NEWS OF THE DAY

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 264, 7 November 1938, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

Member’s New Designation Introduced as the M.C. for Palmer rton North, at a social gathering on Saturday night, Mr. J. Hodgcns, M.P., said, amidst laughter, he must deny the soft impeachment. £2OOO to Theosophical Lodge After the extinction of certain life interests a sum of £2OOO lias been bequeathed to the H. P. B. Lodge of New Zealand section of tho Thcosophical Society by Mr. John Ross Thompson, of Auckland, clerk in holy orders, whose death occurred on October* 23. The testator has also given to the Liberal Catholic Church of St. Frances at Auckland his vestments and altar and all his sacred or ecclesiastical vessels. The estate has been valued for purposes of probate at £4OOO. Compiling a Church History The project of publishing an authoritative history of tho Presbyterian Church of New Zealand was authorised by the General Assembly of the Church last year. The committee entrusted with the matter has now reported to the General Assembly its gratification that Professor J. R. Elder, professor of history at the University of Otago, is prepared to undertake the compilation of a history extending to about 400 pages. Dr. Elder has been asked to proceed with the enterprise. Nelson Centenarian Mrs. Ann Hart, of Richmond, celebrated the one-hundredth anniversary of her birth on Saturday. With her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Hammond, she came out to New Zealand in the barque Lord William Bcntinck, arriving at Auckland in December, 1851. The Hammond family remained for five months in Auckland and then came to Nelson, settling in Richmond, where Mrs. Hart has lived ever since. She married in 3863. Her husband died many years ago, and there are no children living. Wellington Emu Chicks Since the day in September when their father hatched them the three emu chicks at the Newtown Zoo, Wellington, have grown into sturdy young birds, fully ISin. high. The curator of the zoo, Mr. J. Langridge, said that he thought that two of the birds were males and the third, a female. They would take about 12 months to grow to adulthood. At present they are in a run with their father, and he will remain in charge of them for about three months until they are able to fend for themselves. Rotorua New Zealand That Australians largely thought of Rotorua as being New Zealand was a remark passed by Mr Arnold W. Johnson, general manager of the Orient Line, when speaking to a reporter on Saturday at Milson. Ho was engaged in a tour of the Dominion to learn as much as he could about the country so that he could help correct that impression and speak more authoritatively of New Zealaud when meeting tourists. Mr Johnson added that he had not yet been to Rotorua, but it was liis intention to go there in the course of his tour. Guy Fawkes’ Night The lure of Guy Fawkes has down through the years fascinated the younger generation just as it has always intrigued grown-ups, and on Saturday night those indulging in this centuries-old “ritual” were favoured with fine weather, and dotted at various places around the city, bonfires, both large and small, could be seen illuminating the sky, while bursting rockets showered earthward amid dazzling myriads of glowing sparks. Squibs, bombs and “double-bangers” all made their presence known, tho barrage commencing at about 7 pm. and continuing until quite a late hour. Trout Gift for Minister As a practical demonstration of the trout available to anglers in and around tho Tongariro River, Tokaanu, at the opening of the fishing season in the Rotorua acclimatisation district, a wellknown northern fisherman sent the Minister of Internal Affairs, Hon. W. E. Parry, 12 fish he had caught on the fly. “I have not yet had reports from officers of the department showing all round how the season opened,” said the Minister, but if the specimen trout sent to mo are any criterion of the fish anglers may expect to land then there should be no complaints about the Rotorua fisheries.” Could Not Vote at Sea Many New Zealand passengers on board the Arawa, which arrived at Wellington from Southampton, were annoyed at being deprived of the right and opportunity to vote in the recent general election. “Knowing that the Arawa would reach Wellington at the beginning of November, we naturally thought that we would be in plenty of time for the election,” said Mr. F. de J. Clere, Wellington, who was among komecomers aboard tho vessel, * ‘ but when it was decided that the election would be held much earlier than usual we knew we would be at sea on election day. We sent a wireless message to the authorities in New Zealand asking that we might have extended to us the same privileges that were extended to seamen, but our request was not complied with and there was a good deal of dissatisfaction as a result.” Maori Singing The singing of a school choir composed of children attending the Native school of Hiruharama, better known as Jerusalem, on the East Coast, so impressed the Minister of Education, Hon. P. Fraser, when he visited the district some months ago, that he took steps to have the children’s singing recorded so that pakeha schools throughout the Dominion might hear for themselves the high standard attained by their Maori cousins. Four records wero made m Gisborne a few weeks ago. They have now arrived in Wellington, but it has yet to be decided whether they are suitable for reproduction for use in other schools. During the past twelve months the choir has been heard by several persons, some of them with a thorough knowledge of music, and in every instance they have expressed themselves as greatly impressed wieh the excellence of the singing.