NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 230, 27 September 1940, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Kaitaia Transport Taken Over. The Government has purchased the interests of the firm of Taaffe's Motors, which operates a daily transport service between Kaitaia and the Otiria railway junction. The service will be operated by the Government froi.i October 6. "Cash" Trading. In early Auckland days Scottish settlers from Waipu bought many of their requirements in the city on the exchange basis. One settler who had not grasped much of the English tongue, being more at home with his native Gaelic, required a watch. He asked the watchmaker if he would accept "cash" in payment, and was assured that the transaction would be favourable. He produc d \ e'.:eese, for which the Gaelic name is "cash." Noumea Situation. The opinion that the situation at New Caledonia was no longer critical was expressed by passengers who arrived at Auckland by Pan-American Airways' Honolulu Clipper yesterday. The appointment of a Governor who supported Free France seemed to have satisfied , the people, and it was believed that ' some of the supporters of the Vichy Government had left the island. The French sloop that had been at Noumea for some time had also left. Putting on the Clock. Summer time will start on Sunday, when at 2 a.m. the clock will be advanced by half an hour. Most people will probably take the precaution of putting the clock forward to-morrow evening before going to bed. Summer time will continue in operation until the last Sunday in April next. Daylight saving has been in operation in New Zealand since 1927, when the clocks were advanced an hour. In the following year it was decided to reduce the period to half an hour. On the Soft Pedal. When gi-ing evidence in an action in the Supreme Court yesterday, a Maori witness, who thought he would be about 67 years of age, in answer to counsel, «=aid it was true that in the earlv days Maoris at Taupo had more than one whare to live in. Ho explained that when the fish came in plentifully, the Maoris lhe near the *ake. "Tjut, I suppose I shouldn't say it,'' he added, "when the pigeons were plentiful, the Maoris lived in the whares near the bush."

Instruction in Shearing. As the result of a suggestion made by Mr. W. L. Ranstead, secretary of the Waikato Agricultural and Pastoral Association, classes in shearing instruction are being held at the Ruakura State Farm. The initial class commenced with eight young men, who are being given a week's instruction by the farm technician, Mr. J. H. Hitchcock. Many applications have been received for periods of instruction in October, and by the end of that month the num!ber of new shearers available in the Waikato will be considerably augmented. Maori Centenarian. The death has occurred of Mr. Jonathan Hadfield, a Maori, of Takahue, near Kaitaia, who was believed to be 112 years old. Mr. Hadfield was a wellknown figure to members of the early missionary families, and was a grown man when many of them were small children. When quite grown up he attended the Pukepoto native school when it was first opened, and after leaving there was further educated at St. Stephen's College, Auckland. Mr. Hadfield was a steady worker, who set a great example to his race. His wife died many years ago, and he is survived by one son. Penny Scramble. To the tune of a thousand rings, scores of pennies rolled happily on their way down the hill in Shortland Street when a money bag fell out of the hands of a certain gentleman and emptied its contents on to the roadway. Fortunately there were few youths about at the time, and the job of picking the coins up was in the comparatively safe hands of adults. However, even when everyone was satisfied that the "browns" had all been collected a rather respectable bun-hatted gentleman stooped down to pick up three of the coins and nonchalantly place them in his Strangely enough, his next move was to a tea room immediately across the road.

Trams and School Pupils. The request made by the Auckland Transport Board that if possible there should be some alteration in school hours to ease the congestion on trams at the busiest hours was before the Auckland Grammar School Board yesterday. The headmaster of the Auckland Grammar School, and the headmistresses of the Auckland Girls' Grammar School and the Epsom Girls' Grammar School were present, and gave the numbers of pupils attending the schools who used the trams. It was pointed out that those pupils who used buses and trains would still have to catch the same trains and buses, and if the school hours Avere altered it would mean considerable inconvenience to them. It was not considered advisable to make a later start in the mornings and reduce [the luncheon hour. The board decided to inform the Transport Board of the difficulties involved, and the feeling that no change could be mad*. • Collection of Waste Material.

The National Council for Reclamation of Waste Material expect* to issue to district committees of the organisation a bulletin dealing with the collection of paper, rags and bags as soon as possible after the initial drive for non-ferrous metal has been completed about the end of the second week of October. Hitherto the public has been asked only to save these materials and not to send them to the depots yet. Early evidence supplied to the council indicated that the collection of waste paper over the whole of New Zealand would be practicable, but subsequent investigations have shown that at the outset it will probably be necessary to confine the collection to the larger centres. A representative of the largest paper mills in Australia is to visit New Zealand soon, and he will confer with the council. These mills may be able to absorb 200 tons of waste paper a month, provided that the sorting, baling and freight costs do not make it uneconomic. Valuable suggestions have been received already. For instance, a correspondent has 'suggested that a large quantity of copper and brass can be collected from dentists, these metals being available in the form of disused vulcanisers and flasks commonly used in the profession. An appeal is being made to dentists. Military camp authorities are being asked to conserve all used shaving cream tubes, which are made of tin, and photographic houses are being asked to collect and forward the lead containers used for packing films. j