NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 36, 12 February 1936, Page 10

NEWS OF THE DAY

Tour of Harbour. A tour of the Wellington Harbour was made yesterday by the Minister in Charge of the Tourist and Publicity Department (the Hon. P. Langstone) in the new Government launch Donald Sutherland, which has been built for traffic in Milford Sound. Included in the Ministerial party were Mrs. and Miss Langstone, Mr. L. J. Schmitt, general manager of the Tourist Department, Mr. S. J. Collett, assistant general manager, and Mr. G. H. Mackley, general manager of.the New Zealand Railways. New Station for Christchurch. While not able to make an absolutely definite and final commitment on the question, the Minister of Railways (the Hon. D. G. Sullivan) gave an assurance to the Canterbury Manufacturers' Association on Monday, says the "StarSun," that the new railway station for Christchurch would include the site occupied by the present station. Mr. Sullivan expressed the hope that the erection of the new Canterbury Hall on the site opposite the railway station would also soon eventuate. Someone Does Not Know. / The prize for the Health Stamps Art Union has not yet been claimed, although several inquirers have been within a few figures of the actual number. The winning ticket was sold in Christchurch on January 14. In the event of the prize not being claimed, Section 11 of the Gaming Act reads: "Any prize the ticket for which is not surrendered within three months of the date of drawing shall forthwith be delivered to such institution as the Minister may direct!" Most prizes are claimed within a week of the date of drawing. The winning number in this case is 52475. Apprenticeships. The annual report of the New Zealand Federation of Master Plumbers stated that whereas there was the possibility of a shortage of skilled workmen arising in the near future there was little possibility of increasing the number of apprentices being taken into the trade until some drastic alteration of the -present apprenticeship laws was made. Any Government must be concerned with the fact that the number of apprentices to the industry in New Zealand today was less than one-third of what it was four years ago. Finally, workers must recognise that the principal avenues of employment for their sons were in skilled trades and that the reason for the small number of apprenticeship contracts entered into needed thorough investigation with a view to taking out of the existing laws those conditions which were responsible for the refusal of employers to apprentice labour. The Penguin Disaster. Today is the anniversary of one of the most tragic shipwrecks that has ever taken place in New Zealand waters. About 10 p.m. on February 12, 1909, the Union Steam Ship Company's ferry steamer Penguin, of 824 tons, was carried off her' course by a severe set in thick weather while bound from Nelson and Picton to Wellington, and tore a hole in her plates by striking Tom's Rock, near Cape Terawhiti. The utmost difficulty was experienced in getting the passengers and crew away in the ship's lifeboats, and on rafts, and the sea claimed the lives of many unfortunate victims, the death-roll including 45 passengers and 29 of the ship's company. Jobs Wanted for 50,000. The immensity of his task as Minister of Industries and Commerce in finding jobs in industry for a large number of persons who at present are unemployed, was referred to by the Hon. D. G. Sullivan at the complimentary luncheon tendered to him on Monday by the Canterbury Manufacturers' Association. He said that a very large number of persons called on him with proposals for establishing new industries, and when he asked them how many men would be given employment if everything asked for was granted, they gave varying answers. In many cases they stated that six men would be employed, in other cases ten or twenty, and in one case the number was three or four hundred. "When I listen to these chaps and consider the effect of the employment of half a dozen, twenty, or thirty, or even fifty men, important as that may be, I think to myself, 'Good Lord, and I want work for fitly' thousand,'" Mr. Sullivan added. "But we are not without ideas that will enable us to handle the position on an adequate scale, although I can tell you it takes, a good deal of working out/

Dominion's Trout Streams. New Zealand, in the opinion of Dr. R. Small, of Devonshire, England, offers the best trout fishing in the world. Dr. Small, who arrived from England by the Komuera, has visited the Dominion before for fishing, and he told an Auckland "Star" reporter that he did not think the New Zealanders appreciated sufficiently the marvellous sport the country offered. Dr. Small suggested that better access should be made to some of the fishing spots in the Dominion, particularly in the North Island. There were places, he said, where the fisherman had to hack his way through a tangle of native growth to get to some parts of the streams and rivers. If the access were improved there would be less overcrowding at certain places. In the South Island the rivers were more accessible because the country was fairly open. Dr. Small will remain in the Dominion for two or three months. Six O'clock Closing. A retired London banker, Mr. W. Grierson, while paying New Zealand as great a compliment as a tourist could pay to any country, had one criticism of the Dominion, and that was in respect of the licensing laws, says the Christchurch "Star-Sun." He considered that six o'clock closing was a measure that defeated its own ends. Middle-class and wealthy people could j take drink home and entertain their friends there or at their., clubs. The poor man was unable to do this. In England, especially in the country, the bar parlours were the centre of social life. Men gathered there, had a pint of beer, and discussed local affairs and politics until closing time. It was a privilege that was rarely abused. "I don't want to offend anyone, but I must say I have seen more drunkenness here than in England," Mr. Grierson added. "The other night outside a Dunedin hotel a man wanted to embrace me." Fire and Panic in Theatres. Statutory amendments to the Municipal Corporations Act and the Fire Brigades Act in the regulations covering the possibilities of fires and panics in theatres are urged in the annual report of the New Zealand Motion Picture Exhibitors' Association. "Most local authorities," says the report, "proceed on the assumption that the theatre proprietors have no interest in preventing fire or panic in their theatres. The exact contrary is, of course, the case,. and it is interesting to record that whatever advances have been made in improving the fire and panic prevention in theatres have been made on the initiative of the association. The Wellington City Council was the first of the licensing authorities to accede to proposals for improvement, and since then Auckland and Christchurch have followed suit, as have7also some others. It is proposed to give attention to securing some clearer definition of the respective powers of fire boards and licensing authorities on the subject, and to secure legislation to this end if necessary." Hospital and Charitable Aid. The expenditure of hospital boards and health departmental institutions for the year 1934-35 amounted to £1,517,083, which represents an increase of £50,727 over 1933-34, and of £41,298 over 1932----33, but is £287,434 lower than in 1930----31, a peak year. This information is given in the appendix, just printed, to the annual report of the Department of Health. Institutional maintenance expenditure which exceeded the previous year's cost by £48,792 is mainly responsible for the increase for last year as compared with 1933-34. The reasons for the greater cost under this heading may be attributed principally to the larger number of patients treated, renewal of stocks which were depleted during the depression .years, postponed renovations, and maintenance of buildings, rising prices of commodities, and restoration of salaries and wages "cuts." Interest on loans shows a reduction of £12,730 on the 1933-34 figures, and this is due principally to reduced interest-rates consequent pa conversion of loans, states the report. An~East Coast Tragedy. On February 12, 1867, the steamer Star of the Evening left Napier with a cargo of sheep and three passengers for Auckland, and she was destined never to reach the northern port. Early the following morning, -when she was off Portland proceeding under both steam and sail, the vessel struck heavily on the port bilge, and was cast up on a reef off Pauwawa Bay, twelve miles south of Turanganui. Within a quarter of an hour of striking she broke in two forward of the engineroom and went down by the head in fourteen feet of water, the crew and passengers climbing into the rigging and stays. Wind and sea increased in fury, and several unfortunate persons were swept away while attempting to reach the shore, others being dislodged from their hold by the heavy seas. Several members of the crew managed to reach the shore, where hostile Natives made their appearance in large numbers, coming only to pillage, and rendering no assistance at all." It was over fifty hours after the ship struck that the last survivor was hauled ashore in an exhausted condition. Six lives were lost in this early disaster of the New Zealand coast.