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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 26 August 1939, Page 8

The fortnightly dance of the Loyal Nelson Lodge social committee will be held to-night from 8 till 12. A bright and varied programme will be presented featuring old-time favourites, interspersed with fox trots and one steps. At 8.30 p.m. the Farlv Birr? competition will take place, and the Monte Carlo waltz will be presented at 9.30. Eight good prizes will be awarded. With Harold Williams’s Dance Band, good supper and floor, patrons are assured of enjoyable entertainment.

Honorary Medical Staffs i Honorary medical staffs of public 1 hospitals, who have previously received no remuneration for their ser- ; vices, will in future be employed by j boards on a part-time paid basis. Each J board will negotiate with its own honorary staff on the basis of recommendations made by a conference of j representatives of the Hospital Boards' i Association of New Zealand, and of the medical staffs. The North Canterbury , Hospital Board at a recent meeting l agreed to enter into negotiations with | its honorary staff. A circular was re* | ceived setting out a statement by Dr. !T. M. Stout, a representative of the ' New Zealand branch of the British Medical Association, at the conference. In this statement. Dr. Stout said that in the past the policy in the matter of medical staffing of hospitals had never crystallised, and as a result anomalous conditions had arisen, to the detriment of medical work in hospitals, and there was a feeling of uncertainty in the minds of members of the medical staffs. Dr Stout considered that a new epoch ! in hospital conditions and efficiency in ! medical work should be the result of the important decisions arrived at by the conference. Travelling Light The expenditure of a few shillngs and a little organisation enabled a member of an Otago representative team which left recently on a northern tour, to solve the problem of troublei free travel (states the “Daily Times”). His mates were surprised and not a little amused to see him arrive on the railway station on the morning of departure with only a very small handbag as luggage. There was a good deal of speculation as to his chances of surviving a three-weeks’ tour with only a toothbrush, a suit of pyjamas and his shaving tackle which, he admitted, were the sole contents of the bag. but when he explained his procedure, it was realised that, perhaps after all. there might have been method in his apparent mad- ; ness. On the previous day he had posted to himself at each town which the j team was to visit, a supply of fresh I underwear and socks so that they would I be awaiting him on his arrival, and thus fitted out he was in a position to change at fairly frequent intervals and to post 1 his soiled clothing home. He thought it a great idea, more especially as it sav- ! cd him worrying over a bulky suitcase, and ensured that the family wash would ! not be swelled to undue proportions on ; his return home. I “New York Out of Date” When the Minister of Housing (Mr H. T. Armstrong) suggested to a deputation from the Christchurch City Council that the cost of digging trenches for underground power lines could be reduced by making one trench do for water and drainage pipes and power lines, he received the retort that such a practice was against the regulations. “That policy has been adopted in New York.” commented the Director of Housing Construction (Mr A. Tyndall). “Of course, I admit that New York is out of date.” he added amidst laughter. Timber for Fencing Posts One of the difficulties faced by the Native Department in its development of Maori lands in South Auckland has been a scarcity of suitable timber for fencing posts. So bad was the situation last year that in three r.reas the department started the construction of concrete posts. One of the obvious objections to this procedure was the heaviness of such posts for transport. However. the department has now opened up a red birch forest in Ohakune, from which it will be able to draw timber for all fencing requirements. Use For Reflecting Pools The 4 reflecting pools, with a total water capacity of 320.000 gallons, at the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition, have a definite utility value as well as being the main decorative feature in the grounds. These vast sheets of water, which will reflect the lavish lighting of the Exhibition buildings, are only 9 inches deep, but in one corner of each pool there has been built a sump of about 4 feet deep This has been designed so that in case of fire, the pumping apparatus of the Exhibition Fire Engine may be lowered into the sump, and the whole sheet of water pumped on to the buildings. This unusual precaution is but one measure in (the extensive fire protection precautions planned at the Exhibition. Save the Last Kauris Several years ago Mr H. GuthrieSmith. the famous farmer-naturalist of Tutira, Hawkes Bay. remarked that his two most wonderful impressions of New Zealand came from majestic kauri trees and the vast night flights of mutton 1 birds as they landed in myriads on an islet near Stewart Island. He is an ! eloquent pleader for a saving of the great kauri trees of the Northland and other localities of Auckland province. Similar requests have come from many distinguished visitors who have declared that New Zealanders do not seem to appreciate the tourist value of kauri forests, which they have highly praised as scenic assets, more distinctive of the Dominion than the mountains, glaciers, lakes and thermal marvels are. Shorl-Mayo Composite Marine Aircraft An exhibit in the East Court of the United Kingdom Pavilion at the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition includes a model of the Short-Mayo composite marine aircraft constructed for long j range experimental flights. This is but j one of hundreds of aeronautical models which trace the development of man’s conquest of the air from 1670 to the present day. Other sections of the pavilion have displays of ships, locomotives and motor-cars.

Native Trees Go To College In the Botanical Gardens. Wellington, there is a special section devoted to native trees in the hope that it will increase the interest of New Zealanders in the plants of their own country, but there is one puzzling omission in the scheme. The botanical titles are conspicuously painted on boards, but the Maori names are missing, so some visitors may not know that rhopalostvlis Sapida is a nikau, that sophora tetraptcra is a kowhai. that metrosidcros tomentosa is a pohutukawa and that eyathea medullaris is a mamaku (black tree-fern). If course, those trees would be recognised by many people, but there are others, similarly tabbed with Greek or Latin names, not nearly so well known. The average citizen is more interested in the native names than in the botanical “jawbreakers.”