NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 74, 24 September 1941, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

Bright Planets. The planet Venus is a very conspicuous object in the western sky every evening now. Setting some hours after the sun, its steady and brilliant light outshines any other celestial body in its neighbourhood. To the naked eye it looks round, but through the telescope it has a gibbous appearance. Another planet very prominent in the night sky- at the present time is Mars, which is easily distinguishable by its ruddy appearance. Mar- in the earlier part of the evening will be seen in the eastern sky. Mercury, although not as conspicuous as Venus or Jupiter, will shortly be in the best possible position for observation. At the beginning of next month it will be setting two hours after the sun. At present Mercury will be found a little below Venus. Although not so pronounced, it too has a reddish appearance like Mars. Mercury, being relatively close to the" sun, does not present itself for favourable observation as often as the other planets. Housewives in Arms. War has been carried into the dairy1 camp by Sydney's home guard, the Housewives' Association. The casus belli is the high price of butter. A member of the State Legislature has asked in the House of Assembly whether it was a fact that the association had entered into an agreement with a margarine company to promote the sale of its product. He represented a dairying electorate. Assurance was given him that any contravention of the Act would be dealt with. The chairman of the Housewives' Association, Mrs. Eleanor Glencross, said that" since the increase in the price of butter, three years ago, she had advocated the use of margarine. If there were a further increase in the price of butter, she said, the association would advocate cutting down butter purchases by half. Untidy Oriental Bay. "A Karori Mother" writes to "The Post": "To the mothers of this city and suburbs Oriental Bay is the only handy stretch of sandy beach for miles around, and to call the bay one of Wellington's 'beauty spots' at present would be an overstatement, for to put it frankly it is untidy and looks more like a rubbish tip. Last Wednesday I took my young child around there to play in the sand and sunshine. Well, the sunshine was about all he got. The beach was littered with decaying fruit, old tins, boxes, papers, and all the garbage and filth you ever saw was piled on that narrow stretch. If the cleaning department of the Wellington City Council and the town's Beautifying Society are looking for a job of work they really don't have to look far, for one peep at Oriental Bay should convince them that their job of searching is about over and besides bringing that place into its own as a real beauty spot they will give Wellington mothers a place to take their children with some confidence of cleanliness." Night Medical Calls. The opinion that the time was inopportune for the introduction of a night medical service in Auckland was expressed in a report received by the Auckland Hospital Board on Monday. The report by the relief committee stated the Auckland division of the British Medical Association had asked the board to appoint a to cope with urgent night calls, and the association was prepared to draw up a rota of medical men in the city, this rota to be used-in conjunction with the board's appointee. One doctor could not be | expected to be on call all night seven I nights a week so two appointments would have to be made •/en at the inception of the scheme. If the ser- ( vice was started in the city, outer suburbs would expect the same consideration. While the war 'asted the shortage of doctors would become more acute. The report was adopted.