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Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 226, 22 August 1940, Page 6

Secret Session. The House of Representatives met in secret session again to-day. ior the third time since it assembled late in May. It is proposed to confine it to the .one day. Commissioner Control. An extension of commissioner control at Thames for 'a further six years is provided for in the Thames Borough Commissioner Amendment Bill, which has been introduced in the House of Representatives. Apiti School Fire. It was reported to the Wanganui Education Board, yesterday, that an attempt had been made recently to burn down the Apiti School. Kerosene had been used, but little damage had been done and the matter was now in the hands of the police. Horses For Army.

In January a large number of horses will be required for the Territorial training scheme,' and Colonel H. B. Maunsell, 0.8. E., E.D., Officer Commanding the 2nd New Zealand Mounted'Brigade, has expressed the hope that farmers will lend their horses to the ariny so that training will not be restricted in any way. Fine Mere Found.

A splendid specimen of a mere, believed to bo of whalebone, and of great age, was discovered by Mr G. Chase, of To Hauke, in the old overflow of Poukawa Lake, Hawke’s Bay. It is about 12 inches long, and between four and five inches across at its broadest point, and the handle is carved to an unusual extent. Poukawa Lake was long ago the centre of much Maori activity. School Staff Changes.

At the meeting of the Wanganui Education Board, yesterday, the resignation of Miss E. M. Pearce (Whakarongo) from the board’s teaching staff was received, among others, and among the appointments made were the following: Miss N. J. McKittrich, infant,mistress, West End; Miss J. M, Woods, assistant mistress, Apiti District High School; Miss N. Benge, additional assistant mistress, Eoxton District High School. Mr R. W. Atmore was appointed a secondary department master at the Marton District High School under the war appointments scheme. Maori Generosity. The Maoris of Waikato have sent 31 tons of vegetables to the military camps, including Hopu Hopu and the Maori, camp at Palmerston North. These vegetables comprised kumaras, potatoes, maize pumpkins, and onions, and were given free to the military authorities. Since October, the Maori Red Cross, ilnder Te Puoa Herangi’6 control, has raised over £BOO. and her aim is £IOOO. Since October, the Maoris, she states, have sold flowers from the na, and kumaras and Maori baskets. I hey have organised dances and given concerts. For the. duration of the war, too, she has taken an unprecedented step in opening the pa at Ngaruawahia to visitors. They paid a maximum of 3s to enter and from the proceeds she has raised more than £2OO.

An Everlasting Debt. “Never before in. the history of human conduct has so much been done for so many by' so few.” —The Prime Minister (Mr Winston Churchill) in the House of Commons in extolling the great feats of the Royal Air force pilots. Inspection of Firearms. A general check of registered firearms is being carried out by the police, this being similar to a detailed survey of the firearms in New Zealand carried out some years ago. Timber From Wreck. Timber from the hull of the stranded liner Port Bowen is being used at the military camp on the Wanganui Racecourse. Decking from the hull and lining boards from below deck and inside cabins have been found very useful. Taihape Stove. It was reported to the Wanganui Hospital Board, at its meeting that the stove in the kitchen at the Taihape Hospital nurses’ home burns a ton of coal in eight days. A committee was set up for the purpose of purchasing a new stove.

Petrol Economy. The value of low speed as a means of conserving petrol was recently demonstrated by a. test carried out by an Auckland motorist. Using an ordinary small car, he set out with the intention of travelling as far as possible on two gallons (one coupon). He covered 114 miles, an average of 57 miles a gallon. Rightness of Patriotism.

“I will give you a password for the times—‘Our country,, still our country, to be cherished in all our hearts, to be defended by all our. hands,’ ” said Sir Thomas Hunter, principal of Victoria University College, addressing the Wellington branch of the Royal Society of • St: George. He said many modern people despised patriotism, but to him it seemed a sentiment of highest value. Paekakariki Hill Road.

Support for the request that the Paekakariki Hill road be not closed to through traffic, which is likely to be the result of the Government’s returning to the Hutt County Council the responsibility of its maintenance, was given representatives ' of local bodies who attended a meeting yesterday convened by the Wellington Automobile Association. Stress was laid on the r alue of the road in the event of an emergency.

Trout Yearlings. The council of the Wellington Acclimatisation Society has decided to discontinue for the present year at least the rearing of yearlings by the society, but if any sub-committec desires to continue its rearing of yearlings consideration will be given. Ranger T. Andrews said the Taihape sub-committee and the Palmerston Nortli sub-committee might wish to carry on as they were now doing, provided that their respective activities were not a charge on the council. Testing “Ghatterbugs.”

“The spreader of rumour never had the information at first hand: it was always what he had heard,” said “Onlooker” in a 8.8. C. talk. “You may remember the Judge told Sam Weller in ‘Bardell against Pickwick’ —‘Aou must not tell us what the soldier or any other man said. It is not evidence.’ That simple ruling might well be observed \ and when you next hear a ‘chatterbug,’ if you have the patience, ,-fou might try your hand at a little cross-examination. ‘What’s the name of your brother-in-law who told you? Where does he live ? Did he see the incident? If not, • who told him? What was his name ? Where does he live? Did ho see it himself? If 60,. what did he do? Did he tell the police? Which police station? What did they do? And so on. The discomfiture of the chatterbug is certain, and must be your reward. For in many instances the chatterbug does not realise that it is rumour lie is spreading; he recounts it as a fact ; and your cross-examination will disabuse liis mind. Try itl”