NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 85, 9 April 1936, Page 10

NEWS OF THE DAY

Sunspot Activity.

At the present time the sun is dis--1 playing renewed activity in the way of ; spots. A complicated group has been _ observed by Mr. G. V. Hudson, of p Karori, in the southern hemisphere of the sun to the west of the central ■ meridian. The whole group he estil mates to be some 150,000 miles in > length and about 40,000 miles >in j. breadth. At least eleven spots constitute the group/ and in many of the - spots an unusually large number of i smaller nuclei are present. I Town-Planning Aims. i Far too many people stili hold a mis- [ taken idea of town planning and its . aims; said Mr. G. N. T. Goldie, of the I Wellington City Engineer's Department, in the course of an illustrated ' address delivered at the annual meeti ing of the Hoyal Sanitary Institute last [ evening. Town planning, he said, was , something far more than expensive I street widening and the laying out of' • grass plots here and there. "It is a s science to obtain value for money I spent; to eliminate waste; to lower i both rates and taxes; to improve the living conditions in the home and the. j working conditions in the factory; to l improve amenities; to lessen traffic con- ; gestion; to provide well-distributed recreation grounds; to reduce the number , of traffic accidents; and to do, almost j a thousand and one other things for ' the benefit of the community in gen- ■ eral. Town planning inclines to the , socialistic, for its benefits are more for , the community than for the individual, . and although some people would damn it for this reason alone, the fact remains that if we help others, in doing i so we help ourselves." Lost to Football. An epidemic that has played havoc with members of a local Soccer team' , was described by Mr. E. J. Gates at last night's meeting of the manage-! ment committee of the Wellington! Football Association when the inability j of the team to continue playing this year was being' discussed. "There's no discord in the club, and no financial trouble, and it's not a case of 'poaching'," he said. "One of the players has , got married and two of them are about to get married. They've just been bitten by this bug." Apparently football's loss is gardening's gain, but there are still eight men unaccounted for. Against Winter Storms. A number of men, have been engaged recently in strengthening the .weak spots in the wall which protects the Hutt railway line from the sea's incessant poundings. With the approach of winter months, southerly storms may be expected, and the policy being adopted is that a stitch in time saves nine. The placing of huge boulders arid heavy concrete blocks all along the base of the wall has encouraged the waves to break before actually reaching the wall, and since these were placed there some years ago no serious washouts have occurred. But in a few places there have been indications that the bulwarks need attention, and this is being given. However furiously may rage the winter's southerly gales, it would seem that Valley passengers will have their train ] service assured. ' The Cities will Grow. The cities and towns of New Zealand will undoubtedly grow to much larger populations than they possess today, said Mr. G. N. T. Goldie in an address to members of the Royal Sanitary Institute at their annual meeting last night. It had been suggested by some authorities, guided by the area of available pasture land in the country, I that New Zealand could not support a population of more than 7,000,000 —that was ■ roughly five times the present population. Assuming that the rural and urban populations increased in the same ratio, five times Wellington's present population was 600,000, but the city, with its present boundaries, could never hold this population. Where were the additional people to go? Undoubtedly to the Hutt Valley and the Porirua Basin. Much of the future development in New Zealand would necessarily extend into the counties and while the Counties' Act and the Land Act retained their present form, especially as there were no regional planning schemes in existence, such developments would be severely handicapped, said Mr. Goldie. The fact that land subdivision in counties did not involve the supply of water or the disposal of sewage or stormwater, or even an investigation of such matters, was merely storing tip trouble for the area concerned and any nearby boroughs or cities. Swift Retribution. A baby car travelling fairly fast down a Lower Hutt side street and a small boy with a catapult provided, with the occupant of the car, the chief ingredients of a two-act one-minute drama that was enacted yesterday afternoon. The car flashing by was the target at which the catapultist aimed. His aim was good and the missile hit, but did not break, the windscreen. A grinding of brakes, a quick reversal of the car's direction, and a hasty flight on the part of the catapultist completed the first act. Now a small boy of only two-leg power is no match for a several horse-power baby car when it comes to covering the ground quickly, especially when at the wheel of the latter is an infuriated motorist. So the short and painful act opened with the motorist grasping the boy by the scruff of the neck, bending him over so that the' rear portion of his pants became taut, and administering some resounding (and richly deserved) smacks. There was no time for any appeal on points of fact or of law. The facts were selfevident, and the boy was too flabbergasted to question the right of the motorist to take the law into his own hands. The crime was committed and the just punishment followed, all within the space of sixty seconds or thereabouts, and the curtain was rung down on the second act with the motorist proceeding on his way, honour satisfied and in possession of the offending weapon, and with the small boy on his, with tearful mien and an increased respect for the strength of a man's right arm.

New I/ambton Quay Clock. A large clock being erected- high above street level outside a building in Lambton Quay, near Grey Street, will be of great convenience to thousands who use the Quay, despite the nearness of the Featherstoa Street Post Office clock. The latter timepiece can be seen only in Featherston Street, whereas the new clock is so placed that its large dial is easily discernible several hundred yards away on both sides of Lambton Quay, from Willis Street to about Panama Street. Excepting the Government Buildings clock, the new one is the only really large and well-situated clock on the Quay. Increased Shooting Fee. Increased shooting and fishing fees have been foreshadowed for some time in New Zealand. The Wellington Acclimatisation Society endeavoured, to have the licence fee for shooting native and imported game in the Wellington district increased to £1 5s this season. The Minister of Internal Affairs (the Hon. W. E. Parry) wrote to the society last night that consideration had been given to the request. The request, he said, was dated March 12, and in. view of the short time available for the issue of the notices, and the desirability of considering various aspects of the matter, the question had better stand over until next year. "It seems to me," said the Minister, "that the same case has not been made out for an increase in the fee as in the Auckland Acclimatisation district.", " "A Splendid Broadcast." Thanks were expressed by the management committee of the Wellington Football Association last night to the Broadcasting Board and to Mr. J. Lothian for the relay from the Basin Reserve when the M.C.C. cricketers played football against a Wellington team there recently. "I heard it.was a splendid broadcast and that people could understand < every phase of the game," remarked Mr. G. F. Aers in praising Mr. Lothian's description of the play. The committee decided also to express to the Broadcasting Board the hope that it would this season be permitted occasional talks on the game as it was allowed last year. Recording: for Broadcast. Recording equipment is now in use in the studio at 2YA, Wellington, and is proving a most useful adjunct. Many important events occurring at times unsuitable for broadcasting are being recorded and transmitted at an hour suitable to the majority of listeners. A library of special recordings of noteworthy events and talks by prominent people is also being built up, not only with a view to future programmes, but also with the object of preserving a permanent record for the Dominion. Traffic Hindered. A temporary hindrance to tram traffic was caused in Lambton Quay yesterday by one of the wires connecting the two overhead lines becoming detached at one end. The accident happened opposite Brandon Street, and the swaying wire, to which was attached one of the large metal knobs, was directly in the path of northbound trams. The difficulty was overcome by an inspector, who moved the wire with a long-handled brush whenever a tram wanted to pass. Two breaks also occurred in the lines between Bond Street, off Manners Street, and the automatic points switch near the intersection of Willis and- Manners Streets. Traffic was disrupted for about t a quarter of an hour. Soccer in the Colleges. That the introduction of the game into the Wellington secondary schools will be attempted by the Wellington Football Association this year was indicated at the first meeting of the newly-elected management committee of the association last night. When sub-committees were being appointed the secretary (Mr. B. A. Mabin) asked whether a special committee should not be set up to advance the game in the secondary schools, to which the chairman (Mr. W. B. Hicks) replied that the whole committee wouM deal with that important question at an early date. __