In the News

Southland Times, Issue 24680, 27 February 1942, Page 4

In the News

Sunspot Disturbances A huge sunspot—a “real whopper,” as one observer described it—has made its appearance on the eastern side of the sun. Some idea of its size is shown by the fact that its diameter is seven or eight times that of the earth. The spot is of a very complex type, which past experience has shown to be associated with auroral displays and magnetic disturbances. The spot will be crossing the sun’s meridian early on Sunday morning, and experience in the past has shown that it is after such a crossing that sunspots produce their effects. Carter Observatory officials think that from now onwards shortwave radio may be affected, and that if there are going to be auroral displays, magnetic disturbances, and so forth, the most probable dates are March 2,3, and 4, with March 3 as first choice. There is no guarantee that anything x will happen, but the spot is of such a nature that it is legitimate to expect something. Practical Use for Hailstones .

One Christchurch householder was able to make practical use of hailstones which fell in the city in abundance on Wednesday afternoon. An ice-chest, in need of a fresh supply of ice, was filled to capacity with the stones, which rapidly solidified into a frozen block. “And there we had,” he reported, “a perfect block of ice worth at least 2/6. ’ Several windows in the St. Albans district were cracked, and others were broken, not by direct blows, but by the increased force given to the hailstones when they ricochetted from iron roofs. Steel Helmets for E.P.S.

Christchurch Emergency Precautions Services workers whose duties make such protection necessary will be issued with steel helmets made in New Zealand. Announcing this, Mr W. Machin, chairman of the organizing executive, said the dies would not be completed for six weeks, after which supplies would begin to come to hand. Free Public Libraries

There are now 44 free libraries in New Zealand, compared with 29 a year ago. All of the 15 public libraries which adopted the free library service during the year are participating in the Country Library Service. The school library service, which is to be administered by the Country Library Service, will provide thousands of books of an excellent standard. The scheme will be in operation within a few months. This was stated in the report of the New Zealand Library Association, presented to the annual meeting in Wellington. Beer for Nurses The days, very long ago, when a pint of beer a day was issued to each nurse on the staff of the Christchurch Public Hospital, were recalled at a meeting of the North Canterbury Hospital Board. The board was discussing a historical of the hospital, which had been prepared by Miss W. R. Norris. High praise was expressed for the history, which members said was an excellent permanent record of the earliest days of the institution. A striking feature of the early days, said the Hon. J. K. Archer, was that nurses on the staff were required “to be able to read and write,” which compared interestingly with the present educational qualifications.

War Library Service The increased scope of the War Library Service was mentioned in the report of the New . Zealand Library Association, presented at the annual meeting in Wellington. The report stated that up to December 31, 1941, 135,093 books and 147,127 periodicals had been allocated to the service. “Local libraries and other organizations have helped with the collection of the books,” it added, “and the librarians and staffs of the Auckland, Canterbury, Dunedin, Wanganui and Palmerston North public libraries have undertaken the processing and distribution of the books to the fighting forces. Libraries are now established at the Base Camp and the New Zealand Forces Club, Cairo. Service is also given to isolated groups in the desert. Whenever possible, shipments of books and periodicals have been sent for the sole use of Base Camp hospitals.” The report also said that a New Zealand hospital ship had been equipped with a library of 1000 volumes, this service earning much praise from patients and the ship’s personnel. Work for Elderly Men

In spite of repeated efforts by the Dunedin Placement Office to persuade elderly men who have retired from trades and industry to return to work, only a few have responded to the request to assist in relieving the shortage of man power (says The Otago Daily Times). There are scores of men in receipt of the age benefit who are still capable of carrying out useful work at their former trades. Numerous opportunities exist for these men to earn good wages in trades and factories for the duration of the war. In the engineering trades especially there are excellent opportunities for retired men to return to work, but so far only a few have responded to the appeal and been placed. Elderly unskilled men are difficult to place in work, but a few satisfactory men have recently been absorbed in factories. Church and Schools “We are approaching an age of paganism and the church that surrenders the secondary education of her children is a church that is doomed,” said Mr R. C. Clark, principal of the Wesley College, Paerata, when addressing the Methodist Conference in Wellington. “I have heard it said that ‘Donald Duck’ and ‘Mickey Mouse’ mean more to many children than does the teaching of Jesus Christ,” continued Mr Clark in an impassioned speech advocating the establishing of more church schools by the conference. The suggestion to establish a preparatory school at Mt. Wellington, Panmure, Auckland

met with the hearty approval of the conference. Music in War Time It would be interesting to know how many people in Wellington would welcome an opportunity to sit quietly in a comfortable hall for half an hour or so at midday, once or twice a week, listening to string music or song, remarked Mr Stanley Oliver, when addressing the annual meeting of the Royal Wellington Choral Union. “It would,” he said, “do much to calm down frayed nerves, thereby strengthening the determination of the spirit and increasing efficiency. The English experience proves this to be true.” He added that at the present time there was an almost unprecedented demand for the services of music teachers, who, therefore, need have no misgivings about the importance of their calling during time of war. Greek Hospitality

“We were dumbfounded at the enthusiastic welcome given us by the Greeks,” said Captain H. O. Jefcoate, speaking to members of the Canterbury (N.Z.) Travel Club. He was describing his arrival at Athens with the British troops from Egypt last year. “They showered us with kindness, without any thought of reward or payment, and that attitude of kindliness and generosity continued until we withdrew from Greece. I hope that when victory is won, wc will remember the hospitality of the Greeks and of the .people of Crete with more than lip-service.”