NEWS OF THE DAY

Taranaki Daily News, 18 October 1934, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

It is probable that six additional fire alarm boxes will be shortly installed in the borough of New Plymouth., At the quarterly meeting of the New. Plymouth Fire Board yesterday the superintendent, Mr. A. Boon, was instructed to report on the most suitable positions for installation and the secretary will make preliminary arrangements for purchase.

Evidently driven ashore by the recent stormy weather, a blue penguin was found at Ngamotu Beach, New Plymouth. The bird was dead when discovered and blood was streaming from its beak. It was immediately despatched by the museum authorities to Wanganui, where it will be stuffed by an expert.

Little damage has been caused by fires at New Plymouth' during the quarter ended September 30. Reporting to the New Plymouth Fire Board yesterday the superintendent, Mr. A. Boon, said only 14 minor alarms had been received. The full strength of the brigade was called out on only three occasions. The majority of calls had been to grass and hedge fires, four of which were caused by sparks from passing railway engines.

The suggestion by Mr. C. H. Moore that the use of white paper is largely responsible for the prevalence of eye trouble among children is supported by a parent at New Plymouth. He told a reporter yesterday that when his small daughter had her eyes tested the optician had said all that was wrong was eye-strain. The father had noticed that the child began to complain of her eyes soon after the term commenced and that they became worse as the term progressed. Her sight became apparently normal during school holidays, only to weaken again after she resumed her lessons. She had told him that when using white paper her eyes became sore before she reached the bottom of the first page.

The sixth object of Rotary, international goodwill, was referred to by Rotarian A. Douglass in an address to the Wanganui Rotary Club on Monday afternoon. Certain obligations were placed on Rotarians, he said, and it was necessary to take stock at times to see whether Rotarians were fulfilling those obligations. Mr. Douglass eulogised the late Mr. T. C. List, and Mr. Frank Milner, who, he said, had achieved much in placing New Zealand before the American public. Mr. Douglass also referred to the growth of Rotary, and said that there were 3000 clubs in the world to-day, of which there were 500 within the Empire. The total membership stood at 150,000, which could be a vital force in the interest of international peace.

Why not have your Suits, Costumes, Hats, etc., renovated by J. K. Hawkins and Co., Dyers and Cleaners, comer of Devon and Liardet Streets, New Plymouth. ’Phone 685. Stratford Depot: Rudkin’s Confectionery, Stratford,* __

"There is nothing which makes a teacher feel more humble than reading papers written by his own students,” said Dr. C. E. Beeby, replying to farewell addresses at the annual Canterbury College Council and staff dinner on Saturday evening. Dr. Beeby said that, in his opinion the best teaching was achieved as a by-product of other work. His own most effective teaching In the years he had spent at Canterbury College had been through his clinical and research work. Throwing with a good deal more enthusiasm than skill a competitor in the javelin event at the annual athletic sports of Christchurch Boys’ High School with one shot scattered the loudspeaker operator and his small staff of assistants when the pointed missile landed too close to them. Later, to the great delight of the schoolboys in the spectators’ gallery, the javelin pierced the battery box and buried its point several inches deep. The "speaker” groaned faintly, and appeared to be mortally wounded, but when the javelin was plucked out it was found that no serious damage had been done, and the “speaker” carried on as before. William Kelley, a 30-year-old murderer, was the first to die by the new lethal chamber method of execution in Colorado. Doctors pronounced that he died painlessly. He was dead in 10 seconds after the fumes began to generate. Kelley, who was convicted for the murder of Russel Browning, a rancher, was strapped to a chair in the steel execution chamber. A bucket of sulphuric acid was placed behind the chair and overhead was a cloth with potassium cyancide in the form of eggs. The chamber was sealed; witnesses watched through a window and saw the cynicide drop into the bucket when a lever was pulled. Light grey fumes then arose, and an instant later Kelley’s head fell back and his body fell forward. Blowpipes forced first ammonia and then fresh air into the chamber, and an hour later the body was removed for the post-mortem examination. Advice was received from London at a recent meeting of the Hamilton Borough Council that, in view of the present year being the 70th anniversary of the founding of Hamilton, Mrs. A. Hamilton was forwarding to the council the sword, medals and belt of the late Captain J. F. C. Hamilton, R.N., after whom the town was named. In addition to these gifts, it was- stated, were two photographs, one of Captain Hamilton and one of his grandson, Lieutenant Digby Hamilton, of the Scots Guards. The Mayor, Mr. J. R. Fow, said it was most opportune that the gifts were coming for the 70th anniversary of the landing of the Fourth Waikatos. They would become the centre of a great deal of interest when they were installed in the museum which it was proposed to establish at Hamilton. It was decided to thank Mrs. Hamilton for the gifts. Captain Hamilton was the commander of H.M.S. Esk, which was sent to New Zealand from Australia when the Maori troubles of the sixties commenced. He fell in gallant manner at the assault on Gate Pa.

That winds of a velocity of 100 miles an hour, the estimated velocity of the gale which recently did much damage, in the Wairarapa district, were quite possible in New Zealand was the opinion expressed by authorities of the Magnetic Observatory, Christchurch. It was stated, however, that in the absence of recording instruments the figure was not necessarily .accurate, but had been calculated from the extent and type of the damage done. From observations taken at the aerodromes a Hobsonville, Auckland, Rongotai, Wellington and Wigram, Christchurch, it is disclosed that although wind speeds are not usually high in New Zealand, the winds are often gusty. In one particular year the average speed of the highest single gust each day was 27.9 miles an hour at Hobsonville, 39.7 at Rongtotai, and 26.6 at Wigram. The highest velocity attained was 63 miles an hour at Hobsonville, 80 at Rongotai and 60 at Wigram. Wind goes round rather than over an object. Wellington, on Cook Strait, lies in a region through which the wind passes, increased in intensity because of the funnel nature of the passage. The figures quoted indicate the relative severity of conditions thus produced .in that city.

“Jones has faded away into the misty past compared with Smith,” was what the executive officer of a big social organisation remarked when, on turning to his books to enter a Mary Smith, he found that there were eleven Mary Smiths already listed. It was remarkable that over 75 per cent, of the Smith Christian names on the feminine side were Marys, that name seeming to blend very harmoniously with .the surname. No other name came anywhere near the number of Smiths, but it was remarked that some of the other names seemed to be a jumbled mixture of a number of prefixes from other names, and that the good old name of Smith was easy to pronounce, and was at least easy to remember. Social workers are naturally superstitious and a few in the office referred to are wondering what will happen to the thirteenth Mary Smith when she applies for aid, for, according to different ways of thought, she may bring either good or bad luck.

Because he thought that the approach to a green was too simple, and required a bunker to add to its interest, a member of one of the Wanganui golf clubs spent several days, hard digging to provide the required hazard. During the week-end he approached the hole with some interest while on his round, and, whether by accident or design, his ball made straight for the newly-made bunker and rolled in. Somewhat amused that he should have fallen into his own trap, the golfer approached the bunker with a measure of confidence. His first stroke was not very successful. The second wag even less successful, and the third produced no better result. The ball remained bunkered. Various clubs were tried, various strokes were employed. All to no avail; the ball remained in the pit. Eventually after the "explosion” and other shots had proved fruitless the player, who by this time had a small “gallery,” picked up the ball in disgust and walked off. When someone, who had not witnessed the incident, asked him how he liked the ne.w bunker, it was significant that he had nothing to say.

“We are running examination mad,” said Mr. R. M. Strang at a meeting of the Invercargill Chamber of Commerce when the question of commercial education certificates and the school certificate examination was being discussed. “If a boy applies for an office-boy’s job nowadays business men turn him down just because he does not possess a matriculation pass,” he commented. Mr. Strang went on to outline the case of boys who just failed by a mark in one subject of an examination and were penalised accordingly. The examination did not take into consideration the personality or character of the entrant. Some boys were more brilliant than others and it was a wrong principle for any business men to turn down boys in a wholesale way just because they had not passed in every subject. “Why not see the boy,” he urged, “and see if he has any particular ability? Many boys not too successful scholastically possess good approach and are quick to observe and assimilate the things that matter in commercial life.” Mr. Strang said he condemned the present methods of selecting boys for certain work and considered that far too much value was placed on examinations.