NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 237, 6 October 1928, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Abolishing Collection Plates. Holy Trinity Churcn, Devonport, has followed the example of St. Paul's, Auckland, in dispensing with offertory collection plates. The duplex envelope system has been adopted, and at all services worshippers will place their offerings in special hoses on entering the church. Lord Lovat's Visit. Lord Lovat, chairman of the Overseas Settlement Committee, is due to arrive at Auckland by the Niagara from Vancouver on Monday and arrangements have been made for a civic reception at the Town Hall at noon. A special committee has discussed a number of proposals in regard to settlement of British people in New Zealand, and the scheme will be placed before Lord Lovat on Tuesday. Arbitration Court. After a singularly brief session, the Arbitration Court concluded its Auckland sitting yesterday afternoon, and in the evening Mr. Justice Frazerj and Mr. G. T. Booth and Mr. A. L. Monteith, employers' and employees' assessors respectively, left by train for Wellington. The Court will sit again at Dunedin on. Friday next. At the latter place the Court will commence its series of final sessions of the year, gradually working northward to Auckland. Power of Suggestion. ' "The Justice Department has sent a notice to coroners throughout New Zealand requesting them to ask the newspapers not to mention the name of the poison in a suicide case," said.Mr. E. D. Moseley, S.M., at the conclusion of an inquest at Christchurch. "When the name of a particular poison is mentioned it is found that there is a run of suicides by that means. This ■has been apparent recently, with respect to a certain poison." Try the Country.

The closing of the night shelter at Parnell at the beginning of the week has been reflected in the increased number of men, who have been accustomed to sleep there, who have applied to tho Hospital Board for relief. At this season of the year they do not get quite the same sympathetic hearing they would get earlier in the year, arid while the board is willing, to help them with sufficient for a night or two's bed, the advice they get is to get out into the country, where work is becoming more plentiful, and try to get a job. Trolling in Arapuni Lake. The ban on trolling in Lake Arapuni, which has been tho subject of wide controversy, is to be discussed by the : Auckland Acclimatisation Society. One suggestion made is that trolling should be permitted only for a specified distance at the northern end of the lake, and that it should be debarred at the southern end and at the mouths of the tributary streams. So far the fishing at Arapuni has been somewhat of an experimental nature. The lake has been well stocked, and last season, when the new sheet or water was available for anglers, some large fish were taken. A Real Primary Industry. "I still maintain that the greatest primary industry in New Zealand is tho married man with a large family," declared Mr. L. A. Abraham, who was one of the speakers yesterday at the farewell luncheon to Captain Jackson, of the liner lonic. The sally was greeted with laughter, but Mr. Abraham repeated his statement. Population, he said, was a first essential to any country, and large families of the right type were the first need of New Zealand. "You may think I am joking when I describe the married man with a large family as a primary industry," he added, "but I mean every word of it."

"Do It Yourself." "I shall never forget my arrival in New Zealand," said one of the speakers (a well-known Auckland business man) at the farewell luncheon which was tendered to Captain Jackson on board the lonic yesterday He went on to relate the adventure which befell him after he had landed from the old steamship lonic, the predecessor of the skipper's present command This was way back in 18SG. Hβ travelled by horse coach to Foxton, and on arriving at his destination gave instructions for his trunk to, be removed. "Shift the — thing yourself," answered the sturdy New Zealander. "I did it myself," said the speaker, "and I soon realised that I would have to do things for myself in this country. I have gone on doing things for myself, and that is probably why I am hero to-day."

The Real United States. An American business man, Mr. Frank B. Amos; who spent seven and a-half months studying marketing condition? and the business outlook in the various countries located in the Southern Hemisphere, said in an interview after■ his ■ return to the States: In New Zealand, where the per capita purchasing power is the highest in the world, the general business situation is improving rapidly." One thing that impressed Mr. Amos deeply was the poor impression that the peoples of many countries were getting of the United States. This was due to the news matter which appears in 'their Press, and.to the attitude of many American tourists. Mr. Amos said: "If we had more North Americans of representative calibre to translate real United States to other countries, and if our tourists would give a real impression of North America, our. country would be thought of more favourably by many of our neighbours."

County Hospitals. The Franklin Memorial Hospital at Waiuku is an institution which'; is serving a very useful purpose in the district, and is so well staffed that it causes the Hospital Board little anxiety. Recently in the maternity wards six babies were born in 48 hours, a record for the institution. The members of the board are to pay an official visit to Waiuku at an early date. The Warkworth cottage hospital is opened again, a fullyqualified nurse from" the South Island named Miss Greaves having taken xip the position of matron. . Mr. W. Wallace, the chairman of the board, and Mr. H. .A. Sommerville, secretary, went to Warkworth and met the people of the district a few days ago, the chairman stressing the importance of the people standing by and supporting their hospital. The best of good feeling was.shown, the people expressing much pleasure, that the hospital was opened again.. Bride's Choice of Day. ..;.;. \-

'With the exception of the holiday months of April and December, the month, of June has in each' of the last five years recorded the greatest number of marriages in New Zealand. Additional investigations into the actual dates on which marriages were performed in 1927 show that all of the Mays on which a hundred or more marriages were celebrated were Wednesdays, with the exception of April 14, the Thursday before Good Friday, and April IS,' Easter Monday. That Wednesday is the most popular day of > the week for entering into the matrimonial state, is further shown by the fact that no fewer •than 4354, or 43' per cent of the total marriages for the year, were performed on-a Wednesday. The next day. last year was Tuesday, ■with-1563, or 15 per cent' of. the total. That the element "--of .superstition occupies a' prominent' place" in the " minds of many prospective, brides and bridegrooms is amply illustrated 1 by the fact that' the° marriages celebrated on a Friday totalled- T only '494, .or- 5 "per cent of ■ the' total. ;The davs~ofthV week inorder of:preference were, Wednesday, Tuesday,.Thursday, Saturday,- MonSv Friday and Sunday...The 13th of the month; also'appears to be treated with respect, having an average of only 17 marriages > during 1927, wbidi was .easily the lowest, for any one date. There were 10,478 during the year, general average of 2ifper day.