NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 114, 16 May 1934, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

"Trifling ■with Court's Decision."

"When a driver's licence is cancelled', it is done so for a specific purpose,''! said Mr. W. F. Stilwell, S.M., in the Magistrate's Court yesterday, when convicting arid fining a defendant £5 on a chargo of procuring a licenco to drive a motor vehicle while disqualified. I" Any man who gets a licence. before tho period of disqualification is up is trifling with the Court's decision.'.' Naval Training. Opportunities for New Zealand ratings to attain commissioned rank under conditions similar to those already approved for ratings in the Royal Nayy may be provided in the near future, according to a- statement made yesterday by the Minister of Defence (the Hon. J. G. Cobbe). When invited to •comment on the scheme put forward by the Australian Government for the training of New Zealanders as officers for the Navy at the Boyal Australian Naval College, the Minister said that the present arrangements for providing officers for the New Zealand Division of the Eoyal Navy were considered to be satisfactory from the New Zealand point of view. Electric Town Clock. Gisborne has now an electric town clock in the Eobinson Memorial. It has the latest in clock mechanism, which is of the typo that drives the largest dial in Britain, that at the Singer factory, Glasgow, which is 26ft in height. Everything is electrically driven. The master clock secures its power from batteries fed from a connection with the main, and will not be affected by a power cut-off. Tho master clock can be adjusted to correct any inaccuracy that develops, and at present was set to vary not more than two seconds a week from standard time. By an intricate electrical arrangement, the master clock supplies the time to the four dials, the hands of which are moved by mechanism in the gallery. Two independent sets of mechanism work the chimes and the hour striker. The five bells in the clock tower are those that did service in the Post Office tower. Place of Abundance. How Mapua got its name was told at' Nelson at the function in connection with the shipment of the jnillionth case of fruit this season. Mr. F. I. Ledger, chairman of the Nelson Progress League, said that some twenty years ago the site of Mapua appealed to him as one of the potential shipping points for the fruit industry. He asked prominent Maoris in. Motueka for the Maori name for Western Entrance, but none could give an answer. Later, he went to Mr. Caldwell, of Wellington, a Maori scholar, and from him obtained the name of Mapua, which means "prolific" or "abundant." "At that time," said Mr. Ledger, "I had an idea that it would be an important port for the shipping of fruit, and so it has resulted." The shipments -this year from Mapua itself totalled 420,000 cases. Poultry-keepers' Organisation. A series of recommendations for the organisation of poultry-keepers, under the suggested title of "The New Zoaland Poultry Producers' Federation," the basis of organisation being district branches, district councils, and a Dominion council, were adopted at a meeting of the New Zealand Poultry Board recently. Proposals for elaborating these basic recommendations were agreed upon in respect to conditions of membership (for which non-registered and registered poultry-keepers would be eligible); the formation of branches and their representation on district councils; the establishment of district councils; and their representation on the Dominion council; the election of officers and executives, and other details. Beeommendations for defining the principal objects of the proposed federation were also recommended, and it was decided to invite representatives of the New Zealand Poultry Association to confer with the board at a meeting to be held nest month, j

Registering Poultry Runs. The registration of poultry runs was approved at this month's meeting of the New Zealand Poultry Board, which accepted the regulations, to come into force on Juno 1, submitted by the Department of Agriculture. Instructions were given for the printing of 50,000 application forms and receipt forms. It .vas also decided to notify poultrykeepers by advertisement of the requirements -of the Act in respect to registration of their poultry-runs. Kaiwarra Football Ground. The Kaiwarra Football Club advised the management committee of the Wellington Rugby Union by letter last evening that it proposes sending a deputation to the reserves committee" of the City Council to recommend certain improvements at the Kaiwarra Recreation Ground. Tho improvements to be suggested are:—Extension of the south end by 30ft, the north end by loft, and the western side by 30ft approximately. The club invited a member of the management committee to accompany the deputation, and it was decided to send a representative of the union if possible. Appeal to Smith Family. An appeal which is regarded as deserving of every consideration has been made to the Smith Family by a woman with three sons, all of whom are in their twenties and unable to find work in New Zealand, although they are willing to do anything. Through friends the mother has secured jobs for two of her sons in Australia, and she is asking assistance in tho payment of their fares. The young men are sons of a British soldier who was killed at Gallipoli. The secretary of the Smith Family said that the case appeared to be a genuine one. The woman had undertaken to produce documentary evidence, if necessary, that the jobs were available in Sydney.. The pathetic part of, the whole business was that such fine young men haa to be sent out of the country to get work when there were so many wasters hanging round. The Smith Family intended to try to meet the appeal. Marketing of Eggs. ' Preliminary arrangements for tho export of eggs during the coming season were discussed at the second monthly meeting of the New Zealand Poultry Board. It was resolved to recommend to provincial egg export committees that a central egg export committee, having the same personnel as last year be established in Wellington; that producers be adequately represented on provincial export committees; that halfpounds be eliminated from all packs of exported eggs, and-that if possible, a proportion of coloured eggs should be packed in each, layer of eggs exported. The recommendations concerning weights and colours were based on vory interesting reports from tho High Commissioner in London which had been forwarded to the board by courtesy of the Minister of Industries and Commerce. Consideration of a suggestion from the Canterbury Export Committee concerning the desirability of appointing a representative iv London for the purpose of watching the interests of exporters of eggs during the coming season was deferred until the next meeting of the board on Juno 13. Question of Sustenance. A circular lettor from tho Mayor of Palmerston North, in connection with proposed rates of sustenance for unemployed men and their families, was received at the Johnsonville Town Board mooting on Monday night. Support was asked in the agitation against the rates of sustenance, which were considered to be far too low, ranging from between 5s a week for a single man to 17s 6d at the most for a married man with children. Tho opinion was expressed that the authorities had plenty of money in hand, but were net using it correctly, and that the whole trouble was due to poor control. After very lengthy discussion, it was decided to write to the Palmorston North Borough Council asking for further information as to what was the exact position in Palmerston North. It appeared to members of the board that there was a lack of capital works in that city which had required that the men be put on sustenance, whereas in Johnsonville there was small prospect of there being a dearth of capital works, so that the unemployed in that district could be kept occupied. ~ ■ ■ A Professor "Fined." > The comments by Professor R. M. Algie before the Lyceum Club last week on what he considered tobe the motives prompting women to seek appointments as police or jurors had a further echo on Monday at the luncheon meeting of the Auckland Rotary Club, states the "New Zealand Herald." Professor Algie .was one of those members required to pay a "fine" for various "offences," according to the practice of the organisation. While the president, Mr. S. J. Harbutt, in singling out the professor as an offender, did not make any comment on the nature of the breach, the laughter of the members showed that everyone understood why tho victim was called to account. Milford as a Port. "I am very keen to see Milford Sound as a deep-sea port," said the Hon. Adam Hamilton (Postmaster-General), addressing a deputation at Dunedin, states the "Otago Daily Times." "And what is more, I want to see that come about in time for the present generation to reap' the benefit." ■ In this connection,, said the Minister, it would probably interest them to know that a report had just been sent on to Wellington which would have a very important bearing on the question of a motor road to Milford Sound. Of course it had yet to bo considered, but he thought that there/would soon be a good road to the Sounds. When reminded'by Mr. H..C. Campbell that before Milford Sound could become a port the Sounds would have to be surveyed again, as nothing of the kind had been done since 1860, Mr. Hamiltpn said that vessels negotiated the Sounds very successfully now. In any case that was a matter that could wait until tho port was in sight. Maori Custom Lives. One of the most interesting of all Maori customs—tho tangi over the dead —was celebrated in fitting fashjon at Ngamotu Beach from last Thursday till Sunday, states the "Taranaki Herald." The tangi was held in honour of the late Mr. Tewi Thompson, of Opunake, at the residence of his sister, Mrs. T. Harris, of Ngamotu Beach, New Plymouth. A huge marquee was erected in front of the house, and for four days keening for the departed took place. Tho ceremony was without equal as a gesture of sympathy for the deceased's widow and of • respect for the dead man. Over 100 Maoris, many of them prominent in Maori affairs, and from as far afield as Auckland, attended. It was a 'fine trib'ite to Mr. Thompson, and showed that the old tradition is far from dying; Prodigious quantities of kuineras, potatoes, taros, and fish and meat were, consumed in the long nights of wailing. All the visitors brought offerings of food with them, so that all were on equal footing in the ceremony. Under the bright glare of eleutric lights—the only modern note —dancing, hakas, and singing continued far into the night. Fluent orators expounded on tho dead man's virtues, and the wailing of women accompanied his spirit on the journey from Te Reinga. Mr. Thompson was buried with impressive ceremony at a Maori burial ground at Mangorei Road. Another tangi for Mr. Thompson will be held at his widow's home at Opunake, when there will be more dnys of feasting and tributes to the dead man.