NEWS OF THE DAY

Taranaki Daily News, 16 January 1935, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

The rationing scheme for unemployed teachers affects 65 teachers in the Taranaki education district, according to a statement presented at a meeting of the Taranaki Education Board yesterday. Of this total 52 are women teachers. Good School Attendance. Congratulations were extended by the Taranaki Education Board yesterday to Iris Herbert, a pupil of the Korito school, on completing her seventh year of unbroken attendance. She was awarded a good attendance certificate. Teachers’ Tennis Tournament Forty-eight students from the teachers’ summer school joined in a progressive Yankee tennis tournament on the Pukekura Park courts yesterday afternoon. The matches were played in spells of a quarter- of an hour and points were given to the winning partners of each game. The pair who secured the highest score were Miss I. Allan and Miss E. M. Cleave. Worthy In Itself. The opinion was expressed at the opening meeting of the New Zealand No More Christchurch, by Mr. N. M. Bell, that War Movement annual conference at mankind was still too iow down in the scale of mental and .noral development for there to be any hope of the total abolition of war in anything but the far-distant future. “Working for peace, however,” he said, “is worth-while in itself, even if its ultimate goal is never attained.” Heavy Railway Waggon Demand. Though there has been a heavy demand on the railway waggon supply at New Plymouth during the last few days owing to the extraordinary activity at the port, the staff have handled everything with great smoothness and ease. It is estimated that the handling of the Orangemoor’s guano cargo, which is consigned .in small lots for places as far away as Petone, will have required 250 waggons by next week, when the arrival of 3000 tons of phosphates by the Comlibank will have further increased the demand. Opunake Inland Route. Bringing appreciably nearer the day when there will be an all-weather inland road between New Plymouth and Opunake, a start has been made with metalling the Kahui-Ngariki section of Wiremu Road by relief labour, the Egmont county crushing plant having been set up on Okahu Road to crush the necessary metal. Now that the metalling of the Momona-Pitone Road section at the New Plymouth end of Carrington Road has been completed, all that remains to allow all-weather through communication between New Plymouth and Opunake by Carrington-Okahu-Wiremu Road is a gap of less than five miles between Kahui and Kina Roads. It is expected that on the completion of the two miles section now in hand the metalling will bo continued to Kina Road, so that there is reasonable prospect to hope that by next winter the road will be metalled throughout. The work is being done by relief labour from the Kaweora camp, a base from which several miles of splendid metalled road, giving all the year accec- to settlers, has been provided during the past three years. Apart from its value as part of an arterial road, the part of road now being metalled will be of immense benefit to the settlers of the immediate district.

Debt to Antipodes. “The expressive term ‘wowser’ we owe to the Antipodes,” said Professor W. A. Sewell in a lecture on words at New Plymouth last night/ He could not understand what people had done without the use of the word, said the professor, for wowsers, like the poor, “are always with us." Divorcees Re-marrying. During the period 1924-33 the number of divorced persons re-marrying increased from 28 per 1000 persons married tc 35 —a considerable advance, and one probably in sympathy with the more liberal trend of divorce legislation. The fall in the number of widowed persons re-marrying—from 64 per 1000 persons married in 1924 to 50 per 1000 in 1933 —is considered by the Government Statistician to be due to the high figure in the earlier year having been an indirect outcome of the war, and, to a certain extent, of the influenza epidemic. Not a New Thought. That the proposed amalgamation of local bodies was not a new thought, and that it was not introduced by chambers of commerce, was pointed out by Mr. G. A. Monk (chairman of the Horowhenua County Council; at a jubilee dinner held last we k. There was an old motion on the county’s minute-books which said that such a course was not in the interests of the people generally. That was in 1901 when it was “in the air,” said Mr. Monk. Plague of Rats. ' Since the beginning of work on the weir in the Avon River near the Armagh Street bridge, Christchurch, rats in large numbers have invaded residences in the nearby streets. Several householders report encounters with their unwelcome visitors, and men engaged on the work of installing the weir have seen many. Apparently the rats have been living in holes near the old water level, and have been driven out when the water entered their retreats, or when the entrances were cleared of growth. “Marina” for Napier’s Garden City. The name by which the area of 475 acres, on the southern side of the Tutaekuri River, now under development by the Napier City Council, is to be called has brought forward a number of suggestions from residents of Napier who have followed with interest the negotiations for this valuable extension of the residential area of Napier. It is thought that some unusual and at the same time attractively-sounding name should be selected, and the suggested appellation, “Marina,” after the Duchess of Kent, might meet with general favour. The Darkest Days. An interesting and somewhat alarming sidelight on the terrific problems which faced the Government when the first wave of economic depression hit the Dominion were given by the Hon. S. G. Smith, Minister of Education, in political reminiscences contained in his speech at'a civic reception in his honour at New Plymouth last night. In the days of the drafting of the first Unemployment Bill, he said, when the Government was faced by the unprecedented problem of providing relief for 35,000 unemployed, so near had the country been to bankruptcy that the Government had seriously considered the outright discharge of no less than 10,000 civil servants because it was doubtful that there would be enough money in the treasury to pay them. Art of Shakespeare. In understanding the art of Shakespeare the exigencies of the circumstances of his time must be taken into consideration, said Professor W. A. Sewell in a lecture on the theatre at New Plymouth yesterday. It was notable that in all his tragedies there was one scene and one scene only which was designed to display the virtuosity of the leading actress. It was always a very simple and moving scene and its simplicity was such that it could easily be taught This was because the female roles were taken by very clever boys who were thus able, to display their talent. From studying Shakespeare’s types it was possible to see that there had been a very tall boy and a very short boy in the company. Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Slender and Justice Shallow showed there had also been an extremely thin man. “Mugwump” Defined. One witness in the Mosley case (writes the London News-Chronicle), who said that he had no politics of any kind, was asked by Mr. St. John Hutchinson: “Are you what they call a mugwump.” Witness: “It sounds a bit sarcastic.” Mr. Denton (one of the magistrates): “We want English here.” Mr. Hutchison: “Mugwump is an English word. I rather resent that remark from the Bench.” Mr. Denton: “I said that because I don’t know what a mugwump is.” According to the New English Dictionary, mugwump, an American word, denotes, in a jocular way, either a great man, a “boss” or one who holds aloof from party politics, professing disinterested and superior views. New Railway Bus. The latest addition to the road transport fleet of the Railways Department is a Leyland Cub bus of the most modem type which has taken up running in the Dunedin-Port Chalmers service. It is the first of its kind to be used in the Dominion. Capable of seating 21 persons, the bus is comfortably upholstered with the latest type of “air lock” cushions, which ensure very easy riding even over long distances, and has a commodious locker at the rear in which luggage may be carried without inconveniencing the passengers. The body, which is a greenish blue colour, is streamlined in accordance with the latest principles of motor body construction, giving the bus a remarkably smart appearance. Mining Project An investigation of the project of diverting the Nevis stream by a tunnel so as to command the Cromwell flat and other prospective mining areas will be made by Dr. E. Marsden, secretary of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Mr. W. Bromley, deputy-chairman of the Unemployment Board, and the Under-Secretaries for Mines and Public Works, respectively, who will visit Central Otago about the end of the month. Under the scheme the diversion would also serve .as a source of irrigation for land in the Clutha Valley. The development of the mining industry will occupy the party’s attention. Good Postal Work. On December 21, 1934, a parcel was posted at Caversham, Dunedin, addressed with the name of a schoolgirl followed by the figures and letters, “15 Rosin,” even the final stroke of the last letter being omitted. On Thursday, says the Wellington Post, it was delivered to the girl it was intended for, and as the postal officials did not even have her parents’ address in the Post Office Directory to guide them, its safe arrival at its destination can be regarded as a triumph for the Department. As the unfinished address gave no indication of the proposed destination of the parcel, it was sent to the Dead Letter Office, where it was opened. The only indication of the identity of the sender was a pencilled name cn the inside of the wrapper, but from this the address of the sender was located and the parcel was about to be returned, when it occurred to an astute postal official that it might have been intended for 15 Rosina Terrace, Wellington. Inquiries were made, and the parcel, which contained Christmas presents for two small girls, was delivered to them;