NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 31, 7 February 1933, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

Solar Activity increases. "A great increase has taken place in solar activity," stated Mr. G. V. Hudson,- of Karori, to a "Post" reporter to-day. "A very extensive and most complicated group of sunspots is approaching the central meridian of the sun to-day. The greatest length, including' all outliers, is about 300,000 miles, and its width about 90,000 miles. In addition, there are two isolated sunspots of moderate dimension visible. No outbursts comparable with these have taken place on, the sun, for many months." Whit© Butterfly. ■ The Department of Agriculture toports having had several requests for information regarding a bonus for catching white butterflies, and states that; no bonus is given. The pest has been spreading rapidly lately and is , causing farmers concern by its attacks upon swede and rape crops. At the Feilding Show last week a competition was held for the largest number of white butterflies caught and the winner's total was 800. A correspondent states that a number of boys have been catching them and were expecting to get 2s 6d a dozen. At this rate it would be most profitable employment, as in the Manawatu and Hawkes Bay districts the pest is very plentiful. However, no bonus is at present payable, although individual farmers might be willing to do something in the matter. ~ Bench Peels the Heat. , The past few days have been hot, says tho "Auckland Star." Men have been seen'in the streets without coats, which is a remarkable indication of the degree" of heat, considering the conservatism of men. Even into the solemn precincts of the Supreme Court has tho heat found its' way. Policemen clad in thick, serge, with collars buttoned right up to the throat, were seen to be -wriggling their necks and standing first on one foot and then on the other. The wriggling, movement spread. Professional men iii wigs and gowns, pleading for justice, at first surreptitiously, and then more openly, began to shift the wigs on their heads, and to mop heated brows and pates with handkerchiefs. , But. the incident which gave them most heart to carry on openly was that in which the honourable occupant of the Bench removed his wig, produced a handkerchief, and cooled a fevered brow. To Save the-Tanner. ""We are satisfied that the way to save tho. farmer who can bo saved is to reduce his interest and that is a quite legitimate operation, for the investors who hold mortgages .over the properties^ entered in the transactions with their eyes open/.", states the "Southland tuxily News." "The Hon. A. Hamilton for years has .declared that the ' troubles ' of the men on tho land are attributable to-low prices and not to high values. They would not notice the high values .'when'prices were good and credit was long; that was the case with all people who had inflated ideas of farm property values. But.; the fact cannot be contested that' land is only worth what it can earn in production at normal prices, and that means it is impossible for men whose mortgages were based on boom values^ for land to'meet interest charges with the same land at the prices now ruling. r Most of the trouble is not the X • •♦? a j?astrou3 slump; but of iaulty arithmetic and bad economics." Ancient Implements. Three stone axes and a heavy adze or chisel, in a wonderful state of -preservation, and with the cutting edges sharp enough for use even to-day have been deposited at the office of the "Marlborough Express", for inspection by those interested. They were found at. Altimarloch some time ago by Mr A. M. Mcßae in rather remarkable circumstances, as they were right in the middle of a much-used sheep walk and must have been trodden on hundreds of times. One frosty morn-1' ing when the surface of the ground had been "lifted" slightly, Mr. Mcßae observed the implements and retrieved them. The a'dzo is stated by Maoris who have seen it to be fashioned from a stone whjch cannot be found in New Zealand. A Wide Choice. In order to comply with regulations, a formal notice in a recent issue of the New Zealand Gazette contains an-official list of officiating ministers who, under the Marriage Act, 1908 are allowed to tie the nuptial knot! This formidable list of approximately 2000 names should be of interest tn those contemplating matrimony. A prospective bridegroom, on studying tho imposing list; will find that he has a wide choice of socts and persons entitled to tie him up for life and incidentally to collect the gratuity usually associated with this ceremony. Bewildered with tho wide choice, he can always solvo the difficulty, however, by going to one of the many registrars who undertake" to do ail that tho, law requires as regards the solemnisation of matrimony.

Stopped by Exchange Rise. Because tho rise in the exchange rate affected the cost of the electric fittings and hardware required and increased tho total cost by £.42 10s, it is reported that a New Plymouth resident has cancelled an arrangement for the erection of a house (says the "Taranaki Daily News")- After plans had been approved and financial arrangements made the increase in the exchange rate was announced, with the result, it is stated, that work that would have, occupied about two months was cancelled. R.N.V.R. Training. The first parade of the year for the local members of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve will be held this evening., .The men on the active list, including those parading for the first time, vail be inspected by the commanding officer. H.M.S. "Wakakura, which is used in the training of the members of tho R.N.V.R., \is due at "Wellington toward the end of April, and the men -will be taken in- batches for a week's training in. the' Marlborough Sounds. The year's work for tho R.N.V.R. closes at'the end of November. ' '•. . A Strenuous Ministry. When addressing his parishioners for the last -time at a farewell gathering held in his honour, Ganon W. S. Bean referred to the fact that the'length of his ministry iii the parish' of Addington —rip years and seven months—was a record for the diocese of Christchurch. He also quoted statistics: which must surely be almost a record for New-Zea-land.' During his 40 years in Addington Canon Bean has carried out 2747 baptisms, performed 1104 marriage ceremonies, and officiated, at 1806 funerals. The Minister's Teas. "Encourage him to your homes; but don't expect him to be a gossip," said the Rev. J. K. Archer at the induction of the Rev. L. A. Day to the charge of the Opawa Baptist Church last week. "If you have got a quarrel with your neighbour, go and have it out with him or her, and don't worry the minister with it." After giving some other homely advice Mr. Archer touched on the question of afternoon tea. There was much laughter when he declared: "As a matter of fact, afternoon tea is an abomination to a minister. I'm. fond of it myself, and have had a dozen cups this, afternoon, but not every minister is like me. Make him welcome to your homes in. every ■way." Speech of. New Zealanders. " One thing that has charmed me particularly during my tour of the Dominion is the high level of the speech of New Zealanders," said the noted English actress, Dame Sybil Thorndike, on Saturday (reports the "New Zealand Herald"). "Speech in England is a thing of extremes, from the absurd affectation of the ■ultra-Oxford accent to the slovenly carelessness .of low class speech. The standard speech, is that spoken generally by educated people in London, and that standard is probably more closely approached in New Zealand than in any other part of the world.- One may miss the variety of dialect, but in Dunedin one can hear as pure, Scots speech, as is heard in Edinburgh." Nine Days' Prayer. . . 3?or the past three years the nine days between Ascension and Pentecost have been observed as a special time of prayer for the Teunion of Christendom. Last year nearly 1000 parishes throughout the Anglican Communion observed this novena, and the Eastern Orthodox and Old Catholic Churches also took part, states the "Church News." The dates this year are 25th May to 3rd June,-and the associated Anglo-Catholic Congress and Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Churches' Association'committees are now organising a chain of prayer across the world. The circular issued states that "to join in the' observance is not, to be taten as implying any one theory of Church government or any particular point of view in other controversial issues,* but only the conviction that Christian unity is the will of our Lord, that it is our duty to pray for it, and .that something is gained—indeed much——by praying for the same thing .at the name time." "A Slight on Old Members." , ' "The recent criticism and whol-esale condemnation of local body members by the Director of Town Planning (Mr. J. W. Mawson) is in my opinion entirely unwarranted, and is a" slight 'on' those old members who are gone and cannot reply for themselves," said Mr. J. Moore, jun., chairman of the Ashburton County- Council (reports the . Christchurch "Press"). He added: "I feel that the services of local bofly members in the past have been very efficient, and although no doubt some mistakes were made', their work speaks for them. Mr. Mawson, as a Government Bervant, should bear in mind the many and repeated mistakes of Government institutions 'before uttering such wild and uncalledfor statements." ■ Monowai's Milford Excursion. "With 260 passengers, on board, the Union Company's liner Monowai was farewelled by a large/number of peoplo when she pulled out of the Pipitea Wharf at 8 p.m. yesterday. The Monowai anchored in ''the harbour, and presented a fine spectacle, from the shore, being : brilliantly flood-lighted. The Rangatira, on her voyage to Lyttelton, passed the Monowar, and the two ships looked especialy well. A dance, was held on the Monowai to enable "the passengers from New Zealand to become, acquainted with the Australians making the trip.., At 11.5 p.m. the Monowai left the harbour for the open sea. The Union Company received a wireless message from tho Monowai this morning stating that theweather, was calm and fine, and every- ■ thing 'was progressing satisfactorily. The Monowai will arrive'at Milford Sound early ' to-morrow morning; and will afterwards proceed to Bligh and George Sounds. ■ If the conditions are satisfactory, she will, return to Milford Sound later in the day, and will leave in the evening for Wellington. She will arrive here on Friday morning. . Menace to Trout. . A report on,the prevalence of quinnat salinbn in the Opihi River, and on their detrimental effect on tro,ut-fish-ing, was submitted to Saturday's meeting of the South Canterbury Acclimatisation Society by the ranger (Mr. F. W. Pellett), says . the "Timaru Herald." "Quinnat salmon," the report stated, "like the German owl,"are a menace, the former to trout life and the latter to bird life. "Quinnat salmon were essentially a salt-water fish. They spent most of their life in salt water, and consequently they did not afford the angler the same amount of sport as do trout. There was not the same amount of skill in angling salinoii when hooked as there was in trout. Salmon, like trout, were identical in their spawning habits, and needed shallow running water and gravel bed wherein to deposit ova. There was. a difference of nine weeks between the spawning of salmon and that of trout. Both fish spawned^ on the same beds. Salmon were a voracious fish, and would domineer trout. The same remark applied to the parr fish of salmon; they also would fight parr trout for an existence. In tho matter of food fossiling salmon parr would outstrip trout parr, as rainbow parr fight off brown trout parr when it came to procuring food. As both quinnat and rainbow fish were near allies in nature, and both species were a gormandising fish, it could easily bo understood that either of these species existent in any river must depreciate the well-being of brown trout for those reasons alone. .