NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 91, 14 October 1932, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Extension of Cemetery. The City Council proposes to ask Parliament to pas? legislation to enable an area of 25 acres, immediately . to the west of Karori Cemetery, to be included in. the cemetery. The Mayor (Mr. T. C. A. Hislop) explained that under tho present law a cemetery area could not be extended, in a borough. The council did not want to go beyond the city boundaries to purchase more land in the future. The area.was quite suitable, and he- believed, no would be. raised against its inclusion in the cemetery area* ■ : Not "Orattluncle." ■' ■' A bright touch was introduced into his few Temarks by Mr. Justice MacGregor, one of the judges in the oratory contest at the Town Hall last •evening. His Honour cpnfided that he had sought from the pages of his dictionary the proper definition of the •word "oration." 'the definition he had had copied out was:'"An oration is an_ elaborate;'or formai public speech treating some important. subject in a dignified style' and manner, and according to the rules of oratory." "And I would just like to add," said his Honour, "that the next word in my dictionary wag one I had never heard of before—' oratiuncle'—pronounced 'orayshiuncle,'' not 'orattiuncle.' (Laughter.) It means a short oration, and I noticed that it is f<Hlowed by the word 'rare,' in parentheses. ' (Laughter.) I don't quite understand the reason for that addition." (Further laughter.) Trafttc at Memorial Corner. In. order to ensure greater traffic safety and the safety of pedestriansV the City Council has brought down a rule that only westbound traffic shall be permitted in that portion of BoVen street at,the rear of the Citizens' War Memorial. Are There Wye Huias? « While there'is no very definite evidence that huias are not extinct, it was disclosed; at yesterday's Acclimatisation Societies' Conference that/the Departmenti of.lnternal Affairs had considered it worth while>,Bending ,out an. expedition, and had secured/some information, which it did not care to divulge, ,The possibility;;bf• the existence of the huia was brought up.by Mr. IV E. McKenzie (Auckland) j who moved that funds should be; provided by the, Acclimatisation Society Association, for an; expedition into; •the^/Buahiiie: Ranges in search of;'h'uias^.;;,Mr. iH.. J.-©uigan (Wanganiil):' suggested the exploration of the ■ Kaimanawas,which, ( are"[ rough and have been only .partly'explCred by hunters of wild cattle. The president (Mr. L. O. H; Tripp) told if the; sight of two unknown birds by a; deer stalker .■ The description given was that of huias. It was agreed that it would be undesirable to disturb any area in which huias were found, the proper course being: to leave further proceedings in the hands of the Internal Affaire Department, with a view to placing the birds on van island sanctuary. ' To Improve Visibility on Jervois Quay. There' have been very many complaints of poor visibility at night in Jervois quay, notwithstanding considerable .improvement in lighting in recent- years, and it has now been decided to make a trial of painting the wooden breastwork on the eastern side of the quay, i.e., along the wharf shed frontages,. white. The work will be a charge against the Street Lighting Department. Debating and Oratory. , The keener public interest of recent years in debating and oratory contests ■was .illustrated last evening by'the good'attendance' at the Town Hall for the. first three-yearly Bledisloe medal competition. ■ Eeference' to this, aspect was made in the programme in" a'statement of the activities of the NewJZealarid National Union of Students."*' The Joynt Scroll contest in. debating was one of the three contests that made up the first New Zealand University tournament," it said. "From that time debating has always occupied a very important position in New Zealand student life. Of recent years the interest has been very keen, so much so that the Bates College debating team had the two largest audiences of their round-the-world tour at Auckland and Wellington. . In 1929 two New Zealand debating teams left New Zealand under the auspices of the N.Z.N.U.S. ■.'. . . These tours seem to have stimulated a keener interest in debating than before. Broadcast debates appear to be becoming more and more popular, and public. support seems to be increasing. Until .the present there has been no in-ter-university contest in oratory. Now the Bledisloe Medal contest should help to give this, aspect of public speaking its due place in.our university life."' Reconditioning the Cycle Track. : The view that steps should be taken •to put the cycle track on the Hutt road in proper order was urged by Councillor W. Appleton at last evening's meeting of the City Council. He* said that the track was in a dreadful state, and should be attended to for the convenience of the many cyclists in the city and the Hutt Valley. The Mayor (Mr. T. C. A. Hislop) said that he would bring the matter to the notice of the City and Suburban Highways Board. He understood that tho City Engineer's estimate of the cost of putting the track in order was approximately £8000. Councillor Appleton thought that the expenditure of a few hundred pounds would be sufficient.

Misuse of Milk Bottles. Though tho City Council fully supports the idea of the vending of milk in bottles as being of distinct benefit to public health, its members have definite feelings about other vendors using council bottles, and last night the City Solicitor was instructed to draft a bylaw prohibiting the use of Corporation bottles by nearby fanners. . ' '■ Vogeltown Buses. ■ . . . ' ■ Authority was given the general manager of the Tramways Department, Mr. M. Cable, by the City Council last night to discontinue Ihe 7-15 a.m. John streetIDast Vogeltown bus as from Ist November, if, in his'opinion, there, is no improvement in the receipts.. Milk; Supply Loan. ■ . • -' ■ The Milk Committee last evening recommended, and the City Council approved,'that steps should be taken, to obtain' a renewal loan of £"24,500 for the purpose.of redeeming the Outstanding liability :of the Milk Supply Loan of 1923 (£28,000) maturing, on Ist May next, and also, that in order to,relieve the position' with regard! to the department's overdraft, application should be made t.o the Local Government Loans BoaTd for permission to raise an additional loan of £20,0.00.Ban on "Cruising" Taxis. , A. new-bylaw is to be drawn up prb: hibiting taxi-cabs "cruising" in search of fares. Councillor H. A.» Huggiris, chairman of the. Bylaws Committee, stated-at last evening's meeting of the City Council that the reasons for the' bylaw, were that taximen who paid for places: on stands and telephones were penalised by others "cruising" about the streets and picking up the fares. The Mayor (Mr. T. C. A. Hislop) said that the bylaw would, not prevent any taxi proprietor who happened -to be going along the street from picking' up a fare. Councillor Huggins said "that last time applications' were, invited for the vacancies on.the stands not half the vacancies were filled. No Zoo Poll; :' . " .. The proposal that citizens should be asked when the next municipal eleetibns are held whethor they wish the Newt Own Zoo to be continued or to be closed aown -has died a quiet death, for the City Council last night, without aiscussion, adopted a recommendation of the Beserves Committee that no action should be taken in the matter. "Epoch-making Occasion." When at the conclusion of the oratory contest in the Town Hall last evening _ Lord Bledisloe addressed the audience, His Excellency referred to the occasion as epoch-making, and said he was. almost.tempted to say that the gathering was a landmark in New Zealand history,;, "I feel constrained to add a few words on this epoch-making occasion," His Excellency began;' "first of all, in justification; of. the present competition, arid secondly in endorsement, which I feel bound to express, of the wise decision of the judges performing an' 'extraordinarily ;■ difficult task. '■ : There: is an old Latin motto, 'si mphumentum requiris cireumspice,' and if X may'twist its ordinary Vinterpretation'to fit the present occasion I would/say that if you desired to see the justification, of this competition y,ou had.only to listen to the.competitors and note Jhe rapt attention of the large audience present." Street Meetings. ■ No 'decision in regaTd to the application of the Wellington Labour Bepreseutation Committee to hold.street meetings' was reached by the City Council last evening. The Mayor (Mr. T. a A. Hislop) said he understood that some legislation in connection with the matter, of, street meetings was under consideration, and he thought the application could be held over until the next meeting. The suggestion was approved; . Shearing in Poverty Bay. It is not generally expected that much difficulty will bo experienced in the Poverty Bay district m securing labour for shearing operations, says a , corres-: pondeht of/the '*■ Auckland Star,'' and it is reported that already several sheds are .working on the basis of 17s 6d per 100 sheep, which rate-was agreed-.upon by' the Shipowners' Union. It, "is stated, that" in one instance where a farmer was unable to. secure the usual, gang at the fixed rate, he mustered and commenced operations himself with the assistance of the station stiff,. whereupon the necessary, shearing labour was soon,forthcoming. =.: For stud sheep this man paid 30s per 100, but for flock sheep' 17s fid was paid and accepted. In other cases farmers h'aye completed ■arrange.ments for shearing to .be done' by con^tract. All incidental.labour in such cases is being .found ,;b'y. contractors In one casek.vit is stated that the "contract -price • under the conditions'dwas 32s 6d per 100, but it is'announced^ttiat a gang of Maoris is willing to accept shedslon a contract basis a.t 28s. ■ ■ •'