NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 83, 7 April 1936, Page 10

NEWS OF THE DAY

Butter Up Again. The wholesale price of butter on the Wellington market advanced another penny a pound today. It is now quoted at Is. Id, with the standard retail price ls*2d a lb. Better Late Than Never. Summer, judging by the weather yesterday and today, seems to have made a belated arrival.. Whether it has anything to do with the recent Australian heat wave is a matter for meteorologists to decide, but a number of Wellingtoniaris decided yesterday that it was warm enough to bathe a g a j n —a pastime which has" not been much indulged in recently.. The water could hardly be described as hot, but it was pleasant, and so was sun-bath-ing. That the present spell of pleasant weather lasts over the Easter holiday is the fervent wish of everyone, but to think that it-will, after the weather's behaviour for the last few months, demands a super-optimism on the part of the thinker.Single Storey Flats. A proposal'made by the bylaws committee to the City Council last evetiing that permission should be given for three single-sto"rey dwellings to be converted into flats gave rise to some discussion. Councillors R. M^ Keen, M.P., and P. M. Butler spoke strongly against the proposal, saying that to grant such permission would be altogether against the provisions of the bylaws and would introduce a dangerous precedent. Councillor W. H. Bennett said that the proposal appealed very greatly to his common sense. If the owner of a property wished, he might let every room in the house to a separate tenant, using common conveniences, yet the bylaws forbade the' dividing of the same property into two flats, each fully selfcontained. Councillor A. Black expressed the opinion, that, as long as the creation of slum areas was guarded against, it was better that onestorey than two-storeyed flats should be created. The City Engineer, Mr. K. E. Luke, said that the city bylaws stated that single-storey flats should not be permitted, and the officers had followed that principle throughout, not recommending that permission should be given, but referring the question for the decision of councillors. Councillor M. P. Luekie, chairman of the committee, said that the properties had been inspected and were found very suitable for conversion. If the council desired it, the committee would go fully into the question of reviewing the bylaw governing the erection-of flats and the conversion of dwellings into flats. The proposals were' adopted by 10 votes to 5. Music Good for Trade. When it was suggested at last night's meeting- of the Wellington Symphony Orchestra Society that a canvass of business-firms ought to bring in a number .of .hew subscriptions,- it was remarked by one member that music was good for trade. Every'concert, it was explained, meant:dresses for the ladies for the occasion, and even tailors derived benefit, for more dress clothes were needed by the men. Florists were called upon for bouquets, printers for programmes, and so on. Therefore business firms, it was maintained, if for ho other reason, should be prepared to support the orchestra. Teachers' Training College. The Wellington Teachers' Training College at Kelburn is still being prepared for the purposes for which it was originally designed. Its utilisation for other purposes during the last few years has made it impossible for it to be used again at once for lectures, etc., so in the meantime the students who reassembled there a month or so ago are studying teaching methods in the various primary schools. When the college is ready for them, which will be in the very near future, lectures will commence again, and the 219 students will be able to take the usual courses. Whether there will be any official opening of the college has not yet been -decided; possibly the students will just take possession and carry on; Women Hockey Umpires. An appeal for women hockey players to continue as umpires after they had given up active participation in the game was made at the annual meeting of the Wellington Women's Hockey Association last night by the president, Mr. J. C. Cusack. It was getting difficult to get umpires,- said Mr. Cusack, and he was of opinion that it was high time that the game, was controlled by women umpires with an association of their own. He could not understand why girls did not come forward ancl give younger players the benefit of their experience by refereeing games. Refereeing was simply a question of knowing'the rules and applying them on the field with a little common sense. Whippet Racing. The Lower Hutt Borough Council last evening, on tne motion of Councillor M. Macaskill, rescinded a resolution which empowered the Town Clerk to issue permits for whippet racing when applications were received. The. issue of permits now lies in the hands of the council, and clubs desiring permits must give twenty-five days' notice in order that each application can be brought before the council. Last month the council granted a" permit for an Easter Monday meeting, and refused a permit for a meeting on Sunday, April 5. Drowning' Fleas. A story, which is vouched for as true, is told by a Wellington man who recently returned from a "hitch-hiking" tour of the North Island. It concerns an eccentric old shepherd who lives alone in a small hut some miles north of Auckland. An Aucklander calling on him one day was not a little surprised to see the shepherd's bed swinging some sft from the ground, or rather where the 1 ground should have been, for under'the bunk was a ditch about 18 inches deep, full oi^ water. When asked for an explanation the old man replied: "Well, it's like this. I'm here all alone and when I let the dogs in for company at night the fleas jump off the dogs and attempt to get into the bed. But as.they can't jump so high they just fall into the water and get drowned." Hutt Road Deviation. Representations to jthe Minister of Public Works concerning the deviation of the Hutt Road along the western side of the railway between Petone and Normandale with a view to increasing road safety in the vicinity have been made by the roads committee of the Automobile Association (Wellington). Reporting at last night's meeting of the association, the roads committee stated that the Minister, appreciating the rate of progress being made on the Western Hutt Road reconstruction and that such a deviation would, in the case of main road traffic, eliminate two dangerous level crossings, had agreed that the proposal could be completely investigated. The association looked forward to the survey being completed in the near future so that the Minister could give consideration to the scheme with a view to its construction as part of the Western Hutt programme

Progress in Lighting.

An assurance that during the past few years notable progress had been made in lighting was made by Captain Leslie Gamage, M.C., export director of the British General Electric Co., in an interview. The main advance had been in the introduction of the new gas discharge lamp, giving about three times as much light for the same expenditure of power as the lamp of the conventional type. The new lamp was used mainly for streets, railway yards, factories, and such places where concentrated illumination was needed, but in time it would be adapted to house lighting. The use of neon'tubes had been the greatest advance in indoor lighting in recent times. England had regained her supremacy in both the industrial and political field, and particularly so, in the electrical industry, where in many branches she now led the world.

Speeding Through Johnsonville.

Severe criticism of the irresponsible way some motorists speed through the Johnsonville district, was voiced at the monthly meeting of the Town Board last night. The chairman (Mr. G. Lawrence) said that the board had no traffic inspector of its own, and there was no way at present of coping with the speed menace. A special appeal, however, would be made to the Main Highways Board for the co-operation of its inspectors in catching the "road hogs."