NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 143, 13 December 1940, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

Record Bank-note Issue. A new high level—the highest ever —was reached in the Reserve Bank note issue this week. The return for ! the week ended December 9, 1940, is ! £21,407,285. An increase is usually j looked for at Christmas time, but the! latest figure is the highest ever reach- | ed, even for this period of the year. It I is £6,174,156 more than at Christmas, 1937; £4,765.858 more than for the i Christmas of 1938, and £2,115,158 more ', than for last Christmas period—December 25, 1939. The usual significance j attaching to rises in the bank-note is- i sues is generally the more notes out J the dearer things become. j No Sinecure. After having expressed his thanks to a lengthy list of helpers, Mr, W. H. j Stevens, headmaster of Wellesley Col- j lege, remarked last night that his audi- ! ence might perhaps be forgiven if they thought that the headmaster of j a boarding school had nothing to do j but retire to his room—euphemistically styled his study—and relax. "But," j continued Mr. Stevens, "let me tell any j worried bankers or harassed import- ■ ers who may have made a mental note i that in the event of any future exist- j ence they will be taking on some quiet i occupation, such as headmaster of a > private school, away from the stress! and turmoil of the world, that it is not enough for one to possess some \ smattering of mathematics and the j classics; but one must be a decent car-; penter, a tolerable painter and glazier,! a gardener, plumber, general mechanic, j and a dietitian; in addition to having! the tactfulness of an international; diplomat." ! The King's Birthday. ! Tomorrow, December 14, is the real date of the King's Birthday, although the holiday to celebrate it was taken a few weeks ago. There will only be the usual Saturday half-holiday and no particular celebration except the flying of flags. He was born in 1895 and was the second son of King George V and Queen Mary, who were then Duke and Duchess of York. He was christened Albert Frederick Arthur George, and was known as Prince Albert until he ascended the Throne in the place of his elder brother, King Edward VOT. in 1936. Air Force Cadets. "There is a movement on foot to establish branches of what will be known as Air Force Cadets in our post-primary schools," said Mr. F. Martyn Renner, principal of Rongotai College, at the prize-giving ceremony last night "If this is cautiously undertaken, without detriment to the efficiency of the existing cadet infantry units, it should certainly prove of great value to the future defence of this country. If we make a beginning with the proposal at this school we shall probably begin with one flight—that is, a personnel of 25—even though Rongotai College is possibly more air-minded than most other schools." Old Boys in the Forces. Figures given by Mr. W. A. Armour, i headmaster, in his annual report at the breaking-up ceremony of Wellington College last night, showed that the ! enlistment record of old boys in the Army, Navy, and Air Force up to December 4 totalled 513. Of that total six had been posted missing, two captured, 16 killed, and five wounded. The college, he said, was proud that the 2nd N.Z.E.F. was under the command ©f an old boy, Major-General B. C. Freyberg, V.C., and was also proud of the old boys who had enlisted, and of those who had won distinction during the past year in many walks of life. Mercury Was Early. The recent transit of Mercury across the sun was observed by between 80 and 90 astronomers throughout New Zealand. As fine weather was experienced all over the country on the day of the phenomenon, exact observations were obtained in nearly all cases. The results are now being carefully checked at the Carter Observatory and, although the checking is still only at a preliminary stage, it seems quite certain from the records obtained that the transit took place about half a minute earlier than predicted. For this the makers of astronomical predictions can hardly be blamed, for there are small irregularities in the orbits of the earth and Mercury which would cause the discrepancy between the predicted and actual times of the phonomenon. The great value of the transit to astronomers is that it assists in detecting these irregularities. 1500 Old Boys. In 1928 Rongotai College opened with a roll number of 254 and a staff of nine. It opened this year with an attendance of 549 and a staff of 25. Through the intervening years it has sent out into the business and professional worlds no fewer than 1509 old boys, not.only, to all parts of New Zealand but to all parts of the world, and their dispersal has become wider still as the result of the war. These figures were given by the principal, Mr. F. Martyn Renner, at the prizegiving ceremony last night. School Examinations. Although examinations were almost eliminated from the primary schools and reduced in secondary schools, examinations appeared to have gained rather than lost ground, as the principal means of testing knowledge, stated the headmaster (Mr. W. A. Armour) in his annual report at the breakingup ceremony of Wellington College last night. He expressed the view that one needed only to indicate the extent to which examinations were used for entry to and promotions in the Navy, Army, and Air Force in this coun-* try and throughout the Empire in support of that statement. In the University, too, there appeared to be no reduction in the number of examinations. "If examinations are wrong and contrary to educational progress and principles," Mr. Armour continued, "they should be abolished here as well as in our primary and secondary schools; but if they are justified here, they may be considered as being justified also in the schools. Hence I repeat what I have said on many former occasions, that examinations as examinations are not wrong, but the method of examina- ] tion may be faulty." i Conducted by "Uncle George." ' \ If seats on a mid-afternoon rail-car from Wellington to Upper Hutt are at a premium a crowd of youngsters who attend a Lower Hutt school from smaller settlements in the north are left lamenting on the platform till a later train. If the gods, in the shape of the guard and stationmaster, relent, there is an inundation, and "Uncle George." at the back of the carriage, disappears under a deluge of vociferous youngsters. Before the rail-car is fairly on its way the programme has been discussed and settled, and Lower Hutt is left to the first bars of "Maori Battalions." "Uncle George." even without his uniform, "stripes," and service ribbon, would be a hero, and his distribution of chewing-Emm wins over the little rebels. Dr. Sargent, would be satisfied with the attention riveted by the "choir" on "Uncle George's" baton It little matters if for four or five miles studious passengers resignedly fold up (h?ir newspapers. "Uncle Gaorge" and th<? children are doing their best to "O'3?n our Fin+i'Mnation of the time /'When the Lights of London Shine I Again." ,