NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 26, 30 July 1940, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

' First White Butterflies. The first white butterflies seen in ! Auckland this season were reported on I Saturday afternoon by an Epsom residentj states the "New Zealand Herald." 5 The appearance of the pest is unusually early, due, it is thought, to the occa- [ sional humid spells during the week, : and the warmth of the sun in shel- [ tered positions. The butterfly made its first appearance much later last ! year. Kiwis Multiplying. Kiwis are apparently multiplying ■ rapidly in Egmont National Park. . Although they are not usually seen by visitors or residents at the hostels, ; several have been seen on the Dawson ■ Falls track at night recently, and opossum trappers, rangers, and others ! who have occasion at times to estab- ; lish a camp in the reserve say that ; the call of kiwis can be heard almost ' any night, not from an isolated bird, but from five or six foraging round : about. "From my own experience I should say there are now well over 100 kiwis in the reserve," said Mr. N. P. Gibson, Kaimiro, ranger for the Egmont National Park Board, in speaking to a "Daily News" reporter about the growth of the kiwi population. Irons For Air Force. Since an appeal was made at the beginning of last week by Mr. G. A. Hayden, secretary of the National Patriotic Fund Board, for gifts of electric irons to enable the Air Force trainees at Rongotai to keep their uniforms well pressed, the board has received 18 irons. These represent a substantial contribution, and there is keen appreciation of the kindness and generosity of the people who have made them available, but if there are others who are able to make gifts of irons, the board will be glad to receive them, for altogether 34 are required. It does not matter if the plugs and flex are missing; a§ long as the irons will do their job they will be gratefully received, and those who give them can rest assured that their gifts .will be greatly appreciated by the men, an important part of whose training is to be well turned out. Soldiers' Comforts. It is expected that by the end of this week the first supplies of the booklet the National Patriotic Fund Board has compiled for the use of next-of-kin of the members of New Zealand's fighting services will be available. Copies are to be distributed by the provincial patriotic councils and it is hoped that they will be in a position to supply them at the beginning of next week. The booklet contains a great deal of information that will be helpful to relatives and friends of the men serving overseas. Among the subjects discussed are parcels, what they should contain, and how they should be sent; postage and cable rates; rates of pay for the naval and military forces, and also dependants' allowances; knitting hints and patterns; and also a number of cooking recipes. A Church Effort. The Lower Hutt Baptist Church has a homeless minister. So great is the j housing shortage that though the Rev. E. W. Batts has been in the district for several months it has not been possible to find him a permanent home, and his wife and family have in the meantime to make their home with relatives in Auckland. The church has undertaken to provide a manse, and the building is in progress. Several generous contributions have already been made by a property owner and a firm of builders. On Sunday a collection was made towards the building fund and resulted in gifts totalling £236. The church recently received a gift of £100 from the trustees of the Auckland Tabernacle Property Fund for the extension of church work in the Hutt Valley. Lighting of Memorial. When the Hutt Valley Electric Power Board notified the Petone Borough Council last evening that it could not see its way clear to depart from its previous offer regarding the rates for lighting the Wellington Provincial Centennial Memorial, Councillor H. Green accused the board of acting in a very parsimonious manner. The memorial, he said, was erected in Petone to /commemorate a hundred years of history, and the council was its guardian. It had appealed to the board to help it, in order that the memorial might be adequately lighted. Power for consumption in homes was sold by the board at id a unit, but the best rate obtainable for lighting a ( public memorial was 2£d a unit, or £'70 a year. Surely this was niggardly on the board's part. After a short discussion, it was decided on the suggestion of Councillor A. M. Macfarlane that representations should be made to the recently-appointed subcommittee of the Wellington Provincial Centennial Committee to examine the matter. University Entrance. "Every year there are between 4500 and 5000 candidates for the university entrance examination, but in any one year the university permits only approximately 47 per cent, of these candidates to pass," said Mr. H. A. H. Insull, headmaster of the Cathedral Grammar School, in an address at an at home on Saturday, states the "Press." "That means that more than half are doomed to be failed, before they ever sit the examination. Of those who pass less than half enrol at a university college and less than onetenth complete a course there. It is difficult to see why this examination should be regarded as a suitable climax to all secondary education. Not one in ten built further upon this foundation, and the remaining nine unjustly earn for the secondary schools the constant complaint of business men that secondary education bears no relation to the needs of industry and commerce, and has lost all touch with the conditions of the modern world." Problems of the Maori. After one and a half centuries of contact with the pakeha civilisation it was worth while considering what the Maori was holding on to and how much of that was of value, said Sir Apirana Ngata, in discussing communal, tribal, and cultural problems of the Maori during a lecture at Auckland University College last week. Sir Apirana said that if the' culture of a people was to be seen in food habits, in clothing, in crafts, and in religion, it was clear that there had been a change. In material things Maori custom had given way. The Maori children no longer appreciated the foods of their eiders, but with the old food habits bad gone much of the knowledge of Nature. But the pakeha who would understand the Maori way of life muss penetrate beyond changes in food and clothing and ask if the core of Maori social life had changed, Sir Apirana said. That cere was to be found in the family life. The Maori family lived in the full g;Lre of a community intimately linked ty blood relationship, and this family grouping had an important bearing on all other factors of Maori life. Dealing with the gift of British citizenship to the Maoris, Sir Apirana said they had been thought good enough to be given a measure of equality with the pakeha. That was a compliment to the Maori. The pakeha had not kept his bargain badly, but <he Maori had been expecting too much.

Gift Returns to Donor. J As a contribution to the war effort Mrs. Baxter, of Christchurch, recently gave an antique platinum ring to be raffled for the Red Cross appeal in Sumner, states the "Press." As a further contribution she bought a ticket in the raffle. Many hundreds oftickets were sold. When the numbers were drawn the winning one was found to be hers. She was entitled to receive back the gift she had given, leaving the Red Cross funds some pounds the richer. South Westland Whitebait. During the past few years, whitebait from South Westland rivers was sent by air to Hokitika, states the "Star-Sun." This season one party proposes to fish the rivers south of Bruce Bay, and the whitebait will be transported by launch to Bruce Bay. With the new road, the freight service can land the fish in Hokitika within seven hours. Large quantities will be transported during the night to take advantage of the cold atmosphere for the long journey. Illegal Raffles. The Commissioner of Police (Mr. D. J. Cummings) has drawn attention to the sale of alcoholic liquor by Dutch auction, in mystery parcels, and by other means for the purpose of raising funds for patriotic or other purposes. "The sale of liquor by these means is a breach of the licensing laws, and renders the seller and the responsible officials liable to heavy penalties," said Mr. Cummings. "No doubt persons who may have disposed of liquor in this way have done so in good faith, were unaware they were breaking the law, and were actuated by zeal for the success of the endeavour made to assist some worthy object, but however worthy the object it must be understood that the furtherance of its cause by the employment of illegal methods cannot be sanctioned. It is, therefore, desired to infrom the public that the disposal of liquor by the methods mentioned is not permissible, and action will have to be taken against any person offending in the future." Reducing Road Services. Negotiations between the Railway j Department and Newman Bros., Ltd., concerning the steps to be taken to rationalise the passenger transport services between Christchurch and Nelson are expected to produce a result this week, states the "Star-Sun." Increased pressure has been applied to the parties concerned because the oil fuel authorities consider that the present duplicated services are causing a waste of petrol. Whatever agreement is reached between the two operators it seems certain that the road service operated by Newman Bros., Ltd., between Christchurch and Hundalee will be stopped and the traffic handled by rail. Normally two motor vehicles run each way over this route daily. Their suspension, therefore, is estimated to mean a daily saving in petrol of four hundred miles. Acting upon orders from Wellington, the Licensing Authority for the No. 3 Transport District (Mr. T. H. Langford) has requested the Railway Department to push forward the negotiations. As a result Newman Bros., Ltd., began the valuation of their services on Monday.