NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 105, 31 October 1933, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Price of Butter Down., There was a fall of Id per pound in tho wholesale price of butter in. Wellington today, .the price now being 110 pe,r Ib. ; . ' ■•

Examination Dates,

Tomorrow the examination season in Wellington begins with the University examinations, which extend over the period between -November 1 and 20. The matriculation and1 entrance examinations will begin on December 1 and last until December 12. The date's of other examinations are as follows:—lntermediato, November 21 t0,30; Training College entrance examination, November 21 to 24; technological osamination, November ,27 to December 2.

All' Saints' Day. - -.'' / I Tomorrow, November, 1, is.colo'br'ated as All Saints' Day, ono of the major festivals of the Church, The eve of this festival is known as Hallowe'en and around it has gathered much-super-stition^ especially'in the. northern part of the British Isles,■ arid-'.joiany are tho old customs that still survive., Fairies and similar folk; if ono may believe old superstitions, are very much abroad tonight. The festival of AH Saints' Day was initiated in the comparatively early days of. Christianity with a view to honouring all. faints, whether they had a gpecialvday to themselves in the Church's calendar or not,,

Dry Weather at Nelson,

.The long' spell of dry weather in. Nelson epntinuos, reports "The Post's" correspondent, and if rain does not come soon the position will be serious, especially in, the country districts. All the rivers in tho provincn^aro very low lor this timo of the year.

Paraparaumu Camp Strike.

There appears to have been a misunderstanding regarding tho roturnc«l soldiers' position in regard to tho recent strike of men at Varaparaumu. There arc three camps at Paraparanmu, 'the single men 's main road camp, where the strike, now ended, took pla.ee, the Returned Soldiers' Beach Roud Camp, and the Returned Soldiers' Bulger's Road Camp. The soldier?' camps were not involved in the strike in any way, neither did they express to tho Public Works Department .officials any opinion on the; action of the men in ~tho Main Road Camp, beyond ais'uring tho, oflleials that they themselves wore not connected with it.

Ladies and Athletics.

An indication of the inexorable march of feminism was a motion which came before the annual meoting^of the Wellington' Oentr&'of the New Zealand Amateur Athletic and Cycling Associatiqnlast night, that three ladies' events— 100 yds sprint, 80yds Ipw ■ hurdles', an(l a relay race—be;.holcl at tho Wellington' provincial amateiir athlotics championship meeting, points to count for the McVilly Shield. '■■■It was pointed out. that clubs without lady mombcrs might bo ponailsed, but Miss- M, Wilkins countered this with tho suggestion that it was about-time they obtained some lady members. On the motion being'put to the voto those wanting the ladies at the championship meating wero successful liy ( a majority greater- than two. to one.' !,

Free House for a Councillor.

If there isa city cpuneillor. who needs a homo for a month, such a homo awaits him and his wife in Helon Street, Brooklyn, under an offer jnado bj» Mr. E. G.'Eobertson at-the-annual'mooting of the Brooklyn Municipal Electors' Association last night. Tho offer was not taken soriously until Mr. Robertson insisted. ■■■ Ho said that he was not living in tho fro.nt of his house booauso the windows could not bd opened on account of the .dust-, and bis, offer was made as one way of "drawing attention to a very bad nuisance to the residents of the street. At 24 hours' notice he would move out to a hotel and hand over his house to a councillor rent free, provided that tho councillor's wife did the housework for the month. ■■

Improvements at Petone,

Two big improvements in the way of beautifieation have been effected at Petone. Tho hoarding at the head of Jackson Street opposito / the ■■ Kailway Station fias boon put back sixty feet, leaving-a triangular, plot in front. Grass will be sown and flower bods laid down. A footpath has t^een formed through the plot, and soats will bo placed ' in position. Tho vicinity of the railway crossing at the. western entrance to Petone used bo unsightly, ■ but four plots have been levelled and sown in grass, which has come away well, and a fifth plot is,being prepared _now for sowing. : Petoho has a big asset in its beach, and tho improvements -at the railway crossing will help to mako the entrance to tho Esplanade an asset to the borough.

New Zealand's Only Marathon.

The only full-length Marathon race that has ever been run in New'.Zoaland was conducted by the Wellington Centre of the Now Zealand Amateur Athr letic and Cycling Association, according to a statement mado#by Mr. J. -:.W. Hcenan at the annual meeting of the Wellington Centre. Idsi night. ■._.,• Mr,. Heenan' said that the race, took plaiie in November, 1009, from the Basin;Roservo to Mason's .Gardens at. Taita' and back. Tho winner, a man named! Thompson, of the Audit; Office, covered the distance in 2 hours 58 minutes. ■ In support of his contention that such races did no harm, Mr. Heenan remarked that the competitors in that Marathon had only a couple of months' training, and, yet all were still alive and flourishing.

Young Chess Enthusiasts,

The growing popularity of the ancient game of chess during the past winter has resulted in many new devotees to the checkers board, and in his monthly report to tho Board of Govornors last night tho director of the Wellington Technical College (Mr. B. G. Bidling) stated that a chess club had been commenced in the day school and application for membership had been so groat that a limit was placed upon the numbers enrolled. Encouragement had been offered ,by members of the Wellington Chess Club, who had placed at the disposal of the young players several sots of chessmen until the college could obtain its own sets.

In Honour of Lovelock,

The last meeting of, the council of the New Zealand Amateur Athletic and Cycling Association considered' tho question.of providing a 'suitable recognition of'tho wonderful performance of J. E. Lovelock in registering a new world record for ono mile, and the council 'decided to provide a challenge cup to be hold by tho winner of - tho ono mile- New Zealand championship. At the s^me time it was thought that centres or athletes in centre districts might desire an opportunity of contributing towards the cost of the cup, and accordingly it was decided to .give centres, athletes, and friends of J. E. Lovelock an opportunity to make any contribution they thought fit. . When the question came before the annual meeting of the Wellington Centre last night the president (Mr. A. C. Kitto) said it was a good idea, but the centre did not have much to spare and if the New Zealand Councilgave the cup the honour would be just as great. (Laughter.) Mr. J. W. Heenan said that the cup was meant to be a tribute from the athletes of New Zealand, and it would be move of an honour if it were so. He suggested a penny subscription throughout New Zealand and thought that the delegates might' take the matter up with their clubs. The discussion lapsed.

Gift to Petone Library.

The Town Clerk (Mr. H. Firth) stated at last'evening's meeting of the Petone Borough Council that a councillor had presented a copy of Zanc Grey's '' Tales of an Angler's El Doradb" to the library. Ho hoped that fuithcr contributions would be made by citizens who had bobks, other than novels, ■ lying round the house serving no useful purpose, and these could perhaps adorn tho library shelves and bo of interest to subscribers. The Mayor (Mr. D. McKehzio) associated himself wi,th Mr. Firth's request,- and • said it would bo most gratitying if citizens followed the councillor Y s example, and presontcd good literary works to the library.

Dust Nuisance in Petone Street. <

Attention to what was described as the' I '.'du,Bt;'inuisanee')'wns conveyed in a letter' from. fifty**residents of Queen Street' t0... the .Petohe Borough Council last; evening, . 'The occupiers of houses intho street 'stated that thpy wlshod to 'draw the council ■'&. attention to the excessive dust nuisance' with which.they had. and. with 'the approach of^d'fy.-.we'otljflir'thcyVSyouJd^pplc.clßto'. anythingthat couldrbe clone jri the jvear future"'to jrovont.their, home's-,:.both' inside, and out, from getting covered with dust; '..; Nino shopkeepers-, in Jackson, Street '-"wrote identifying.): themselves' .with the :yiewsput forward by th^ rjhfi; donts ,o£ Quepn.,Street, The< sWpkoepeTs said-that in; their situation "opposite Queen Street they got the full force of the wind' isnd: du'^t when the wind was from the.south.: Tho' petitions were referred to-the works, comniitted

Reversion to Ward System,

Dissatisfaction with.', ■' the present method of".election of .city {councillors was expressed by soy oral'speakers: at the- annualvmooting, of tho; Brooklyn Municipal Electors Association' last evening, and though thoro wus also expression of contraiy opinion, -the meeting supported a proposal that the wai d i system of election should be reverted to, and on the motion of Mr. J, I. Goldsmith it was decided that the City Council should be asked to bring the matter.before the Government. Mr. Goldsmith sai* that under the ward system tho various districts would roceive far bettor treatment than at present, when ten councillors lived in ono district, and. tlmt area was g«tting all tlrt works. "Mr. W; >Vigston, who seconded tho motjon, said that- the ward system .was nppliod in England and in Australia. Mr. J. Glover, an ox-coun-cillor, did not-favour a reversion to tho waid system, for In a five-ward system a comparatively small district would not have strong1 representation on the council. At prcscnt^iwo councillors were residont in the association's area, Direct representation would not have the samo effect as rop'catcd agitation. Mr. 11. K. Wright" also advised against tho proposal, and citod the success of protest meetings and agitation. Kolburn and Karon were mentioned by anothor sponkor as suburbs which l hod had unduo representation at the coun> ell table, and had shared too handsomely in tho work done.

-Value otCoriibiopA Effort. ''; ;r ■; ; "Tho value' of'^combined effort by persona who individually could have done nothing on the .same Hues, is shown in the figures published in 'Tho Post' yesterday in; connection with railwaymen's superannuations, '* said an exrailwayman today. "The fact that 93 per cent, of the supcrannuitants drawunder £300 per annum, only .2 por cent. receive allowances oxcooding £500 per annum, and loss than 1 per cent.'draw.allowances of over ©600 per annum, shows that tho superannuation scheme is 'distinctly a community effort, ; Since the fund was ostafilisliod in 1903, tho-life allowances to annuitants paid out to diHo total «,5,7i57,677, a figure -that ompliasises the effect pf pooling sayings over a number, of years, as regards the participants. The country, on . the other hand, hasi ;nssuvo'd tho' co'n'tont of. a large section of- the community, who are comfortably self-maintained, and it saves1 old ago pensions and largo sums by way of compassionate grants. . It was the fact that the Government found the payments of compassionate grants' so largo which formed one of tho factors inducing it to start the existing scheme. The widows, of'deceased.contributors arc now paid a small allowance during their widowhood, and their children small allowances until they reach the ago of \ 14, Under thesb headings alone g 390,800 has already been paid out.''■''':'''.'•', ■ ':■'■•'■," :- ■ -, ...•'. ■•