NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 132, 7 June 1939, Page 10

NEWS OF THE DAY

Studies by Museum Experts. Dr. W. R. B. Oliver, Director of the Dominion Museum, and Mr. W. J. Phillipps, assistant director, are visiting Wanganui for a few days to study various objects at the Alexander Museum. Dr. Oliver is specialising on moa bones, of which the museum has not only a large store, but has classified records, 'prepared by Messrs. James Grant, 8.A., director of the museum, and George Shepherd, the curator. Mr. Phillipps is making a study of Maori pounders of the wooden variety. Mr. Phillipps hopes to' make a survey of pounders held by all the New Zealand museums. "Conscience Money." Debts of a small nature that have : been outstanding for some time are more often than not conveniently forgotten, but that some people are meticulous in repaying money they owe was shown at a meeting of the Wellington branch of the Navy League yesterday when a letter was received as follows:- "Enclosed fourpence in stamps. Owe this amount to you. Please accept and oblige. Yours truly, 'Tradesman.'" "Conscience money, evidently," commented the secretary, Mr. R. Darroch, who said that he had no idea from where the money had come. Abnormal Number Injured. In applying to the management committee of the Wellington Rugby Union last night for the regrading of its fourth, first division team to the fourth second division, the . Seatoun and Rongotai College Old Boys' Club stated that it had sustained an abnormal number of injuries this season and had at present eight members of the team on the casualty list. The injuries were due to their players being heavily outweighted and it felt that it would be in the boys' interests for them to play in the lower division. The matter was referred to the junior' advisory committee. Cameras aha Cars. The proposal to equip traffic officers with cameras, for the purpose of showing a car's exact position on the road, was taken exception to at last night's meeting of the Wellington Automobile Association. The secretary, Mr. W. A. Sutherland, expressed doubt as to the fairness of such photographs since the photographer would not be so placed as to record the car's true posi-, tion. It had been often demonstrated that the camera could lie. Another member said that inspectors were now supposed to be gentlemen of the road. Providing them with cameras would be a reversion to "the barbarous days of traps and pimps." It was. agreed that the North Island Motor Union , should take up the subject and that its opinion should be voiced before the Minister had been committed to the purchase of cameras. Dogs Interrupt Hockey Match. A fox terrier and a sheepdog show- . Ed their enthusiasm for the game , of hockey at Christchurch on Monday • when they had a game with the ball i being used in a women's six-a-side' match between West Christchurch and Beckenham Clubs, reports the : "Press." While a player was dribbling . the ball along, the fox terrier flew in ; and snapped it up. He carried it a ' little way to where a sheepdog was standing, and laid it down there. The : sheepdog took it up straight away and . dashed off with it some distance from the ground; there he lay down, dropped the ball, and sat watching the astounded players with his tail wag- ■ ging as if to say, "Well, here I am, come and get it." Three minutes passed before the referee, Mr. C. H. Franklin, was able to start the game again 1 where it had stopped. Flat Kate Wharfage. 1 Reporting to the council of the Wel- ■ lington Chamber of Commerce last night on behalf of the importers' com- : mittee, which had considered the question of flat rate wharfage, Mr. W. I. J. Blyth said that the committee had ' decided that, while a flat rate might 'be desirable from many angles, the chamber should not move to have such a rate instituted, as so many of its ' members would be adversely affected. The committee recommended that 1 members be circularised in an endeav- ! our to find existing anomalies affecting . them, and that the Harbour Board be approached to have such anomalies ' rectified. The recommendation was i adopted. ' Named After Prime Minister. 1 "And what is your name, little man?" : asked a visitor to the sitting-room in » a Christchurch hotel, used by the t Prime Minister last week, of a boy, a little more than 'three years of age, ' states the "Press." "Michael Joseph 1 Savage, Prime Minister of New Zealand." replied the youngster without i hesitation. That was his name—at' least his Christian name. Born three days after the Labour Government j was returned to power in 1935, he was named "Michael Joseph Savage" by his father, Mr. H. M. Blazey, of St. Albans, a keen worker in the Labour movement. Mr. Savage and his namesake were photographed together after ■ the Prime Minister was introduced to - the young claimant of his honours. • Corpus Christi. i Tomorrow will be the Feast of ■ Corpus Christi, which takes place on • the Thursday after Trinity^ Sunday, and celebrates the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. In 1264 Pope ; Urban ordered the Church to observe the Feast, for which St. Thomas Aquinas wrote a special office which is ■ still in use. By the middle of the ■ fourteenth century the Feast had attained general acceptance, and during ! the following century it became the principal Feast in the Church's calendar. Processions on that day became ' gorgeous pageants in which sovereigns and princes took part. Much of this , pageantry has survived to this day in Roman Catholic countries, but in those lands affected by the Reformation the ■ Feast of Corpus Christi is not observed in anything like the same manner.

Anglican Synod. The annual Synod of the Wellington Anglican Diocese is to commence on Tuesday, July 18, and it is expected to be an exceedingly full and busy one. An important task will be that of revising and consolidating the Synod Acts and resolutions. It is not anticipated that Synod will finish its work before Tuesday, July 25. The preacher of the Synod sermon will be the Rev. C. F. Webster, vicar of Mangaweka. Opossum Trapping. "A tremendous number of the men who used to do opossum trapping are now employed on public works," the Mayor of Wellington (Mr. T. C. A. Hislop) said at a meeting of the Wellington City and Suburban Water Supply Board this morning when only four tenders were received for opossum trapping on areas controlled by the board. It was stated that there had been as many as fifty tenders in the past, but on this occasion about twentysix areas had not been tendered for. It was agreed that further tenders would be considered as they were received. ( Strength of Territorial Units. Since the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage) made his appeal for recruits for an expanded defence force in New Zealand, seventy-eight Territorial recruits have enlisted in Wellington and only seventy-five more are required to bring all of the metropolitan units up to full strength. Four of the eleven units are at full peace-time strength and have waiting lists, but these lists are desirable because there is always a certain amount of fluctuation in strength due to recruits completing their Territorial training and being posted to the reserve. Many more recruits would be required in the country areas of his command, Colonel E. Puttick, D.5.0., N.Z.S.C., A.D.C., stated yesterday, because whole regiments had to be re-established. The Wellington-West Coast Regiment wanted 13 officers and 480 other ranks, the Hawke's Bay Regiment 10 officers and 380 other ranks, the Taranaki Regiment 7 officers and 306 other ranks, the Wellington-East Coast Mounted Rifles 7 officers and 137 other ranks, the Wel-lington-West Coast (Queen Alexandra's) Regiment 4 officers and 31 other ranks, and the Manawatu (Motorised) Mounted Rifles 7 officers and 24 other ranks. The Wellington units with waiting lists were the 15th Battery, N.Z.A., the Ist Battalion, the Wellington Regiment, the Wellington Company, New Zealand Scottish Regiment, and the 2nd Composite Company, New Zealand Army Service Corps.