NEWS OF THE DAY

Taranaki Daily News, 12 November 1934, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

The Whiteley Church was crowded yesterday morning at a gathering conducted by the Rev. Mr. Scrimgeour and officials of the Friendly Road wireless station. There was considerable activity at the New Plymouth airport yesterday when machines were taken, up by club pilots and instruction flights were made under the tutelage of Flying-Officer lan Keith. On Saturday Mr. J. Reardon flew ZK—ACZ to Hawera.

It was stated at the annual meeting, of delegates of the Taranaki Surf Association yesterday that so far no decision, had been made as to which beach would be the venue of the New Zealand surf championships next February. Those at Fitzroy, Strandon and East End would be available but each would have to be carefully inspected.

Climbing through a fence on the Boys’ High School farm at New Plymouth on Saturday evening, a boarding pupil named David Kinnell was hit on the back of the head apparently by a post leaning against it. He was knocked senseless and was taken to the New Plymouth hospital after medical attention had been called.

Reminiscent of the nights when New Plymouth audiences have the chance of seeing professional musical comedy or operatic companies, the stage door at the Opera House last night was crowded with people anxious to meet “Aunt Daisy, “Uncle Scrim” and “Uncle Tom,” who have been holding meetings on behalf of the Friendly Road wireless station.

A large fish, or possibly a whale, about 15ft long, was struck by the coastal tanker Paua when she was near East Cape on Thursday morning, en route to Auckland. The whale became attached to the stem of the vessel, but when the Paua went astern the fish sank and disappeared. During the passage from Wellington two whales were sighted near Hawkes Bay and another two were seen when the vessel was nearing the Hauraki Gulf.

The amendment to the Unemployment Act affecting the payment of wages tax by persons under the age of 20 years will come into effect to-day. This will mean that all persons under the age of 20 will be exempt from the payment of the wages tax on any remuneration earned on or after November 12. The concessions to elderly persons with small incomes and the increased exemption to women, made under the same amendments to the Act, do not operate until May of next year.

Notable scholastic success has been achieved by a former New Zealand boy, W. Desmond Pacey, aged 17, who matriculated with honours at the Caledonia High School, Canada, recently. The lad, who lived until three years ago at Dunedin. won three scholarships, valued at nearly £6O and giving four years’ free tuition at Victoria College. His high school work was done in addition to heavy farm work before and after school, and, according to the high school principal, the boy’s scholastic record has not been equalled at the institution for 25 years at least.

Particulars of land taken by the Public Works Department for the purpose of a transformer station at Waitara were detailed in last week’s Gazette. “We are all bush lawyers now,” interjected the chairman, Mr. A. Ross, at the annual meeting of the Wairarapa Rural Intermediate Credit Association, when Mr. C. C. Jackson was observing how difficult many of the problems were which had to be faced by the rural credits boards. Mr. Jackson and other speakers commented on the excellent service being rendered to borrowers by the association. In various towns in Germany “cards of honour” are being issued to mothers of families, with three and more children, which will entitle them to be served before other people waiting in shops, and in particular, to swift attention _ in all waiting-rooms of institutions, clinics and public offices. It is a.’gued that the working-man’s wife with a young family at home is the one person who should not be forced to spend too much time outside her home against her will, as her time is more valuable than that of other women. An unexpected exhibition of good fielding was given on Saturday at Pukekura Park during the New PlymouthOld Boys cricket match by a spectator on the terraces in the south-eastern corner of the park. F. J. Eggleton, an Old Boys batsman, was hitting_ merrily, and after two fours in succession, connected fully with a fast ball to send it high above the trees and soaring on to the terrace. To the surprise of those watching a spectator, jumping down a terrace, ran along and held a bru.iant catch before returning the ball. He received an ovation from both players and spectators.

A huge pair of leather boots attracts the attention of visitors to a house in Kilmore Street, Christchurch, states the Times. They are cavalry boots, reported to have been wom in the battle of Marston Moor in 1644, and belong to Miss E. Wood. The boots stand 18iin. high. The circumference at the top is 25in., and at the ankle 22in. The heel is sJin. long, 4Jin. across and ljin. deep. The" sole is 13in. long and sin. across. Six thicknesses of leather are used. The soles are sewn, but the heels are kept together by means of round wooden pegs. There is also a pair of spurs, still sharp enough to stir the most sluggish of horses.

Following the discovery by a Sydney hark teller that a number of genuine £1 notes had become discoloured by some chemical process, the police investigated the possibility that the notes were used for reproductive .purposes by counterfeiters. It was revealed by detectives that the pink figuration on the notes had been erased and that some chemical had been used in the process. In addition the notes were considerably thinner than normal notes. Detectives consider that the notes may have been used in some photographic apparatus by which means the persons- responsible had hoped to reproduce the colours and. figuration of the genuine notes for counterfeit purposes.

Apparently becoming tired of the proceedings at the Magistrate’s Court, Greymouth, a spectator rose and made for the door, but put on his hat as he did so. A constable ordered him to take it off, and he obeyed, but he replaced it before reaching the door, with the result that, he was brought back. Mr. H. Morgan, S.M., informed the offender that if he thought the hat was deliberately donned, in contempt of the court, he would fine the offender or send him to gaol. An assurance was given that the offence was unintentional, but the man added that the S.M. could please himself about the gaol, but that no fine would be paid. On again stating that the offence was unintentional, he was told to go. A few feet from the door, however, he again donned his hat, there being another stentorian cry from a constable, ‘ Take off that Hat!” No further action was taken, and the man was allowed to go, but he had a narrow escape from unpleasant consequences.

The term jade, as applied to a precious stone, Professor R. Speight told his audience at a lecture on gems and precious stones at Christchurch, was used in a very loose and unsatisfactory way, as it described jadite and greenstone (nephrite). Jadite was slightly heavier than greenstone, he said, and in colour ranged from white to a deep apple green. From the earliest times these stones had been valued by primitive and civilised peoples, especially by the Chinese and Japanese, exactly Why he did not know. The Chinese were very skilful in carving jadite. Most of the jadite had been obtained from Burma. The Chinese also used nephrite (greenstone) obtained from mines in Turkestan. The name nephrite was derived from a word meaning kidney, and the Chinese made drinking cups of nephrite because it was supposed to benefit the kidneys, but, as his hearers knew, Chinese medicine was very peculiar indeed. He narrated that in the early days of the West Coast someone loaded a schooner with greenstone for China, but no doubt he loaded with some green stones other than greenstone, thinking that the Chinese would not know the difference. But the Chinese knew the difference, and would not buy, and the cargo was thrown into the sea at Shanghai. “From a New Zealander’s point of view the standard' of the Australians’ rowing is not particularly high. It is a great pity, for I have never set eyes on men or youths better equipped physically to do justice to the sport,” writes Mr. E. J. Crotty, manager of the Union Boat Club’s eight at present in Australia. “There are some splendid specimens of manhood in practically every club, and the physique, especially that of the college boys, is amazing. Their ideas of coaching and ours are. greatly at variance, but I feel certain that, under New Zealand methods, they could be quickly developed into real champions. The clubs are well equipped with plant, arid are fortunate in possessing many wealthy members, who do not hesitate to use the cheque book when the occasion arises. It is a novel sight for us to see members of the. various clubs drive up to th° sheds in Rolls Royce cars, and there is no apparent Ecarcity of these. We find the oarsmen here a fine lot of fellows and good mixers. The Englishmen are most likeable, and, although there are some good hefty men In the crew, I think we have it on them in the matter of ruggedness. Their coach looks after them carefully, and they do everything with military precision, even lifting their boat out of the water by numbers.” Travelling down the Danube to Belgrade, a New Zealand journalist, Mr. P. L. Soljak, was surprised to hear Hungarian students on board the river boat dressed just like those in the “Student Prince”—singing a song with the air of “Waiata Maori.” Writing to an Auckland friend, he says that on inquiring the source of the tune he was told it was one of an international collection made for them by one of their professors. In Yugoslavia he heard not only English spoken (by those who had returned from America and the British Dominions), but even Maori (locally Maoriski), a linguistic addition to the polyglot speech of the late King Alexander’s subjects brought by Yugoslavians who had. sojourned in New Zealand. These incidents show how a New Zealander can be made to feel at home in a distant land. The people of Yugoslavia—especially those of Dalmatia—are keenly interested in noth local and foreign politics. They are much better informed than the people of other European countries on world affairs, and ready to discuss Hitlerism or Italian Fascism. They regard Mussolini as a danger to their safety, and all Italians—their traditional enemies—as grafters.