NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 27, 31 July 1940, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

Wellington College Improvements. The area behind Firth House at Wellington College is being levelled and will soon be planted with vegetables, and it is intended to make it ornamental as well as useful, according to a report received at yesterday's meeting of the Colleges Board of Governors. The new ground over the hill is also being levelled, and this work is nearly completed. Part of the ground will be ready for hockey next season. One of the new fives courts is nearly finished, and a start has been made on the second one. No Air Force Privileges. "There can be no special privileges for members of the Air Force," remarked Mr. W. R. McKeen, S.M., in the Otahuhu Magistate's Court on Monday, when dealing with cases of drinking in the vicinity of dance halls, reports the "New Zealand Herald." He quoted from a letter received from an officer stating that a conviction against a defendant who had since enlisted would affect his prospects in the service. The Magistrate said the defendant would have to suffer the same penalty as others convicted of this offence. Need for Wool. "It is absurd that we cannot get wool in this, a wool-producing country," said Mr. J. H. Frater, chairman of the Auckland branch of the Navy League, at the branch's annual meeting, states the "New Zealand Herald." He said the league could make use of ten times the quantity of wool it could procure on behalf of its lady members, who had undertaken to knit garments for naval men on active service. Safety in Flying. New Zealand's unchallenged record in having no paying passengers killed on its civil air lines was ascribed on Monday by Professor T. D. J. Leech, Professor of Engineering at Auckland University College, to the severe conditions imposed on the Dominion's commercial pilots, states the "New Zealand Herald." Speaking at the Auckland Rotary Club's weekly luncheon, he said that the conditions imposed in the Dominion were more severe'than in any other part of the Empire, or, for that matter, of the world. Australian pilots visiting New Zealand were apt to complain of these conditions, but there 4puld be no doubt that the complete answer was furnished by the Dominion's record of safety. Small Farms Scheme. According to the annual report on the settlement of Crown lands, marked progress was made last year with the small farms development programme. A better season than the two preceding ones resulted in increased revenue from the farming operations on the blocks being developed. "During the year," the report continues, "the further area brought into the development scheme was 9205 acres, and this was in the main the result of including in the scheme areas adjoining existing blocks. The total area under development (excluding areas allotted to tenants) is now 130,000 acres. Further development work was carried out during the year on the Kairangi, Karakariki, and Wharepapa Blocks, which were taken over last year from the Waikato Land Settlement Society. A further eighteen prospective settlers will be finally allotted their holdings for the ensuing dairying season." Employment of Boys. There was a growing tendency for boys of 15 or 15 \ years of age to leave school, remarked the principal of Rongotai College (Mr. F. Martyn Renner) in his monthly report to the Colleges Board of Governors yesterday. Many firms, he suggested, preferred boys of that age for fear that older ones, if the duration of the war is prolonged, would enlist. "I hope that common sense will come to the rescue," added Mr. Renner "and that self-interest on the part of employers will not handicap young people from getting the widest and fullest education which is so necessary for the young of today, if they are to be prepared to undertake the work of reconstruction. It is necessary to remember that not alone must we make every preparation to win the war, but equally, every preparation, in advance, to rebuild what has been destroyed. We should begin now to prepare for peace. We have so often in our history left our preparations for peace until war was finished." Four-day Proposal. The institution of a four-day week of about 40 hours for a number of the relief workers on river protection work has been proposed by the Waimakariri River Trust, and is now receiving the consideration of the Minister of Labour (the Hon. P. C. Webb), states the "Press." The aim of the proposed change is to save petrol, and under it a considerable proportion of the 300-odd men employed under Scheme 13 would work a four-day week of eight and threequarter hours a day instead of the present five-day week of seven working hours a day (an hour travelling ti? -c being allowed daily in each case). The daily wage of these men is about 18s, and under the proposed scheme they would receive the same weekly wage for four days as was received previously for five days. Details of the proposal were submitted some weeks ago to the Minister, to his Department in Christchurch, and to the General Labourers' Union, for their consideration. In a reply received by the River Trust on Monday Mr. Webb said he would be pleased to give the question his "most careful consideration" and to advise the trust in due course of his decision. Outlets for Lakes. The impossibility of securing sufficient supplies of steel rails necessary for the proposed construction of a permanent outlet to Lake Ellesmere at Taumutu has caused the Public Works Department to consider alternative methods of draining both this lake and Lake Forsyth, states the "Press." Investigation of the proposals has gone no further than the preliminary stages, but the most feasible alternative scheme under consideration by the Department would involve the cutting of a canal, about five miles long, between Lake Ellesmere and Lake Forsyth, and the construction of a permanent outlet to the sea from the latter lake. The Hon. R. Semple, Minister of Public Works, who visited Little River on Monday, told members of the Wairewa County Council that the scheme must be investigated thoroughly before it was accepted as the solution of the drainage problem of these two lakes, but his personal opinion, at a first glance, was that the scheme had much to commend it. The total cost of the work would be approximately the same as that of the previous schemes worked out for the permanent drainage of the lakes. Its ' apparent advantages were that Lake ' Forsyth would no longer be subject to flooding and that flood gates on the . bridge which would be required across ' the canal could be used to prevent the ' inflow of tidal water to Lake Ellesmere. More important, the length of : railway line to be constructed from . the quarry site to the site of the projected mole would be about one mile 1 and a quarter, as against 16 miles in 1 the case of the proposed outlet at Taumutu. 1

The Morning Rush,

Some little time ago the suggestion was made that in order partially to relieve the transport peak load in the mornings, the schools might alter their hours of opening. The suggestion, however, does not meet with the approval of the principals of Wellington's secondary schools, judging by their comments read at yesterday's meeting of the Colleges Board of Governors. As many pupils come into Wellington by train in the mornings there were difficulties in altering the time of opening the schools. One principal said that the peak load was not a wartime difficulty. It was due to a shortage of rolling stock, to petrol restrictions, " and to a sudden change in hours on the part of a large group of civil servants. To none of the causes had the transport of school children contributed in any way whatever so it seemed hard that the schools should be selected to supply the remedy at so great a sacrifice of efficiency. The board decided to set up a committee to discuss the matter with the heads of the colleges, the opinion being expressed that it might be possible to come to some arrangement.