NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 112, 15 May 1939, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Loyalty to Plunket Society.

Members of the Plunket Society in all centres throughout the Dominion are meeting this afternoon to commemorate "Founder's Day," the thirtysecond anniversary of the foundation of the society by the late Sir Truby King. Those who are meeting will reaffirm their loyalty to the aims and objects of the society. The national appeal for a fund to provide a memorial to Sir Truby King is also being launched today. "Quarrel Over Corpse." j "The Government and the British Medical Association appear at present to be, so to speak, quarrelling over the corpse of the public," said Dr. Francis O. Bennett during his Capping Day address at Canterbury University College in Christchurch on- Friday, reports "The Press." "In 100 years or so, when the history of this time comes to be written, I think that that particular legislative experiment will perhaps occupy no more than a line in the text-books." Eel Blocks Pipe. Much surprise was registered by.the Geraldine Borough staff when attending to a blockage in the Waihi Terrace pipe line which supplies the gutters with water; they found a huge eel lodged in one of the openings of the four-inch cast iron pipe, states the "T-imaru Herald." The eel which had been dead for some time was about 3£ inches in circumference and weighed 18 to 201b. A further surprise was received when a large trout was also found in the pipes, having become stranded when the eel jammed the pipe.. The line has been opened and replaced with 9-inch concrete pipes. . Prehistoric Man. An interesting exhibit on loan from the Otago Museum is at present on display in the Dominion Museum. This is a special show case displaying the migrations and advances in cualisation made. by prehistoric man in Europe. Diagrams and drawings give a graphic representation of our early ancestors and their environment, and included in the exhibit are flint and other implements which early man fashioned, albeit somewhat rudely. A display of this kind is of far more interest and educative value than the old-fashioned museum idea of just grouping a whole lot of flint implements and the like together in one case with just a single label as to what they are and where they came from, and possibly with a note as to who gave them or how they were acquired. The modern museum display cases tell a real and graphic story. Where It Rains. If Wellington gets as much as a couple of inches (200 points) of rain in twenty-four hours, quite a song is made about it. The Capital City's heaviest rainfall last year was 241 points on August 18, but that was a comparatively light fall compared with some other places in the Dominion. The Meteorological Office has just j issued a return about last year's rainfalls, one table giving the heaviest individual fall'for each recording station. Waihi and Putorino top the list, each with 1650 points in twenty-four hours, the former on February 4 and the latter on April 24. On April 24 a number of places in Hawke's Bay had from 10 to 12 inches of rain in one day, five times as much as Wellington's heaviest fall. No one in Wellington, however, desires to deprive Waihi of its palm—l 6 inches of rain at one time might wash away too many of the hillside suburbs. Air Service Launches. Two speed-boats of modern and specialised type have been ordered by the Government for use as patrol and control boats at the Auckland base of the trans-Tasman air service, and are on the way to New, Zealand by cargo boat. The launches have high speed and will be used whenever flyingboats are landing or taking-off to ensure that the landing run is clear of obstructions. They will carry radio equipment for direct communication with the aircraft or with shore stations, and when necessary will lay and collect the flare paths used in night landings. They are designed to travel at high speed in the open sea to meet the possibility of forced landings off the coast, having a range of more than 200 miles, and their twin motors give sufficient power to take in tow any aircraft in distress. The over-all length is about 40 feet, and there is accommodation for 16 passengers. Visit by Lord Auckland. It is likely that Lord Auckland will be paying a visit to New Zealand within the next few months, states the "New Zealand Herald." In a letter received in Auckland on Friday by a friend in the city Lord Auckland said he was seriously considering coming to Auckland in the very near future, possibly leaving within a month or so. This letter was written in Paris on April 19, and Lord Auckland mentioned that he was to be married on April 25 and that his future wife had expressed a keen desire to visit New Zealand. Early last year an invitation was sent to Lord Auckland on .behalf of the citizens inviting him to visit New Zealand, particularly at the time of the Centennial celebrations in 1940, and he replied that he would certainly come at the first opportunity. A fine portrait in oils of George Eden, first Earl of Auckland, after whom the city was named by Captain William Hobson on its foundation in 1840 as the capital of New Zealand, was presented to the city last year by the' present Lord Auckland. This portrait is now hanging in the council chamber at the Town Hall.