NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 102, 27 October 1931, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

• Holiday Traffic. : Railway traffic to and from tho Wai- ' rarapa was heavy over the week-end ■ and holiday, the number of passengers ' carried by the trains being in excess of the figures of the corresponding 1 period last year. Trains to Trentham, ■ however, wero not so well patronised , as they wero last year, the drop being [ in round figures from 7000 last year to 5000 this year. Yesterday some 1500 i fewer people went to tho races by rail : compared with Labour Day last year. . Tho Eastbourne ferry and bus services [ received liberal patronage during the ■ week-end and holiday, the lino weather • yesterday especially attracting many i people to the sea. The trams report having done excellent business during the holiday period. i Danger of Benzine. Tho danger incurred in cleaning ' clothes with benzine near an open fiamo was impressed on a Mount Albert resident on Sunday (states tho "New Zea- . land Herald")- Sho was sponging 'a , dress with petrol in the washhouse and ' had hung another dress, already clean- ; ed, on a line some feet from a small • gas burner. Suddenly there was an explosion and the room seemed to fill with flame. Both dresses caught alight 1 and were completely destroyed. In trying to extinguish the burning dresses, , and to prevent tho building from catching alight, tho woman suffered fairly ■ extensive burns-on the arm. Fortun- ' atly the flimsy materials burnt away 1 before any timber was ignited. • Justices Quite Willing. "Tho Government could save £4000 , a year if it availed itself of the offer ] of J.P,'3 to preside on tho Bench," said Mr. D. Donaldson, at the annual meet- : ing of the Auckland Justices of tho Peace Association last week. He said tho Magistrates in Auckland wero opposed to "having anything to do with .LP.'s on tho Bench." When it suited tho Magistrates, or whero there was a protracted indictable case, they made use of the J.P. 's. Mr. M. Guthrie said tho Association did not wish "to do , Magistrates out of their jobs," but it [ v/as necessary that members should '■ obtain an insight into Court procedure. ' Cooked in the Hangi. . Though tho Maori may have aequirI cd civilisation, he has by no meana ' lost his native art of cookery, fot ■ what the pakeha does with electria " stoves and all the latest refinements of , the ago tho Maori does just as well ' with a hole in tho ground and a long- - handled shovel (says the "Christchurch ! Times"). So it seemed on Saturday r evening when tho hangi at Tuahiwi was opened and a yearling bull, cooked whole, was served up to the hungry and ' expectant crowd. In a shallow hole : there had been placed a thick layer of r stones on which a large fire had been made. When it was hot enough to " satisfy the gentleman with the shovelj 1 leaves wero placed on top, then tho [ "fatted calf" on a wire netting • stretcher, then some sacks, and lastly twelve inches or more of clay. Four ' hours later the clay was removed and ' tho clouds of steam carried a most i appetising odour of well-cooked beef. ( Thero was not much left for the dogs when tho fifty or sixty Maoris had ' finished their meal, ; Art Union Proceeds. t A committee meeting of the Rotorua . Agricultural and Pastoral Association was held to consider the disposal of ' the funds obtained from the recent • Golden Key art union,' in which the association participated with the Dannevirko Agricultural and Pastoral As- ' soeiation (states a Eotorua eorrcspond- ! ent). The chairman, Mr. H. P. Ford, i stated that there was about £.6000 in , hand and tho question of providing a suitable show building with tho money ' was discussed. Mr. E. La Trobo Hill ; submitted a report upon the details of l a building proposal, which at a CQst of between £6500 and £7000, would pro- . vide a suitablo building to house the 1 show and at the same time bo suitable I for other functions. The opinion was . expressed that the cost of sue1 * a buildI ing put it out of the question, and tho chairman expressed the opinion that its 1 the association had just got out of debt ) it should not incur further liabilities' [at present. The- view was expressed . by Dr. H. Bertram that it would bo k better to invest the £6000 at present. [ Consideration of the question of build- : ing was deferred for three months. \ Building in Hawkes Bay. ' A perusal of building returns pub- , lished jn the New Zealand monthly abstract of statistics reveals that the ; building activities undertaken in Na- [ pier and Hastings taken together for r the six months' period, March to August, of this year, exceeds that of any t other centre in the Dominion, says the ■ "Daily Telegraph." The totals for that ; period, for the ten largest centres, exclusive of Napier and Hastings, are as ' follows:—Auckland, £200,217; Wel- ■ lingtou, £303,674; Christchurch, I £171,906; Dunedin, £101,571; Wangai- nui, £16,275; Palmerston North, £50,100; Invercargill, £25,652; Tiin- \ aru, £18,788; Now Plymouth, £70,777; 1 Hamilton, £11,788; grand total, I £970,754. The totals for Napier and , Hastings for the March-August period arc as follows:—Napier, £394,600; ' Hastings, £202,157; grand totiil, ! £596,320. Drive, for Napier Library. A Dominion-wide drive to replenish ;ind modernise to a certain degree the stock of tho Napier public library is 1 o be instituted at an early date by the Chief Commissioner, Mr. J. S. Barton. A review pf the books at present in r tho Athenaeum, says Mr. Barton, re- , veals that the great majority are old and out-of-date, and it is considered ' I lint, a number of more modern volumes, I botli of novels and ret'erenco works, . would materially improve the quality !of tho reading matter avaii- . able for subscribers. "Most peol pie," said Mr. Barton to a i Napier newspaper man, "have a few . books at homo which will probably never bo opened again by members of • tho family, and it would bo of great " assistance if such volumes could be ! secured for inclusion ia the library." ■ A drive is to be condutted throughout the country, each centre from which it > is hoped to obtain a response being i handled by ono person, and an invita- > tion givon to citizens to present to > Napier any books for which they have 'no further use. Mr. Barton is giving - a parcel of 50 volumes, which will form ; the nucleus of the now collection. Tho [ possibility of duplication :.n tho books . given has not been overlooked, ft is intended, upon t.hn coiuplctiuii of the > drive, I" collect all flupliccto volumes i ,-iiid stoic I hem in some stii'.ablo place, i Napier citizens will then h.svo tho opportunity of inspecting tho collection and may fake volumes fron. it in cx- ' change for others which thr^ are will- ' ing lo giv".

Czecho-Slovakian Anniversary. Czcclio-Slovukia is 10-day celebrating Iho thirteenth iiimivcrsnry of the declaration of her independence. Soup Kitchen Closing. The inter-church committee for social service work in Karori has decided to close its soup kitchen at the end of this week. Opcrationu were commenced early in May, and considerable assistance has boon given to distressed peoplo in the district. A meeting is to be held early next month when statements of expenditure will be presented to local residents. The .secretary of the committee, Mr. A. F. Wiren, desires to thank those who have assisted in' tho social service work and requests thoso interested to attend tho meeting. Jury Service. Kather more applications than usual for exemption from serving on tho common jury wero made to Mr. Justico MucGregor at the opening of the criminal sessions of tho Supreme Court today. Thcro were eleven applications, but only one man was granted immediate exemption. In view of a case coming on for trial this afternoon, in which four men are charged and the possibility of their counsel exercising full right of challenge, his Honour said it was rather important to have a large number of jurymen on hand. His Honour instructed the other applicants to return to the Court this afternoon. Growing With Time. A resident of Suva, who made a tentative cbim for £410 from tho Auckland HospUal Board for alleged negligence by an honorary surgeon seven years ago, and whose claim was repudiated by the board, has now written demanding £1400. The Finance Committee reported at a meeting of the board this week that the board's solicitors had advised that in law the claim should have been commenced within six years, so that even were negligenco proved, neither the board nor tho surgeon was now liable. "More Bricks But Less Straw.". "More bricks but less straw," remarked Mr. P. J. H. White at a meeting of tho Taranaki Education Board following the reading of a circular from tho Education Department drawing attention to the necessity for agricultural instructors and other officials effecting the greatest economy in travelling ex; penses. At the same time it intimated that there must be no reduction in the volume of work and in efficiency. East Coast Railway Syndicate. At a recent meeting of the Napier Rotary Club Mr. W.E. Barnard, M.P., stated that a deputation consisting of Messrs. H. M. Campbell, K. S. Williams, and himself had attended the Prime Minister and raised tho suggestion of the completion of the East Coast railway lino being carried out by a private syndicate. Mr. Barnard has now received tho following reply from the Eight Hon. G. W. Forbes:—"l desire to inform you that the Government Railways Board has given consideration to this suggestion and it finds it difficult to express an opinion without having something of a concrete nature before it. The chairman of the board states that so far as the matter can bo dealt with in the abstract, the board, before recommending such an arrangement, would require ample assurance of the capacity of those concerned to carry the work through and to carry on operations after tho construction work was completed. He further states that it would bo necessary also for thoso concerned to enter into a proper agreement with tho Working Railways Department regarding tho exchange of traffic botweon the Government railway system and tho proposed line. The chairman adds that at this juncture tho board finds it difficult to . say more than if a schemo appearing adequately to safeguard the public interests is formulated the board would be pleased to give it consideration." Sensation Seekers. It is not only tho present generation who are, or have been, sensation-seek-ers, according to remarks by tho Deputy-Mayor of (the Rev. J. K. Archer) at the opening of tho Canterbury Aero Club's exhibition on Friday. He said that those persons who had spent their early life in the agricultural districts of England, as well as other people, had followed the progress of flying from the time when balloon ascents were a feature of most shows. Often the population waited for hours while tho balloon was being filled with gas, and .even then it sometimes did not go up. If it did, thero was, generally an extra thrill in a parachute descent by a man or woman, and many were often disappointed if the laraclmtist did not crash to a sudden death. The disappointment was thero because, in the old days as well as the present, there was a considerable portion of the population which craved sensation. Boys Tor the Land, Nearly 80 boys have been placed on tho land through the efforts of the Future Farmers' Committee, formed some timo ago, according to a report submitted to the New Zealand Land Settlement and Development League, by tho secretary, Mr. N. G. Gribble, at tho last meeting of the league. It is anticipated that the total will reach 100 by the end of the year. "When it is remembered that tho operations of the Government in the same direction resulted in only 20 applications and only three boys being satisfactorily placed," cpntimied tho report, "the committee's success seems substantial. There seems no doubt that for many years to come openings in tho centres will be few and far between. Details of training camps for boys similar in principal to those advocated by the leaguo wore set out in correspondence received at tho meeting. The proposals will be discussed at a special meeting of .the league.