NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 76, 31 March 1934, Page 10

NEWS OF THE DAY

White Butterfly Enemy. . It was reported at the meeting of the Tauranga Chamber of Commerce- on Tuesday that a consignment of 1450 white butterfly larval parasites had arrived, for-liberation in this district, states a local' correspondent. The chamber decided to ask Mr.'C. E. Clinkard to take charge- of the liberation of the insects on local farms. Loss of the Tararua. Fifty-three years ago today occurred ono of the most appalling disasters in the annals of New Zealand shipping. On April 29, 1881, the Union Steam Ship Company's Tararua, with 150 people.on board; struck the Otara. Reef whilst en route, from Port Chalmers for Melbourne. A premature report said that all aboard were safe, but the truth was that, "after three boats had been sent off to find a landing place- on the shore, which was visible half a mile ,away, a terrific gale arose. Ono boat was swamped, another escaped seaward, and the third was driven ' ashore. Although there were .two good harbours within a few miles, those on the wreck could not be communicated with from the shore. Finally, the Tararua broke in two, and at darkness only the bow was left. The KaTianui could only stand by, as the seas were too heavy for^ boats. When day broke, all; that was left of tho TaTarua was a. lone spar. Only 30 of the 150 people aboard were saved. Poverty Bay Eoads. Many improvements in travelling conditions on the main East Coast Eoad, in. tho way of metalling, constructing bridges, cutting back corners, deviations, and bituminisiug, have been undertaken this, season, reports "The Poverty Bay Herald." Apart from one or two short sections at the southern end, the- surface of■ the road--between' Gisborne and Te Araroa is in particularly good order, and the additional improvements which are at present in hand will make the coast road even more attractive as a tourist route. Expectations that; the new scenic-route between Hicks Bay and Opotiki would be suitable for motorists during the Easter holidays, however, unfortunately have not been fulfilled. The Automobile Association's permanent patrol, who has just returned from, a visit to the coast, travelled as far as Waihau Bay, but found the road extremely rough and uncomfortable for car passengers, and passable only "because of the lack of rain. At present ears arc able to negotiate that section of the road, but the patrol definitely docs not recommend the road for general Easter tourist traffic. Too Many Small Libraries. Some interesting remarks on the forthcoming visit to New Zealand of Mr. .Ralph. Munn, director of the. Pittsburg Library and Art Gallery were made at Dunedin. on. Wednesday by a visitor, states the <*Otago baily Times." The latter is keenly interested and closely in touch with matters relating to the library survey to be undertaken on behalf of the Carnegie Corporation by Mr. Munn in New Zealand and Australia. "Sew Zealand has nioro libraries on a population' basis than practically any other Eng-lish-speaking country/ said the visitor. He stated that the number was 43a. The trouble, however, was that they were all independent of one another, the unit each served being too small for good services. A population of 5000 was the absolute minimum, for efficient service. The efforts of Mr. Munn would, be directed, no doubt, towards getting these libraries to: cooperate by pooling their resources and, instead of each buying, say, £5 to £6 worth of. books a year, to hire a. few hundred books for a year at exactly the same cost and then to return them to-: a central depot, which would feed a large'district. It was hoped to put the library service in New Zealand on a modern basis. The Carnegie Corporation only recently offered 100,000 dollars' to the four university colleges of New Zealand for the development of their libraries, and had also offered to train librarians in the main centres. Auckland, Wellington, and Canterbury had accepted the offer. Use as Trade Names. . Tho use of such words as "municipal," "civic," and "town hall" in connection with commercial .Undertakings-' not conducted by a municipality was criticised by Miss Basten at a meeting of tho Auckland City 'Council on Tuesday evening '<■ (states the "New Zealand Herald"). Miss Basten moved -that theGovernment should be requested to enact legislation restricting the use of words which might wrongly imply that an undertaking was associated with or conducted by a municipality. She said there was legislation' prohibiting the use of such words as "royal" and "state" where they might improperly suggest tha patronage of the Eoyal Family or tho Government, and it was desirable that the law should be extended. In the' vicinity of tho Town Hall there was a "Town Hall Grocery," and there was also a business undertaking which had been known as the "Town Hall Pawnshop." The Deputy Mayor (Mr. A. J. Entrican), who seconded the motion, suggested it might be advisable to refer the matter to the Municipal Conference before approaching the Government. "I agree that there should be some restriction regarding tho use of the words,".said the Mayor (Mr. G. Hutchison). "I have no objection to tho 'Town Hall Grocery,' but I have to a 'Town • Hall Pawnshop.' " Miss Basten consented to the withdrawal of her motion in favour of a motion by the Mayor that tho matter should be referred to the Municipal Association for approval. The Mayor's proposal was can;icd t

Bankruptcy Petitions. One petition in bankruptcy was filed in Wellington this month, making a total of four for the first three months of the year. Last year there were five petitions in March, and ten during the first quarter. Giant Sunflowers. ; ; A number of claims have been made this year concerning giant sunflowers. A recent report was from Mr. W. Wilkie, of Carringtqn Boad, New "Plymouth, who grew a. sunflower with a diameter of 18in and a stem of Bft in length. A better record still is claimed by the Courthouse staff at Palnierston North, who have grown one in the-ground at the back of the building having a diameter of 22in. The seed head alone is 16in across. The height of the New Plymouth sunflower is also exceeded as the Palmerston North specimen has a height of 9ft lin. The ground on which the sunflowers are grown was formerly covered-- by blackberry. It has been suggested that the unusual environment assisted the plants as the strongest and most upright ones- were found outside the windows of the Judges 1 Room. •..'■' . New Home for Prime Minister. By the end of April the new home that'is being built for the Prime Minister (the Et. Hon. (J. W. Forbes) at Cheviot will be ready' for occupation, states the> Christchnreh "Press." It is oil the exact site of the old house which -was destroyed by fire last year. Practically all the outside work has been completed; and the, contractor and his men are now engaged on the interior. The Cheviot home of Mr. Forbes was destroyed by fire on October 22, 1933. Only a few personal belongings, including some of the trophies most valued by the Prime Minister, were saved. It had been Air. Forbes's homo for 41 years. The original two rooms were built by him, with the assistance of his two brothers, Messrs. A. H. and E. T. Forbes, when Mr. Forbes was successful in the ballot for one ,of the blocks of land from the Cheviot estate of the Hon.. William Robinson. Since then it had been added to until it, became a six-roomed residence.'The architect for the new building vis Mr. J. C. Holliss and the contractor is Mr. J. L. Pugh, of Christchurch. Shining Cuckoo in Auckland City. Injured apparently by collision with the telephone wires, a shining cuckoo, or pipiwharauroa, as the Maori called it, .was found fluttering; in a gutter in Wynyard Stiieot on Thursday morning (states the- **Auckland Star").- The helpless bird was lucky to have escaped the notice of the cats which arc aplenty in the neighbourhood, until it was picked up and taken home by'the finder'in the-, hope that it would recover. The shining cuckoo is a good friend to tho orchardist, destroying scale and blight insects, caterpillars, and other fruit tree- pests.' Like others of its kind, the shining cuckoo lays its eggs,in the nests of other birds, to whom it leaves the duty of rearing-the young. In February the .elder birds disappear as mysteriously as they came, but the youngsters, as the one .found in Wynyard Street probably is, do not follow their neglectful parents until the end of-this month or early in April. Sometimes a few spend the winter in New Zealand. Praise for High Commissioner. Praise of the energy of Sir James Parr, -who recently assumed ofSee- as High Commissioner for New- Zealand for his second term, was expressed by Dr. A. J. Harrop, representative of the New Zealand University in England, who arrived from Southampton by tho Akaroa. yesterday on a visit to the Dominion. "Sir-James, wlio arrived in London a month bofqro' I left, settled very quickly into office again," said Dr. Harrop: "Sir James is concentrating on the business side of his office and is endeavouring to create in England a public opinion favourable to trade- with New Zealand. One- of the directions in which he intends to work is by encouraging firms which sell goods to New Zealand to stimulate the consumption of our products among their employees. The High Commissioner has already made plans to intensifytho campaign to attract tourists from Britain to Now Zealand. He hopes to establish direct contacts /with all the tourist agencies, and thus to get into touch with travellers who may be willing to the Dominion in their itineraries. With Ijie 'low fares now in operation, quite apart from the exchange position, the time is ripe for a move forward, and Sir James Pancan, be relied upon to make it, in spite of the heavy work devolving upon him by- the dairy produce quota discussions. "-A: ' ' ' ■ '; j