NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 85, 10 April 1935, Page 10

NEWS OF THE DAY

Arbitration Court. The members of the Arbitration Court—Mr. Justice Frazer, Messrs. W. Cecil Prime, and A. L. Monteith—will leave for New Plymouth tomorrow The Court will hold sittings at New Plymouth on Friday and at Palmerston North on April 17. Ministers Do too Much. "We ministers are very often the causes of failure in our congregations," said Dr. Charles Gordon ("Ralph Connor"), speaking at a luncheon given for him by the Christchurch Presbytery, "In the first place we do riot ask enough of them. It is far easier to do a man's work for him than, to get him to do it for himself. Ministers tend to do all the work of the church, whereas it ought to be organised and carried oh by the people of the congregation." : ■ Unemployment' a National Problem. "Unemployment has been one of the most pressing problems which has faced the Wellington City Council," said the Mayor, Dr. T. C. A. Hislop, while speaking at Kelburn last evening, "but when the position is examined it must be admitted that the Wellington Council has made very great efforts to meet the position; it has spent more money than any other centre in the Dominion in the endeavour to provide employment for those who have been forced out of their usual work. I do say, however, that in the main it is a function which must be carried on by the central Government, because it alone has the power to carry through any policy it may adopt." Scented Musk Found. "In your issue of March 14 was an article on the scentless properties of the musk plant at the present day," writes Mr. G. M. Stewart, of Pembroke, to the "Otago Daily Times." lam at present domiciled in a valley 15 miles from Pembroke, and all this summer have noticed the scent from the profusion of musk growing in the different swamps. The scent is certainly not so pronounced as I remember it to be around Dunedin in my younger days, but the fact remains that the musk growing here has still the scent peculiar to the plant. For your edification I am enclosing a few sprays, and trust they will retain some portion of their perfume when they arrive." Government Windfall. Unclaimed moneys amounting to £236 are likely to be paid over to the Government by the Auckland Electric Power Board, according ,to a report submitted at Monday's meeting of the board by the secretary, Mr. N. M. Speer. "Under the amendments' to the Finance Act, 1932, all local authorities were brought under the provisions of the Unclaimed Moneys Act, 1908, and we have been called upon by the Commissioner of Taxes to pay over to him all unclaimed moneys from the commencement ■ of the board's operations," stated the report. "This applies to all moneys which have, been outstanding and. unclaimed for six years." The amounts in the board's case represented sundry overpayments on consumers' accounts and unclaimed deposits, and in all cases every endeavour had been made to trace the owners before taking credit for the moneys in the board's revenue account. Purging the whole of the records from 1922 to 1928 meant considerable work;. It was often found that years afterward a consumer turned up, and the amount originally, standing to his credit was either refunded or transferred to his new account. . "Under the provisions of the Act we now have to send a letter to the last-known address of owners, notifying them of the amount lying to their credit, and if within three months the amounts are not claimed they will be paid over to the Public Account," added the report. "The position from now on will not be so difficult, as we have adjusted our records to enable us to obtain the information in this connection each year." Missing Sheep Mystery. Three weeks of widespread inquiry have failed to reveal any trace of 170 wethers, which have disappeared' mysteriously from Mr. R. H. Lowry's station. Ohinewairua, states a Taihape correspondent. It is thought that the stock might have been stolen, and so seriously does Mr. Lowry regard his loss that he has offered £100 reward for information leading to the recovery of the animals. The loss was not discovered until the recent mustering operations were commenced. When the shortage in the stock became apparent a large area was covered in the search for the animals. There is no indication of the animals having become hidden in some deep gully. The wethers were put out on the back country about December 15, after shearing, and they were left grazing on what is known as Fisher's Hope paddock, about 20 miles from the station. ' It was the intention to leave them there until mustering. Although the country is rugged, experienced hands are well acquainted with its characteristics, and no possibility of the wethers having become isolated beyond the point of access is now entertained. Fisher's Hope paddock at one point comes within a mile and a half of a clay road, and it would have been possible for the sheep to have been removed from this place. Assuming that a theft was committed, it could have occupied a considerable period, with comparatively little risk to the offenders. Stock disappeared from the property about two years ago; but the latest loss is the most severe Mr. Lowry has suffered,

An "Impromptu" Speech. When returning thanks for the gift of a handsome trophy after the special trotting match race on Saturday afternoon between Impromptu and Harold Logan, Mr. G. Moran, owner of .the winner, Impromptu, perpetrated a neat pun which found instant favour with his hearers, reports the Wanganui "Chronicle." Mr. Moran apologised for his inability to make a speech on such an occasion, but offered to fill the bill with an "impromptu" speech. Subsidising Flax Industry. , The amount paid in subsidies on flax exported was £1760, said tlie deputy chairman of the Unemployment Board (Mr. W. Bromley), speaking at Auckland yesterday. "This one item most eloquently emphasises the damage suffered by a New Zealand industry as a result of the depression," he continued. "Once a great employer of labour, the flax industry was almost exterminated. Although the wages being paid to the workers engaged in the industry today are so low that often labour resists, leaving relief work on Scheme 5 to take up jobs in the flax swamps, the cost of production still exceeds the market price of fibre on the English market, the exchange advantage notwithstanding, and the flax miller, once upon a time an important client of the income-tax collector, is today, for the most part, carrying on at the pleasure of his banker. This subsidy payment, if not paid direct to unemployed men, is certainly keeping men off the register of unemployed." A Nautical Canary. Microphones have almost wholly superseded bosun's whistles for the conveying of orders on warships. Visitors often hear orders given by "Mike," and occasionally wonder where the voice is coming from (says' the Dunedin "Star"). In the old days it was an^ offence for a jack Tar to whistle at work, lest his whistling clash, with the official whistling of the bosun and his mates. A sailor on H.M.S. Sussex tells the anecdote of a sailor in the old days breaking into a gladsome whistle while engaged in the disciplinary duty of burnishing an iron stanchion. The stanchion was near the commander's suite, from which that officer presently emerged, remarking that as the ship evidently carried a canary it was a fair thing that, the bird be provided with a perch. The whistling Jack Tar was forthwith detailed to whistle two bars daily for a fortnight in the crow's nest and a guard was sent aloft with him" to see that he did the whistling. Lorcl Galway and the "H.A.C." A branch of the Old Comrades' Association of the Honourable Artillery Company has been formed in Auckland, and a clubroom in Endean's Buildings has been obtained, states the "Auckland Star." New Zealand's association with the famous and historic old corps will be notably strengthened by the arrival of the new GovernorGeneral, for Lord Galway is colonel and commandant of the "H.A.C.," having succeeded Lord 'Denbigh in that position two years ago,' when Lord Denbigh retired, after 30 years' service. Founded in the fifteenth century as the Fraternity of St. George, or Artillery Guild, the H.A.C. makes the proud claim to be not only the oldest regiment in the British Army, but probably the senior corps in the world. In its London headquarters is preserved an ancient stone target, souvenir of the days of archery, and in the time of the trained bands ("military, not musical," as a veteran member once explained), the H.A.C. was one of the principal units. It is hoped that the new Governor-General will become patron of the Auckland Association. Free Issue of Apples. Over 100 sacks of Delicious apples, the equivalent of about 400 cases, were distributed to the unemployed at the Auckland Metropolitan Relief Committee's meat depot in Victoria Street on Monday, states the "New Zealand Herald." This is the first of the distribution of some thousands of cases of these apples, the sale and export of which has been forbidden, because of the danger of the spread of orchard diseases. Auckland city relief workers will draw their share of the apples, as they are provided with chits by the Labour Bureau,, at the old station 'buildings, each recipient being entitled to about a case of apples. The cost of transport from the orchards to the central depot has been met by a contribution from the Metropolitan Relief Committee and donations from several anonymous subscribers. The sacks used in the carriage of the apples from the orchards were lent by a number oC city sack merchants. The distribution of apples to the unemployed in outer areas, such as Onehunga, Mount Roskill, and One Tree Hill, will be made by the local committees affiliated to the Metropolitan Relief Committee, in conjunction with the local authorities. The Kelburn Tramway. The attitude of the Kelburn Tramway Company towards the convenience of the public was strongly criticised by the Mayor (Mr. T. C. A. Hislop) when answering a question at a meeting at'Kelburn last evening as to the council's intentions as to providing access between Clifton Terrace and Wellington Terrace. Mr. Hislop said that the company had not shown proper consideration for the convenience of the public and had taken action at certain of the stops that was not warranted. ' The reason given was that the company must be safeguarded against the likelihood of accidents, but in the long history of the service there had been only one serious accident and the company could very well have made insurance provision against liability. The City Council had arranged to construct steps at the southern portal of the tunnel and the City Valuer was negotiating with, the owners of certain properties, but if those owners were to receive monetary consideration they should get it from the company, and not from the council. Provided satisfactory arrangements could be made, the steps could be installed in the course of the next few weeks, but the citizens of Wellington were not going to be robbed of the money in order to save the tramway company paying what it ought to pay. Rare Maori Curios. The scientific value of seemingly uninteresting Maori objects, whether whole or even as only fragments, was stressed on Monday by Mr. V. F. Fisher, ethnologist to the Auckland War Memorial Museum, in describing a rare mussel dredge recently acquired, states the "New Zealand Herald." This was presented by two boys at the Opoutere Native School, P. Hutchinson and K. McGregor, who had found it in a nearby swamp. When discovered it consisted of a few sharp pointed sticks and some cross pieces. Some; years ago, Mr. Fisher explained, the museum acquired a few similar pointed sticks and was unable to determine their use. Later an old Maori recognised them and reconstructed a dredge as it was used by the Natives, an umbrella-shaped affair with a long handle used to drag the "ribs" along the bottom and so gather the mussels. This information was verified by the finding of a. more complete set of sticks, lashed together, buried in a swamp at Thornton's Bay. From these previous finds of partial mussel dredges, the present gift, which ought have been,unidentifiable, can be reconstructed with accuracy. Similar cases were frequently happening,'and light was often thrown on some problems by fragmentary, objects..