NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 87, 9 October 1937, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

The "Unlucky Number.' By those controlling the Palmerston North professional road cycling race today 13 is evidently considered an unlucky number. At any rate, 31 entries were received and the numbers allotted the competitors ran up to 32, the' reason being that no one was given No. 13. ! Monkeys Loose. < f Seven monkeys that escaped when I their cage was capsized with its trailer behind a motor-ldrry on the Buller Gorge Road led most of the staff of a circus a merry dance before they were recaptured, states art >. exchange. It was not until 4J hours later that the last of the monkeys was caught, and the perspiring* pursuers returned their trip to Westport. Swans at Kio Bay. t Apparently driven by stormy conditions on Lake Wairarapa, eight or nine black swans were sheltering this morning in Kio Bay, between Oriental and Evans Bays. This is by no means an uncommon occurrence and on numerous occasions swans are seen on Wellington Harbour. ' The Customs Building. To ensure greater stability and make the structure earthquake-resisting, the Customs Building at Wellington is being steel-laced inside, and this explains why steel rods are protrudirig from the exterior. Under each floor the building has been criss-crossed from wall to wall with flat steel bars welded at their ends to steel rods that project through [holes drilled in the walls., The steel bars that are now projecting from the | walls are to be bent and anchored in reinforced concrete bands which will ! circle the building at each floor level and at the coping. Some of the heavy stone work and the ventilator tower in the centre of the roof are to be removed, and when the structural work is finished the building is to be generally renovated and spruced up. Feeder Air Service. In a report to "the Haweria Aero Club executive on Thursday night, the secretary, Mr. W. J. Heslop, said that representatives of the Union Airways had given him definite assurance that Wanganui and Hawera were being kept in the foreground as stopping places in the North Island service/or at any rate, as calls in a feeder service to link them with Palmerston North or New Plymouth, reports the Wanganui "Chronicle." Such a service was definitely being formulated' at the present time, but a factor to be considered was the supply of the necessary machines from England. T}ie company had to co-operate with the Government in this connection and could give no reliable indication as to when the service might be inaugurated. He had gathered, however, that it would not be long before some arrangement would be possible, concluded Mr. Heslop. The Wanganui Aero Club has made representations to have Wanganui included in a feeder service, but has received no information as to Union Airways' plans in this connection. , Huge Butter Churn. What is possibly the largest churn in the world, and undoubtedly the largest in New Zealand, has been constructed for the New Zealand Cooperative Dairy Company by a Christchurch firm of engineers, Andersons, Limited (states a correspondent). This churn, which is the first of several to be made for the company,: began its long journey to Tirau, in the North Island, on Wednesday. It,, was taken on a large motor-lorry from the factory to the Christchurch railway station, and there loaded on to a truck and taken to Lyttelton. It will be shipped north in the Waimarino. Weighing more than nine tons, and being about nine feet long and 10ft in diameter, the barrel of the churn was the most difficult part of it to lift and move. However, expert calculations made it .possible to carry it away from thq factory and through the Lyttelton tiinnel, with but a few inches to spare on either side, without mishap. Built on the "internal working" style, the chum is one of a type which was originally used in Denmark and Germany, and whicfc has been greatly developed in the last 10 years. Except for a few of the larger gears the whole of the churn has been built by Andersons, Limited. The wooden part is all of kauri. In one churning it will turn out 100 boxes of butter, or about two and a-half tons. This is almost twice the amount it was possible to turn out in any churn used previously.

Training of Estate Agents. "I would suggest that the employees of real estate agents should take a more serious view of their life's work," said the retiring president, Mr. G. B. Osmond, at. the annual meeting o£ the Auckland branch of the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (states the "New Zealand Herald"). "Solicitors, accountants, and members of other professions have to pass difficult examinations before they are allowed to carry on public practice," he added. "The estate agent and valuer of the future should be similarly equipped, for the time will arrive when he will only be admitted to the institute on qualifying by examination." The Simple Life. The Arcadian' simplicity of life in the Cook Islands is well reflected in the cost of its judicial proceedings (states the "New Zealand Herald"). When Mr. F. K. Hunt was recently visiting Rarotonga to conduct the work of the High Court there, he had to give judgment for £2000 in a claim that had been settled by consent. When he asked about costs he was informed that they amounted to 6s, a figure calculated to fill with envy litigants in more sophisticated countries. I oute-marching for School Children. Residents of St Albans will probably in the near future see the children of the St. Albans School marching along the streets in the mornings to the music of a harmonica band (states the Christchurch "Press"). This is the intention of the new headmaster, Mr. C. A. Caigou, who stated on Thursday that he was a firm believer in routemarching as an aid to discipline. He has already introduced the atmosphere of a ceremonial parade into the drill at'the school, and has the harmonica band ready to begin. He considers, however, that a drum and fife band would be more effective, though he said that it was rather soon to think of this. Swimming, drama, and work on improving, the school grounds are other a iivitjes to which Mr. Caigou means to pay special attention. Aeroplane as Ambulance. The Auckland Aero Club's Beechcraft machine was used as an ambulance for the second time on Thursday, when a stretcher patient was flown from Mangere to Nelson, the flight taking 4hr lOmin (states the "New Zealand Herald"). On Wednesday the special ambulance equipment supplied with the aeroplane was used for the first time when a patient was carried from Auckland to Wigram, Christchurch. The Beechcraft took off from Mangere on Thursday at 11 a.m. and landed at Nelson at 3.10 in the afternoon, it passenger, an elderly man, standing the air journey well. The machine has also been engaged to take an invalid to .Christchurch later this month. Privilege Claimed. "This is the' old, old story. I think we are all tired of hearing, it," said Mr. A. K. North during the hearing; of a civil claim in the Auckland Magistrate's Court on Thursday, when SubInspector Fox, who was asked to produce statements made to the police by two motorists, said that he had been instructed by the superintendent to claim privilege (reports the "New Zealand Herald"). "Yo>. know my views or. the subject, I have expressed them often enough," said Mr. Wyvem Wilson, S.M., who pointed out that only a Minister could claim privilege. SubInspector Fox said he had been instructed to hand in the statements if directed to do so by the Magistrate, and produced the documents. Speech-training Class. Authority for an additional class to be formed in Christchurch for the training of primary school children hampered by defects in speech has been received by the secretary to the Canterbury Education Board (Mr. L. E. Rowley) from the Department of Education (states the "Press"). There had been such a demand for admission to the class at the Normal School that congestion has occurred, Mr. Rowley said yesterday, and authority has been sought to start a fresh class. The new class will be formed at the Waltham- School when the services of a qualified teacher have been secured. The class is not one for sub-normal children but solely for those suffering from impediments in speech, and applications from teachers with special qualifications to deal with these are shortly to be called.