NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 39, 16 February 1933, Page 10

NEWS OF THE DAY

Press Conference at Rotorua.

The annual gathering of newspaper men to deal with problems affecting the wclfaro.of the Press of New Zealand will bo held at Rotorua next week, commencing'on Monday. The various annual meetings to be , held will include those of the Newspaper Proprietors' Association, the United Press Association, and the New Zealand branch of the Empire Press Union,

Unsought Dignity.

In a talk to members of the Nelson Automobilo Association on his recent visit to England, Dr.Gibbs, the president, statod that while there he received an unsought dignity. He was a bit dissatisfied with l-epresentationso in connection with the Transport Act, he said, and: he saw Mr., Pybus,'the Minister, and had a long talk with him. From-seeing the heads of the Department in Sctland he went down to Carlisle, where the Transport Board was sitting, with Sir .John Maxwell as chairman;., "I was then introduced as the Minister of .Transport for New Zealand,;!', said Div Gibbs. ■-.-. ; "I said that I must •.-■.correct' .the, chairman in his description of me, as I was merely chairman of a, very : Small; / licensing authority. I had beon guilty of many things, but not that.. Nevertheless, next morning out ; it came in the 'Carlisle Guardian' that the Minister of Transport for New Zealand was.visiting the city."-' .-':■.■ > ~;.;..,, ."-"■'

Big-game Enthusiast.

The pursuit of big game is the favourite pastime of Mr. George Vanderbilt, a wealthy ■ young American, who arrived ' at Auckland by the Lurlino on Tuesday (state's the "New -. Zealand Herald")* He is a grandson of Mr. Cornelius : Vanderbilt, and his , father wasl^one of the.;heroes of the: sinking of the_ Lusitania; he gave up his seat in a lifeboat and was drowned. Mr. Vanderbilt will be joined in Auckland by his elder brother, Mr. A. G. Vanderbilt, and their mother, who will arrive by the Carinthia on Friday. The two brothers hope to have a little experience of New Zealand deep-sea fishing before they leave for a big-game shooting expedition in Africa. Mr. Vanderbilt recently completed a deep-sea fishing expedition off the northern coast of South America. '"There was a party of us," he said, "and we had some thrilling sport. One of my friends landed the world's record sailfish, and we also had exciting fights with'tiger sharks, devil fish, and swordfish, ■ while once we harpooned a monster whale. They tell me that you have the finest big-game fishing in ,the world in New Zealand. It is quite possible that as a result of our short visit we may decide to .return in the near future for a more lengthy stay. At present all arrangements are made for our shooting expedition and that cannot be cancelled." 7 .

Railage on Power Poles,

Because of the railway freight it is more economical for the WanganuiRangitikei Electric Power Board to; buyhardwood poles from Australia than to buy silver pine poles'from the ELing Country and rail them v from National Park to Wanganui. Even then,-. the hardwood poles are the. better article (says an exchange).' At a meeting of the board the buying of 100.Australian hardwood poles was the engineer saying 'that they would be' needed for corner work in towns. The concrete poles would not stand tho strain as they could not be guyed on the,corners, and it was difficult to; obtain suitable silver pine poles of sufficient length. The difference^ of freight was mentioned • during-the- discussion, aiid it was decided to approach the Railway Department on the matter.

New Hamilton Traffic ; Bridge.

An- immediate start-is to be made with plans for. a .new traffic bridge aeross_the Waikato River at Hamilton, tentatively; estimated, to 7 cost, £24,000. At- a. "meeting; of the Waikato County Council on Tuesday the Government's" offer of a- maximuiri subsidy, of £8000 on; a £1 for £2 basis was 'accepted (states;,tfie -"New Zealand7Herald"). The two other local bodies concerned, the Waipa. County Council and the Hamilton; Borough Council, have already given their consent to the terms of the grant. The site of the proposed new bridge is near No. 1 bridge, a large culvert on the; Main South Road at Whitiora, and is. about two; chains north of the; borough boundary. It is proposed to erect a, concrete bridge of bowspring arch .design with "a: 20ft roadway and ;.two footpaths each sft wide. There are.three sets of piles 128 ft apart, and one short road span. The total length "of the bridge- will be',4ooft.-; The local-bodies concerned have been actively agitating'for a new bridge, so that the -present structure could be closed for extensive repairs: Two Government engineers spent' sorhe time examining tho present bridge, and although their report has not been published, it is understood that they confirmed the views of the local ljo'dy engineers, and that their advice influenced the Government in making the offer of the subsidy.

Painting for the Rangatira.

An oil painting entitled '' The Rangatira". has been done by Mr. J. I. McDonald for the Union Steam Ship Company, and it will be hung next week in a space temporarily occupied by a tapestry above the companion stairway of tho ferry steamer Rangatira. "Rangatira" means chief, and the painting is of a Maori chief.

No Architect Employed.

"Surprising as it may seem," remarked Mr. H. Mandeno, Dunedin, during his presidential address to last night's annual meeting of the New Zealand Institute of Architects, "there is still a great deal of building work done without any architect, and some of this work is unfortunately in tho hands of people who can afford to pay for professional service. The "remedy is largely in our own hands by giving value for service and by showing the public that by employing an architect they can be assured of good value, by giving of our best in design and construction, and by faithfully watching the interests of our clients. If we do our part, I believe the public will respond." , , \ V

Poisoned by Crayfish,

The eating of crayfish of uncertain age has caused, an epidemic of mild ptomaine poisoning at Pakotai (states the "Northern Advocate"). Last week several natives;were very ill, but recovered without medical- attention. On Saturday afternoon further supplies of crayfish were received vfrom Kaitaia, and the party which participated in the feast at first suffered no ill-effects, being able to attend a boxing tournament at Kaikohei in the evening, but on Sunday the whole six of them gradually became very ill, two of them, the Rev. Pou Hemi (28) and his cousin, Mrs^ Hene Heri Rudolph (29) being brought" to the Whangarei District Hospital by the ambulance, arriving at midnight. The condition of both was reported to be satisfactory on Monday. .

Alteration not Wanted,

The Petone Borough Council recently suggested to the Central Bowling Club and the Ngaroma Croquet Club that they should confer with the council on a proposal to alter the lay-out of the adjacent grounds of tho two sports bodies. The bowling.club signified its willingness to attend, but the Ngaroma Croquet Club replied that after careful consideration the members were unanimously of the opinion that the time was not opportune to make any alterations to the grounds. When the council received this reply this week some of the councillors thought that a misapprehension as to the proposal existed among croquet club' members, and it was decided to convey this opinion to tho club and again suggest'a conference.

Girls Favour Mathematics,

"Hitherto most of the young women applying for positions on the teaching staff have not been much good at mathematics, but have been proficient i*. English and French," observed Mr. W. Fraser, principal of the Hamilton Technical High School at a meeting of the Bbard of Managers, when applications for positions on the staff were under discussion (states the "Waikato Times"). "Strangely enough most of the applicants have taken mathematics this time," said Mr.-Fraser. "It jseems to be a new development."

Zane Grey's Launch.

Mr. Zane Grey's 46ft motor-launch, Frangipani, has arrived at Auckland from Mercury Bay, where.it vras built, reports a telegram from Auckland. Itwas formerly intended that the launch should be shipped to Tahiti, but Mr. Zane Grey, has decided to send her to Tahiti under her own power. She will carry a crew of five and be incharge of Captain Pyper, late of tho Union Company. The Frangipani will have a mizzen-mast 'fitted: and" larger sails added. The capacity of-her. fuel tanks is 700 gallons, and this will'be supplemented for the voyage. The first; port of call will be Rarotonga, a distance of 1900 miles, and the. second leg of the.voyage will be to Tahiti, 850' miles further on. It is expected that,the boat will sail for Tahiti at the end of Februarys 'V

Waingahui Hospital Board's Deficit.

"Weare _!aced with a deficit of approximately £2500 on the year's work," said Mr. -W. Broderick, chairman of the Wanganui Hospital Board, at' , the monthly meeting this week (reports "The: Herald"). 'Despite considerable saying, on the administration side, .the. expenditure of £3000 on charitable aid had made it impossible to"«'balance the budget;" "Had the Health Department allowed us to go,on with the estimates as we framed them.originally, we would have been square," said Mr. Broderick, "but although we cut charitable ' aid dowii considerably, we - had to put up -our hospital fees." The result of the year's working, has been favourable, however, in view of the small amount allowed the board by the Department. Hospital maintenance was'lower than it had ever been.