NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 149, 28 June 1929, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Xhe Police Force. _ In the House of Representatives yesterday Colonel' T. W. M'Donall <wi- ararapa) gave notice to ask.the Minister ot Justice whether his attention , had been .called to the decentralised system of pohee organisation existing in some towns and cities .in the Old Country and whether he will introduce a similar system in New Zealand. Workers' Compensation Act. q,U.\ wJ; • Howavd (Christchurch South) stated m the House of Bepresentatives yesterday that he intends to ask 'the Minister of Labour whether it is the intention of the Government to introduce legislation during tho present session to amend the Workers' Compenation Act on tho lines of the recommendations of the National Industrial Conference. ; Undeserved Assistance. ■ Speaking at a meeting of the Wellington Hospital Board yesterday, Mr U Petherick, chairman .of the Social Welfare Committee, said he had been asked to draw attention to an unusual ease which had come before- the committee. The committee Tiad been granting aid to a family of four for a little time past. The committee had decided to grant relief on certain representations which had been made, but it had since been discovered that the family assisted was in receipt of £21 15s a month. The committee immediately cut off the grant, and considered whether legal proceedings should bo taken, but decided ultimately to do no more than cut off the supplies. It was ascertained, also, said Mr. Petherick, that the family assisted had entered into an agreement to purchase a piano. In this case it was the undisclosed position that made all the difference. Distributing Fuel During Winter. Last winter the Eotary Club -and the Social Welfare Committee of the Wellington Hospital Board distributed coal and firewood to a number of necessitous families, to whom the assistance proved a great boon. Mr. 6. Petherick, chairman of the Social Welfare Committee, stated at a meeting of the Hospital Board 'yesterday that the Eotary Club had/ suggested that a similar arrangement to that of last year should be made this winter. Benefiting from the previous experience, the committee had prepared a set of conditions governing the distribution of the fuel, and was awaiting the assent of the Eotary Club. It was anticipated that fuel would again be distributed to deserving cases. To Cueck Sheep-stealing. Notice has been given by Mr. W. J. Poison (Stratford) to' ask the Prime Minister whether, in view of the prevalence of sheep-stealing, he will extend the provisions of the Stock Act to stock carried vehicularly other 1 than by train, in order to prohibit the removal of stock between the hours of sunset and sunrise; also whether ho will provide for the appointment of special officers' by arrangement with local vigilance committees to assist the police in the suppression of this crime. Hospital uninjured by Earthquake. The ongineer of the Wellington Hospital, Mr. C. M'Kirdy, reported to tho board yesterday that considering tho severity of the recent earthquake shock, the Hospital buildings had received very little damage, minor cracks in the dental offices and in the basement being all that could be discovered. The smoke-stack, though it swayed considerably, showed no signs of damage, and the earth around the foundations was in no way disturbed. Mr. StaUworthy and Retrenchment. That a perfectly harmless remark had been misconstrued was the. belief expressed by the Minister of Health (the Hon. A. J. StaUworthy) last night, j The Minister said ho had merely said in his Auckland speech that tho Government would have to retrench in view of the deficit of nearly £600,000, but he had made no suggestion that tho retrenchment should bo other than a generally close oversight over departmental expenditure. There had certainly been no suggestion of a retrenchment in the Civil Service.

In Need of Attention. The bad state of the paths leading to the Memorial Hall at Wellington College was referred to by the principal (Mr. V 7. A. Armour) in his report to the Wellington College Board of Governors yesterday afternoon. "It is almost impossible to get into the hall on wet days," said Mr. Armour. The architect had obtained cinders to allow access across the mud, but some better provision was necessary. The Accrediting system. Reporting to the Wellington College Board of Governors yesterday afternoon, Mr. W. A. Armour, principal of Wellington College, stated that accrediting, in lieu of the matriculation examination, for the better pupils would probably come into operation in 1930. "It should be noted that this will not' lessen the number of examinations, but will probably increase them," added Mr. Armour. "These additional examinations will, however, for the most part, be internal," Bowls on Good Friday. Strong protests against the starting of the Auckland Bowling Centre's Easter tournament on Good Friday were made by members at the annual meeting of the Remuera Bowling Club on Tuesday (states the "New Zealand Herald"). The president, Mr. B. E. Daniels, was in the chair. A full discussion took place on the subject, members objecting to being unable to compete in the tournament because they refused to play bowls on Good Friday. A resolution was carried unanimously instructing the club's delegates to bring before the centre executive the desirability of commencing the Easter tournament on the Saturday morning because the start on Good Friday precluded hundreds of bowlers from competing. Educational Control. Addressing a meeting of parents at the new Mount Cook School on Wednesday night, Mr. N. Ingram, secretary of the Wellington School Committees' Association, said he wished to congratulate the Minister of Education, the Hon. H. Atmore, on his advocacy of unity and co-ordination of local educational control. The child's education, he said ought to be continuous, yet,it was interrupted five times by artificial barriers as the pupil passed from kindergarten to university. What was wanted was the abolition of divided control and its replacement by one education board, directing primary, secondary technical, and university education, with the assistance of active local committees. - Ski-ing in New Zealand. Mr. Leonard E. E. Govett, of London who leaves by the Makura from Auckland for America on Tuesday next, has just completed a week's ski-ing m the Mount Cook region He states that he has spent several'winter seasons in Switzerland, but lie has never seen so line a sight as the peaks ana glaciers of the Southern Alps by moonlight. Although the Winter sports facilities in New Zealand are still a long way short of those m Switzerland, they are' improving, and Mr. Govett says this country has magnificent snow-fields. i .Coal Supply of Hospital. Eeporting to the Wellington Hospital Board yesterday, the engineer (Mr C M'Kirdy) said that following the earthquake the coal supply of the Hospital had become disorganised. "Messrs Brown and Co. advised me," said Mr' M Kirdy, "that they would be unable to supply coal for at least a fortnight and, as we had only a fortnight's coal m hand, I, in company with Messrs Brown ana Co.'s representative, interviewed the secretary, who immediately rang up Mr. Castle and received the necessary authority to get 100 tons of coal from Auckland"; this coal, whilst a* J 3r? Ot SivinS the results which Cardiff Bridge coal has given, will enable the Hospital to maintain an efficient steam service. In connection with the household coal our stock was low we made it secure by getting in 10 tons to the Main Hospital, and 4 tons to the Ewart. The Westport Coal Co. had supplied to the Maearthy Home. 4 tons so that the Hospital is provided for until the West Coast mines and shipping reopen." Before the Days of Football. "It is interesting to note- that this iron Ago of Chivalry saw the origin of some of our most important athletics football, racing, boxing, bowls, etc. •'•' said Miss N; E. Coad, M.A., to the Wellington branch of the New Zealand Historical Association last evening. "But the sport of sports and the most important social event of the times was the tournament or sham fight. Amidst intense excitement the combatants, clad in; armour from head to foot and mounted on gaily-bedecked prancing war horses, would enter the lists and rush furiously at each other. There they would fight, amidst the applause of the spectators, until one of them was either killed or disabled. Or a crowd of knights would enter, take part m a fierce scramble, and fight ana fight till they killed or wounded one another. It was all done -in a friendly way, or, in the language of chivalry, in all knightly love and courtesy. These gay knights, when they could not fight an enemy for hate, fought each other m friendship and honour. For sheer splendour and military display the chivalric tournament easily put in the shade the famous gladiatorial contests of ancient Rome. The tournament was, of course, limited to the' aristocracy but even there it went out of fashion when people became more civilised and used gunpowder." Civil Eights Lost. Following tho recent Defence prosecutions in Auckland, Mr. X, Seniplo (Wei ington North) has given notice to ask the Minister of Justice whether he will take steps to restore the civil rights of two students of religion who are conscientiously opposed to mili-1 tary service and, who were recently deprived of civil rights for ten yeara by an Auckland Magistrate