NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 145, 16 December 1940, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Hard To Please,

"I am not going to talk much," said Dr. Max Pirani, pianist and Royal Colleges of Music examiner, as a prelude to his recital in James Smith, Ltd.'s, rooms, Wellington, on Saturday night. "I am always a little afraid of lecture recitals myself. I remember the comment of one of my friends in the interval at one of these events in the Wigmore Hall, London. He said of the recitalist: 'When he plays I wish he'd talk, and when he talks I wish he'd play.'"

Saluting the Flag.

Children whose parents do not desire them to salute the flag or take part in any patriotic observance cannot be compelled by a teacher to do so. That opinion, expressed by the Taranaki Education Board at a meeting last week when discussing instances that had occurred- at Taranaki schools, has been confirmed in a letter from Mr. G. E. Overton, writing for the Director of Education. In the broadest sense, such ceremonies formed part of instruction in history, the reply stated. The Education Act provided that no child should be compelled to be present at the teaching of history if its parents or guardians objected.

Chaplains in Glass Case.

A unique feature of the 2nd Infantry Brigade's church parade at the Palmerston North Showgrounds yesterday morning was that the chaplains were enclosed in a glass booth. It was because use was being made of this Manawatu A. and P. Association's loud speaker system, which is so sensitive that the microphone must be insulated from all extraneous noises.

No "Greetings" Telegrams.

Owing to the need for the conservation of paper supplies and the fact of the reduced staffing of the Post and Telegraph Department, no concession "greetings" telegrams will be available this Christmas or New Year. In the past the public has had the advantage of selecting a message of greetings which was transmitted at a reduced rate. This year greetings that are telegraphed will go at ordinary rates, and the wording of the messages will be a matter for individual senders.

"Gangsters" now Extinct.

"One good thing that has come out of the war is the changed outlook' of schoolboys," a suburban grocer told a "Post" reporter. Before the war, he said, the schoolboys who congregated near his shop played "gangsters" on lines copied from American films. Now the boys were all soldiers. Formerly they picked on small boys as victims of hold-ups and kidnappings, but they had a difficulty now. No-one wanted to act as Germans cr Italians. He did not say if they kept out of the way or merely ran.

"Leander Bay."

A suggestion that the work of the New Zealand cruiser Leander should be recognised by naming the bay adjoining. Achilles Point after her was made by Mr.H.Luke, chairman of the Auckland Harbour Board, when speaking at the ceremony at Achilles Point on Friday. He hoped steps would be taken to have this done. Commander C. H. T. Palmer suggested that tha City Council should endeavour to secure and erect a flagpole on the point, and the Mayor, Sir Ernest Davis, said that was already being con. sidered. "We hope to get the topmast of the Achilles that carried the battle flag of New Zealand into action," he added amid cheers.

New Wheat Varieties.

The production of new wheat varieties, a process which normally takes from 10 to 12 years, can be shortened by two years by a method at present being used by the Wheat Research Institute, states the Christchurch "Press." The method is to use a glasshouse for the growing of the earlier generations of the crosses which produce new wheats, and thus to pack into two years work that would take four if the seasons had to be waited on in the field. After explaining the method to the members of the Wheat Research Institute yesterday, the institute's geneticist, Dr. O. H. Frankel, said: "If a useful variety were to emerge from any of these crosses, its earlier distribution would amply repay the expenditure involved in glasshouse cultivation."

Hydatids in Canterbury.

"In spite of all education and publicity by the Department of Agriculture and the Health Department, the incidence of hydatids on Canterbury farms has not decreased. Apparently oblivious to the dangers, farmers in the province, where the incidence of the disease is probably higher than in any other part of New Zealand, are still doing little to prevent the spread of the disease." This was stated on Friday by Mr. E. E. Elphick, superintendent of the livestock division of the Department of Agriculture, Christchurch, in an interview with the "Press." "Farmers," Mr. Elphick said, "are not doing much to assist the Department either by dosing their dogs with the prescribed arecoline hydrobromide or by dealing properly with offal. The result is that at present the percentage of sheep and iambs in Canterbury affected by hydatids is exceedingly high." Considering ths danger not only to animals, but to people, he added, the present laxity in taking simple precautions was "monstrous."

Women's War Effort.

The patriotic efforts of New Zealand women in the war and the many personal sacrifices they had made in assisting to provide comforts and general facilities for the men of the N.Z.E.F. received praise during the hearing of a deputation by the Minister of Internal Affairs (Mr. Parry) on Saturday. "On the women is the job of showing a son, a husband, or a friend what a wonderful duty he is doing for the Empire and his country, and the way the women have done that job—well, only our women could do it," said one speaker. "I believe our women are so imbued with the need for their work that, if you asked them to do so, they would patriotically sacrifice their silk stockings and wear lisle, cotton, or wool ones." Mr. Parry said there was no doubt of the splendid sacrifice made by New Zealand women in order that the country's fighting men overseas and those in training in the camps could receive of the best for their services to the nation. "Our women, particularly the mothers and young wives," the Minister added, "view the war in proper perspective and the ungrudging sacrifice of their sons and husbands is one among many fine chapters of the war."