NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 38, 15 February 1933, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

jury; Service. A juror called to serve in the Supreme Court yesterday said that the. reason why his employers asked for his exemption from service was that their business would be inconvenienced. The application was refused by the Chief Justice (Sir Michael Myers). "Jury service inconveniences everybody, "-^aid his Honour. "Your employers cannot throw, their 'obligations on■'-,-' to other people.','..' His Honour added that if the employers found they were . unable ,to carry- cm,without the services of the employee the manager or some other responsible person could Come along and renew the application. . Rough Weather in the Strait. The storm this morning' caused many people to wonder what sort of crossing the ferry steamers were having from Lyttelton and Nelson. ■ The master of the__Bangatira, Captain W. D. Cameron, reported that the crossing , was hot a very good one, but the ship had had many worse, and the north-west gale did not inconvenience the vessel. Gales of hurricane strength blew at times, andthere was heavy raiu. The weather became worse at 5 a.m., being "dirty" from Cape Campbell onward.- ;Lightning could, .be seen over the coast, v The Rangatira was ten minutes late in berthing this! morning, but this was not due to the-weather but to the visibility, which .was extremely poor; The Arahura made agoo.d passage from Nelson considering the conditions. . Jubilee Institute Students. The party of .students of tho Jubilee Institute for the.Blind, Auckland, which has been spending an annual vacation in the South Island, will return to Wellington by the Lyttelton ferry steamer on Friday morning. They will be met on arrival by cars provided by tho Red Cross, and will bo entertained . before leaving for the north by the Main Trunk train at 2 p.m. A hamper cf refreshments will bo provided by .he Red Cross for tho journey to Auckland. Picnics for Ex-Servicemen. The Wellington - Centre- of the Keel Cross Society has arranged to take the ex-servicemen at Porirua Hospital for a picnic next Friday. Further picnics will be hold fortnightly until the end of the summer. There aro 168 ex-ser-vicemen at Porirua and these outings are much appreciated. Friday's excursion will probably be to ■ the Moonshine Valloy. Luncheon' and afternoon tea. will be provided, and games will be. hold. It is proposed to take the men to their destination by cars, and the secretary of the local Red Cross, Mr. M. S. Galloway, would be glad to hear of anyone willing to assist in providing transport. Hosing Ad Lib. Wellington's consumption of water for all purposes works out at between 70 and 80 gallons per head, and this has been regarded ofllcially as very extravagant and an unnecessary luxury which the, City Council discourages'by threats of penalty for thoso who hose without a meter. Wellington's average lias boon far eclipsed by tho figures for Napier and Hastings this summer. During tho dry spell recently, broken a fow days ago, Napier gardeners used the hoso so freely that tho demand on one day reached 3,000,000 gallons, or 150 gallons per head of population. Hastings people woro comparatively sparing and used a few gallons less: but right through December and January tho average-daily consumption was about 100 gallons per head. Before the earthquake smashed tho wells and pumping plant tho Napier systom could not possibly have, supplied such a heavy demand, but the' new pumps were not fully taxed at any time last month. Water for Hastings is also pumped, and,the electric power consumed in driving- tho pumps in' January was about half the total power consumption for private and commercial lighting and power for the whole borough. ' A Dog Looks In. During the hearing in the Su.reme Court yesterday afternoon of the action for slander' brought- by the secretary of the Tailwaggers' Club against a veterinary surgeon, a black and white smooth-coated fox terrier "looked in" on the proceedings. Quietly he stole past the spectators clustered about the railing at the back of the Court, and, with his nose to. the matting, calmly trotted around the floor of the Courtroom. He passed behind counsel, then in front of the Bench and the jury, and, apparently, having satisfied himself, moved out with the stern eye of a police orderly following him. The interest of the terrier in the canine proceedings before the Court was; noticed by only a few, so silent was his coming,- his tour of inspection, and his going. Wintry Weather on Coast. A cold.snap during the past few days has seen a considerable snowfall in the high country, states the "Groy River Argus." . ' Around Reef ton the hills were coated on, Saturday, arid the main range of the, Southern Alps had its peaks well mantled. 'On, the Canterbury side, there, was also*snow, and on' Saturday the upper levels showed white under a light sprinkling. It' is very rare that snow falls earlier than March. Conditions generally: were very rough at Arthur's Pass. At one stage there it ( was feared there would be a washout 'of the telegraph, poles near the railway station;; but with a temporary abatement in the', rainy, conditions the river ;fell as rapidly :as it: had risen. .Later the wind assumed gale force- and further-rain-fell. ■;-. Over two inches , were recorded: ■'. The dirty condition of the' river indicated that slips had oe- ■ ou^ed'.-.-liiigttr;::-tip'--in'-.thel: i '._abuntain_. Bruises Only. ~,"'-,'■■ The occupants of a touring, model motor-car had. a remarkable escape-from injury last weekend when the vehicle loft the road across the Takapau Plains, Hawke's Bay, somersaulted down an incline; and washed on'its side at tho foot of the gradient, says ah exchange. A howling gale was blowing at the time and the accident to the car, which was driven by Mr. L. Jowett, of Napier,' occurred immediately after the hood had been wrenched from its supports by the wind and had wrapped itself round the driver. Leaving tho road, the car plunged down a slope and turned a complete somersault. Tho four occupants were not thrown out until the car turned over on its side. Under the circumstances soyere injury would not havo been surprising, but the most serious sustained by any member of tho party was a bruise. The car was badly damaged.

Air Force Refresher Course. The annual refresher course for officers of No. 2 (bomber) squadron of the , New Zealand Air Force commenced at the Wigrain Aerodrome yesterday. The eourso will last ten days, and the bombing practice will be carried out at Lako Ellesmere. The unit, which is composed of officers from the Wellington and Taranaki provinces, is under the command of Squadron-Leader G. L. Stcdman, pilot-instructor to the Wellington Aero Club. The No. 1 (Army Co-opera-tion) Squadron has just completed a course, and altogether its officers put in 212 hours in the air, as well as participating in ground training. Writing in Wairarapa Schools. "I always find it a pleasant task to judge the writing from the Wairarapa schools, and I am very gratified to be able to state the interest shown by schoolmasters and pupils alike never seems to wane so far as these writing tests are concerned," commented the judge on the Wairarapa entries for tho British and Colonial Industries handwriting competition. "May I take this opportunity of congratulating all the schools on their excellent performances, and, furthermore, those which deserve special mention are Central, Lansdowne, St. Patrick's, St. Bride's, Wamgawa, Solway, Castlepoint, Mauriceville West, Opaki, Whareama, Mangamahoe, Parkvale, Mauriceville East, Whakataki, Mataliiwi, Fernridge, Carterton, and Masterton West. Wairarapa and Nelson districts, on a school at-tendance-basis, have for the past four years been in the lead in numbers of entries for these writing competitions, and I am sure it would surprise those firms interested if they -were able-to view, the total number of"papers sent in for adjudication. One of the chief ■features and outstanding characteristics of the writing generally was neatness, style, and legibility, and I am sureiwriting is not a lost art, as many people think." / ..-,-■' Danger of Floods. The Wairarapa floods of August last year are still remembered by many That suc h floods may recur there or elsewhere i£ more than a possibility' according to Dr. E. Kidson, Director of Meteorological Services. . In van . article in the last number of the "New Zealand Journal of Science and Technology", le concludes: an interesting analysis;^ a£ the .meteorological factors which lecT up to-the Wairarapa floods with the, •following words:—"Though the^rainfall■; in -the-Wairarapa- was exceptionally heavy, it would seem that the increased amount and rate of the run-off, due .'to.;the destruction of the native forest,;contribute to the severity ot present-day floods. It is possible to imagine a combination of circumstances which would produce still heavier rams, and the position in the Wairarapa Valley- as, indeed,-in a number of other watersheds in New Zealand contains very distinct elements _f danger." - . Government and Farmers' Rates. A petition instituted in Stratford, asking Parliament to pay farmers' rates, has been given no support % the Hawke's Bay County Council, the view being expressed that it was wrong to suggest that the taxpayers as a whole should be taxed for the sole benefit of farmers. Tho fact that the farming comnrunity had already created displeasure through the raising of the exchange rate was referred to by- the chairman (M...F.8. Logan), who stated that by that measure the Government had given considerable assistance to rural settlers. The County' Council has before it at serious problem in that though £36,000; should be collected in rates only £6000 ha..'been received : while on the other-: hand . £ 7565 has already been paid to the Hospital Board, which has now asked-that the second £ the levjr uPon the council, £6000, should be paid.. Members of tho County Council expressed the opinion that /ratepayers were: deliberately holding back in the hope that further i rebates on farming land rates would be granted by the Government. Some members thought that the rebate would be granted; others that nothing would come of- it. The council decided to advise the Hospital Board, that it cannot mako any further payment at the moment. -."■,':.-• Not Down and but. ' . "It is no use being, downhearted.. I was once out of work .myself," said the principal of, .the Christchurch Technical College, Dr. D.:. E. Hanson, when . addressing unemployed boys,-repbrte the . "Christchurch Times." '.'I had spent considerable time; and money, in search of University degrees, and- for some months after that I did not know where I was going to find work.'V Dr. Hansen urged the boys never to, logo hope. "There is a saying, >Hopo lost, all lost,'" ho added.-V" But I want to congratulate you;on;your heat and alort appearance. You certainly- don't look down and out, and an employer entering this room would want" to talio one of you boys away to a job." Main Trunk Anniversary. . The inauguration of the through passenger train service between Auckland and Wellington occurred 2_ years ago yesterday, states the. "New Zealand Herald.'' The two railheads 'were joined at Manganui-o-.e-ao, almost at the half-way point, on August 3, 1908. At first a daylight express passenger service, occupying two days on the journey, was commenced. The time taken by the south-bound through expresses to cover the 426 miles was 19 hours 10 minutes, and the north-bound express took 18 hours 53 minutes. This time was not.altered until after the war, when the Limited express accomplished the journey in 14 hours 20 minutes. Besides linking up the Dominion's two largest cities, the Main, Trunk line has opened up an immense tract of country which would otherwise have remained unbroken for years.