NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 55, 2 September 1926, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Yesterday in Parliament. A solid day on solid subjects was put in by the House of Representatives yesterday. The greater part of the afternoon was occupied with a discussion on the powers of the Racing Conference, provoked by tho report of a Committee upon the petition of the Cheviot Racing Club, seeking tho intervention of Parliament in respect to the refusal of the Racing Conference to sanction tho club becoming a. Trotting Club. About half an hour bofore tho tea adjournment tho promised debato upon the coming Imperial Conference was commenced with a lengthy statement by.the Prime Minister outlining the attitude he proposed to adopt in respect to tho various subjects to be diseussecyn the Empire Coun-. oil. Members on all sides of the House wished Mr. Coates well on his mission, and the hope was expressed that he would worthily 'represent the Dominion. Beforo the House rose at 1.15 a.m. four Bills were introduced by Gov-ernor-General's Message—the Maori Arts and Crafts Bill, the Native Trust~i Amendment Bill,, and measures adding further clauses to the Native and European Washing-up Bills.. In the course of a full afternoon sitting the Legislative Council passed five Bills— tlio Electrical Wiremen's Registration Amendment Bill, the Marriage Amendment Bill, tho Magistrates' Courts Amendment Bill, the Hauraki Plains Billj and tho Town-planning Bill. Suppression of Names. An allegation that Magistrates discriminate between poor and wealthy in ordering the suppression of names from publication was referred to in the Legislative Council yesterday by tho Hon. Mark Cohen, when speaking upon tho Magistrates' Courts Amendment Bill. There was a feeling abroad, he said, that there was a want of •uniformity by Magistrates in regard to the suppression of names. There was a suspicion that well-to-do persons had their names suppressed, while those of poor people were not suppressed. There should be no such distinction. Red-tinted Sea. The unusual phenomenon observed on Monday last in Wellington Harbour, which gave rise to a blood-red coloration of the water, has had an interesting sequel, illustrative of the inter-relationship between the different organisms which constitute tiie minute life of the sea. The dense swarms of microscopic plant life which first appeared in the harbour, and which were examined by Mr. A. E. Hefford, fisheries expert, of the Marino Department, have been followed up by Mr. W. J. Phillips, of the Dominion Museum, who "btained a sample of the plankton. by means of a tow-net. His capture consisted very largely of the small Crustacea belonging to the class Copepoda, with a different class of Crustacea identified by Mr. "W. ;R. B. ■Oliver, of the Museum staff, as ostracoda.. It appears certain that these animal forms had congregated owing to the abundance of suitable food occurring in the quantity of smaller and more minute forms, which have already been tho subject of a statement which appeared in "The Post" last Tuesday. '■„■' Cold Audiences. One of the judges at the musical and elocutionary competitions at the. Town Hall.describes Wellington audiences as the coldest in New Zealand. A few days ago he made the suggestion that the competitors in the childro2i's classes be given a little applause as they made their appearance on the stage. Applause was all very well at the conclusion of a performance, but if givon also when young children made their bow on coming on to the stage, it gave them much encouragement. On the day when the judgo made this suggestion, the audience did show some approval of the various items. , At the three sossions yesterday audiences were back to the old order again, however, and more than ono competitor had a somewhat freezing reception. Officious Bangers. A matter that needed attention, said file president of the Acclimatisation Societies' Association (Mr. L. O. H. Tripp) yesterday, was the manner in which anglers were treated by the rangers. Even though an angler had taken out a license, he was liable to a fine if he left it in camp. Instances had occurred of men who had left their licenses at home or in camp who had been fined exactly as though they had never taken out a license. Rangers should use a little common-sense. Even where the ranger had known that the' man had a license in camp, action had been taken. When this matter came beforo the Supreme Court, tho Judge had said that it was regrettable that the ranger did not find out whether tlio man had a licenso or not bofore taking-, proceedings. Beavers in Fiordland. Strong, exception was taken to the suggestion to establish beavers in South Westland by Mr. E. F. Stead (North Canterbury) at the Acclimatisation Society Conference yesterday. There were very few'of the South'Westlaßd streams, he said, suitable for the haL: tation of beavers. All were rapid, with no slack water such as beavers loved, and beavers would not live on them. He strongly deprecated tho introduction of imported game animals to tho fionl country. The preservation of the native game would be seriously menaced by the trappers who would take pea rifles in with them, and would not hesitate to shoot pigeons for .a change of diet. The president (Mr. L. O. H. Tripp) said that at one of the society's meetings he had said that the Government should make inquiries about the introduction of beaver.3, but he had never been in favour of it. A remit recommending that beavers be not put there was carried. Liquor in King Country. Throe petitions were recently received by the House of Representatives praying that the inhabitants of_ the King Country be allowed to vote" on the question of license or no-license. The Public Petitions Committee reported to the House of Representatives yesterday that as the matter was one of policy it had no resommendation to make. Notice of intention to move further amendments to the Licensing Amendment Bill when it reaches the Committee stage has been given by Mr. J. C. ■ Rolleston- (Waitoino). The amendments proposed that authority shall be given for the taking of a special poll in the King Country to determine whether liq\ior should bo sold within the area; In the event of tho poll being carried, licenses granted are not to exceed olie for every 500 electors. Pumice on the Seashore. 1 For more than a mile along the Waikanae Beach, near Gisbornj, there is a thick layer of pumice, which drifted ashore during the recent heavy weather. A small steamer making into the port recently had to steam through acres of floating pumice. It appeared as if the pumice had come from somo distance. Ono theory is that tho quarrying operations at "Whareongaonga wore responsible for its being dislodged, but, as on previous occasions pumico has been found on the beach, tho explanation is not entirely satisfactory. Many, residents have been carting it away and using it for paths and puuK purpose* , ~.»5..J..~

A Successful Bluff. Romo time ago a number of dances hold in nno of the Ckriatchurch suburbs were disturbed by several undesirablo youths, and it was decided to ask a policoinan to come to tho next dance and keep the youths quiet, talegraphs "The Post's" Christchurch correspondent. The constable, however, was" unable to attend, and sent along one of his spare helmets to the secretary, and told him to hang it in the men's cloak-room. This was done, and, somewhat to tho committee's surprise, a very quiet dauco resulted. More Than A Clean Up. Mr. 0. H. Chapman, hon, secretary of the 1926 Health Week Campaign, said at last night's meeting at tho Town Hall that it was necessary to make it clear to citizens that Health • Week meant much inorc than a "clean up" week. Bmnoval of accumulated rubbish was only one of tho activities undertakon. The real purpose of the campaign was to spread knowledge of the cssontial requirements -for health. It was very gratifying that^ the City Council had decided to support the movement, and that a number of councillors intended taking.an active part. Their experience in the two previous campaigns would materially help the efforts they were about to make An Auckland Possibility. The conversion of tho Orakoi Basin. into a lake aiid the boautification of the surroundings were discussed at a meeting of the Auckland Harbour Board, when a letter was received from the resident Public Works Engineer asking for tho board's approval for the substitution of a spillway in place of the proposed bridge in the railway embankment crossing tho Orakei Basin, reports- "The Post's" correspondent. Tho engineer stated that his Department had been requested by certain property owners with frontages to tho Orakei Basin to dovise a plan so that the water could be retained at a level slightly below high water of spring tides, With the object of convolving the half-tide flats into a lake. The engineer said that tho proposal was economically sound as far as the Public Works Department was concerned, and it was prepared to do the work, provided that the consent of the Harbour Board was obtained. Arrangements had been made between tho board and the Eailway Department for an opening of 150 feot in length to be left in the central portion of the embankment rtcross the basin, this length of waterway being sufficient to ensure tho full use of tho basin as a tidal compartment. The board decided to inspect the locality before deciding the question. . . Personal Interviews. One of the Australian applicants for tho position of Town Clerk arrived from Sydney by the Maheno on Tuesday, and will meet members of the City Council at a special meeting this afternoon. Tho other applicant who has been invited to meet the council will probably arrive next woek, and a third applicant from a Now South Wales town haa come over to New Zealand on his own responsibility. Where Our Potatoes Go. / What is rogarded at Lyttolton as a rocord in grading, sorting, and shipping of potatoes was established during the wook-end by one firm, states tho "Lyttelton .TimeH." An order was received on Wednesday night to rebag 200 tons of potatoes in 701b bags for shipment on the Shaw, Savill, and Albion Company's steamer Pakeha, which was timod to leave Lyttelton on Monday evening for Montevideo. The work of grading and rebagging was begun on Thursday morning from potatoes in two Lyttelton stores. An order was placed with a Christchurch firm for 4600 bags. Delays were caused through the men having to wait for the bags, which were received in rftlays. A delay of three hours was also experienced on Monday morning becanso ■of ■ the monthly stopwork meeting of the watersiders. Eighteen men ■ were engaged in the work, and tho potatoes were on board the Pakeha'by 8 o'clock on Monday evening. The vessel left Lyttelton yesterday at 7 a.m. with 8600 bags of potatoes for Montevideo. Last year tho Argentine took several hundred tons of New Zealand potatoes, but this year the Pakeha's shipment will be the first and the last owing to the lateness of the season. A fortnight ago there were between 25,000 and 30,000 sacks of potatoes in store in Lyttelton. With large shipments to Australia and the Argentine and to 'New Zealand ports, there remain only about 5000 sacks in store. A Livfi Wire Left Lying. After dealing with tho question of compensating an owner of two valuable bullocks which had been killed as a result of.a live wire having fallen on the road, and lain there for at least two days without any information of the matter being given to the controlling authority, the Opunake Electric Power Board recently decided to issue to users of power a leaflet requesting that as soon as possible the board should be notified of any breakages in the Hues. In the case before tho board, says an exchange, the leakage had not been sufficient to throw the current-breakers at the powerhouse out of action, and as it was impossible to regularly patrol the lines in a large district, the board had not been advised until-tho bullocks had been killed while wandering on the road. Members of the board wero perfectly frank in saying that it was exceedingly fortunate that no loss of life had resulted, a school beiug situated in cloco proximity to the scene of tho break.