NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 35, 10 August 1936, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Wellington and the Drama. "May I say a word in defence ol Wellington in the matter of dramatic enthusiasm," said the Hon. P. Fraser, Minister of Education, at the closing function of the Wellington area of the British Drama League's festival on Saturday evening. "Wellington has some culture, and some appreciation of the drama, and there are also some very efficient and enthusiastic dramatic societies. I thought I enjoyed the plays performed tonight until I heard the judge. In spite of her friendly severity, I believe I still enjoyed myself." Farm Landscape Architecture. "You country people, jf you will only realise it, ha:ve great opportunities to practise one of the finest of arts— the art of ■ the landscape architect,'1 said Mr. R. O. Gross, the well-known sculptor, in a luncheon talk to members of the Auckland Society of Arts 'on Thursday (states the "New Zealand Herald"). "You will find that some understanding of this will be of tremendous advantage when cutting up your holdings into smaller areas, and you will have the joy of watching your plantations and increasing the actual pounds, shillings, and pence value of your place, not only because trees serve a useful purpose, but because the place will be more beautiful, and therefore more desirable to live in. There can hardly be any field of effort where pleasure and profit can be more easily combined." The Comet. A few glimpses of the comet were obtainable on Saturday evening, but cloudy conditions prevented any observations being made last night. A number of people on Saturday evening took advantage of the City Observatory being open to view • the celestial visitor through the telescope, but the best view has been obtained through binoculars. The comet, thefirst since 1927 to be visible to the naked eye, appears to be getting fainter, but it should be _ visible for several more nights. . . Early Butterflies. Tempted by the warmer weather yesterday, at least one white butterfly and one tortoiseshell ventured on the first flight of the season. The former was not greeted with paeans of praise by the Hutt Valley gardener in whose domain it glittered, and its career was ruthlessly cut short, as the utilitarian aspect of the anticipated, cabbage crop was deemed to be of more importance than the aesthetic charm of the lepidoptera. The tortoiseshel), • however, was allowed to carry on the illusion that spring has arrived. Napier Cathedral. Limited success has been encountered by the Very Rev. Dean J. B. Brocklehurst in his efforts to raise funds in England for the reconstruction of the Napier Cathedral, which was destroyed in the 1931 earthquake. ' "On the financial side, things are not working out as well as we were led to expect," the dean states in a letter which has been received in Napier, says the Napier "Daily Telegraph." "On e.yery hand people are sympathetic about the appeal we are making. I told one congregation I was drenched with sympathy, but that was not going to rebuild • the cathedral. The only way I could get into pulpits here was by [ saying I did not ask for the collection; iif I had done that I should not have been able to get into more than a few churches. Of all the preaching appointments ■ I've made only three churches are giving us the collection. I have to rely entirely on people sending a donation after I have preached. The thousands of pounds I dreamed of getting are only a dream." Letters— Delightful and Otherwise. During the last throe or four days he had received a lot of letters and some' of them were delightful, said the Minister of Finance (the Hon. W. Nash) at the Post and Telegraph employees' reunion at Lower Hutt on Saturday night. One invalid pensioner had written asking him how he would manage on £1 a week, quite overlooking, said Mr. Nash, that he (the pensioner) had not been getting that amount before. Lower Hutt Post Office, The hope that it would soon be possible to provide Lower Hutt with a new Post Office was expressed by the Director-General of the Post and Telegraph Department (Mr. G. McNamara) in his speech at a postal employees' function at Lower Hutt on Saturday evening. The present Post Office was described by him as a "disaster," which caused the Mayor of Lower Hutt (Mr. J. W. Andrews) to remark, "Hear, hear." Mr. McNamara said that the new post offices contained greatly improved facilities for the staff. Crowds at the GalleryThe National Art Gallery and the Dominion Museum proved to be a great magnet during the weekend. Although large crowds were present all day on Saturday, the attendance on Sunday eclipsed all expectations, it being estimated that over 10,000 people were present during the day. The Empire Art Loan Collection, for which a small admission charge is made, the rest of the building being free, will be open again each evening this week from 7 to 10 p.m. Lifo in Chile and Bolivia. . Some interesting experiences of life as a metallurgical engineer in Chile and .Bolivia were given by Mr. O. G. | Adams, at the annual dinner of Otago I Bcvs' High School old boys on Saturday night. Mr. Adams mentioned that his work took him up to 15,000 feet, and a mine of which he was in charge was located above 13,000 feet. Oxygen cylinders were kept at this height for those who were severely affected by the lack of oxygen in the.air. Very heavy work was exceedingly exhausting. The part of the country where he worked was inclined to be dry, rain falling on an average every thirty-five years. The llama was a very valuable animal in these districts. It provided both clothing and fuel, and its meat was widely eaten, although the animal was too valuable to be killed. It was also a beast o£ burden, and was of an- affectionate disposition, being used as a pot by lonely shepherds. Post Office and Unemployed. Roferrinf, to the branch of the Post Office which dealt with the unemployed, the Director-General of the Post and Telegraph Department (Mr. G. McNamara) said, when speaking at Lower Hutt on Saturday evening, that the department had built up the branch out or nothing, but some of the treatment handed out to the staff made him blush. The men coming in for their sustenance money were very' critical, but the P. and T. employees' had no say in the amount given out by thorn.

'Tared Rates Smashed." "We have recently smashed the parcel rates to pot," said the DirectorGeneral of the Post and Telegraph Department (Mr. G. McNamara), speaking at Lower Hutt on Saturday evening. Mr. McNamara said that there had been, an increase, of from 120 to IGB per cent, in volume as a result of the change, and the service was paying handsomely. Price of Butter Reduced. The'wholesale price of butter was reduced in Wellington today by twopence, following the announcement of the guaranteed price for butter-fat. The new price is Is 2Jd per lb, and is subject to a discount of id. Auckland City Land Sale. An important purchase of Queen Street property has just been "completed by the Auckland office of the Australian Mutual Provident Society, and it is anticipated that within the next three years the society will embark on a large building programme which will result in the size of the Auckland premises being more than doubled (states the "New Zealand Herald"). The property purchased is the twostorey building adjoining the society's present offices and occupied by Messrs. T. Peacock and Son, optometrists and opticians. It is understood that nego-1 tiations have also been proceeding for the purchase of the building adjoining Messrs. T. Peacock and Son's premises, which is occupied by Arthur J. Harding, Limited, booksellers, and that these have been practically completed. The price has not been divulged. A View of Germany. Some interesting comment on Germany is contained in a letter which Mr. W. T. Trethewey, of Christchurch, has written to a friend in Christchurch describing his recent trip through that country. Mr. Trethewey went up the Rhine to Stuttgart and then to Berlin —a trip of 2000 miles—visiting most of the larger art galleries. "There," he says, "I saw much that was beautiful and much that was not. The whole country seems to be flourishing—every piece of ground being under cultivation. Hitler, the idol of the people, appears to have done a great deal for Germany. The music of the drums could be heard in most towns, and I was told that it was for their own protection. Huge arterial roads have been cut through the country, and they are marvellous feats of engineering. They run straight and not one road crosses them, all traffic being carried over the top by bridges." Belgium, Mr. Trethewey adds, seems to be in a bad way; strikes and rioting occurred while he was there. Drunk-in-Charge Cases. "It is a curious fact that in the last| five cases of intoxication in charge of a car, counsel have pleaded for leniency on*the ground that the case was not a bad one," said Mr, E. D. Mosley, S.M., in the Magistrate's Court today. "The Bench cannot concede to such pleas," continued Mr. Mosley. "There is too much at stake. There is human life and also the risk of serious injury."