NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 35, 10 August 1934, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

White Hilltops. Nearly eight years have passed since there was a fall of snow in Wellington. Somo people- say that this is the coldest winter that has been experienced in Wellington for many years, and they havo wondered why' snbw has not fallen. Bo this as it may, the fact remains that this morning the ridgo of the. hill running from tho back of Wilton's Bnsh towards Ngaio was white, giving evidence eithor of a very scvoro frost, or a fall of snow or hail durng tho night. The Philanthropic Track Driver. A truck owner who was asking permission from the No. 7' Transport Licensing Authority sitting in Nelson to charge for passengers, complained that lie was frequently stopped by sometimes as many as ten people asking for lifts, and they often got off without even a "thank you." The" chairman said ho could hardly believe tho applicant was so philanthropic as to pick irp every pedestrian who requested a lift. Ho himself had picked up people in that district who said they had stopped throo trucks and been declined. Extending Petone's Sea Wall. Tho Petono Beautifying .Society last evening voted £50 towards the cost of extending tho new sea wall at Pctone. Tho Petono Borongh Council has voted £100 for. this purpose, and work ■will bo commenced when the troo planting is finished. Last year thg wall was extended to between King and Queen Streets, and now it will bo extended possibly to Cuba Street. A gap will bo loft in the wall for the erection of new bathing sheds near Buiek Street. The Beautifying Society also passed an amount for shifting/back seats from the path to insido the concrete kerb between the Heretaunga Boating Club's Hall and Cuba Street, the seats being in alignment past Cuba Street. Subsidised Shipping. , Deporting uudor date July C the "Eveningl, Post's" London correspondent states' that Mr. C. G. Whito and Mr. George Ritchie, directors of the Union Steam Ship Company, and Mr, C. M. Turrcll, general manager and director of tho'New Zealand Shipping Company in Now Zealand, were introduced to Mr. J. H. Thomas at tho Dominions Office by the High Commissioner. Tho doputation represented to tho Secretary of State the difficult situation of New Zealand shipping linos; in the Pacific owing to tho competition of subsidised foreign shipping, and the Secretary of State undertook to place their views before Ms colleagues in tho Government. Versatile New Zealander. "Peterborough," of the London "Daily Telegraph," remarks:—"A friend who was interested in my note on artists' occupations tells mo of the most versatile artist he knows. This :is Mr. Keith K. Kirk, recently a prizewinner in a black-and-white competition in New Zealand. Mr. Kirk, who comos from that Dominion, won the [ equivalent of a Ehodes scholarship at Oxford, then studied at the Caen and Valladolid Universities. He has held a commission in a Highland regiment, sailed before the mast in a cattlo boat, and been twice shipwrecked and once | imprisoned—for leading a Boyalist demonstration in France. '.Shortly after being called to tho Bar he put tho case for Montenegro against Serbia before a Loaguo of Nations Commission." Speaking from Notes. An explanation of why he always spoke from notos was given by Mr. A. K. Anderson, retiring headmaster of St. Andrew's Colloge, Christchurch, at a farewell gathering on Tuesday afternoon, statos tho "Christchurch Times." In asking those present to forgive him for using notes in his reply Mr. Anderson said that fourteon years ago at his first prize-giving at the collego he was on tho platform with the members of tho Board of Governors, comprising members of the Church and laymun, soatec! '■ behind him. As all headmasters knew, prize night was a tiring affair, but being young and fresh then he decided to mako his remarks without tho aid of notes. At the time, he was speaking of the ideals of St. Andrew's boys, and aaid that tho colloco "did not want or desire to turn nut parsons or ecclesiastical prigs." One of tho newspapers had speedily picked upon tho romark, and had said that certain members of the Board of Governors must havo folt "out of it." "Of course I did not mean to iiifcr that the members of the board deserved tho description," concluded Mr. Anderson, "but it vms ono of those slips :i speaker is api. to make iv a hurry, and since then I havo always nscd notes,"

India Thanks the Red Cross. The Viceroy of India has written thanking the' New Zealand' lied Cross Society for its contribution towards the Indian earthquake relief fund; also convoying his thanks to the donors for their generous response to the appeal. Brakes and Lights. Drivers of cars in Pctone are at present having their ears tested to see if tho brakes arc in good order and the lights correctly adjusted. When a car has been examined and passed at a garage a certificate to that effect is filled in by the garage authorities. The Potono Borough Council officials, on the certificate being jircsented at the office, give tho car owner an official circular label that can be pasted on the window of the car as proof that it has been passed in tho tests. "Slanguage" and "Oxford Accent.'' Criticism of American speech and of the alleged "Oxford accent" was offered on Wednesday by Dr. A. Lyon, elocutionary critic and examiner for Trinity College o.f Music, London, states the "Christchurch Times." American was not a language but a "slanguage," ho said, and though improvement had been shown in the elocutionary standards, Canada was affected badly by the samo crudeness of tongue. On the other side the "Oxford accent" stood to him as an affectation as widely apart from standard English as the dialects of the various counties. It came, in his opinion, from the affected boredom of youths who had not had to work for their living and whoso speech even had becomo slovenlyNot What It Seemed. A considerable crowd of students lined Hereford Street near the Chichcle Wing of College House, Cliristchurch, on Wednesday afternoon, to assist at what, from a distance, appeared a solemn ceremony, states "The Press." Observed at close quarters, however, the centre of attraction proved to bo a table on the footpath. On tho table sat Canon Faux-Parr" and "Mrs. Parr," and two unspecified ecclesiastical dignitaries. Tho occasion was the opening of the new back gate of the Chicholo Wing, which was duly performed by "Mrs. Parr." Mr. Eobert K. Burns, the debater from Washington University, on being asked to speak, said that "on behalf of America, President Roosevelt, Al Capone, and Mao West," they considered it a privilege to participate in the ceremony. He hoped that it would mark the beginning of something " or other.; "Stalking" by Aeroplane. Next stalking season, one or' two Christchureh sportsmen may travel by aeroplane to the stalking grounds, states the " Chris tclrareh' Times." If the plan oventuates, ,it will reduce travelling time from about five days to tho same number of hours. Mr. F. Sharman is one of the stalkers who is thinking of using air travel this season. He explained on Wednesday that the stalkers would be dropped possibly in Landsborough Valley, where there is sufficient flat country for a su.ccessful landing. They would bo picked up after the shooting trip was over. Tho chief difficulty would bo the weather. Before starting out thero would have to bo some assurance of favourable weather at tho destination, a* flying among tho hills was tricky work. Cows and Noise. Tho effect of noises, and incidentally of the.playing of bagpipes, on the quality of milk given by cows was discussed by counsel and witness in tho Christehurch Magistrate's Court the other day. A witness who was the owiior of a dairy farm said that an altercation between two men in the cowyard would disturb the cows and causo their, blood to become heated and their milk to be adversely affected. His business was concerned particularly with milk for infants, and ho agreed with his own counsel that tho children drinking this milk might possibly suffer. Tho opposing counsel asked later whether it was not true that bagpipes wero often played to cows to sweeten tho milk. The witness considered that the sound of bagpipes would havo not quite tho same effect as the noise and commotion of two inon fighting. Heifer Born Ear-marked. ■■. Farmers have ofton boon heard discussing the question as to why lambs are not born tailless, and also why the ear-mark is not passed on, and while instances havo occurred of such happenings, tho age-old arguments porsist without any satisfactory conclusion being arrived at, says the "Manawatu Times." This week,however, in Feilding, is. reported a remarkable instance of the ear-mark of a heifer being acquired by the progeny. When purchased four years ago the heifer was minus tho tips of both ears, and her first calf, a heifor, was born ear-marked in tho same manner as hor mother. Tho same thing happened in,the next year, when another heifor calf was droppod already ear-marked, and the somewhat remarkable happening was repeatod again this week. The first calf by tho first daughter of this heifer was also markod in a liko manner when dropped. Tho owner, knows nothing of tho history of the heifer prior to becoming his property, and cannot recall any instance whero tho ear-mark has been passed on so consistently. Airways Must Come. Speaking at Napier, Miss Jean Batten said that because of its generally good weather conditions and oxeollent visibility, New Zealand in the near future must be served with a network of airway 'sorvicos. She added that during her present visit to Now Zealand she had never been more than five minutes behind schedule, and that generally speaking the average degree of visibility was 80 miles, though in England they considered themselves fortunate if the visibility exceeded 12. Though her own machine is five years old, when she was in the South Island' she flew comfortably from Invercargill to Blenheim in seven hours. She breakfasted at invercargill, lunched at Christchurch, and had dinner at Blenheim without any bother. "And my littlo machine is slow compared with the majority of those which airways companies . contemplate using," she added. "Business men are, beginning to demand aeroplane services from one end of the country to the other. They are demanding services which savo' in time and energy, and instead of relying upon cars, which take thorn over tortuous roads for many miles on journeys which becomo tiring, thoy will use airways, for airways must come. It will not be long now." .