GENERAL ITEMS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 11 May 1939, Page 6

GENERAL ITEMS

Soap-box Speakers. Not the least interesting of Sydney’s parks was the Domain, said Mr J. Hodgens, M.P., when speaking to the Palmerston North Rotary Club Particularly was that so on a Sunday afternoon, when speakers were to be heard on a variety of topics What had struck him was the blatant intolerance of the men on the soap boxes _-nrt the public. It seemed that they quite expected those harsh things to be said. The experience was a very interesting one, he added, as many of his listeners were no doubt aware that he had gained some of his early framing while speaking from a soap box ir. Palmerston North

Hie Dawn Parade. “I regarded it as a privilege to attend the Dawn parade on Anzac Day,” said the Prime Minister, the Rt. lion. M. J. Savage, in a letter received by Mr Norman R. Chapman, honorary secretary of the Australian Imperial Force Ex-Servicemen’s Association. which organised the parade. In expressing his admiration for the way in which the impressive ceremony in Auckland was conducted. Mr Savage said the simple dignity of the ceremony and the smooth efficiency carried out must have impressed the thousands who were present as they impressed him.

Dental Clinic Treatment. “That the Minister of Education be urged to make provision that, in cases where children have had no earlier opportunity of attending a dental clinic they be permitted to do so when transferred to a school where a dental clinic is established,” This remit from Thames was approved at the annual conference of the New Zealand Education Institute in Wellington yesterday. Farmers’ Cost Burden. A simple but impressive example of the cost burden under which New Zealand farmers are struggling was provided by one of the speakers at a Farmers’ Union meeting in Dunedin on Tuesday. Taking an average of the overhead expenses of six Otago sheep runs, he said that seven years ago wages and running costs amounted to 3s 9d a sheep, whereas to-day they totalled 9s a sheep. In addition, rates and direct taxation had risen in the same period from Is 4d to 2s 9d a sheep. City dwellers are apt to look upon the economics of primary production with a somewhat intolerant eye. but here are figures that cannot be disregarded.

Arahura’s Sailing Time. The Anchor Shipping Company announces that the sailing of the Arahura for Wellington to-night has been postponed until 9 o’clock. Intending passengers are requested to note this alteration. Picton Freezing Works. Tuesday was a notable occasion in the history of fat stock production in Marlborough (states the “Express”). The output for the season so far at the Picton freezing works has reached 175,000 head of sheep and lambs. In consequence the Refrigerating Company is fulfilling its undertaking to the producers, and as from yesterday full Canterbury schedule rates for fat stock received at Picton will be paid. In addition, in furtherance of its undertaking. the Company will now be paying out the second bonus promised of £d per lb on all export stock killed up to and including Tuesday.

Ninepence an Hour. “Yet we have hypocrites going round the country telling us that everything is lovely and prosperous,” stated Mr P. W. Davies, at the annual meeting of the Pahiatua branch of the Farmers’ Union, when he stated that farmers and their wives and children were working for ninepence an hour. Women were required to work not only in the cowshed, but in the shearing sheds and in the dipping pens, added Mr Davies, who cited the case of a woman who got up at 3 a.m. and milked 56 cows while her husband mustered his sheep. She then went and helped all day with the shearing and that night she and her husband had tea at 10.30 o’clock. They went on for three days. After advertising for help, the same farmer had received a reply from a seventeen-year-old boy who said he would accept the iob provided there was a shed in which to keep his car.

Married Women Teachers. “During the year the executive had the satisfaction of seeing legislation brought into force to permit the unhampered employment of married women in the service,” stated a clause in the report of the executive read at the annual conference of the New Zealand Educational Institute in Wellington. “Clause 6 (1) of the Education Amendment Act, 1939, states that no education board shall refuse to appoint a married woman as a teacher in any school on the ground that she is a merried woman, and no married woman shall be dismissed from a position as a teacher in any school on the ground that she is a married woman. Such a positive conclusion to the institute’s representations on behalf of married women cannot help but give satisfaction to members.”

Two Few Interests. “Few people have any interests outside the things that effect their own comforts, and even here there is unpardonable confusion,” said Mr T. Kane, M.A., in his presidential address at the opening of the annual conference of the New Zealand Educational Institute in Wellington . “Teachers, also, who have too few interests apart from their own profession, get out of touch with reality,” he added. “They are unable to rise above the day-to-day regimentation of the ‘traditional’ school. Their vision, too, is restricted. It is remarkable how few people see any distance ahead of themselves. As they have never made any provision for the future, they are quite unprepared to meet adversity when it comes. Perhaps the general aimlessness, inaction and ineptitude are a reflection on the schools and teachers of yesterday.”

Sheep fot Japan. A large consignment of sheep for Japan will be carried by the motor ship Tokyo Maru, which left Auckland yesterday for the East. The shipment, comprising 1035 animals, was loaded at Lyttelton for Yokohama, and is being taken on the ship’s fore and aft decks, ‘ieavy supplies of fodder are being carried for the voyage. Pink Pavements. Pink concrete paving slabs are being turned out in increasing quantity this year for Wellington streets. It is the ambition of the city engineer to do everything possible to have the city footpaths in order for the centennial, and gangs of men are employed in vari. ous parts of the city tearing up broken uneven flags and replacing them with others. The new flags are being made with an admixture of red brick-grit, which gives the upper surface a pink hue, the purpose being to get away from the depressing grey shade of ordinary concrete. No Empty Palettes. Whether the spectacle of artists with empty palettes will be seen in New Zealand is a question that has been raised in some quarters as a result of the import restrictions for the second half of this year. Artists’ materials are on the “totally prohibited” list, but inquiries made in Auckland by the “Star” showed that present stocks are generally large enough to nullify any fears of an early shortage. Confidence is felt that in any event the Government would not allow the cultural life of the Dominion to suffer through lack of materials. The principal of an important art school said be had enough supplies to last him for two months at least. He added that the position would certainly be serious if the Government had failed to make provision, either by an assesment of stocks already in New Zealand or by investigating the possibility of 'ocal manufacture, for the immediate requirements of our artists and students. On the question of local manufacture, incidentally, an art merchant expressed belief that the demand for artists’ materials in New Zealand was too small to warrant extensive production here.

Bicycle Regulations. The early commencement of the campaign to have every bicycle adequately equipped in accordance with the regulations was referred to by the Commissioner of Transport in a letter received by the Mount Albert Borough Council this week. The added danger from bicycles during the winter months was emphasised and the commissioner sought the widest publicity for the need of care.

School Caretakers. Referring to what it describes as the “intricate and difficult question of caretakers’ salaries,” the annual report of the Canterbury School Committees' Association states that no association of school committees in New Zealand had endeavoured to the extent that the Canterbury association had, to evolve a scheme for a rational and national basis of equitable treatment of the only existing body of workers in this country not regimented by the Government. “Is it the desire of school committees to retain control and appointment of their individual caretakers, the one most positive power left to them?’’ asks the report Child Guidance Clinics. “The committee is in agreement that clinics for child guidance in all education board centres would do much to stop many children appearing now in our children’s courts and that such clinics would help to solve many questions of abnormal behaviour now unsolvable by teachers,” stated a clause in the report of the sessions committee on pupil welfare read at the annual conference of the New Zealand Educational Institute in Wellington yesterday, The conference passed a remit from Auckland “that the establishment of psychological clinics for child guidance in board centres be urged.”

Backward Children. A remit urging provision for the education of backward children in country districts by the establishment of specail classes in convenient centres was carried at the annual conference of the New Zealand Educational Institute in Wellington yesterday. The session* committee on pupil welfare, which approved of the remit, repotted that in most districts there seemed to be a need for those children to receive special treatment by specialised teachers in centres, the children to be conveyed to and from the classes or boarding arrangements to be made and controlled by the Education Department.