NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 31, 5 August 1933, Page 10

NEWS OF THE DAY

New "X" Locomotives. The schedule of construction of the new' "X" locomotives at the llutt vaihvay workshops is proceeding well. It was announced last yenr that thirty would bo constructed, at the rate of one a month, and seven are already in use in the North Island. Carpentaria Sea Power. ■To go from point to'point by sea current on a bundle of sticks,is a feat that only an Australian black accomplishes. lon Idriess, nuthor, has been telling Sydney of his ten miles trip from one point to 'another, on the coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria, on a catamaran. The catamaran; for the unmarried native, consists of three pieces of wood tied together; for the innmed tribesman and his .household (including the dog) five pieces are used, the middle one in each instance acting as a keel. The natives' way is to utilise the currents to carry them from point to point, and to So this successfully they require to have an exact knowledge of currents whose course and speed change with the incoming and outgoing tide. By certain : currents, .voyages of 30 miles are successfully made. In a Glass House. "The present conditions cannot furnish a foundation for peace," said the Et. Hon. W. M. Hughes in an address" at Sydney University,' Union Hall. "'YVc. must see that in the last analysis reason is powerless when men arc denied access to food, and when tho urge is' sufficient formulae and agreements count for nothing." Tho population of tho world, ho added, was unevenly distributed, and was growing apace unevenly. Xow mouths must bo fed and there could be no security for any country until population was so placed that these mouths could bo filled. With-; out.a more even distribution, the pos ; sibility of war was over present. There was an unconscious glance at the empty north when Mr. Hughes said: "We live in a glass house." Business in Committee. A protest against the leakage of infornuitioi). on business taken in eommit-\ tee was made by Councillor W. Fortuno at the meeting of. tho' Upper Hutt Borough Council last evening. Councillor Fortuno said lie understood tho reason why business was taken, ineommittee was to exclude the Press and tho public, but almost verbatim reports of council business in committee came back to him, so there must be a leakage somewhere. Councillor F. P. Keys agreed with Councillor Fortune and said that to prevent incorrect reports of discussions in committee getting about he would prefer the Press to be allowed to give clear reports of such proceedings. The Mayor (Mr. A. J. McCurdy) .said that in open council a councillor could speak only once'on a subject, but in committee he could speak threo times. A councillor stated that tiiis rule was not always observed, and Mr. McCurdy said ho would have to plead guilty in.this respect. The matter was then allowed to drop. Celebrations at Waitangi. At least 10,000' Maoris will gather at Waitangi on February 6, the anniversary of the Treaty, to take part in celebrations there, said his Excellency tho Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe, in his address at the Savage Club ladies' korcro last evening. ''A haka in which at lcastlOOO men are to take part is being organised," said his Excellency, "and the Waitangi National Trust Board has been asked to find at least ten acres of land in which to grow kumcras •to support this . large numU'er of Maoris in tho isolated' Bpot during this, unprecedented coremony, which will, no doubt, be one of the historic events in the Maori history of this country." Cheese from Jersey Milk. "In spite of adverse propaganda there is no proof that the very best cheche cannot bo made fioiu. Jersey milk," said Mr. H. J. Kaye, president of the Stratford Jersey Cattle, Club, at tho annual meeting of tho club (reports tho "Taranaki Herald"). "One aspect of high testing milk for ehecseniaking," continued Mr. Kaye, "has as yet never been brought out. We in Now Zealand arc using the richest milk in the world for cheese-making. Surely here is matter for advertisement of the very best nature, but instead of proclaiming the fact from the housetops as any othor country would we road speeches deploring tho fact in practically every newspaper. Then the Press is blamed for 'running down' our own produce. The Press would, I am certain, be only too pleased to advertise the fact that our dairy produce is made from the richest milk in tho world."

A Greek Tanker. Tho tanker Irini, which is en route from. Constantinople to New Zealand with a cargo of bulk petrol, is a Greek vessel, and she will be tlie first tanker of that nationality to visit this country. Unlike most tankers, which are either oil-burners or motor-vessels, the Irini is a coal burner, says the "New Zealand Herald," and her voyage has been prolonged, as she has had to call at several ports to replenish her bunkers. The Irini will replenish with SOO tons of coal a,t Westport after she has discharged lie petrol cargo in New Zealand. Chilly, Schools. "I have been-shocked at the conditions I have found in many of the schools in New Zealand," said the Act-ing-Minister of Education (the Hon. J. Bitchener), when he answered a.request of the Methvcn District High School Committee for additions to the school buildings, states a telegram from Christchurch. The Minister was explaining that while the conditions at the Mothveu School were bad, they wero also bad in many other, schools of the Do- : minion. "I did not think that the schools in New Zealand had to put up with what they have," ho added. "Scattered and inadequate buildings, such as j'ou have, are one of the troubles." The school committee told the Minister that it was a common experience for children to have to thaw their ink-pots before they started work* in. tho mornings. In spite of the heat from the wood fires, water in vuses on the mantelpieces of the building had frequently been, frozen solid an hour after 'school had begun. On some occasions the temperature inside the classrooms had been as low as 22deg, and it had rarely been above 33deg, although 35dcg was usually regarded as the minimum temperature at which efficient work could, be done. . . the Maligned Kea. Many farmers will no doubt disagree with an opinion expressed recently by an experienced aviculturist concerning the habits of tho kca. Is it a menace to sheep, or is it being blamed for another bird's sins'? At tho New Zealand Federation of Cage Bird Clubs' show (says tho "Auckland Star") a kea attracted considerable attention from the many people who had not seen one. Its drab brown-yellow colour, curved beak, and stumpy 'tail give; it a sinister look. It has an ugly habit of continually jerking its body up and down, its feet not leaving the perch, after the. manner of the "knee-bend" exercise. Mr. S. D. Potter,, late ranger for the Acclimatisation Society,, who was judging at the show, declared that the kea was not so bad as it was painted. Very few people had actually seen a ken attacking a sheep or lamb. Mr. Potter said that as the bird's natural food was nectar it seemed improbable that it should turn carnivorous and attack animals. The kca now ents roots, if it cannot get sufficient nectar. The one in thp show refused to eat meat of any kind. However, its looks were against it, and one felt that the bird was capablo v o£ anything. . Mr. E. A. Falla, ornithologist, of the Auckland Instituto and Museum, said that, while the kea was frequently blamed for many 'depredations it had not committed, it had been definitely proved that the kea did on .occasion attack lambs. Its isolated lapses, did not justify the very bad reputation that it, had acquired amftug ,farmers. ..'