NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 51, 28 August 1940, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Dumping Sawdust,

"The problem of dumping sawdust is very acute in the North Island, and it seems w;e are to have similar trouble here," said Mr. N. C. Kensington (chairman), when the Selwyn , Plantation Board was considering diffi- j culties in disposing of the sawdust from j exotic trees on Monday, reports the "Press." The superintendent (Mr. E. A. Cooney) said in bush country sawdust was often dumped in rivers or burnt. It seemed strange to him that more sawmills on plantations did not use steam power which could be cheaply produced by burning sawdust and Slabs. "Not Fanatical Pacifists." The contention that the League of Nations Union was not a pacifist movement in a fanatical sense was advanced at a meeting of the' Wellington branch of the League yesterday by the president, the Rev. F. J. Usher. Speaking of recent Press references to the fact that members of the League of Nations Union were joining ? the Navy League, Mr. Usher said he did not believe that such • references were intended to cast any slur on the League of Nations Union, but they did infer that there was a difference in the point of view of the two bodies. "We are not supporters of a war of aggression," he said, "but we are advocates of the defence of freedom, righteousness, and good will among the peoples of the earth." School and Peak Load. A conference of the headmasters and headmistresses of the Wellington colleges, and of members of the Board of Governors and tramway officials, recently discussed the question of school opening hours and the peak load on the trams. It was shown that the schools were not contributing tb the overloading to any marked degree, and that any alteration in school hours would cause serious difficulties. It was pointed out, too, that the alteration in the hours of Government offices had greatly relieved the position, The conference decided to inform the City Council that, while willing to co-oper-ate in every possible way, it could not see its way to recomlnending any alteration in the opening time of the colleges. . Bequest to Wellington College. The executors of the will of the late Mrs. J. P. Firth have intimated to the Board of Governors that Wellington College benefits to the extent of approximately £6000 under the will. The money is to be used to enable boys attending the college to continue their studies at the University or at a technical college. The board, at its meeting yesterday, placed on record its appreciation of the donor's generosity, and a letter of thanks will be drafted to the relatives of the late Mrs. Firth. The Smallest Letter. "This is the smallest letter I have ever received," said the Town Clerk of Sumner (Mr. J. F. Menzies), holding up a piece of paper five inches by three in size at the meeting of the Sumner Borough Council, reports the Christchurch "Press." The letter, which came from Sydney, accompanied a cheque for rates. The sender, in excusing the "scrap of paper," wrote, "We are cutting everything to the bone." He added: "Here, we are all trying to meet the stress, and one has such a feeling of New Zealand's war effort that one feels bound to do a bit where possible for 'Down Under.' " "Can Change Its Spots." One is liable to regard a fish as a rather unimpressionable sort of creature, unaffected by its surroundings. A letter read at a meeting of the Otago Acclimatisation Society, however, stated that this was a fallacy and that trout were much more subject to the effects of environment than human beings, states the "Otago Daily Times." According to the letter, which was written by Mr. D. Hope, curator of the Christchurch society, a trout could "change its spots" to suit its immediate surroundings by the time it reached maturity—a period of three years. • Fry of one variety removed from one stream to another would lose their identity during that period, the change being due to food supply and environment. They would be indistinguishable from other fish in the stream. Within ten years of liberation of a stock of Scottish Burn trout, the waters in which they had been released had possessed all the so-called varieties of trout peculiar to the Old Country, from sea trout at the mouths of the snow rivers to the Scottish species in the small hill creeks. Mr. Hope said that these facts had been accepted- by the authorities in England, who now classed all trout under the one name, S. trutta, which had former- j ly been applied to the sea trout. j

Plea for Competitors. The manner in which British manufacturers and agents are responding to the call of the Government to acquire sterling credits with which imports of war materials may be paid for was brought forcibly to the notice of an Auckland firm on Monday, states the J "New Zealand Herald." Instead of the usual business letter acquainting the firm with trade trends and prices, there was a personal appeal to assist bybuying immediately, with this addition, "but if you cannot respond in a direct way by purchase from us, it is equally important that you purchase j from our British competitors." After emphasising how the over-running of Europe had closed many markets, the letter added: "The help we seek is immediate." America's Defences. "We are going ahead with the defence preparations in every way. I hope we can get into full production before things come to a show-down with the totalitarian forces," writes a Cincinnati (U.S.A.) business man in a letter which has been received in Wellington. "The Selective Compulsory Service Bill ■ will be presented to the Senate next week. lam heartily in favour of it,. as are many others, but I am sorry to say that a few bigoted idealists, visionaries, and professional pacifists are determined to give it a fight. As I see it, this is no time to fool around, but America, with all its advantages, is cursed with a scattering of crackpots who want to stick their noses in where wiser people would stay out. The ghastly experiment of Prohibition is a typical example." The writer mentions that a. huge aero engine factory is to be established in Hamilton County, of which Cincinnati is the seat. The estimated yearly production is about 36,000 engines. Boatmen's Courage. "By expert seamanship, cool judgment, and considerable resourcefulness in the face of their own peril, the two men achieved a meritorious deed," said Mr. R. E. Hone, the acting-chair-man of the Kawhia Town Board, on Saturday night, when presenting bronze medals and diplomas of the Royal Humane Society of New Zealand I to Messrs. R. S. Aubin and A. R. Clark, of Kawhia, reports a Kawhia correspondent. The presentations were, made in recognition of the recipients' bravery on March 23 last, when they rescued Constable G. F. McKenzie and his two sons, George and Bruce, who were in a disabled launch which was drifting hopelessly in a rough and dangerous sea towards the Kawhia bar. Constable McKenzie and his sons went out fishing in a 24ft launch. The engine failed and the anchor was dropped, but the line parted, and the launch drifted on the ebb tide at a rapid pace towards the bar. Their plight was witnessed from the shore, land Messrs. Aubin and Clark set out in another launch. They were unable to tow Constable McKenzie's boat back, but held it away from the breakers until Mr. H. Draper's launch arrived and drew the two boats away from the dangerous breakers on the bar. There was a large attendance at the function at which the presentations were made, and numerous tributes were paid to the fine conduct of the two guests. Great Arched Span. The method by which the great arched span of the large bridge over the Kopuawhara Stream, on the East j Coast railway, is to be constructed is still the subject of discussion among the bridging-experts of the Public Works Department, states a Gisborne correspondent. The span of the arch is to be 180 ft, and the structure as a whole will be larger than Grafton Bridge, Auckland. The bridge will J have a total length of 530 ft, and will include nine short spans built kr the standard design. The work as r whole is now approaching the point where the arch will have to be commenced if delays are to be avoided. The selection of the arch design was due to the necessity of raising the bridge decking high above the level of the stream, without establishing piers where they could be reached by flood waters. The lessons of the Kopuawhara flood, which caused the loss of 21 lives two and a half years ago, were taken into account when the bridge was planned. The site is one that does not lend itself to the siting of piers on solid foundations either in the stream or on its margins, which method has been adopted at other sites in the Kopuawhara Valley where the railway line crosses the river. The bridge is one of the key jobs of the construction programme between Gisborne and Waikokopu, and already delays have occurred through late deliveries of steel, of which about 240 tons, in reinforcing rods, will be required to complete the work.