SOUTHLAND TOPICS

Otago Witness, Issue 4038, 4 August 1931, Page 31

SOUTHLAND TOPICS

(From Our Own Correspondent.) GORE TRAMPING CLUB. INVERCARGILL, August 1. The advantages to be derived from membership of a tramping club are indeed many, and such a body has just been formed at Gore. The main purpose of the club will be to visit scenic attrac:ion» in the district, of which there are from 50 to 60, and to widen both the knowledge of and publicity given to such places. Furthermore, it is not proposed to limit the activities of the members to tramping alone, for considerable time will be devoted to the study of Nature, flora, etc. A strong committee has been elected and the first outing is being eagerly awaited. UNEMPLOYED TEACHERS. As is the case in every other profession at the present time, unemployment among school teachers has made its unwelcome presence felt here. According to a rei>ori submitted recently to the Southland Education Board, there are 46 teachers seeking work in the province, 16 of whom are engaged on relieving work. Two teachers had so far received no relieving work during the year, and in the case of the others a fortnight to three months was the limit of tiieir terms of employment. When a position was advertised recently, there were 84 applicants, and that notwithstanding the fact that the position was the lowest in the service. Of the applicants one possessed the B.A. degree, and two others were holders of B certificates. THAT BUDGET. That the Budget is too exacting in its sei king the last penny for balance purposes is the general opinion of the public in these parts. It is recognised, of course, that Air Forbes’s task is a difficult one, and that, in many respects, he 'has endeavoured to spread the burden over as wide a number as possible, but the decided view is held that the Budget suffers from the fact that it has made the condition of industry worse, and that the Prime Alinister would have been better to have risked a little more to I lighten the load this year, even if in [ the year following, with recovering markets. some of the imposts had to be continued a little longer. General approval, however, has been expressed of the decision to tax art unions, and the tax on overseas steamer fares finds justification in the argument that people who can afford to travel overseas can afford to contribute a little more to the State, especially as their trips mean expenditure of money abroad. SCHOOL TRAFFIC. Three prominent members of the Otago Motor Club in the persons of Messrs J. L. Passmore (president). I’. W. Courtis (a member of the executive), and W. F. Sutton (secretary) motored to Invercargill one day last week in order to demon- | strate to the general committee of the local Alotor Association and to representatives of the Headmasters’ Association here the system of control of school traffic as operating in Dunedin. Such has been the success attending the scheme in the northern city that the southern association gladly availed itself of tlie offer of the northern body to give a practical insight in Invercargill into the steps being taken both to avoid any likelihood of school children being injured by motorists passing in the vicinity of the schools and to lessen the strain upon the motorists themselves as they aproach such institutions. Shortly before midday the committee assembled near the Aliddle School at the Don and Esk streets intersections with Jed street, at each of which points two senior pupils from one of the northern schools (who also made the trip to assist in the demonstration) had taken up their positions. Various members of the association motored around in the vicinity as the children were dismissed, and if traffic was approaching, the patrol held up a red flag. The children had been previously instructed by their teachers that the red flag denoted danger, and they immediately stopped at the corner until the patrol dropped the flag. The children, of course, arrived in several straggling groups, and if the patrol saw a vehicle approaching, he again held up his red flag and stopped them until it was safe to cross. The motorists and headmasters expressed their belief that the control as demonstrated was along the right lines, and it is certain that several of the schools here will adopt the system in the near future. THE POUND SCHEME. The heavy demands which have been made by the needy upon the resources of the Invercargill central relief depot have given the committee in charge much anxious thought, for the supplies of foodstuffs and goods have so dwindled that difficulty has recently been experienced in satisfying all the numerous requests for assistance. The public has consequently now been appealed to with a view to its instituting an extensive use of the pound system to ensure a steady supply of goods and money to the depot. In northern centres, and "particularly in Christchurch, the scheme has proved most fruitful, and it is considered it could, with great advantage, be adopted in Southland. Under the pound plan people make arrangements to supply each week a pound of some article of food, or some fixed quantity of wood or coal, or even some regular sum of money. The foodstuffs are made up in pound parcels, with the contents marked outside, and these are collected regularly for the depot, which distributes the goods. Some people in Invercargill have been adopting this course, but it is intended to more widely apply the scheme, and through these small regular donations- so keep the stocks in good, supply. The committee feels that as it is chiefly the accumulation of small items that keeps the relief work going steadily, and thus leads to the most effective results, an extension of the pound scheme, which has proved so successful in the north, would probably make it pos- | sible to avoid so many “ drives,” the disadvantage of which is that they lead to

sharp fluctuations in the depot’s stocks, and thus increase the difficulties of distribution.