NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 37, 14 February 1933, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

Library Costs Go Up. There has been a considerable outcry against the imposition of the sales tax on books, and though the city library authorities have not entered into the controversy they are certainly interested, for dearer books will make a considerable difference to library maintonance, tho more regrettable as novor before has such use been made of all departments of the library, lending, reference, and commercial. The average novel -will cost about a shilling more, and works of a better class and books of reference correspondingly nioro. As. the yearly buyings total about 3000 volumes, without taking into account magazines, the cost of books will be increased by from £250 to £300. Last year the magazine list was severely pruned, to an extent that brought down a good deal of criticism. The supply of magazines, so curtailed, has already been ordered, so it wili not be much affected, except in special numbers, but if finance is difficult books"will not be added through the year as in the past. Iti will mean, that the present stock will have to last longer and that whereas two and three copies of books in particular demand were purchased in the past single copies only will be placed on the shelves. Wanganella's Fast Trip. The lights of a large passenger liner could be seen moving up the harbour shortly after 10 o'clock last evening, and many wondered what vessel was arriving at that time of night. The Wanganella, which left Sydney on Friday afternoon, had reported by wireless that she expected to arrive at 'Wellington at 7 a.m. today, but she arrived in the stream at 10.30 p.m. yesterday. The vessel presented a fine spectacle, with her two funnels lit up, under the moonlight. The passengers had not been favoured with fine weathe» on the trip, as a. heavy beam swell was experienced all the way from Sydney,, but they made up for it by having, a dance when the vessel was anchored in the smooth -waters of the harbour. The Wanganella berthed this morning. Despite .the unfavourable crossing, the Wanganella maintained an average speed of sixteen and a half knots on the voyage from Sydney, and occasionally did seventeeen knots. When asked, what speed-the Wanganella was capable of, the master, Captain G. B. Bates, said he did not know, as she had not' been fully tried out. She did seventeen knots without feeing "push-ed,"-and the Huddart, Parker Company intended to run to time-table without attempting to make fast passages, believing that comfort was what the public wanted on board ship. Zana Grey Breaks Camp. After a stay of two months at Mercury Bay, the well-known fisherman ana novelist, Mr. . Zane Grey, broke camp, states a telegram from Auckland dated February 13. The launch Frangipani, with Mr. Grey' and party on board, will leave at midnight for Wellington. He will take the launch to Tahiti and return to New Zealand in October. They captured 37 big game fish in 32 days. Mr. Grey mentioned that he had put finishing touches to one book and had written the whole of another during his visit. "When tho film, that has been made proclaims to tho world the fighting prowess of tho mako, New Zealand will have a grand advertisement," he said. Young New Zealand League. Modelled on tho lines of the band of the Young Australia League, which recently toured tho Dominion, the band of the Young New Zealand League made its first public appearance at the Basin Reserve on Saturday afternoon. The league was formed a few weeks ago and consists of about GO boys. « The' averago age of the boys is about ton, but young as they are each one is talented with the bugle or drum. Led by an eight-year-old drum-major wearing a cape of maroon and g*>ld, the league's colours, the boys earnod the plaudits of the crowd as they marched around the ground. Mr. Gray, son of Sir Alexander Gray, K.C., is offieer-in-chargo. of the boys. Lower Hutt Rates. A statement prepared by the Town Clerk of Lower Hutt (Mr. B. S. Knox) dealing with rate collections, was xead by the Mayor (Mr. W. T. Strand) at last evening's mooting of the Borough Council. It showed that during a period of seven months since tho rate notices were issued £33 410 14s 9d had been collected, as against £38,781 14s for a similar period of the previous year... In. addition to the current rates, however, tho council had collected arrears of £5280 8s 7d as against (52148 18s in tho previous year; The report pointed out that this year the council levied rates to tho .amount of over £4000 less than the previous year, so that the proportion collected would probably compare favourably with the previous year. Tho council had lost a very considerable sum in rates through a large number of properties reverting to the Crown. The exemption of the Crown from the payment of rates on this class _of property was a question which required the urgent attention of members of the Municipal Conference. On the motion of the Mayor, the imposition of,the 10 per cent, penalty on outstanding rates was postponed until March 31 on the distinct understanding that no further postponement will be made. Vice-Regal Visit to the Akaroa. Their Excellencies Lord ana Lady Bledisloe, accompanied by Sir Cecil Day, Official Secretary, and Captain J. W. Tweedie, A.D.C., yesterday afternoon paid a visjt to the Akaroa, which is on her first visit to Wellington under the ' colours of her new owners, the Shaw, Savill, and Albion Company. The Vice-Kegal' party was met at the ship's side by Captain W. H. Hartman, commander of the Akaroa, Mr. E. V. Bevan, assistant-manager in New Zealand for the Shaw, Savill, and Albion Company, Mr. W. J. Douglas> London passenger manager' of the company, Mr. G. F. Pearce, managing director of Levin and Company, and Mr. E. Cordery, purser of the Akaroa. Their Excellencies made a tour of the* ship and were greatly interested in the arrangement of the passenger accommodation. Lord Bledisloe was also keenly interested in the ship's equipment for the .carriage of frozen cargo. Keen public interest is being shown in the Akaroa, and yesterday she was visited by between five and six hundred people. Several hundred passes of inspection were issued for today. The vessel, will sail at 5 p.m. on Thursday for Lyttelton. Higher Running Costs. _ The increase in the petrol tax, dearer ofy tires, and replacement parts have added quite substantially to the cost of maintaining passenger motor services, an official .of one of the main transport companies remarked to a "Post" reporter today, but at present the companies are unable to pass the additional charges on to the public, as is done in most other businesses, as they cannot depart from the conditions laid down by the Transport Licensing Authority.. He could not say. what was the general opinion among operators of passenger service cars, but there y.ould be no desire to increase fares if it could be avoided. Applications for renewals of licences and for new licences had to bo lodged today and would be considered in about a fortnight's time, and probably those operators who wished to amend their fares would sot put tho new position in making their applications. There- could not, at any rate, bo any chango in fares till the applications were considered by the licensing authority.

School Committees Federation. Notice of motion was given by Mr. N. ( A. Ingram at the meeting of the Wellington School Committees and Educational Federation last evening that the federation affiliate with tho New Zealand Federation of School Committees Associations, as outlined in the constitution approved of at the national conference held in Wellington in November last. Eaciiig Cycles on Railway's. Minutes received at a meeting of the New Zealand Amateur Cycling Council last evening stated that at a meeting of the Wellington Cycling Centre it was decided to ask tho New Zealand Council to write to the Railways Department with a view to seeing ii more earo could not be taken of racing cycles in transit, especially as the Department charged the riders a fragile rate. The view taken by the council was that the question was a local one and that the 'Wellington Centre's course would be to take up the matter with the railway authorities. . Scots College Cadets. - ' About seventy boys of Scots College, under the command of Lieut. V. F. O. Francis, of the college staff, went into 'barracks at the college yesterday for a period of seven days. The boys will receive ,advanced training in musketry and battle practice. Two Lewis and one Vickers gun squads will receive technical training, and will shoot on the college range. Associated with Lieut. Francis are Lieutenants Vercoe, Bedding, and Mason, of Scots College, and four n.c.o.'s of the New Zealand Permanent Staff. Artesian Water Control. Mr. W. Nash-, M;P.y< has supplied to the Mayor of Lower Hutt (Mr.. W: T. Strand) a copy of the Onehunga and One Tree Hill Water Supply Bill, now beforo the House of Representatives. The Bill proposes that local authorities shall have full control not only, of the underground water in their districts but also of oil, minerals, etc. In giving his opinion on the Bill, Mr. Strand said at last night's meeting of the Lower Hutt Borough Council that he could not approve of each separate local body having the-right to the water; it should be vested in a. board of control for the whole district. As regards the question of the minerals, that was a matter for the Government to control, ilr. Nash, in a letter, suggested that the defining of underground water rights might well be the subject of a clause in the Municipal Corporations Act, and councillors approved of this suggestion. Khandallah-Johnsonville Road. The advisability of building a new road from Khaiidallah to Johnsonville as a relief work wag discussea at last evening's meeting of the .Johnsonville Town Board. The grade for a road, said a member, .was splendid, but a number 'of private properties -would have to bo acquired, although some public;spirited citizens would perhaps donate land. Another member stated that the building of the road had been discussed in connection with the plan for .an alternative route out of Wellington. The opinion was expressed that although the new road would bo a good one, the existing roads from Wellington to Khandallah were so bad that the new road would not fulfil its purpose as part of the alternative route from the city. In any case, it was considered that the road would come in time. An Interfering Dog. A black and white terrier caused some troublo at a sports meeting held on the Basin. Reserve last evening, when it interfered with the progress of two events. Inspired with the spirit of the chase, it participated in the first heat of tho 100 yards handicap and helped to run C. H. Jenkins, the provincial sprint champion, out of a position. After a brief respite, it resumed its activities, this time concentrating on the furlong event, and crowning its evening's labours by running between a competitor's legs. As a result '^o man took a tumble in the straight while the dog ran on to fill fourth position at the finishing line. The remainder of the contestants needed no more encouragement, and tho terrier was removed without delay. Greatest Educational Advance. "I think it may be said that the greatest educational advance of the twentieth century has been the discovery of the child," said Mr. N. T. Lambourne, Chief Inspector of Primafy Schools, in an adflrcss on primary schools reorganisation 'last evening."For hundreds of years previously tho child had been regarded by its parents and its teachers as a little man or a little woman, and was in some respects treated accordingly.- This was especially so in regard to his education, although some Yoiy enlightened educationists, Froebel and Pestalozzi, for example, disagreed with this opinion, and established schools in whicli little boys and girls were taught as children, not as pocket-size adults." Reduction of Education Expenditure. Replying to New Year greetings from the Wellington School Committees and Educational Federation, the Minister of Education (the Hon. E Masters), in a letter to the association, said he gratefully acknowledged the assistance given him by the various educational bodies in his endeavour to reduce the expenditure on education, in keeping with tho country's ability to pay, and with due . regard to the requirements of the children. "I can assure you, "said; the Minister, "that my task has not been a light one, nor, indeed, a pleasant one, but with true realisation of the position of the country's finances, and of tho imperative" necessity for conserving the funds, I have endeavoured to administer the portfolio^ with credit to myself and. satisfaction to the taxpayers in par! ticular." ' ■ Intermediate Schools. .In an address on changes in tho primary schools system given'last evening at a meeting of the Wellington School Committees' Federation, Mr. N. T. Lambourne, Chief' Inspector of Primary Schools, said that in 1922 the first junior high school in New Zealand, the Kowhai' Junior High School, was established in Auckland. This was a separate school into which were gathered Standards V ana VI (Forms I and II) from three large neighbouring schools. "Since then," he said, "thirteen junior high schools or departments, which it is now proposed to call intermediate schools or departments, have been established in the Dominion, three of them, Napier, Wanganui, and West Christchurch, being opened at the beginning of this month. In 1930 the Parliamentary Recess Committee recommended the termination of the primary school course.at- 11 plus, or after passing Standard IV." < "Only One Able to Swim." One of several applicants in the Supreme Court today for exemption from service on the jury said he was in charge of the Khandallah baths, and he had been instructed to apply to be excused. In reply to the Chief Justice (Sir Michael Myers), the juror said he was employed by the City Corporation. Why shouldn't they send somebody elso?" asked his Honour. "You don't object to serve, of course?" "Not a bit, sir," replied the juror. His Honour: The Corporation must send someone, There is no difficulty about it? The juror explained that there wero four permanent hands at Khandallah, but ho was the only ono able to swim. His Honour: Well, they shouldn't have instructed you to ask for exemption. I'm afraid you'll have to bo sworn.