NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 121, 23 May 1940, Page 10

NEWS OF THE DAY

♦ — Material for Hussifs. A request by the Women's Metropolitan Patriotic Committee that an appeal be made through the schools for materials to equip hussifs for members of the overseas forces was approved by the Wellington Education Board yesterday. "Wrongly Named." "Acclimatisation societies are wrongly named," said the president of the Southland Acclimatisation Society (Mr. S. M. Macalister) at the society's annual meeting. "They should be called 'wild life societies.' Their job is not mainly one of acclimatisation, bui of conservation," he said. Five Shillings for a Poster. A poster bearing the words, "Manufactured in Great Britain for New Zealand. This order came from New Zealand. Buy New Zealand Goods,': was shown to members of the North Canterbury Electric Power Board at Rangiora and earned 5s for the patriotic funds, states the "Press." The poster, which was favourably commented upon by members, was attached to goods recently received by the board from England. A member, Mr. A. M. Carpenter, was so taken with this indication of the work of the Empire Marketing Board that he bought the poster for ss. Householders' Apathy. From the householders' meetings held recently for the election of school committees came numerous resolutions addressed to the Wellington Education Board. One which struck a new note and which came before the board yesterday ran as follows:—"That the Education Board be advised that as the meeting was attended by two householders and the present committee, and in view of the apathy shown by the local householders, the members suggested that the election be postponed as they did not desire to be nominated as a mutual admiration society." The secretary of the board (Mr. W. I Deavoll) said that the householders oi the locality had been instructed 1o hold another meeting on May 27. j The Carter Library. I Permission having been obtained from the Supreme Court, the Carter 'Library, which belongs jointly to the j Royal Society and the Dominion Museum, will be transferred from the Turnbull Library, where it has been temporarily housed, to the Dominion Museum. In the library are books dealing with the early history of New Zealand and books on various scien- [ tific subjects. The library, which is a j valuable one, will be retained as a separate entity and will be housed on special shelves in the room used by the Wellington branch of the Royal [Society, and will be available to members of the Royal Society and .to students. The original Carter Library bequest, of £50 has during the last forty years or so increased, to over £200, and the Court's permission has been obtained for utilising this money for erecting shelving and adding books, The bequest was made for the purpose of providing a fireproof building but the new Dominion Museum h adequate in this respect. The old Dominion Museum was not, hence the temporary housing of the books in the Turnbull Library. The Spread of Heather. A report on the growth of heathei in the Tongariro National Park was made to yesterday's meeting of the Royal Society. Dr. P. Marshall saic that the heather grew vigorously or burnt ground or where the soil hac been laid bare. It seemed, however, tc spread only slowly through the native vegetation, which in time might pos sibly smother it, in the same way a: gorse and lupin got smothered. He understand that originally consider able difficulty was experienced ir establishing the heather, it being neces sary to burn an area first. Dr. W. R B. Oliver suggested that on burni ground a hybrid Coriaria, allied to the tutu but a small species, would grow quicker than anything else in the waj of native vegetation. This, if planted might prove to be a useful check tc the spread of the heather. "The Black Hand." Drastic steps are to be taken b> the Australian Federal Governrneni against "the Black Hand" Secret Society. This organisation is of Continental origin. It works in the United States and in Italy. Moving' the second reading of an Amending Immigration Bill in the Federal Senate, the Minister of the Interior, Senator Foil said that the Bill was designed to increase the Federal Government's power to deport members of the "Black Hand" and other undesirable aliens. "From time to time," Senator foil said, "aliens extort -money or attempt to extort money from theii countrymen by threatening to burr down .a home or a cane crop—method: that we cannot tolerate. Only £ handful of aliens have given trouble in the past, and we are determinec to prevent anything in the nature o: a gang raising its ugly head." The Bill provides for the deportation o: any alien convicted of attempted ex> tortion or any other criminal offenc< that incurs a sentence of a year's imprisonment. White Heron Shot. The shooting of a white heron, appar ently by some vandal, was reported or Monday by the Curator of the Canterbury Museum, Dr. R. A. Falla. Ex pressing condemnation of the wantor shooting of the bird. Dr. Falla saic that white herons, which were pro tected, were now fairly rare, their onlj nesting place in New Zealand being a Okarito, South Westland. In this cas< the heron had been found by a Rol leston resident a few days ago. and i had died by the time Mr. P. J O'Brien, from the museum, had visitec the place. An examination at th( museum later showed that the bird, ; young female, had been shot througr a wing and thigh, and the position o the bullet wounds made it fairly clea: that a sitting shot had been taken a the heron. It had apparently been abl< to fly some distance, but had died fron loss of blood and starvation. No ont in these days, Dr. Falla added, had an: excuse for not knowing a white heror when he saw one. That anyone coulc shoot one of the birds —a sitting sho at that—was to be deplored. Destruction of Deer. Plans have been prepared by the fields branch of the Department of In ternal Affairs for a winter campaigt for the destruction of deer in certait badly-infested parts of the Dominion The Minister of Internal Affairs (th< Hon. W. E. Parry) stated last nigh that he had under consideration re commendations for a renewed anc vigorous attack on colonies of dcci and goats in Marlborough and West land, in which districts the depreda tions of the animals had become ex tensive. In the, Tararua Ranges, nea; Wellington, there had been a good tol ol deer taken in past campaigns. I was hoped it would be possible thi; winter to' cut some further tracks ir the bush of the Tararua Ranges fo: the inauguration of a summer cam paign. "In some areas," Mr. Parr: said, "unofficial stalkers have helpec considerably in the work of keepinj under the deer and goat menace. Ii the bush and mountains of parts of thi North and South Islands some stalker, keep up a fairly consistent pursuit o the animals with splendid results. Goo< sport is provided these men, who a the same time render a service to thi country," /. . ■

Satisfactory to All.

How the accounts should be presented was a question discussed at the annual meeting of the Royal Society yesterday, one or two members con- - fessing their inability to understand i the balance-sheet as presented. Finally 5 the treasurer undertook to present the - accounts in future in such a way as - to satisfy himself, the auditors, and 1 "those who cannot add." The critics of the present system, although not admitting that they were numbered amongst those unable to add, express- - ed themselves as satisfied. } Changes of Teachers. 3 Lack of proper education and lack ' of proper interest by teachers in their s schools resulted from numerous staff 4 changes, declared Colonel T. W. McDonald at a meeting of the Wellington Education Board yesterday after-1 noon when the board had before it the • following resolution from a recent 7 meeting of Ngaio householders:—"That 7 this meeting of parents records its objection to the ever-increasing number 1 of staff changes so far this year with 1 resulting disadvantage to both child- ' ren and teachers." Colonel McDonald - added that the salary question was at " the root of the whole trouble. On his j " motion it was decided to reply that the 3 board agreed with the views expressed • and would do everything it could to 1 improve the position. I Homer Tunnel Heading. j The heading of the Homer Tunnel has been completed, with the result that the drive has now been carried 1 right through to the western side of ■ the saddle in the Cleddau Valley, lead- ■ ing to Milford Sound, states the "Otago 1 Daily Times." To avoid a large quantity of boulders piled in a mass on the " western side where the tunnel would " normally have come out, it was found - necessary over the last 50 feet to make ' a diversion of four degrees from the J original alignment, and this has now - been put through to the full size of " the heading, 13ft by 9ft. The major 1 benefit experienced so far is that pump--5 ing is no longer necessary to remove ; the water that seeps into the tunnel in • various places. The water now drains £ out the western end of the tunnel, and 1 has actually been doing so since the end of last month, when the drive was first put through. The contract for the enlargement of the tunnel to its 1 full size of 24ft by 20ft is being under- : taken by the contractors, Messrs. A. 1 F. Downer and Co., of Wellington, who 1 are using the method known as ring 2 boring. One of the advantages of this 1 process is that "shooting" can be left 1 for any length of time, and in the pre--3 sent case winter work will be con--1 fined to drilling in preparation for the ' use of the explosives when cqndi--1 tions on the western side are favour--1 able for the disposal of the surplus 1 material there. Immediately below the \ western portal little progress can 1 be expected with the road formation " during the winter, owing to the risk ' of avalanches, but the opportunity will r be taken during the next few months 1 to go ahead with the construction of [ culverts and bridges and similar work 3 j nearer Milford.