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Otago Witness, Issue 3808, 8 March 1927, Page 3

Mr H. Campman, registrar of the University, received a telegram from’the Education Department stating that all the home science bursars recommended would be accepted. The department has notified all bursars of this decision.

New Zealand, with a contingent of 12, is well represented amongst the 40 other countries participating in the celebrations of the centenary of University College, Lon- - don. University College was the first institution of its kind in the world to offer education without distinction of class, race, creed, or sex, principles which have been' followed by all the newer university institutions of Great Britain and the British Empire It was founded in 1827 by Henry Brougham, Thomas Campbell, the poet, and Jeremy Bentham, the utilitarian philosopher. With them were Henry Crabb Robinson; George Birkbeck, the founder of mechanics institutes; George Grote, tho banker and historian of Greece; Joseplr Hume; Zachary Macaulay, father of the historian ; James Mill, father of John Stuart Mill, who was one of the first students to be enrolled; agl Isaac Lyon Goldsmicl, the first Jew to receive a title from tho /British Crown. Amongst other countries' largely represented at University College, London, are Russia (with 49 students), Holland (21), Australia (24), France (32), Africa (37), Switzerland (39), Japan (41), Germany (51), United States (52), and Ind : - (111). • In the Gazette of the last week there was acknowledged the receipt of sums of £5O and £26 10s, forwarded to the Land and Income Tax Department as conscience money.

A meeting of the various Scottish societies was held on Friday evening in Messrs W. E. C. Reid's board room, delegates re presenting the respective societies in tha city being present. The rules governing the establishment of a combined federation towards consummating the general welfare of each society having been adopted, the election of officers was proceeded with, and resulted in Mr J. S. Douglas being elected' president, Mr W. Nicholson vice-president,, and Messrs W. E. C. Reid and Co. secretaries. The following were elected members of the council: —Messrs J. Hope, T. Gilchrist (Pipe Baud), W. H. M‘Leod, K. Cameron (Gaelic Society), A. H. Tonkinson,T. Ritchie (Caledonian Society), N. Macdonald, A. M'Millan (Burns Club), J.. Mac Kay, T. W. King (Pipers and Dancers). Extreme gratification was expressed bv delegates that one of the first functions of the combined societies will be to take an official part in the welcome to the Joyal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of York, the Duchess being a member of one of the best known Scottish families. Their Royal Highnesses have consented to accept an address from the Scottish community of Dunedin. This is being prepared by Messrs Mills, Dick, and Co., and will be presented by the president at the civic welcome at Logan Park.

A warm tribute to the valour and determination of the British merchant seamen during the war was paid by Commander Marsden, R.N., in the course of a lecture on the navy at Wellington. “The greatest mistake' made by the Germans in a psychological way in the whole war —they made many—Was in under-estimating the spirit, determination, and courage of our British, merchant seamen,” declared Commander Marsden. Time and again the merchant sailors would be torpedoed, but they were never daunted, and insisted on going to sea..; At one time, he said, his destroyer picked up some sailors whose ship had been sunk by enemy action. Tho man had one “grouch,” not for the sinking of their ship by the Germans —they recognised that was merely one of tho fortunes of war —’ but because when their ship went down their pay stopped I Commander Marsden related the story of the bravery* of an old skipper of a trawler. The trawler, with, a small gun, one day attacked a German craft with heavy, guns, and the fight was wholly one-sided. Presently some British destroyers came on the scene and the Germans made off. The trawler, however, was sinking, and an American vessel went to her rescue. Her funnel was over tho side, the skippers’ right arm was gone, the mate, his son. was lying dead at his feet, and-there was death and destruction/ all rounfc The craft had . just enough steam up to keep the screw turning, and the skipper, with bandaged head, was just able to twirl the spokes of the wheel with his left hand. “Is the fight all over?” asked the rescuing /American captain as he came alongside. “All over be blowed,” was the fierce reply. “I’m just going back for more ammunition.” —(Laughter and aj> plause.)

The D.I.C. Drapery Company, Lambton quay, Wellington (rfeports our special correspondent) has just completed the purchase of the adjoining corner section and property on it, which is occupied by the Bristol Piano Company, at the corner of Lambton quay and Brandon street. This will now give the D.I.C. Company an unbroken front to Lambton quay of 180 ft, to Brandon street of 205 ft, and to Panama street of 160 ft, all in one block. The Bristol corner is freehold, and so is-w part of the old Economic corner of Panama street. The approximate value of the Lambton quay frontage is £5OO per foot. It is the in-* iention of" the D.I.C. to build a block four floors high on Lambton quay, with provision for building higher. A Feilding message states that all the volunteer butchers have left the local freezing works of their own accord, and the union butchers are working cheerfully.

A Wanganui lady clerk, who was walking along the avenue one day last week was mistaken by one of the American lady tourists for her own daughter (states the Chronicle). The tourist was intently gazing in the shop windows as she walked along the street, and, catching a glimpse of a girl whom she thought was her own daughter, caught her by the arm, and, continuing to feast her eyes on the attractive window displays, walked along the street in the manner of a police constable and his prisoner. The Wanganui girl, enjoying the joke, said nothing, until she came to her place of employment, and then told the American of her mistake. The visitor said: “Forgive me, dearie, but I thought you were my daughter. Thank the Lord you wern’t a man !”

It is not often in New Zealand that a jury after sitting on the body of a dead man goes “gunning’’ for the slayer. Yet that was what occurred in the hilly bush country near Romahapa , on Tuesday afternoon at the conclusion of the inquiry touching the death of Mr William H. C. Dixon. Previous attempts to kill the bull that had been the cause of . the tragedy had failed. . and Constable Pearce, together with four jurymen, Mr Sargsnt .(part owner of the bull), and our representative, went out into the hills in search of the ferocious animal. Only two of the party were armed —namely, Mr M. T. Jackman (who had acted as foreman of the jury) and Mr Sargent. The former carried a Winchester repeater of heavy calibre and the latter a shot gun loaded with ball cartridge. After a lot of stalking and wandering up hills and through wooded gullies the party got separated, and the majority had arrived back on the road, when suddenly six shots rang out in quick succession. These proved to be the, death knell of the bull, and it was not long before Mr Jackman emerged trium" phantly from the bush bearing the “brush” of the bull and its ears as trophies. He had copie upon it at the bottom of a deep wooded gully, where the visibility was bad, but managed to stalk it in true deer slayer's style, and gave it the contents of the magazine for good measure.

‘New Zealand is destined to become, the playground of the world,” said Sir James Barrett upon his return to Australia from a visit of three- weeks to the Dominion, during which he attended the Medical Congress in Dunedin. He added that American tourists were pouring in to both the North and South Islands. In the main they had been led to make the trip by Zane Grey’s descriptions of tjio wonders of the country .’and by his tales of struggles with fish'"weighing ICOOIb. Having, ‘discovered” New Zealand, the American tourists were highly pleased with all that they had seen, and their numbers were steadily increasing. The magnificent .volcanic regions and their easy accessibility formed one of New Zealand’s chief attractions. In addition, the North Island possessed splendid bays and beaches and gcod deep-sea" fishing. The South Island also possessed in its glaciers, mountains, cold lakes, ..nd _trout and salmon streams tourist assets of incalculable value gathered into a small compass. The present drawbacks to Australian travellers were, Sir James Barrett said, inadequate transport and accommodation, but there was no doubt that these defects would be gradually remedied. —' ■ ’ •

That the importation of foreign timbers is cripplWfr New Zealand’s timber industry by gradually killing out the small mills (says our special correspondent in Invercargill) is further evidenced in the closing of the Waimimi sawmill (Orepuki), a mill which has been in constant operation for t!he past 16 years. The Southland Saw Milling Company runs the Waimimi mill, and, owing to lack of orders through being unable to compete with the imported article, decided to close down- for an indefinite period. Quite a number of men will thus be thrown out of work until something is done to put the local product on an equal footing with the imported article.

Acting on the recommendation of ihe Council of Industrial and Scientific Research (reports our special correspondent in Wellington), the Minister in Charge of the Department has approved of a grant for experimental work at the Otago University into rhe vitamine content of New Zealand-made foodstuffs, particularly butter, and the effect of storage upon this content. The experiment will be commenced almost immediately, and will be carried out oy the University Home Science Department, in conjunction with Professor J. Malcolm, professor of physiology at the Otago University.

“We find this a difficult country to spend money in,” stated an American tourist who came down the Wanganui River (says the Herald). There is nothing distinctive to buy. We all like to take away something with us, but I sent my wife out to buy some little thing, and she came back with nothing. It seems to me that all the genuine Maori work is in the museum, and what little there is outside that is too modern, too much made for trade, to have any value. People don’t seem to have the idea of assisting us. Now in Rio last trip, I wanted a Brazilian stone, a good one. I wanted a fair deal, so I went to an Englishman. He had not what I wanted, but he offered to get it for me. Four months after I got home, having left the money with him, I got the stone, good value 6000 dollars. We want to spend money here and we can’t.”

His Honor Mr Justice Sim has granted probate in connection with tho following estates: —William Bailey, Oamaru (Mr H. J. S. Grater); George Johnson, Dunedin (Mr W. L. Moore); John Lyall, Balclutha (Mr G. J. Kelly); James Ritchie, Dunedin (Mr E. J. . Smith); Margaret French, Gabriel’s Gully (Mr S. Fletcher). Letters of administration were granted in connection with the following estates:—l}obert Lumb, Kyeburn (Mr J. I. Fraser); Alexander Kerr Christie, Dunedin (Public Trustee); Peter William Gray Carmichael, Hampden (Mr W. G. Grave); John Hallum, Waikouaiti (Mr C. J. Payne); James Garr, •Pukehiki (Mr F. B. Adams). “Curse the war makers; it doesn’t matter whether they are parsons or politicians- or what they arc,” remarked the Mayor of Christchurch (the Rev. J. K. Archer) to a large gathering of women on Tuesday (reports our special correspondent.) at a civic reception tendered the delegates to the conference of the National Council of Women. “I am hoping that tho women’s movement which you represent is going to become more and- more an international movement,” he said. “I am hoping that women will combine to bring war to an end. That is their great purpose.” ' . .

“Women are needed in public life, but they must retain their hearts.” Bringing his clenched fist down on the table before him, the Mayor of Christchurch (the Rev. J. K. Archer) made this declaration to a large number of women at a civic reception tendered to the visiting delegates to the Dominion Conference of the National Council of Women on Tuesday (reports our special correspondent). “Bring your heads with you certainly,- but don’t forget your hearts,” he said. “There is a danger after a woman has been in public life a few years to get the men’s mentality. That is a bad thing. I don’t mean the men’s brains; I mean their viewpoint. As soon as a women gets that way she is no Ibnger of any use' in public life. We want them with their hearts. We want them to remain women.’*

Our special correspondent in Feilding reports that the members of the old Butchers Union are still idle, and they have signified their intention of not resuming work until the volunteer butchers have been dismissed. The volunteers are little concerned about the matter, as the men have tho assurance of work, and they are earning good money while the unionists are talking and looking on. In the meantime the volunteer-butchers are giving every satisfaction, and the work is proceeding smoothly. A contract for repairs to the steamer Northumberland has been let .to Messrs Mason Bros., Auckland (reports our special correspondent). Tho work will be commenced early this week, and will last about six weeks. One thousand five hundred square feet of the hull is to be repaired, including €OO feet which is to be removed, straightened, and replaced. Of tho remainder, about 20 tons will be of new material. Sixty to eighty men will be employed, and the cost of the repairs to the vessel will be about £BOOO.

A fairly large crowd assembled at the railway station on Tuesday afternoon to wetcome home the Kaikorai, St. Kilda, and Tramways' Bands on their return from the contests in Wellington. The bands were welcomed on their arrival by the Mayor (Mr H. L. Tapley, M.P.), after which they marched up Princes street, playing en route. When Ratana resigned the presidency of Ratana Church shortly after the opening of the temple, it was predicted that an ex-Anglican minister, who has linked up with the movement, would "be elected as his successor (states the Wanganui correspondent of the Lyttelton Times). A member intimately connected with the inner workings of the movement states that the Maoris will not elect any one in place of Ratana, and, further, that they will not accept his resignation. It is stated that the movement is now more closely cemented together than ever as the result of the recent deliberations at a big gathering. Hitherto it had been run mainly by elderly Maori people, but now they have taken some of the younger men into the executive ranks, and more are to follow, and this will materially help to keep the movement flourishing. Tho explosion of two and a-quarter tons of gelignite at Muku Creek quarry, to provide stone for the huge dam at the Arapuni hydro-electric construction works, was carried out according to schedule on Tuesday afternoon of last week at about 6 o’clock, in the presence of a number of officials and ladies (writes a Te Amamutu correspondent of the Evening Post). The face of the hillside had been tunnelled for over 50ft. with crosscuts and chambers at the ends for the explosive. The charge was detonated by electricity, Mrs M Neil,

wife of the quarry contractor, pressed the button. With a muffled roar and rever-

beiations echoing for many seconds, the whole face of the cliff, nearly 400 ft high, ’trembled and crumbled, sending up a dense cloud of dust and smoke. It had beer, planned to dislodge about 18,000 tons of rock from the toe of the face, with expectations, that, with luck, a further 18,000 tons might be loosened. The result exceeded all expectations, for fully 50,000 tons camo down, providing plenty of work for tho quarry staff for many months to come. The dam construction work at Arapuni has progressed so satisfactorily of late that the full capacity of the aerial ropeway for transporting the stone for the nine miles from the quarry to Arapuni is now needed. The ropeway can deliver 300 cubic yards a day of 7j hours, and as the quarrymen work in two shifts the ropeway will thus deliver 3600 cubic yards a week. This rate of delivery will probably be maintained for the next, eight or nine months.

The model of the extinct moa which now adorns tho stairway at the Dominion

Fanners’ Institute, Wellington (says the Dominion) is achieving some notoriety. It stands about 12ft high, and is a muchtravelled bird, for it was on view at the Wembley Exhibition, New Zealand section, and on being returned to the Dominion was* shown at the Exhibition at Dunedin, where it attracted considerable attention. It has now found a permanent home at the Dominion Fanners’ Institute, except when required for exhibition purposes. Naturally it commands a gooc) deal of attention from the numerous visitors to this building, and when first installed exhibited signs of moulting. A careful watching revealed that moulting was not the cause of the bare patches which were appearing, but that these were due to the depredations of the public, who, probably thinking that the feathers, as well as the bones, were those of tho extinct bird, sought to secure a curio in tho way of a moa feather. It will, no doubt, be news to them to learn that ths feathers are those of the emu, and that it took seven emu skins with feathers complete to make tip, the model of tho moa. The task of the special committee set up by the 'Minister of Education to make recommendations for the revision of the school curricula is proving a much larger one than was at first anticipated (says the Wellington Evening Post). The committee has held several meetings since it commenced its sittings shortly before Christmas, and much constructive work has been done. Considerably greater difficulties have been encountered, however, than was expected, and the committee will probably find it necessary to take advantage of the freedom of action given it by the Minister in his inaugural address, and go outside the order of reference in drawing up its

report. It is felt that it is better that the work should be done thoroughly while the various syllabuses are under revision than to have the necessity, arise again later for further overhaul. The committee has

now got so far with its work that it is possible to deal with details. Accordingly, an adjournment was made until. Kite, in May, to enable members to work individually in the meantime. When it meets again the committee .probably will be in a position to draw up its report. The vital statistics for Dunedin for February are as follows:—Births, 137 ;< marriages, 73; deaths, 57. The figures for the corresponding month of 1926 were:t* Births, 130; marriages, 75; deaths, 73.

In proposing the toast of Parliament at tho gathering of those interested in the new river-swe'tping machine at Kaitangata last week, Mr A. Renton referred to Parliament as the parent of all local bodies. The reply of Mr F. Waite, M.P., was brief, but very much to the point. “If,” he said, “Parliament is the parent of the local bodies, then I am afraid it has some very unfortunate children, who never seem to grow up, and have always to depend on their parent to keep them.” The annual competition organised by tho Gardening Circle of the Otago Women’s Club in connection with the railway station gardens has been concluded, and the judges were much impressed with the improved appearance of the stations and the good taste with which the gardens had been laid out. Wingatui was awarded first place in the competition, with Burnside and Fairlie second (equal), Allanton and Gieen Island filling third position.

A rather astonishing admission was made by the appellant in the disputed paternity case which came before Mr Justice Reed at the Supreme Court last -week. He was being cross-examined by counsel for the respondent (Mr Reed), and was asked if he had not figured as the putative father of “an illegitimate child in another case. Tho appellant denied that he had been .adjudged the father, but admitted that he’ had been mixed up in the case and had paid a sum of money. Mr C. J. L. White, counsel for the appellant, then proceeded to clear up matters. “The position was that you sent the hat round —that you took .up a collection —and that each put so much money in. The child has been adopted. Is that not so?” The appellant agreed that that wag what had happened. A well-known owner of a speed motor boat had an interesting interlude with a raw-boned Scotsman who had only landed in New Zealand a few days ago (remarks the Wanganui Herald). The well-set-up man from the land of the heather called at the business premises of the motor-boat owner and intimated that he wanted work. ‘Tm from Scotlahd,” he remarked. “I can pick that,” replied the motor-boat owner, who, incidentally is as brown as a Maori through spending a great deal of hi-s time in the open. “And what nationality are you?” asked the Scot. “I’m a fern' root,” replied the "Wanganui resident. _ “Aye, mun, I thought you were not a white man, ye ken,” said the Scot.

‘‘lt has been brought to my notice,” said Mr E. L. Hills at a meeting of the unemployed. at Christchurch (states an exchange) “that one of the large warehouses — in fact, one of the largest—asked for a man for six weeks’ work. One of our number took that job, but after two days he informed the manager that he thought he would leave and try to get a better position. He wag sick of his present employment. He did leave, but was ..unsuccessful in getting another job, and went back to try to obtain the old one. That is what we have to avoid and stamp out,” continued Mr Hills, vehemently. “When you get a job, stick to it like glue! If you do not, you not merely spoil your own. chances; but you leave a stigma on all the rest of the unemployed who are willing to do an honest day’s work. I hope such cases as that I have just told you will be few and far between.”