NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 49, 27 February 1937, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Schools to Reopen,

All primary and secondary schools and training colleges are to reopen on Monday after the Christmas vacation. The. schools were to reopen on February 1, but the opening was postponed on account of the prevalence of infantile paralysis. ■ Shipment of Bananas. The correspondent of .the United Press Association, writing from Rarotonga, states:—"The fruit ' shipment which left Rarotonga by the Matua on February 13 comprised 5350 cases of bananas. The prices were 3s a case on the wharf and 2s 6d in the packing shed. It is understood that the major portion of the shipment was sold locally and the remainder went on consignment." The Matua is due at Auckland on Monday and Wellington on Wednesday. Guides and Ski-ing. A point that has surprised Mr. Max Spoerri, a visitor from Switzerland, on his. present tour of New Zealand is that the mountain guides are not as proficient on skis as he would have expected (states, the Christchurch "StarSun"). In Switzerland,., he said, the guides were required not only to. attain a high degree of proficiency, but also to teach ski-ing. Here the guides knew their own jobs perfectly, but were not champions on skis. Mr. Spoerri is the holder of several ski-ing championships himself. , ' Scenic Reserve Leases. Regret that leases of scenic reserves had been given to private individuals was expressed in Christchurch by the Minister--in Charge of Tourist and Publicity Departments (the. Hon. F. Langstone). Unfortunately, he said, nothing could be done about it. The leases were contracts,, even if they were bad contracts, and could not be broken. The Minister assured a deputation that there would, be no more such leases and that those holding existing leases would have to comply with the terms of their leases in every way. The Minister added that no leases of New Zealand's natural scenic resources had been given since he had been Minister, and he assured the deputation that none would be. There had been some difficulty over such leases/ The lessees had put up buildi ings in some cases with no more right than'people had to erect;buildings on the public highway or in the middle 'of Hagley Park. "People have exI ceeded their rights and, I am taking I a very strong stand on this question," the Minister said. It was wrong that people should have to pay a toll for the use of what were really their own facilities. i Tourists and Meals. Difficulties in obtaining meals, while touring New Zealand were recounted by Miss Scott Riddell, R.R.C., a former Army matron, when visiting Masterton. She said that at 1.45 one afternoon, after a long motor tour, she "called at a hotel at Te Kuiti for lunch, but she could not get any as the chef was observing the 40-hour week. She had to go to a little restaurant instead, Arriving at New Plymouth at 8 p.m. she was told she could not be provided with food unless she cared to wait until 10.30, when she could get some cold meat for supper. "In England every hotel is supposed to supply bona fide tourists with food," said Miss Riddell, "and this sort of thing is not creating a good impression of your country. If I told people in England about the trouble I had in getting food at the hotels here I do not think they would believe it." Obstetrical Hospital for Christchurch. Christchurch is soon to have a new obstetrical hospital (states the Christchurch "Star-Sun"). Advice was received yesterday by Mr. T. H. McCombs, M.P., from the Minister of Health (the Hon. P. Fraser) that sketch plans for the new institution had been prepared by Government draughtsmen, and the work would be pushed forward with all possible speed. The new hospital will be erected on the site of the St. Helens Hospital. For a long while it. lias been apparent to medical men and others interested that the old institution was completely out of date and inadequate, and towards the end of last year a deputation representing many women's organisations, waited on the Minister asking that a new obstetrical hospital for Christchurch should be built. The Minister also received a most adverse report on St. Helens from a Health Department officer. The j Christchurch Rotary Club interested itself in the matter, and other organisations joined in the representations.