NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 70, 24 March 1938, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Xady Day. Tomorrow, March 25, bears the designation of Lady Day, a name given to the Church's-Feast of the Annunciation, In medieval times Lady Day marked the beginning of the legal year in England, but in 1752 the beginning of the year was altered to January 1, Lady Day remaining as one of the four Quarter Days. In some districts what is known as '"'old, Lady Day"- has April 6 for its date. ..> . State Houses. Cabinet has approved of contracts for the erection of 92 more State houses, according to a statement made by Mr. J. A. Lee, Parliamentary Undersecretary in Charge of Housing, last night.- They are to be erected at Mount Albert and Point Chevalier (Auckland), Napier, 'Wairoa, Timaru, Hokitika, and Greymouth. Hunting the Hunter. That great hunter of rabbits, the ferret, js now the hunted in Central Otago, his enemy being man. The reason is that the skins at present have. a superior market value to the pelt of the rabbit, fetching as much as. 5s 6d, The president (Mr. R. H, Michelle) of the Central Otago provincial council of the Farmers' Union said at a recent meeting that what one now saw drying on fences in Central Qtago were the skins of the ferret. Prolific Pampas Grass. An innovation on the Hauraki\ Plains during recent years has been the growing of pampas grass for the feeding of cattle (states the "New Zealand "Herald"). Much interest has been aroused in other districts by the success which, has attended the efforts of farmers in v this direction, the grass being burnt or eaten dawn to the roots before sending out shoots which are well liked by the cattle. The present season has been especially favourable for the cultivation of pampas grass, and on a number of farms there are several acres devoted to it. ■ , First-hand Investigation. - The Mayor, Mr. T. C. A. Hislop, and several members of the City Council today made a first-hand investigation of the tunnelling work for the £200,000 drainage extension scheme binder the city. The tunnel, which is being driven in a number of sections, is at an average depth of about 50 feet, but in some lengths it lies at a much greater depth from the surface; it passes under the Art Gallery and Dominion Museum, for instance, well over a hundred feet 'from ground, level. Gumboots and dungarees properly transformed the city fathers, but gumboots are necessary, for much of the work is being done in fairly wet country. ■ For Grassland Research. The fine new building which has been erected near Massey College, Palmerston North, for grassland research, is practically complete and ready for its official opening at the end of the month. It is a single-storey wooden building of 18 rooms, harmonising with 'the Massey College buildings. Bound it are trial areas for grass and clover growing, and adjacent; to it is an extensive range of glasshouses .for propagation experiments. This is the first building to be erected in the Dominion definitely for the sole purpose of studying New Zealand's' main and most important crop—grass. Plans are in.preparation for another building in Auckland where grassland and plant diseases will be specially studied. Boat Sheds and Road. Discussing the widening of the Evans Bay Road to 66 feet seaward, and the approval of plans for the reclamation of 18 acres between Wellington Road and Kilbirnie Crescent, the annual report of the Wellington Harbour Board continues:—The City Council now desiring to proceed with the widening of a section of this roadway from Wellington Road to Rata Road, tthe board authorised the dedication of the land provided for in the Act, under conditions to be mutually agreed upon. As the widening of this roadway would necessitate the disturbance ]of a number of the licensed boat sheds at the present time in this locality, some discussion took place between the council and the boat owners. Suit- : able arrangements, satisfactory to both parties, were finally agreed upon and the plans approved by the Governor-, General-in-Council, subject to agree-, ' ment between the board and the council in regard to ths pieces of land to be dedicated, the construction of the sea wall, and other consequential matters. Suburban Wharves Busy. The oil trade, and timber and coal handled, have greatly increased ; the activity at the Wellington, Harbour Board's suburban wharves. The report of the harbourmaster, Captain P. S. Peterson, gives the following berthages:—Miramar; From English and foreign ports, 12 vessels with a net tonnage of j70,234 tons; from Australian and coastal ports, 144 vessels with a net tonnage of 73,594 tons; oilfuel hulks, 197 with a net tonnage of 159,012 tons; coal hulks, 5 with a net tonnage1 of 4357 tons; a total of, 35S vessels with a net tonnage of 307,197 tons. Burnham: From English and foreign ports, 20 vessels with a net tonnage of 99,942 tons; from Australian and coastal ports, 92 vessels with a net tonnage of 22,576 tons; oil-fuel hulks, 12 vessels with a net tonnage of 2928 tons; launches 1 with a net tonnage of 6 tons; a total of 125 vessels with a net tonnage of 125,452 tonsi Petone: From coastal ports, 105 vessels with a net tonnage of 22,123 tons. Point Howard: From English and foreign ports, 17 vessels with a net tonnage of 92*048 tons. Shelly Bay: From Australian and coastal ports, 18 vessels with, a net tonnage of 1655 tons. The grand total for suburban wharves was 623 vessels with a net tonnage of 552,475 toni.

February Port Trade. Trade and shipping statistics at the Port of Wellington for the month of February showed an increase in the shipping arrivals as well as the tonnage handled when compared with the month of February, 1937, it was stated at the monthly meeting of the Wellington Harbour Board last night. The net tonnage of trading vessels arriving was 343,697 tons, an increase of 4753 tons. The cargo handled was 188,062 tons, as' compared with 170,169 tons., an increase of 17,893 tons. The principal increases were in imports from British and foreign ports 12,561 tons, general cargo transhipments 4823 tons, and exports to coastal and Australian ports 3369 tons. Decreases, are shown in coal imports 2650 tons, and wool and hemp shipments 4987 bales. Assessing Rugby Strength. The. value of club strength as against team strength was stressed by some speakers at the annual meeting of the Wellington Rugby Union last night. "This; I think v is more important than the senior championship, although we cannot get the players or the football public to see it," remarked Mr. J. N. Millard, chairman of the management committee, when referring to Petone's success in winning the club championship. In the course of a discussion on senior football, Mr. A. W. Cooper remarked that the junior advisory committee, in recommending that a senior club should not keep its status : unless it maintains a junior and third grade team, had in mind the fact that the strength of a club was not the strength of its senior team. New Harbour Store. Referring to Store No. 49 at Aotea Quay, pile driving tor which was completed in August last, and the footings of which have been commenced, the chairman of the Harbour Board (Mr. D. J. MeGowan) said last night that the main dimensions of this store are: Length over all, 650 feet; width, 102 feet 9 inches; height under crane tracks, 24 feet, and under roof tie beams, 31 feet 6 inches. The floor area will be 64,100 square feet and the stacking space 1,158,000 cubic feet. Compared with Store No. 37 on the Pipitea Wharf, the floor area will be about 20 per cent, less, but the stacking space will be about 20 per cent, greater. This store, when completed, should prove a valuable addition to the present store accommodation, with the advantage that it will be connected to the railway system. Livestock Mortality. As the result of the discovery that mortality among livestock on a farm near Waitapu was associated with the occurrence of arsenic in appreciable quantities in surface and spring waters and in certain muds and swamp soils, a preliminary survey of the position as affecting other farms has been carried out by officers of the Department of Agriculture. It has . been 'found that deposits containing arsenic are more widespread, than was. at first anticipated, and that, danger to stock appears to. arise from the accidental swallowing of mud stirred up by cattle i entering the water to drink, according to the official report. There is nothing, adds the report, to indicate that arsenical soils or water occur in other parts of the. Rotorua district, or that bush sickness is. in any-way associated with arsenic. A more detailed investigation is" to be carried out in this' area under the direction of. Mr. I. G. McIntosh, of the chemistry section of the Department. Athletic Park Stand. * The disclosure that some big work would be necessary on the grandstand at Athletic Park in the not distant future was made by Mr. J. N. Millard, chairman of the management committee, at the annual meeting of the Wellington Rugby Union last night. "The big iron pillars are rusting very quickly," he said. "The steel work on the stand has rotted and rusted, and if, when you 'are there, you look at it you will be amaaed." Items in the balance-sheet caused him to draw attention to the liability so far as the stand, was concerned. The season's workings showed a profit oi £760, "but, of course," he said, "we were able to allow the depreciation recommended by the; auditor. The sum of £1500 as depreciation on the stand might look big, but it is small when you consider the liability mounting up." In the matter of receipts last year the union had' been assisted greatly by the fact that so many of the public had taken the opportunity of buying season tickets to make sure of seats for the Springboks' matches in Wellington, The "gate" takings at club and representative matches were less than in the previous season. Harbour Fog Signals. Arising out of the casualty to the s.s. Wahine, when she ran into the Pipitea Wharf during fog in June, 1936, the Court of Inquiry suggested the establishment of fog signals in certain parts of Lambton Harhour and ,this recommendation having been forwarded on to the board by the Minister of Marine, a committee was set up to consider the matter, says the annual report of the Wellington Harbour Board. Through the courtesy of the Hon. P. Fraser, the services of Mr. E H. R. Green, radio engineer of the Post and Telegraph Department, were made available to the board, and this enabled it to go into the question as to what use could be made of wireless beacons for navigating the harbour and its entrance. The committee finally decided that, until master mariners became mare fully acquainted with the uses that can be made of wireless as aids to navigation, and until the system is able to produce a greater degree of accuracy, it was not in a position at the present time to recommend the board to install wireless beacons, except in an experimental way, especially in view, of the fact that the Government would shortly be erecting radio beacons at Baring Head, ■Cape Campbell, and Stephens Island. A decision was, however, come to that a suitable type of sound fog signal be immediately installed at Point Jerningham, Lambton Harbour. Half Fares for Soliool Children. There were, said Mr. R. Hayman, speaking at the meeting of representatives of suburban electors' and progressive associations last evening, plenty of subjects, apart from district j needs, which a joint suburban association could discuss. One of them, for instance, was the question of tram and rail fares for school children. At present half fares held for children up to j twelve years of age, but children over j twelve were charged full fares, on | trams, buses, and trains. The conse-, quence was that the man who had three children growing up often had to refuse them Saturday trips and often annual holidays, so they stayed in the | backyard. Mr. Hayman said that he I believed that if representations were made as from the people of the whole city the age limit might be raised to fifteen, to the benefit of children, their parents, and the tram, bU3, or railway revenue. Other speakers referred to the comparative futility of district efforts to obtain swimming baths all at the same time, and said that if they could agree to support reasonable proposals' in turn the baths needs of the outer areas could all be met in a few yeari.