NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Issue 20, 23 July 1935, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Patriotism and Art.

"Our art instructors advise that it has no particular value as a reproduction of a work of art. It has only a patriotic'appeal," was the comment of the Director of the Wellington Technical College (Mr. R. G. Ridling), in a report to the meeting of the Board of Governors last night concerning a request by th« Returned Soldiers' Association that the college should purchase a framed reproduction of a portrait of his Majesty the; King at. a cost of £4 10s. Members were not inclined to accede to the request, and a motion that it be refused was put. "It's the Kintf.. That's the only standpoint from which we view it," said Mrs. A. McVicar in moving an amendment that th« portrait be bought. It was heavily defeated, and the motion was carried. Playing Areas for Technical Students. Five- city reserves are being used by the Wellington Technical College for recreational purposes for its pupils, stated the director (Mr. R. G. Ridling) to the. meeting of the Board of Governors last night, when advice was received from the City Council that the playing area at .Rolleston Street would be available i'or the use of the collage on two days a week as soon as the area was ready for playing on. It was hoped that the ground would be available during the summer. Mr. Ridling said that with five other reserves in use the two days a week at Rolleston Street would make no appreciable difference. Mr. L. McKenzie pointed out that the grass at Rolleston Street would have to be nursed, but it was hoped to review the position later. Kingston-Quetmstown Road. The Kingston-Queenstown road is expected to be completed by June next year. The construction gang was strengthened about a month ago by drafting an additional thirty employees to the work, and the camp is now at full strength. It is estimated, according to a letter which the Southland League has received from the Minister of Public Works (the Hon. J. Bitchener), that there will be another eleven months' constant employment before the road will be in a fit state to hand over to the local body for future maintenance. The league recently urged the completion of the road before the 1935-36 tourist season, but the Minister, in his letter, states that economic considerations will not permit the adoption of this suggestion. A Schoolboy and Matches. The mischievousness of boys at times knows no bounds and often leads to trouble. A party of schoolboys between the ages of 8 and 12 were strolling home yesterday after school in one of the seaside districts. Apparently one of them became inspired, for he suddenly left his companions and, rushing into a vacant section, set fire to a patch of dry scrub. No doubt he thought the blaze would be only momentary, but out of his vision were some more dry scrub and grass which carried the flames to two or three young pine trees. The latter were soon flaming torches, and it required i several buckets of water and much! beating to prevent the fire from spreading td adjoining property. The boy who caused the trouble was not to be seen two minutes after he had struck the match.

Earthquakes in India. A somewhat elaborate method of obtaining data after an Indian earthquake : was described last evening by Dr. J. Alexander Dunn, F.G.S., of.the Geological Survey of India, when he ad--1 dressed members of the Wellington Philosophical Society. There was a i standard form, he said, kept by headmasters, stationmasters, postmasters, police, and others, and after a shock 1 the forms were filled in and forwarded to the authorities. There were many thousands of those forms to be examined and compared, and as there might be several from the same district it could be judged which were reliable and which were not. In this way it was found which region had suffered the most. The Wealth of the People. Speaking to a "Post" reporter on his return from the East today, Major J. I R. Kirk, M.8.E., said that in the maze of political and economic theories of today one was apt to get lost. There was a practical Japanese experiment, the value of which each one must judge for himself, although, no doubt, all would wish that New Zealand legislators would try it immediately. The story was that Nintoku Tenno, sixteenth Emperor, a Mikado of great tenderness of heart and wonderful practical statesmanship, observing the conditions of poverty among his people —few chimneys smoking—declared a tax holiday for three years, and did not allow his officers to reimpose the taxes for this period. At the end of the three years, going to the roof of his palace one morning and seeing the smoke rising from every house, he declared: "I have become rich; the wealth of the people is the wealth of their sovereign." Activity in Building Trade. ; A demand that exceeds the supply is that of boys for the building industry, said the director of the Wellington Technical College (Mr. R. G. Ridling) in .his report to last night's meeting of the Board of Governors. "The position has now arisen," he said, "where almost all the students from the senior building classes have been placed in indvistry. In spite of the fact that during the last two years at least I have urged upon parents the desirability of enrolling students in the building section of our day school, there has been a shortage of students in the latter part of the year, but never before go early as this have I had to make a complete reorganisation of the classes in the day school because of shortages in the senior section. Throughout this month we have been unable to meet the requirements of industry because the younger students are not yet ready to take up positions, and on this account it would be unwise of us to accede to the demands." A Dangerous Corner. The accident to the Technical College boy whose bicycle was involved in a collision with a car at the corner of Wallace, Hankey, and Taranaki Streets as he was leaving the college one night led not only to subsequent Court proceedings against the driver of the car but to a request by the Board of Governors of the college to the City Council that, the visibility of the corner should be improved. At its last night's meeting the board" received a reply from the council that the works committee could not see its way clear to accede to the request, as it would necessitate expenditure on property. It suggested that students of the college should be warned to take special precautions at the corner. A member of the board expressed the opinion that the corner could be better lighted, and the question is to be brought to the notice of the City Council lighting department. , . Loss to New Zealand. The loss to the fruit-growing industry in New Zealand through the departure of Mr. G. A. H. Helson, ,M.Sc., to take up a position in Australia, was referred to by the chairman (Mr. C. E. Pope) at Saturday evening's meeting of the Christchurch Tomato and Stone Fruit Growers' Association, states "The Press." He said-that the association had made attempts to have Mr. Helson's services retained in New Zealand, and a letter was read from the Department of Industrial and Scientific Research, which stated-that the • Department had intended to employ Mr. Helson some time in the future, but the salary for officers of his experience in New-Zealand was less than for such officers In Australia. Mr. Pope added that he had also . approached two members of Parliament and candidates in the Lyttelton by-election, one of whom had described the salary offered by the New Zealand Government as little better than drivers' wages.. The difference between the salaries in Australia and New Zealand was £.130 a year.