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Evening Star, Issue 23237, 10 April 1939, Page 10

Something in the way of a record for lengthy association with a football team must have been put up by Mr A. E. (Tiddley) White, who has been president of the Merivalo Football Club for the past 10 years. This is the fiftieth time that the Merivale-Al-hambra contest has been staged, and Mr White recalls that on the occasion of the first match in 1894, he played for the Merivale side. Mr White played for Canterbury for five seasons, and was captain of the team for four of them.

Back from Ills visit to England, Dr Galway “ struck form ” immediately in his organ recital on the Town Hail instrument last night, giving great pleasure to a large audience that included many visitors. Four new items found place on the programme —‘Easter Prelude’ (Egerton), a hitherto unknown Handel work, ‘ Largo In E.' ‘ Tune For the Flutes ’ (John Stanley) and an Elizabethan trifle ‘ A Maggot.’ The highlights of the evening, however, were the magnificent Bach Prelude , and Fugue in A Minor, the Beethoven Larghetto from Violin Concerto, and the great ‘ Hallelujah ’ Chorus from Handel’s 1 Messiah.’ The conventional standing of the audience for this item seems a little outmoded. It originated with the London performance in 1742, when the King was so strudk by the grandeur of the piece that he rose to salute the composer, the whole audience perforce following suit. The convention seems a little out-of-date; there are. many musical works more worthy of such honour. At any rate, Dr Galway played the piece with great verve and eclat, and electrified his audience. The supplementary programme was excellent. Miss Mavis M'Donald revealed unique virtuosity in a splendid ■ interpretation of Chopin’s ‘ Variations Brillantes,’ while Mr Alfred. Walmsley delighted his auditors with two modern songs—- ‘ The Sea Gipsy ’ and ‘ Captains Three.’

The following letter, from “ Worried,” appears in the New Zealand 1 Herald —“ I beg you to publish the following particulars in the hope that it may meet tl,« eye of those who claim that . the worker is better off under Labour rule. I have a wife and four children, and this is our compulsory bill in necessities:—Groceries, £1; rent, rates, insurance, £1 10s 8d; family insurance, 5s 2d; gas and lighting, 7s; bus fares, ss; wage levy, 4s 6d. My wage is £4 10s. Is there anyone willing to advise me how to spend the balance? My children are badly needing clothes and footwear. Before the advent of Labour I earned £4 ps for 44 hours’ work and I was satisfied. To-day I am in Poverty Street. Why? Is this the improvement in conditions that our Labour leaders boast of? 1 dread the future.”

The Automobile Association’s capping grounds at;Tahuna Park have been well patronised over the week-end, and a picturesque appearance has been presented by rows of many-shaped and many-coloured tents. Conditions have been ideal for a tenting week-end, and the camp site is a comfortable one, well-spoken of by drivers. These motorists came from all over the South Island, the majority proceeding no further than Dunedin, although quite a number used the grounds for only one night before journeying north or south. Not all visiting motorists, however, used the official camp, and one party found another site last night. This party ran its car along the railway lines on the foreshore, and camp was struck in the long grass there.

A situation which bore some resemblance to the old fable of the lion and the mouse developed on the harbour on Saturday afternoon. The well-known motor boat, Victory, was bruising about in the shallower depths beyond the Victoria channel, when the propeller fouled a long length of cable. Further progress was impossible so signals were given the fourteen-footer, Winifred, which was sailing in the vicinity, and the services of the small yacht were requisitioned. The return of the motor boat to its moorings at Yauxhall was made somewhat ignominiously, towed by a mere “ sailer.”

Residents of New Zealand have many preconceived and perhaps mistaken ideas of the habits, failings, or accomplishments of Scotsmen, One such idea was forcibly and. unexpectedly expressed recently when Mr J. L. M‘G Watson wa addressing a gathering at Winton. He was explaining the meaning of the phrase “ a’ the honours three,” so familiar in song. ‘‘ The honours are kept in Edinburgh Castle. I have seen them there myself. The honours are the sword, the sceptre, and the —” “ Corkscrew,” interrupted a voice from the back of the hall, and Mr Wa'tson’s dramatic peroration ended in a burst of laughter from the audience. When quiet was restored Mr Watson said that, whatever good grounds the intorjeetor might have for his assertion, the article mentioned was not usually considered Scotland’s third honour. The crown held that distinction.

Fifteen young men, who arrived in Sydney from England under the Church of England Advisory Council for Empire Settlement scheme were highly recommended bv Mr B. Burns, a Sydney barrister, who was in charge of the party (states the ‘ Sydney Morning Herald’). “ There will be no more migrant misfits,” he said. “ These and other lads who are being sent to Australia have been specially selected for their_ suitability and adaptability to farming conditions. Although none of them has had any farming experience, all ~are keen to make good,” he added. “ They are under a two years’ bond to stay in Australia or repay their passage money, but 1 don’t think any of them will have to make repayment.” Among the migrants were labourers, joiners, mechanics, shop assistants, messengers, and foundry hands. After eight weeks’ training at Scheyville Farm, Windsor, the boys will be drafted to approved farms.

Part of the turf in the playing area of Rongotai College has already been removed, and after Easter the rest will go in the preparation of the ground for the exhibition amusement park (says the Wellington ‘ Post ’). Changing the college playground to one for the whole of New Zealand will leave the boys, of whom there are 555, without a ground for cricket and other games. It was understood that the corporation would arrange for other grounds for the boys, but so far the contemplated action has not been announced. They will need another playing area next month.

A suggestion that heather should be grown in various parts of New Zealand, where it would add colour to the scenery, was made to a ‘ Press ’ reporter by a visitor from Edinburgh, Mr A. Trotter, who has seen many of the scenic attractions of the South Island. Ho said, that he greatly admired the scenery of the Dominion, and if there was any place outside Scotland that he would settle in it would be New Zealand. “ I know the difficulties about introducing anything into New Zcalaixd because of the way in which it might spread,” he said, “ but I think it would be a great asset to the scenery in places such as Rotorua and round about Lake Manapouri and Lumsden in the South Island. Farmers might be worried about it, and I realise that it could bo introduced only in certain places; but in Scotland the sheep (perhaps they are of a different breed) do not seem to mind it.” Mr Trotter, who has spent a great part of his life in British Columbia and has now retired, said that he might have come to settle in New Zealand, but he found that he would not have been able, to buy any land where ho would have wished to have it: near the Milford Track, Hollyford, or tho Eglintoii Valjey. It was all national reserve. He thought that some of this land might be opened up for settlement, not for farming, for which it was not suitable, but for estates for retired men. with capital. At present those places were not easily accessible. Settlement of this kind would make them more so.

“ From letters which I received nobody in London seemed to worry very much about the New Zealand import restrictions when they were introduced : they expected them to clear up very soon, but they have not cleared as soon as was; expected,” said Mr H. G. Christy, an English businessman, who is visiting Christchurch. He said that his firm considered New Zealand one of its best customers for the size of the population.- • Of- business conditions in England he said-that all he knew was that they were very good last March, and/ apart from the shocks given by the European situation, trade was excellent. Ho gathered now that the stock exchange did not react so markedly to European crises, as people had become used to them. Perhaps, however, this was because stocks were at such a low , ebb that they could not show any effect.

Because of the comparatively moderate temperature on the Auckland coast an unusually large number of rock oysters do not appear to have spawned this season, especially on the more exposed areas, while the set of the oyster spat' on the rocks is reported to bo very’ poor. Through a series of favourable .seasons there are now such heavy clusters. of; young oysters generally on rocks on most east coast areas that a heavy -.set of spat this season would have been unwelcome to the Fisheries Department. If oysters duster too thickly on the rocks or on the mature oysters growth is retarded.

Under the auspices of the Mosgiel Ministers’ Association an impressive united service was held at the Baptist Church on Good Friday morning. The church, which was tastefully decorated in white for the Easter season, was crowded. Passion hymns were sung as follows:—‘ O Come and Mourn With Me,’ ‘Alas! And Did My Saviour Bleed?’, ‘When I Survey the Wondrous, Cross,’ and ‘ We Sing the Praise of Him Who Died.’ Scripture lessons were read from the Prophet-Isaiah and the gospel according to St. Luke. The Rev. Stanley C. Read preached from the text, ‘ That I may know Him . . . And the fellowship of His sufferings ’ (Philippians 3; 10). The service was conducted by Rev. E. P. Y. Simpson, and Miss S. Armstrong was organist.

Captain E. Koehler, Australian representative of the Hamburg-Araerika Line, returned to Sydney recently after attending an inquiry at Hamburg into the wreck of the German training barque Admiral Karpfanger, which was lost with all hands near Cape Horn early last year, when bound from Port Germein, South Australia, to Falmouth with a cargo of grain. It was found by the court, Captain Koehler said, that the vessel sank after striking an iceberg, a large number of which were reported by merchant ships in the vicinity of Cape Horn about the time the barque would have been there. Parts of wreckage, which included pieces of wood and a lock from a door, were taken-to Hamburg, he said, and identified as belonging to the ship. Because the wreckage may have drifted some miles the inquiry was unable to fix the.spot where the disaster occurred.

' To illustrate the effect of incendiary bombs and possible delayed action, Mr J. Peel, in his lecture to St. John Ambulance members in Napier last week, used small tufts of cotton wool, and on them were placed one or two drops of the chemical. After several minutes the tufts burst into flames, but on one occasion one went off with a loud bang giving an unexpected and realistic effect to the demonstration, much to the amusement of those present.

With English summer time commencing on Sunday, April 16, and New Zealand summer time ending a fortnight later, radio listeners will have to do some calculations to arrive at comparative times for Dominion and overseas broadcasts. - New Zealand is now two hours ahead of Australia, but will he only an hour and a-half in advance when the clocks are put hack on. April 60. The conjunction of English and New Zealand summer time in the fortnight April 16 to April 30 calls for a little eoncentratiqn. At present the Dominion is 12 hours ahead of London. When the English clocks are advanced an hour to their summer time on April 16, the Dominion will be ■ll hours ahead, and when this country reverts to winter time it will be only IOJ hours ahead.

Throe of the head masters’ straps which disappeared mysteriously in the early days of the school were mentioned fi'equently at the golden jubilee celebrations of- the New Brighton District High School on Saturday (says the Christchurch ‘Press’). But the Minister of Industries and Commerce, the Hon. D. G; Sullivan, was able to clear up at least part of the mystery.. He told the big gathering that Dr C. E. Beeby, a former pupil and now Assistant Director of Education, had confessed to have hidden one of them. The disclosure caused a great deal of amusement, particularly when Mr Sullivan emphasised the high position Dr Beeby now holds in educational administration.

Both the Central and Roslyn Fire Brigades answered a call at 10.23 p.m. on Saturday to Gardiner street, where a defect in the wiring system of a motor car caused a slight outbreak of fire in the vehicle. The only damage was to the wiring. Yesterday, at G. 39 a.m.. a justifiable alarm was received from the corner of George and Albany streets, while at 4.15 in the afternoon a scrub fire in Warden street, Opobo, was attended to. Two minutes later machines wore called to the corner of Liverpool ami Bond streets by a malicious false alarm.

Nearly 1,000 people left Dunedin this morning by the three north expresses at 8.45. 10.50. and 11.35. which carried 250, 320, and 400 passengers respectively, Few passengers left for the south this morning, and this indicated' a Ifeavy rush for the trains this afternoon and to-night. Advice received by the railway authorities is that all inward trains this evening will be heavily laden with returning holiday-makers. Tho long spell of fine, dry weather has resulted in the mountains near Arthur’s Pass .being almost devoid of snow. Mount Rplleston has a few large patches of old snow showing, and there are a few small patches on other peaks. Many of the creeks between Arthur s Pass and Otira have completely dried up, and Lake Misery is more or less dried mud. Heavy motor traffic has made tho road surface' loose and dusty.

Tbc article, ' Boland and Danzig,’ in Saturday's issue should have been attributed to Mr J. Rich. A special holiday dance will be held to-night in tho Early Settlers’ Hall. The Sports Band, assisted by Hogg's sound system, will provide the music,