NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 58, 6 September 1934, Page 12

NEWS OF THE DAY

South Australian Fruit.

Another large shipment of South'Aus-, tralian oranges and mandarins ■was carried by the steamer Waitaki, which is due here tomorrow; from Melbourne, via southern ports - (states the "Otago Daily Times"). When the vessel left' the Victorian port she had about 9000 cases Under; her hatches, and of this total 4125 .cases were discharged at Dunedin.- A quantity was landed at Bluff :on Monday, and; tho remainder are for discharge at Lyttelton and Wellington. The fruit is in excellent condition. ' International Labour Conference. Regret that the "New Zealand Gov-, eminent'had failed to support the- International Labour Organisation by ratifying in all possible instances the draft conventions of the periodical conferences, was embodied .in a remit passed by tho conference of the New Zealand League of Nations Union yesterday afternoon. It was decided to urge the Government once more to arrange for the Dominion's representation at the. International Labour Conference and for Parliament to have the opportunity of considering the suitability of each convention for ratification. -■■■■'■■ Engine-drivers' Pay. A plea for greater' consideration for locomotive drivers employed on. the Now Zealand railways was made in the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon. The subject 'was raised by Mr. A. Stuart '(Government, Rangitikei), who said that after an-engine-driver^had paid his Tent he had only about £.2 12s remaining. Engine-drivers had a great responsibility, and they were more deserving than any other section of the community for financial consideration'1 at the hands of the Government. Mr. W. Nash (Labour, Hutt), who followed Mr. Stiiart, made a similar plea. He pointed out, however, that the member for Rangitikei" had helped to cut ' engine-drivers' wages. Mr. Stuart: A wise man changes his mind sometimes. " Wiso ' men keep wise minds," replied Mr. Nash, \vho added that there were 45,000 members of the. Civil Service whose net pay was only £2 8s 96. a week. Cricket Technicalities. '* The suggestion that to ask old cricketers to sit. for an examination before their appointment as umpires was something of a bogy to them was made by Mr. C. G. Wilson at the annual meeting of the Wellington Cricket Umpires' Association last night. Technical points, such as questions relating to the circumference of a cricket ball, the width of a cricket bat, height and width of the stumps, etc., could be raised, he said, and they would "catch" members of the association and many1 old cricketers. He contended that old players, for fear of being caught on: some technical point, would not undergo an. examination.. It was necessary, of course, that an umpire should be qualified to act, but there was no need to go into technical questions. Mr. D. McKonzie said that a member ■of tho association was only required to pass an examination before appointment as a senior umpire. , ■ Faded Documents. '(' The accountant of an old-established Now Plymouth firm had occasion recently to refer to some typewritten .documents dated 1913 and found the ink so faded that the documents were almost illegible. Inquiries made in Wellington of Government and legal offices show that -such a discovery is the exception rather than tho rule. "If typewritten . documents faded away after the lapse of a few years," remarked one Government official, "typewriters would have been discarded long ago.' '• Ordinary typewriter inks, it was generally agreed, show no sign of fading, and it would appear that typewritten documents can be counted upon to last almost indefinitely. One accountant told a "Post" reporter that he had come across some years ago a cheap brand of ink, no longer on the market, that did have a tendency to fade after a few years, nnd ho suggested that perhaps the New Plymouth documents were typewritten in this or a similar ink. He added that he believed the War Office in London had experienced similar trouble with a batch of old typewritten documents,* the extensive fading necessitating fresh copies being made. "Use standard inks ant your documents will last without fading much longer' than you will," was the opinion of one importer of inks.

"Hats Off to the Police." A word of praise for the police of New Zealand was given by Mr. A. Stuart (Government, Eau^jitikei) in the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon. Mr. Stuart referred to the recent statement made by Mr. W. E. Parry (Labour, Auckland Central) relative to the establishment of an auxiliary police force, and said that Mr. Parry's remarks were not of a flattering nature. He thought it was' up to every member to lift his hat to the Police Force. Mr. Parry: "I never said anything about the Police Force." Mr. Stuart: "Well, the Commissioner of Police, then." Labouring the Point. ' "I have arthritis right through my. body," said a witness in the Supreme Court today. Because of this condition, he said, he had.had to give up relief work under the 4a scheme. "With the laudable desire no doubt of being as helpful to the Court as possible counsel explained that arthritis was a chronic form of rheumatism of the joints. But "arthritis" is a word often heard1 in the Courts, and Judges well know the nature of the complaint. When counsel volunteered tho explanation today Mr. Justice Reed smiled. "Thank you," he said quietly. ■ ■ The Duchess's Naval Service. . Having acted as a temporary naval trawler for about two months, the pleasure steamer Duchess is now being prepared for return to her owners, reports the.'.'New Zealand Herald." The Duchess co-operated with the Admiralty trawler Wakakura .in special minesweeping trials and training cruises, having been chartered for this purpose by the New Zealand Division of the Eoyal.Na.vy. Certain fittings are being removed from the steamer, which is berthed at the Devonport naVal base, and on Saturday she will revert to her former role of pleasure steamer, although it will be some time before she commences heir regular summer t programme. It is not yet known whether the Duchess will be chartered again next year. A second trawler has long.been needed by the division for training work, and. the Dominion's naval strength may conceivably be increased in this direction. Price of Fruit in New Zealand. , The higher prices charged in the shops for fruit in New Zealarfd have amazed Mr. E. H. Nesbitt, the Australian Trade Commissioner. Speaking at the luncheon tendered him yesterday by the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, he remarked: "Of the fresh fruit I have seen in New' Zealand shops I will not say anything just yet, except to say that I. have been staggered at seeing the prices-marked-on them in the shop windows. They can be bought in Australia at almost one-tenth of the prices paid here. "Oranges whidh he had seen on sale at 4d each would not cost more than Is a dozen in Australia. "I am going to make inquiries in both countries from every angle, particularly in regard to carrying costs, in order to see if it is not possible to bring fruit to a price more in reason for the average buyer,'! he concluded. . Local Body Difficulties. "Many local authorities have during the year experienced difficulty in collecting their revenues, with the result that numerous breaches of the law governing the limits of their expenditure have occurred," stated the Controller and Auditor-General (Colonel G. F. C. Campbell) in his annual report to Parliament yesterday. "There were thirtyfour instances, an' increase of two on the previous year, where local authorities had exceeded the limits of their overdrafts at, tho bank, whilst there were thirty-two instances where local .authorities had incurred liabilities, additional to overdraft liabilities, in excess of their1 current year's revenues. Tho difficulty of collecting their revenues has been responsible for the failure on the part of twenty-two local authorities to create the required sinking funds for loans raised by them or to pay to the Sinking Fund Commissioners the annual .instalments of sinking funds, and for the failure of thirteen local authorities to invest/ as required by law, the amounts of their annual depreciation charges." ,' Canterbury Wheat. V Contrary to expectations, wheat sown in Canterbury, this season will be'much less than was the case, last year. ■ It is said that the reduction amounts to fully 50,000 acres. In several wellknown wheat-growing districts (says the "Christchurch Times") there has been practically 'no sowing at all. Cheviot, Fairlie, Waimfcte —wheat-pTO-ducing districts of some magnitude— have little or no wheat sown up to the present. Old farmers in the Cheviot district state that they have not experienced such a wet winter for the last 25 years, and in some districts not since the /estate was cut up for closer settlement in 1902. They say it is no use growing peas' or oats nowadays, and it looks as if the wheat will not be sown this season. When asked what they were going to do, farmers from Waimate,. Fairlie, and Cheviot said they supposed they would have to put down temporary pastures and grow fat lambs and wool, 'this season at least.