NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 111, 6 November 1935, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Siege of Parihaka. Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the arrest at Parihaka, Taranaki, of the Maori prophet, Te Whiti, and his colleague Tohu, when no little stir was created (states the "New Zealand Herald"). Te Whiti had allowed Parihaka to become a sort of refuge for all the dissatisfied and, rebellious Maoris iri. New Zealand. He collected a large number of Natives at his pa, and after the Maoris had ploughed up the settlers' grasslands, volunteers were called for. A band of men, 1300 strong, consisting of members of the New Zealand Volunteer Force and Armed Constabulary, was got together, and on October 31, 1881, marched on Parihaka. The pa was eventually taken on November 5, 1881, and Te Whiti and Tohu were arrested. Athletes and Centenary. A letter was received from the Auckland Centre at the meeting of the council of the N.Z.A.A.A. -last night stating that the centre had been requested by the Mayor of Auckland to send delegates to a meeting to be held on November 11 to consider the celebrations for the Auckland centenary in 1940. "As Wellington will also be holding a centenary that year," said the letter, "and as there are proposed tours with the Australian teams about that period, the centre would be grateful if the council would give our delegates some guidance as to the attitude they should take up at the meeting on November 11." It was decided to inform the Auckland Centre that it had already been decided to co-operate with the Wellington centenary celebrations, but any opportunity to cooperate with Auckland in their celebrations would be welcomed. Naval Men at Fire Practice. With a view to testing the new large water-mains which have been laid at Devonport naval _base, and also with the object of familiarising trainees in H.M.S. Philomel with procedure in the event of fire, a practice visit to the base was made by engines from the Devonport lire station on Monday (states the "New Zealand Herald"). The vigorous ringing of a flrebell aboard the Philomel was the first warning the naval men had of the supposed fire and a fire party comprising members of the training division and members of the ship's company doubled off to the scene of the "fire'—a clothing store adjoining the football ground. The fire engines were on the^spot and leads of hose were run out by the firemen and naval men. Meanwhile all other hands lined up on the jetty. Men from the Leith also took part in the demonstration, which was in the charge of Lieutenant-Commander J. T. Lean and Commissioned-Gunner R. V. Marchant, of the Philomel.-^ Lyall Bay Branch Library. Tenders for the rearrangement and fitting of the hall to be used as the Lyall Bay branch library have been called and should come before the City Council at its next meeting, so that, all going well, the library should be opened before the end of the year. There is a great deal more to be done than just knocking up shelves and putting books on them. It is necessary, for instance, to select the books and to wait for the orders to be fulfilled. Stamping, ticketing, cataloguing, and the rest of the routine preparation are quite a sizable piece of work in the establishment of a branch. The library will start with about 3000 volumes, of modern and standard fiction, general literature—travel, biography, popular science, economics, etc.—a small reference section of books of the "ready reference" character, and a special section for children up to about sixteen ytars of age. Generally the plans are. for a quite complete branch library in a hall fitted to give a bright and appropriate atmosphere. Boston Censor's Oversight. Sometimes, in the endeavour to preserve a film which outrages the susceptibilities of a particular censor, a transposition of the offending section effects a remedy, placing the cause before the effect as it were. This, it is said, happened to a censor in Boston, the traditionally puritanical city. The story was one calculated to impress the triumph of love over caste and race. A noble Briton in India, falling in love with Eurasian loveliness, eventually married it, but not before a good many things had happened. To preserve the moral tone of an expensively staged film, the censor inserted the marriage at the commencempnt of the story, thereby making it rather commonplace, but that was not all. In that city, though releases were required to be censored for week-day screenings, there was nothing in the bylaws about Sundays, and therefore only those who attended on the Sabbath saw the film as the producer intended. \ Good Advertisement. That the new New Zealand coins are * good advertisement overseas, was the opinion expressed by Mr. Allan Sutherland when speaking to the New Zealand Numismatic Society about his recent trip abroad. "The New Zealand coins encountered on the ship attracted much favourable comment because of the distinctive designs, and many tourists expressed the intention of taking away with them sets of our coins as mementos of their visit to New Zealand." he said. "I could not help thinking of the profit that accrues to the Government by reason of the attractive designs resulting in such coins being withdrawn from circulation, and the permanent advertising media created in all parts of the world." A Kindly Thought. A pretty little scene was enacted yesterday in connection with Guy Fawkes celebrations in one of the suburbs. As the secretary of the Red Cross Society was wending hi? way to the office he was accosted by a party of children and handed an envelope which contained seven shillings, the proceeds of a Guy Fawkes collection made before breakfast. For a number of years oast the children of the same family have made a similar sacrifice, the total of i.heir contributions being ever £3. On each occasion the society has utilised the proceeds for the relief of chiljdren in sickness and distress. Within | the past fortnight three applications I have been made by parents in meagre circumstances for surgical boots for a crippled child in the family. These the society has given orders for, and it must be a satisfaction to the participants in the foregoing to have been the means of bringing comfort and happiness to a little suflerer. The society has warmly acknowledged the gift.

What of the Future? In his address last night as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, the Rev. H. H. Barton, M.A., said he believed the future is as "bright as the promises of God." But, like all God's promises, those for the future were conditional. He believed that in the domain of higher scientific thought men were being led to a realisation of thj supremacy of the spirituaL There was a serious time-lag in the diffusion of idras, and our age had been dominated by materialistic conceptions too long for any speedy change to be anticipated. But come it would. Biscuits and Confectionery. The Abstract of Statistics for October discloses a further advance in the value of production in the biscuit and confectionery industry in' the Dominion for the year 1934-35. The value of production is now only 12 per cent, below the 1929-30 figure, £1,676,440, the highest yet recorded. The number of factories in operation in 1934----35 was the same as in the preceding year, for, although several factories closed down, the reduction in number was offset by a similar number of new factories being opened. The total amount of flour, sugar, and other materials used during the past year amounted to £747,154. The value of biscuits, confectionery, and other products manufactured amounted to £1,481,575. ' ' British Influence in Efypt. "For one who had imagined that the British influence in Egypt had been a reality, I.was very much surprised to- see little evidence of it," remarked Mr. ADan Sutherland during • the course of a talk to the New Zealand Numismatic Society. At Cairo English money he found to be practically useless, and in many parts the English language was useless too. "All notices were in French or Arabic. Surprising as it may seem, the English language was more widely understood in Germany than in Egypt. The camel men, however, would take the money of any country, and ask for more. At Zietoun, I heard an echo of the Great War when my dragoman, in an effort to pave the way for a good tip, said, 'Farewell. Leicester Square, fair dinkum, by Jove, O.K.?'" At Suez, where he disembarked for Cairo, the Egyptian police actually wanted payment for passport visas in Egyptian piastres, and yet they would not allow passengers to land to get the piastres until their passports were visaed. "I could tell quite an interesting - story regarding the methods of Egyptian tourist agencies," added Mr. Sutherland. . Abolishing Centre Tramway Poles. The methods by which the centre poles along the Auckland tramway system were removed are discussed in a report by the engineer to the Auckland Transport Board, Mr. F. E. de Guerrier (states the "New Zealand Herald"). It is^ emphasised that the work was accomplished on the lines originally envisaged, but at a considerably lower cost than was anticipated. The scheme was begun in 1929, when poles were removed from Customs Street East, followed in the next year by Parnell, Symonds Street, Patteson Street, Beach Road, Karangahape Road, and the top of Pitt Street. Those in Queen .Street were removed in 1931. The last poles were removed from Ponsonby Road, between Karangahape and Richmond Roads, on October 7 last. In all some 325 poles were removed and replaced by span construction. On many routes it would have been impossible to carry the aerial feeders on the side poles, so underground cables had to be laid. On all the city routes the increase in traffic meant greater consumption of current, and additional feeder capacity which was needed was met by laying underground cables. Feeder alterations cost about £17,000, while the removal of the poles and the erection of spans cost less than £9000. The amounts were below what was anticipated. The reason for the reduced cost of removing the poles was the success achieved in interesting other authorities in the board's efforts to improve the street amenities, and in sharing the cost of erecting joint pole lines. Fohutu Resumes • Activity. During Sunday and Monday a number of good displays have been provided by Pohutu Geyser, which became active on Sunday, following 'an interval of about two weeks (states a Rotorua correspondent). The first shot on Sunday morning reached a height of about 80ft, and five other displays were given throughout the afternoon. On Monday the geyser gave four shots, the average height being between' 40 feet and 60 feet. Waikite Geyser, which has been quiescent for about two weeks, also gave evidence of further activity on Monday, while several good shots were provided by Waikorohihi.