NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 14, 17 July 1939, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Last of Well-known Building.

The wrecking gang has now almost completed the big job of razing Baker's Building", on the corner of Hunter and Featherston Streets. The building, which was for many years a familiar Wellington landmark, has been demolished to make way for new construction. The massive brick and concrete walls of this well-built build-, ing have made its destruction a long and difficult job. Fresh Paint. Fresh paint on many buildings in the business area of Wellington is the result of an effort by many property owners to improve the appearance of their premises for the Centennial celebrations. Already several streets have assumed a much fresher appearance because of this work, and it is understood that there are many more painting jobs to be put in hand as soon as labour is available. Nothing Wrong: With Beer. "I am cei-tainly not going to stand for a proposition that there is any thing wrong with a man who takes beer as an integral part of his daily life." remarked Mr. Justice Callan in the Arbitration Court in Timaru. "Our ancestors drank beer for breakfast i.ei'orc tea was discovered, and many people think they had more sense than we have." School Sports Visit. For several years the Wanganui and Napier Intermediate Schools have exchanged visits, states "The Post's" Wanganui correspondent. On Thursday the Wanganui school will visit Napier, when the Napier Rotary Club will motor thorn round the district. Next day and on Saturday 65 members will compete in basketball. Association, and Rugby matches with the Napier school. Lo**, difficulty. Replies were received by the Waikato Hospital Board at its meeting on Thursday from 13 financial institutions and brokers stating that they were unable to assist the board in its efforts to raise £8500 required for building extensions at the Rotorua and Matamata Hospitals, states a Hamilton correspondent. The intei-est rate the boai'd is empowei-ed to offer under the Order in Council authorising the loan is 41- per cent. The chairman," Mr. F. Findlay. said there was a possibility of raising the money in Wellington, and a small committee was appointed to make the necessary arrangements for securing it.

Recks for Alpine Garden

Large rocks, weighing between two and four tons, are being used in the construction of the new alpine garden in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens, states the "Pi*ess.'% This was l-eported to the Domains Board by the curator (Mr. J. A. McPherson). who said that the rocks had been obtained through the co-operation of two land owners al Halswell. Work on the new garden was proceeding satisfactorily, and if the weather remained favourable most of it would be? ready for planting in August.

Anglican Synod,

It is estimated that about 150 people, clex'gy and laity, will comprise this year's synod of the Anglican Church in the Wellington diocese, in which there ax*e between 50 and 60 parishes. Synod will meet tomorrow afternoon, in St. Paul's Schoolroom, and the presidential address will be from the vicar-general, the Yen. Archdeacon W. Bullock. In the evening, at 8 o'clock, in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, the customary synod service will be held. Synod will be in session for the remainder of the week, and the session is likely to extend into next week.

"Talking in Church."

"We are afraid that the practice is pretty widespread, and we wholeheartedly deprecate it," is a comment made on the "habit of talking in church" in the "New Zealand Methodist Times." The article continues: "We confess that often, when sitting in the pulpit, waiting for the voluntary to cease, we have been jarred, time and again, by the extent to which people in the pews have occupied the moments preparatory to the commencement of the service, by whispered colloquies with one another. We cannot but think that the practice indicates an inadequate idea of the meaning of public worship and a failure to realise what is the behaviour incumbent on those who are seeking profitably to engage in it. Too many of our people seem to regard the church as a species of social club, and hence their conduct is regulated accordingly." Value of Education. "An education system, in common with many others, can never with advantage, stand still," said the Minister of Education (the Hon. P. Fi-aser) in •*> jubilee message to the Shannon School on Saturday, states "The Post's" representative. The Minister added that many would be able to recall the early days of New Zealand when education was compulsory only up to standard IV or to the age of 12 years; when ability to read and write and perform simple arithmetical calculations was all that was considered necessax-y. By successive stages school life had been lengthened and the scope of school work enlarged, but school life was still too short and the curriculum too narrow. He believed school had much to offer young people long after they had reached the age of 14 yeai's, and it was the intention of the Govei'nment to introduce legislation and to remodel the curriculums to enable that to be done.