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Evening Star, Issue 23025, 2 August 1938, Page 8

The case in which John Franklin Gensik was proceeded against by his wife for separation, maintenance, and guardianship orders was continued in tho Police Court yesterday afternoon. After hearing further evidence, Mr H. W. Bundle, S.M., adjourned proceedings for a week.

A Masterton Association message states that in that town £1,650 has now been donated to the Wellington Cathedral fund. The Works Department of the City Corporation is at present busy hanking up corners in Forfar street, Clyde Hul. These corners fell away somewhat sharply from the crown of the road and constituted a minor menace to _ motor car traffic. The work has occupied the attentions of a gang of men for some time, for it has necessitated raising the channels and tho footpaths, in some cases as much as two feet. A great improvement is already apparent in the one corner which has been completed, and when tho work is finished the road will be considerably safer than it was formerly.

There was a clean sheet at the Police Court this morning.

Since February 1 last tho State Placement Service has found employment for 3,055 men in tempo (ary, casual, and permanent work. Of this number 1,031 were subsidised workers, but of tho remainder, i.e., 2,024, some 1,603 were placed in work lor the first time this year. Such definite placement of men hi work means a big saving to tho Employment Promotion Fund, and tho State Placement Service advises that it has saved the fund 1,742 mon-weeks, at an average of £2 a week per man. The Everedi Service Station, owned by Mr R. Dow, in Princes street, was entered some time between 8 p.m. yesterday and 7.25 this morning, and a sum of about £9 in money was stolen from the till. Entrance was gained by springing a padlock on the outer door. Electricians must be in short supply these days. Tho State Placement Officer, Mr T. A. White, told a ‘ Star ’ reporter that he had received a communication which set forth the requirements of a firm in Taumarunui, on the North Island Main Trunk railway. The firni required an electrician, Mr White said, and guaranteed a salary of £6 a week. The firm also offered to set up a suitable man in a subsidiary business within the district, providing stock, etc., to the extent of £SOO. So far the service has been unable to find an unemployed electrician ; and to t fill the vacancy it is not going to take a man out of a job.

Prior to tho commencement of business at the City Council meeting last evening the mayor (Mr A. H. Allen) said he would like to mention one important event that would take place in the city shortly. That was the Otago Boys’ High School seventy-fifth anniversary. The school had been of great value to the city. His Worship said, and it was safe to say the school was one of the city’s proudest institutions. He wished the pupils all happiness and gaiety for this happy event, and moved that the council’s congratulations be sent to the school. Or E. J. Smith, an executive of the Old Boys’ Association, and as an old boy of the school, in seconding the mayor’s proposal, expressed pleasure at the mayor’s remarks, and thanked him for the gesture, which would be appreciated by the school. He also thanked councillors for carrying the motion. The State Placement Service has some 580 trades and callings listed in its records, which are •weekly brought up to date. Each week tho list gives the number of men available for employment, and the nature of the work they can undertake, in every town and city. If, for instance, a vulcaniser is wanted in Dunedin, the list is scrutinised and if there is a man unemployed in the trade in say, New Plymouth, the service there is contacted and the man and the employer brought into communication and, if possible, the vacancy filled. . By this means, men with any qualifications whatever need not long be out of employment if they are prepared to travel. Tho education history class room of the Otago University was fairly well filled last night, when Dr Thomas G-eenwood. of College, London, gav=. an address on * British Contriuu'uions to tuc Gon temporary I'iii.osophy of Nature.’ There were two great schools of philosophy —that of idealism and that of realism—said the speaker, hut idealism was most important in the contemporax-y philosophies of Nature. These developed in that direction when Einstein’s theories became prominent. After stating this was tho case with Lord Haldane, Eddington, and Jeans, the speaker enlarged upon the philosophy of each. Haldane believed that reality and Nature were reduced to a mental and phenomenal conception, and the study of them became ultimately a study of the nature of the mind. Eddington and Jeans contended that the probability of pure chance in the building of Nature was rejected. A creator was a mathematical end, a theological necessity. Leading the' school of realists were Russell. Whitehead, Broad, and Dr Morgan, logic being the builder of their philosophy. They saw no difference between matter and life except in their degree of complexity. Broad, evading the idea of God, viewed that tho mind acted on bodies through volition and bodies acted on the mind through sensation. Tho Government is finding difficulty in securing the necessary quota of young men from Otago for military and vocational training course at Tren- S tham camp. So far, despite the inducement of greatly-increased pay, omy eight have been secured aud another 40 young men are required. Tho six months in camp includes three months vocational training. Tho Employment Promotion Service has endeavoured to interest young men in tho camp tiainiug scheme, but so far the response has been negligible. Rarely, if ever, has whitebait been available in Dunedin as early in tho season as the beginning of August, but the first of this season’s catch was on sale to-day. It came from the south, is of splendid quality, and expectations are that the season will be an unusually good one. Supplies of whitebait are also expected shortly from other sources, and the Dunedin market should be much better supplied than it has been for many seasons. These sources will be now so far as this city is concerned, and consignments will come from them by air. The recent had weather has been instrumental in placing a number of men on the register of tho local Employment Bureau, especially in mining and farming pursuits. In tho former, several mines have closed down owing to the freeze up and a number of men have been put off, while so far as farming is concerned the present time is tho slackest of all. However, farmers are taking advantage of the Government’s State Placement Service and many are getting in early and booking up their labour requirements for as far ahead as September next. “ There is a feeling among some people that the Government’s public works programmes are taking workers from tho country,” said Mr T. A. White, placement officer for Dunedin to a ‘ Star ’ reporter yesterday, “ but such is not the case.” A man who went on to public works, if he had any experience of farming, Mr White said, was required to sign a form to mo effect that if. and when, farm work became available he would accept it. If the men refused to sign the form then they were not given work and were struck off the sustenance rolls. It was not the intention of the Government, tho Placement Officer said, to take men from one trade or calling to tho detriment of another, simply because tho mon felt they might like a change. An important extension of the work of the Salvation Army will shortly be carried out at the Army Home at Caversham. The building has recently been reconstructed and refurnished, and a new suite of rooms is to be used for old ladies, tho new department taking the form of an eventide home.” To mark the occasion of the opening on the afternoon, of August It), at 2.45, numerous invitations have been sent out, and an attendance of over a hundred is anticipated. The mayor (Mr A. H. Allen) will preside, and Lady Sidcy will officially declare the new wing open. Tho visitors will bo entertained and given the opportunity of inspecting tho premises.

That the recent demand for electric power had reached phenomenal proportions, far above any level expected, was claimed by the Minister of Public Works (Hon. R. Semple) in a statement he made yesterday at Little River. He also claimed that it need not be feared that there would bo any great increase in the existing peak loads.

“A hundred years ago this week, there were thousands of women and children employed in coal mines in England, said Mr Macdonald. “ I tell you that industry will do anything if it pays it,” said Mr A. L. Monteith, workers’ representative on the Court of Arbitration, when Mr D. I. Macdonald, employers’ advocate in the bakers’ dispute, was opposing an alteration in a clause in tho proposed bakery award, dealing with tho employment of youth bakers (says tho ‘Press’). Mr Monteith expressed the opinion that the clause, in its present form, placed very little restriction upon the employment of youth labour, but Mr Macdonald, in reply, contended that tho amount of youth labour employed was strictly governed by tho amount of unskilled work offering. He strongly denied Mr Monteith’s suggestion that tho industry •would “ do anything if it paid it,” and said that present conditions in the bakery trade disproved this.

The postal authorities advise that the air mail despatched on July 12 reached London on Thursday last.

Mr A. Campbell, M.P., has sent the Mayor of Port Chalmers a telegram regretting his inability to bo present at the Arbor Day planting of trees and shrubs to-morrow. Although unable to leave Wellington, Mr Campbell has forwarded a dozen young New Zealand trees as a gesture of personal interest in tho celebration of Arbor Day. Fire caused through the action oi water on a bag of unslaked lime de- ' stroyed a shed at 94 Glasgow street, South Dunedin, early this morning. Machines from the South Dunedin and the Central stations were called shortly after 6.30. The occupier of the property is Mr J. H. Bell. There was no damage when an oven caught fire at 2 Kaikorai Valley road, tho brigade turning out at 10.20 a.m. At 11.44 the brigade answered a justifiable call to Wallace street, Kaikorai. A chimney fire in Clyde street was dealt with at 4 p.m. yesterday. Added to the Territorial display in tho window of a large city shop to-day was portion of the collection, of war medals which has been the hobby or Colonel G, Barclay, of Anderson’s Bay, for some time.-The medals .shown include those awarded by Britain, France, and Germany, the most interesting being one British and one German one awarded for the Battle of Waterloo, in 1915 Included in the British collection are the Victoria Cross, the Distinguished Service Order, and other awards for gallantry, while France is represented by the Legion of Honour, the Croix <le Guerre, and a number oi other awards. A number of medals of the last war are included in the German collection, while there are also several dating back to the time of the Franco-Prussian War.

With all the building going forward in New Zealand at the present time it is hard to imagine first-class carpenters being out of work, but such is the position. Work has been, held, up through inclement weather conditions, while, too, jobs also have been halted because of the non-arrival of steel. This applies to the new railway bus depot in course of construction, where, same 14 carpenters went off at one time. Mr T. A. White, State Placement Officer in Dunedin, advises there are a number of carpenters idle, but that there are numerous jobs available in the North Island and inquiries have been received for carpenters from.a number of northern towns and cities. However, the men locally unemployed were married and would not travel. No doubt when the Government’s housing scheme, is fully operative, instead of there being unemployed carpenters there will be a dearth of them. The service, advises that it has no difficulty in placing firstclass tradesmen in jobs and in certain callings the men are not to be had.

“ It is not fair that a. Methodist should give £I,OOO and wo sit back and give £5,” declared the Bishop of Wellington, when speaking in support of the Wellington Anglican cathedral fund at Maeterton last night. He added that he would not build a cathedx'al unless it also opened the pockets of the people. Referring to the money already received, or promised, tho Bishop said that £3OO had been promised, from Greytown and four individuals in Carterton had promised £675. Mr W. Howard Booth had said; “I will give you £500.” Before the meeting commenced the Bishop stated that some £SOO was in eight.—Press Association. The postal authorities advise that the Wanganella left Sydney on Saturday for Wellington with 34 bags of Australian mail and the London air mail of July 21. The air mail should be to hand ou Wednesday afternoon and the ordinary mail on Thursday. It was a colourful picture of the wage-earner of the future which Cr. J. M'Crae painted during a discussion which took place at the meeting of the City Council last evening on the subject of municipal housing. History showed, he said, that wages steadily progressed. Time was when a workman lived comfortably on 4d per week, and those men would have laughed at the bare suggestion that anyone would ever earn as much as £5 per week. Not so many years ago, tho councillor continued, the average wage was £2, today it was £5 to £6, aud 25 years hence it would' bo £lO. “ And,” he added, ‘‘if one could live long enough he would see wages at £IOO per week.” Even the Labour councillors laughed at this, but Cr M'Crae, who had introduced tbe matter in support of his contention that tho council need fear no loss on its houses, insisted that, under tho prevailing financial system, such advances in wages could not be prevented. Tho Caversham Bowling Club sends us £2 2s for the Carswell testimonial fund. Writing to a Dunedin lady, Mr E. V. Sanderson, president of the Forest and Bird Protection Society, says;—One envies you the presence of tho tuis and bellbirds. Dunedin appears to attract more of such birds into man’s'habitations than any other city in New Zealand. Up here (Wellington), we get an odd tui aud an odd pigeon, and I doubt if Auckland even gets that. The presence of so many birds is a compliment to the people in Dunedin. Eye strain-7or eye comfort, for better vision, consult Stunner and Watson Ltd., opticians. 2 Octagon. Dunedin.—fAdvt.l The half-yearly purple lecture and past officers’ degree meeting of the Otago District, M.XJ 1.0.0. F, will bo held in the Caversham Lodge to-morrow night.