NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 49, 26 August 1941, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

Slight Earthquake. A slight earthquake was felt by many people in Wellington last evening at 7.6 p.m. The intensity seems to have varied in different localities, the shock being strong enough in some instances to rattle crockery. The distance of its centre of origin from Wellington was about 50. miles. Rehearing of Appeals. The attitude of the No. 4 Armed Forces Appeal Board towards applications for the rehearing of appeals against military service already determined by the board was briefly referred to by the chairman (Mr. W. F. Stilwell, S.M.) when a case was before the board yesterday afternoon. "If we acceded to the request of every dissatisfied appellant to reopen his case because he has some fresh information that he should have put before the board in the first place, or because he thinks he can put his case in a more impressive way," said Mr. Stiiwell, "the position would become perfectly hopeless as far as the regulation and proper conduct of proceedings are concerned. The board1 wants to be assured that an application for a rehearing is not merely a question of an appellant being dissatisfied with the board's previous decision, but that such fresh evidence as may be adduced was not genuinely available before." i German Songs Verboten? "I am one of those who believe that a song should be sung in the language in which it was written," said Dr. J. Lyon, of London, after judging a class of lieder solos (sung in English) at the Wellington Competitions last night. "We might say German is now verboten. and we don't want to hear it very much, but the difficulty of singing lieder in English is very great." Dr. I Lyon said that all the lieder of Schumann. Schubert. Hugo Wolf, etc.. were written to German words, and when the composer took the words he found j where a word crisis was, and he made his musical crisis to fit it. This, however, was altered when it was translated into English. Lowest Form of Lite. "The lowest form of life yet discovered," was the description applied to crooners by Dr. J. Lyon, of London, speaking at the Wellington Competitions festival last night, "I shall probably have something to say about these people later on in the week," he said, "and I shall probably get into hot water, as I did a few years ago when I talked of crooners." Dr. Lyon said at some future date he might also have something to say about "croonettes," but as to what form of life they constituted he gave no hint. Memorial Tree Planted.. A Cyprus tree, in memory of the late Lieutenant Stewart Foot, who was killed in Crete while serving with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, was planted close to the entrance of the golf house at the North Shore Golf Club, Auckland, b> the president, Mr H. P. Ibbertson, during the weekend. A large gathering attended the ceremony and a plate with a suitable inscription was placed in the ground near the tree. Lieutenant Foot was the elder son of Mr. and Mrs. E. H. Foot, of Cameron Street, Takapuna, and was a prominent member of the North Shore Golf Club. The "Caterpillar Club." How he joined the exclusive "Caterpillar Club," membership of which is gained by a life-or-death parachute leap, is related by Pilot Officer Krebs, of Gisborne, in a letter to his parents. Baling out at 1000 feet, his chute did not open till he was 300 feet from the ground. He landed in a tree. "A lot of chaps here are jealous of my entry into the 'Caterpillar Club,' a name which comes from its badge—a small caterpillar brooch—worn by members, giving name and date of initiation. It costs nothing," he writes, "to become a member. All you have to do is to abandon an aircraft in mid-air and make a successful parachute landing. The badge is supplied by the parachute makers, and you don't get them on a 'fun' jump—it has; to be a matter of life or death."