NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 40, 17 February 1931, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Meeting of Parliament. An "Extraordinary Gazette" was issued last evening calling upon Legislative Councillors and members of Parliament to meet "for the dispatch, of business" on 11th March. Street Widening. At a special mooting of the City Council yesterday afternoon a resolution was passed authorising the raising of the Wellington City Street Widening Loan,' 1931, of £50,000. The Deputy-Mayor, Councillor M. F. Luckie, explained that the loan was for the widening of Taranaki street and Willis street, which had been going on for the last six or eight months under the restricted building-line clause. The amount had either been spent or committal had been incurred. Hospital Patients' Payments. Fees of all description received by hospital boards during the year, including payments for inmates in charitable institutions (derivable chiefly from oldago pensions), district nursing, and other fees, and excluding fees received from other boards or from the Government, amounted to £447,599, as against £401,419 in 1928-29, states the appendix to the annual report of the Health Department, just issued. The amount received per occupied bod in the general hospitals controlled by hospital boards shows an increase to an average of £70.8 per annum, as against £63.4 in 1928-29. The average for all hospitals and sanatoria administered by hospital boards increased from £02.6 to £68.2, whilst the fees received by the Department's institutions increased from £158.8 to £102.0. The average of all hospitals, both board and departmental, increased from £71 to £78 Patients' payments constitute approximately 22 per cent, of the total revenue of hospital boards and departmental hospitals, and they have shown a much greater proportionate increase than hospital expenditure. More Missionaries Needed. "I do not want to assert that all the heathens in Melanesia are crying out for Christianity," said Bishop Molyneux, of Melanesia, preaching at Christchurch on Sunday. "On one islaud 120 miles long, and with a population of 65,000, one-tenth are in touch with missionary work, and it would be untrue to say that the remainder are clamouring for Christianity. For centuries they have been ruled by spirits, and it is only natural that there is an inborn dread of what these spirits will do if they leave them. Then there aro the difficulties of access. The islands aro mountainous and bush-covered, with rocky coastlines, and thus the duties of the missionaries are very arduous, and.much of the population cut off from contact with them. Some of the mountains are 5000, 0000, and even 7000 feet high. In an island with a topography like that, ami 100 miles long, I have had a letter from a young missionary. Ho says: 'AVhen, oh, when will we 'have a doctor and medical equipment here. In every village there aro sick and dying. I cannot tell of all the pain and suffering in the bush villages with no doctor or nurso available. I can deal only with a fraction of the misery and pass on, as I can do no more.' That is one instance of many such conditions existing in the Melanesian Group, and my appeal cannot be made urgent enough. There is, as you know, the increase of leprosy in the Solomon Islands due to lack of proper treatment, and another instance of want of ordinary doctor's care is the deaths of 500 children of the Solomon Islands. Most of them died of whooping o.ougli. During this year 1 uppe'tl to all of you to take a more active interest in "the missionary work of your Church overseas."

Sharks in the Harbour. Many people on the Queen's Wharf during the lunch hour were surprised to sco three sharks swimming close to the piles. Those fish arc not often seen so close in to the business area. They were nil over 4ft Gin in length. Prom a very brief view, the sharks appeared to be of tho "sand" type, which will not attack a person, nevertheless it would be wise for bathers to keep a good look-out. A Universal Appeal. An instance of the universal appeal of'the groat masters of English literature was given by Mr. Clement May when speaking at last evening's meeting of the Shakespeare-Dickens Society. In an Indian college, said Mr. May, the students had been studying and produciuo- the works of Shakespeare, and when a "master wished to introduce to them the works of more modern authors they stated unanimously that they would much prefer to have only Dickens and Shakespeare. Praise for Hospital. Amongst .recent visitors to the Wellington Hospital has beeu Mr. Hugh J. Ward, to whose efforts is partly due the existence of tho children's hospital, one ward of which bears his name. As a director of the Sydney Hospital, Mr. Ward naturally takes an interest in all such institutions, and expressed approval of the lay-out and general up-to-dateness of the Wellington Hospital. He was particularly struck, he said, with the accommodation, provided for the nurses, which was in advance of what was provided in Sydney. Ho mentioned that in Sydney it was hoped to establish in some suburbs a combined laundry for all the hospitals, and also to put into operation a combined scheme for overseas buying. School Vacations. A suggestion made to the Council of Education by tho Hon. T. K. Sidey that schools should commence their summer vacation in February instead of December was' considered by the Auckland Grammar School Board (states the "New Zealand Herald"). The chairman, Professor A. P. W. Thomas, said lie had previously urged that the vacation should commence about a wook later than at present, and that the year's examinations should be delayed for a week, but it would hardly be suitable to Bave the school holidays from February, thus interfering with parents' arrangements. It was decided to refer the matter to the headmasters of grammar schools for a report. For Better Building. In order that Parliament may have all the necessary data before it when it comes to consider a scheme of standardised building regulations to ensure greater resistance against earthquake shocks, the Government has decided to set up a Special Committee of engineers and architects. Professor J. E. Cull, Professor of Civil Engineering at Canterbury College, has been appointed chairman of the committee, the personnel of which will be announced later. Information which has been collected already By the Public Works Department and the Department of Scientific and Industrial Besearch will be made available to the committee. In a statement last evening, the Prime Minister said that consideration would be given to the areas in which building regulations for earthquake) resistanceappear from the evidence to be desirable. The committee would naturally have regard to the cost of construction, and it was hoped by the unification and standardisation of tho building regulations to increase resistance to earthquakes without unduly increasing the cost. Asiatics in the Islands. "Much complication bi the work of the Church of England in the Pacific has arisen through the introduction of other people," said the Bishop of Polynesia (the Eight Eov. L. S. Kempthorne), when addressing the congreation of St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham (states tho "Christchurch Times"). Missionary work was primarily carried out among tho natives who formed the vast majority of tho inhabitants of the different islands. Today, however, the position was different. In Fiji there were 70,000 Indians, as against 'ETO,OOO Fijians, while in Tahiti there were large numbers of Chinese. The former had come into the area in increasing numbers to supply labour for the plantations and industries. The Chinese formed a large part of the population, and schools, solely for the instruction of Chinese children, had been built. The bulk of the Chinese and Indians were not Christians, and adhered to their old traditions, customs, and religion. Tepid Christianity. Tepid Christianity has always been the curse of the Church," said Archbishop Averill, preaching at Christchurcfi on Sunday (reports the "Press"). "During the period of persecution by the Roman emperors, Christianity was a vital force in the world, but once it enjoyed the protection of the State it soon began to decline and lose its fervour. AVhat was the cause of tho rapid spread of Mohammedanism in the world but tepid Christianity? What was the cause of the failure of the later Crusades? What has supplied fuel for the fires of persecution and revolution, for the development of the sectarian spirit in the world— but tepid Christianity? What is largely the cause to-day of the growth and power of materialism but tepid Christianity? Tepid Christianity is the greatest hindrance to tlio spread of the Gospel, the greatest factor in maintaining the war spirit, the strongest bulwark of a Christless education." Penalties on Kates. The proposal to give local authorities power to remit tho 10 per cent, penalty on unpaid rates is not regarded as being of much service by members of such bodies, as it is stated that they have always had power to remit the rates in certain cases, though such instances were rare, being mostly where non-remission would result in extreme hardship (states the " Christchureh Times"). "Under the new order of things, applications for remission of the penalty will all have to be considered carefully, on their merits," said Councillor E. H. Andrews, chairman of the Finance Committee of tho Christchurch City Council. "It will entail a tremendous amount of extra work. There are bound to be numbers of applications, but I don't see that the penalty factor alone can count very much/for if a man can pay his ordinary rates, ho should not have much difficulty in finding the comparatively small additional sum as well." Mr. 11. S. S. Kylo, M.P., Mayor of Eicearton, said that the trouble soon would bo to collect rates at all. Everybody aeemed to be repudiating everything.' "If we do not impose a penalty for non-payment, how on earth are we to collect rates at all, if the ratepayer does not feel like paying?" he asked.