NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 107, 1 November 1935, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Excursionists Arrive.

Taking advantage" of the special excursion trip by the Tamahine, 730 holi-day-makers arrived in Wellington this ; morning to "see the sights." Today is i ; Marlborouglrs Anniversary Day, and : every year the Tamahine comes across the Strait loaded with sightseers. Even 1 unfavourable weather does not seem to affect the number carried to any appreciable degree. The Tamahine sails again at 4.30 this afternoon on the return trip. . Future of the Colonies. '■■ \ That it was impossible to imagine ; Australia and New Zealand continuing . indefinitely to be British possessions ' was an opinion expressed in a lecture lon Tuesday night at Christchurch by ■ Air Marshal Sir Robert Clark-Hall : (states "The Press"). Since we could not populate these countries, he said, we would eventually have to make ' room for those who could. Details of • how we might leave with decency and .in order could be safely left to our . descendants. If in the meantime" we ■ were unable or unwilling to make it "not worth it" for any possible enemy, :we should be ignominiously ousted , from the lands •in a welter of blood and misery. , "Girls More Precocious." , "Girls are apparently considered to be more precocious . than boys," remarked Mr. F. W. Johnston, at a meeting of members of the Aut6mobile Association (Canterbury)', when he was discussing at what age driving licences could be granted (reports "The Press'). Mr. Johnston had been asked whether boys of fourteen would be eligible for nominee membership of the association, but he said he believed the Motor i Vehicles Act stipulated that a driving , licence could not be granted to a boy until he was sixteen. The authorities, however, apparently considered that girls were more precocious, for they could be granted licences at the age of fifteen. The Church and Politics. "Times have changed from the day when we could say that the Church should leave politics and economics alone," said Bishop West-Watson, speaking on Tuesday at the jubilee service of St. Saviour's Church, West Lyttelton (states "The Press"). "The Church should not touch party politics," he said, "but I do think that it should hold up before the people a : vision of their country as God would have it to be. The Church can show that economics have to do with men and women, with hearts arid minds to suffer, so that the love of Christ cannot • be left out." ( Early Wreck Revealed. Constant north-easterly winds have ' lowered the beaches on the west coast and have uncovered portions of the : French frigate Alcmene, which was : wrecked off Bayley's Gorge in January, 1851 (states a Dargaville correspon- : dent). A portion of the hull has been exposed for 40ft. The timbers of oak > and teak, although blackened with age,1 are still in a splendid state of preservation. The heavy iron stanchions, ■ however, are heavily corroded, but : still intact. Further down the beach ■ lies the forepart of the vessel. When \ the ship went ashore some members i of the crew were drowned, but the remainder lived for some time in the ■ deckhouse, which was washed ashore near the scene of the wreck. The i frigate afterwards broke up, portions ; being scattered along the coast. Some ; interesting relics of the Tship are in the : possession of residents of the district. | Others have been sent to the French ; Naval Museum in Paris from time to , time. ■. " Flags for Maoris. ! When the Prime Minister, Mr. G. W; '• Forbes, visited Whakatane' recently as ' Native Minister,a request was made : by. the Maoris for gifts of 'British 1 flags (states a local correspondent). I On Saturday, at the Native Land i Court, Judge Carr handed over the ' flags, one to Te Keepa Tawhio, as head ! of the Ngati-hokupu tribe, and one to : Rutene Ulautu, for the Patuwai tribe. : Judge Carr emphasised the known i loyalty of the Maori people to the King j and said it was the Government's re- i quest that the names of the tribes : should not be worked on the flags, as ] had been done in the past. That had i detracted from the dignity of the ] Ensign. Te Keepa Tawhio and Rutene ] Utautu returned thanks for the pre- . sentation. The Ngati-hokupu flag was \ flown for the first time on Monday at j the tangi for Die late Mrs. Adam Clark. , Addressing the gathering, Te Keepa Tawhio said ho thought it fitting that ' there should bo .some ceremony at (he first dying o[ the flag, which was a J symbol, oi the great. Empire and the ( King to -whom they were po loyal. ) ""he flag was run to the masthead ' "In (ho people sanß the National i cm. nnd was then li.ilf-ninstrrl to 1 ■movy of Mrs. Chirk ,

All Saints' Day. Today, November 1, is All Saints' Day, a Feast of the Church instituted in very early times because of the impossibility of keeping a separate day for each saint. Yesterday was All Hallows Day, the evening of which has long been regarded, in England and Scotland especially, as one for harmless fireside revelries wherein divination of the future, particularly as regards luck in matrimony, plays a large part., Visiting Hours at Public Hospital. From Saturday next patients at the "Wellington Hospital will sleep on longer, for the -waking hour in future is to be 7 a.m., a change which is welcomed by patients and staff. This will mean, however, that visitors on Sunday will also be put.back half an hour, so that visiting hours' will be from 2.30 pjn. to 4 p.m. Eastbourne Sewerage Scheme. Early in the year the Eastbourne sewerage scheme was completed, arid since then the residents have been getting their houses connected up. At the present time about 90 per cent, of the houses sare connected, and work is still proceeding. At the end of last month the. council ceased collecting under the old system, and this caused many who had not had their residences connected to do so. The only action that the council can take now is under the Health Act. . Ship's Bells for Napier. - Two ship's bells belonging to H.M.S. Veronica, which was at Napier in February, 1931, when the earthquake took place, have been presented to Napier as a souvenir of that occasion, states an. exchange. The bells will be taken to Napier by the new sloop Leith, and the ceremony of presenting them will then take place. One of the bells will be the property of the Napier City Council and the other of Captain H. White-Parsons, the harbourmaster. The Waiwhetu Stream. Some months ago the Hutt Park Committee wrote to the Commissioner of Crown Lands stating that at present the western bank of the Waiwhetu Stream was under the committee's control and it was considering beautification and tree-planting. It was contended that the eastern bank, if left in its present state, would be a positive eyesore, so the committee asked that it be vested for tree-planting purposes. The area, which is fenced a few yards from the stream, was mostly swamp and of very little use for any other purpose. In reply to the committee's request, a letter was received from the Commissioner ,of Crown Lands at the meeting of the Hutt Park Committee last evening stating that an area of 4 acres 3 roods and 29 perches would be added to Hutt Park. Members expressed gratification at the action of the Department of Lands and Survey, and said that a scheme of beautification could now be undertaken for both banks of the Waiwhetu Stream. A Holiday Camp. As a result of a generous response to an appeal, sufficient building material has been obtained by the Wellington YJVX.C.A.to erect a dining and recreation hut for the use of the boys who attend the annual holiday camp at Otaki during the summer holidays. The camp is to be held on Mr. G. H. Harper's property and will last four weeks, beginning on December 21. Although the weather was unfavourable for such work last weekend, a good start was made with-the erection of the hut. When completed the new hut, which will take the place of a marquee, will measure 41ft by'2lft. The camp is to be open to any Wellington boy who'is able to attend. > Armistice Day. The ceremony on Armistice Day, November 11, will be the same as that observed in previous years, according to a notice in the Gazette. There will be a short service, and there will be the customary two minutes' silence from 11 a.m., and suspension of all vehicular traffic for that period. The notice requests all citizens and traffic control authorities to honour these conventions, and suggests that the service should be held at the local Cenotaph or War Memorial. Church Arniy Column. The majority of the members of the Church Army column, under the leadership of Captain E. E. Beck, which has been touring New Zealand for the last two years, left Wellington yesterday for Sydney. Nearly all the. Anglican parishes throughout the Dominion have been visited, and services to the number of between eight and nine thousand have been conducted in approximately a thousand centres. The column is leaving a permanent headquarters in Auckland and several workers are remaining in the Dominion. These will be reinforced later on. Satisfaction was expressed by the departing missioners at the work which had been already accomplished in New Zealand. Dangers of Waikato River. A boat, the gift of a Rotorua resident, arrived in Hamilton on Wednesday, and will be made available to the Hamilton police and life-saving club for assisting those in distress in the river, states a Hamilton correspondent. Reference to the gift was made by Inspector C. W. Lopdell, when presenting Mrs. W. Williams, mother of Constable C. H. Williams, who lost his life when trying to rescue a young woman from drowning in the Waikato River at Hamilton on August 13, with the Royal Humane Society's silver medal and "In Memoriam" certificate. Mr. Lopdell said that when the fatality occurred a practical-minded Rotorua ■ woman wrote to him, and he interviewed her. She then offered to donate the boat and to pay for the erection of cabinets for life lines along the riverbank. The offer had been accepted with gratitude. Mr. Lopdell referred to the formation of the life-saving club in Hamilton, and he appealed to public to support the club with funds so that its members could secure the equipment they required. Earthquake Risks. | A complaint of long delay, on the Government's part in enacting a national building code as a measure against earthquakes was made on Wednesday by Professor C. R. Knight, director of the Auckland University College School of Architecture, at the opening of the school's annual exhibition, states the "New Zeaalnd Herald." Speaking of the .training which the school gave to students in the design of earthquake-resisting buildings, Professor Knight said the technical bulletin on the subject, prepared by Mr. S. I. Crookes, jun., a member of the staff had been in great demand, as it was the only New Zealand work of |ts kind. It was now out of print. "I feel strongly that the time is now overdue for. the introduction of some kind of national building code," continued the professor. "We need it badly in our teaching. Numbers of earthquake-re-sisting buildings are being erected in New Zealand, but there is no uniformity of practice and no national code. I Know that one is in course of preparation, but time enough has elapsed since the Napier earthquake to enable the work to be completed. You need it for your protection and we need it for our teaching." Cloud of IVlutloiibirds. Visitors to Orcti Beach recently were favoured with an unusual opportunity of seeing a veritable cloud of muttonbirds, states the "Southland Times." They were flying in thousands, and though at a distance from -the beach the birds: could be seen in ;i lino for i miles iwh.v Inwnrrlf Slewmi. l/*>~-v;l.