NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 33, 9 February 1931, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

"Evening Post's" Birthday. With its issue to-day the "Evening Post" enters upon its sixty-seventh year of publication. It was first established on Bth February, 1865, and was the first daily paper to bo published in Wellington. American Tourists. On the Makura, which arrived from San Francisco to-day, were two parties of American tourists. One is' conducted by Mr. J. L. Wheeler, who has been to New Zealand in a similar capacity eleven times previously. Tho other party is under the charge of Mr. Charles Stewart, of the Crisswell Tour Company, Los Angeles. This is Mr. Stewart's first visit to New Zealand. Both parties, which number about 30 between them, contain a number of prominent business men, ,and comprehensive itineraries havo been mapped Out for thorn. ;.: Prompt Assistance. An. instance of how efficiently tho organisation for the' assistance of earthquake refugees is working was detailed by Mr. W. Nash, M.P., at Potone on Saturday. Mr. Nash said that a young man had come down from Napier with him absolutely penniless. The morning of the earthquake he had received a cheque for £20 odd on an insurance claim, and had handed the cheque to his employer to cash, but before he had got the change the earthquake, and then the fire, wiped out tho, cheque and allfthe employer's funds. On arrival in Wellington, however, tho insurance company gave another cheque on the facts' being vouched fof, and the Savings Bank in Wellington allowed him to operate on his Napier bank book. A car wa,s placed at his disposal by the Wellington Automobile Club, a free ticket was .given him by the Union | Steamship Company to'Pieton, < and arrangements were made for a car' to moot him and take him on to his home |in Kaikdura. \ Wreckage Washed Ashore. The Central Police . Station reports that hundreds of small pieces of wreckage havo been washed ashoro at Whangamoana Beach, Palliser Bay.- One of tho pieces is painted white, and has the lion and unicorn coat of arms n it. It was thought at first that the wreckage/might have been part of the yacht Windward,, but it is no>v known that the yacht had no coat of arms on it. The, Government steamer Tutariekai, (which had similar coats of arms, was scuttled in, Cook Strait last Wednesday morning, and it is thought likely that the wreckage has com© from her. Most of. the known coaijs o*f arms on the Tutanekai were made'of metal, but there may have been some wooden ones. Not Afraid. The Amei'iean tourists who arrived by the Makura this morning received tho news of the earthquake disaster by radio prior to landing, but, said one .of them, it would not deter them from carrying out; their intended programme. "Our sympathy goes out to tho sufferers and bereaved, and I am sure that our people in the States will help if floods be," ho suid. "We have not forgotten the San Francisco upheaval and the world's sympathy on that occasion." The tourist .added that his party hoped later, when their presence would not be unacceptable, they would be able to pay" a visit to the stricken area, and he added that ho did not think that any of them were afraid of any. further Earthquakes taking place, although naturally some of them had rathef. "got the wind up" when -they heard; the news. Are They Connected? Many,people^ aro now speculating as to- whether the more recent earthquakes that, have been recorded in the Dominion are in any way connected with ; each other. There was ■ the Arthur's Pass earthquake nearly two years'ago and tho : Murchison earthquake eighteenl months ago. Occurring in between-these two big ones were less severe shakes, in Cook Strait and at Hunterville. The question arises, are the shakes migrating along,any known fault.line,. or are they isolated occurrences t Seismologists and geologists Cannot at ipresent answer these questions definitely, but it is anticipated that the correlation of Observations nbyv being made may throw some light on the subject""" Artificial 'Quakes. , Whilst in America ai'ter attending tho Imperial Conference,' Dr. E. Mareden, secretary of tho Department of Scientific and Industrial Besearchj investigated the work being done in San Francisco and elsewhere with regard to the design of earthquake; resisting buildings. He saw a test floor which could be made to vibrato, artificially in accordance with the known earthquake vibrations. The behaviour of model buildings on this floor is recorded by means of a cinema. These experiments, stated Dr. Marsdon, are of the greatest importance to New Zealand, where the question of earthquake resisting construction needs to bo studied more than ever. Maturation 'of Cheese. Amongst the several problems studied in America by Dr. E. Marsden, secretary of tho Department of Scientific and Industrial itesearch, was that relating to cheese maturation. _ Some wonderful new work in this direction has been accomplished by American chemists, and in his tour of the laboratories Dr. Marsden was fortunate in having as pilot Mr. E. H. Campbell, a New Zealand research scholarship holder, who is conversant with the recent work.