday's meeting of tho Education Board, the College Board of Governors wrote granting permission for the use of tho Wellington Girls' .College, Gymnasium if it was required by tho teachers, and the City Council has also granted permission for the use of the Thorndon Baths during the course. Mrs. Davies, swimming instructress, will attend for two hours daily by courtesy of the council, and the Department has approved of a grant of £6 6s as her fee. . A Dangerous Practice. The Mayor of Albury (New South Wales) has decided to write to tho Victorian Ministry, expressing appreciation of its decision to prohibit the holding of record-breaking competitions by motorists on the main routes be. tween capital cities. " These competitions, he considers, serve no useful purpose, and their only object is advertisement,, which in the past has been gained at the risk of the public. As soon iis ho noticed that races against time were being contemplated ho decided that the cars would not bp permitted to pass through the municipality. The stopping of tho contests, ho adds, is in tho public interest. British Electrical Equipment; Remarking that apparently there was an impression in Now Zealand that British equipment was not equal to that of certain other countries, Mr. E. E. Sharp, A.M.1.E.E.,. F.B.H.L, a member of tho council of the Electrical Development Association of England, and director of a large iirm of electrical manufacturers, who is at present visiting tho Dominion, said this was entirely erroneous. Britain had some of the most modern electrical manufacturing works in tho world, and tho authorities there wero over on tho alert to keep them abreast of tho times. Mr. Sharp cited as an example the manufacture of electric time switches. Tho good British article was, he doclared, tho best in tho world. He was aware that New Zealand, was intensely patriotic, and was anxious to grant a generous measure of preference to British goods. Outside tho matter of ' preference, however, there was the great outstanding fact that tho British article was tho -^cst.. It might be dearer than somo of tho Continental articles, but when capital cost, maintenance, and servico wero taken into account, tho British article had been found to be tho cheapest. The Hague was a case in point. English time switches wore first tried there, and then, on account of their cheapness, a trial was made with Continental makes. Tho conclusion had now been reached that the British higher price was justified by tho quality and a reversion had been made to the British article.' Just beforo he left an order had been placed with a. British firm for a new supply