"Family" on the Swings.

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 122, 25 May 1937, Page 8

"Family" on the Swings.

There is always keen competition among children for the- use of the swings in the children's playground in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens. Consequently, the action o? a small girl who arrived early •on the scene on Sunday in commandeering all the swings to her own use met with some indignation (states the • Star-Sun"). . The girl arrived pushing a pram. From it she produced -a large family of dolls, placing one on each of the six swings. Then she darted back and.forth keeping her whole family gently swinging. , Her wails of distress when late arrivals removed the dolls were pitiful to hear, Better Honey. ' The elimination of undesirable flavours and colours from honey has been-achieved by research workers at the Cawthron Institute, Nelson, according to' that body's annual report. A considerable quantity of honey produced in New Zealand is affected by kamahi, ragwort, manuka, *nd other bitter1--or undesirable flavours, and in addition the colour of such honeys is frequently too dark, greatly depreciating them in the eyes, of con-, sumers. A long series of laboratory tests proved that what was undesirable could be removed by filtration. It is suggested that the treatment of lowgrade honey by this method might be a commercial success. The "frosting" of. honey is another" problem which has been investigated. Over Arthur's Pass. A wintry job is being done by Pub' lie Works linesmen in the construction of .a 66,000-volt transmission line over Arthur's Pass to carry. pow;er from the Lake Coleridge hydro-electric station to the tyest Coast. From Arthur's Pass the line will take power to a main, sub-station at Arahura, near Hokitika, and from Arahura on, to Dobson and_ up the Grey Eiver to Blackwater, to' supply various mining requirements and the Grey Valley Power Board's distribution system. The Diesel standby, plant which was formerly in service at Lyttelton is to be re-erected at Dobson to take the immediate overload in the Grey Valley area, and later will be available for standby purposes in the event of interruption of supply from Coleridge over the Arthur's Pass. line. - . Court Without Litigants. Absence "of counsel —a most unusual reason—caused the abandonment of the Supreme Court sitting set down, for today.. When the regular time of starting the Court arrived there were present the Registrar, the Judge's associate, the Court officials, and representatives of the Press, but no counsel. A hurried search was made of the building while the Judge was kept waiting, and one of the missing counsel was found. His presence-was entirely accidental,- and he explained that. his understanding uwas that the case had' been set down for hearing on a later date.. That supposition seemed to be confirmed by the absence,,, from Wellington of' counsel on the.:other, side, and, the case was held over. Towing,, tjtie Endeavour. /On'her'voyage across the Atlantic last week Mr. T. O. M. Sop^ith's challenger for the America Cup, the yacht Endeavour, broke the towline from her.,:, convoy, the Viva 11, and had to proceed the;rest;of the,way to Newport; "under, her own sail/ A Ngaio correspondent has ; asked .whether towing across the Atlantic, is in keeping with the rules of the1 race, "suggesting. that the challenger is ' required to . sail across. The original "Deed of Gift" of the ' Cup provided that the challengers should t - built in the country to which they belong and should sail ,to the place of contests on their own bottoms. Later modifications, however, permit the towing of. the', challengers across the Atlantic when, because of light weather; their speed falls below five miles an hour. , Crippled Children. ' • There was no doubt that the extensive facilities at,the Wellington; Technical College enabled a variety of occupations to be placed at the disposal of persons handicapped by abnormalities, stated the report of the director of the Technical College presented at last evening's mefeting of the Board of Governors, referring to the assistance asked for certain cripples in the care of the1 Crippled Children's. Society. Typewriting instruction was given to a girl who was at present unable to' attend the college, and the chief caretaker had under,his charge a crippled adult who was ; learning to make woollen mats.- "I cannot .speak too highly of. the' service 'given, so willingly," said, Mr. Ridling. ' "Not only are, they taught to do something, and are- given an additional • interest in life, but the psychological effect is remarkabla since successful• completion of the task encourages the patient to take/up', something more^ difficult; he realises that he may yet be a very useful member of society." An excellent example of the adult's work in woollen mats was displayed to the meeting. '; .• , Teaching by Correspondence. ■ The method of teaching by correspondence engendered by the infantile paralysis restrictions has been of value to teachers, according to the report presented at last evening's meeting of the Technical College Board, of Governors by the director, Mr. R. G. Ridling. "A system of setting assignments and correcting the work done by students is proceeding in an orderly and satisfactory manner," he reported. "It will be impossible, however, to judge of the value of the work ■: until the students reassemble. 'Teaching by correspondence reveals strengths and weaknesses not usually discovered in ordinary teaching work, where the student and the teacher are in close personal contact. . Where students have to adhere closely to written instructions rather, than verbal instruction given.by and under the supervision of the teacher it ie possible to estimate the value of the training they have received in method and accuracy. With our younger students the need for this is very evident, but the older students have undoubtedly benefited through the additional training they have received. It reveals again the interest taken by parents in the work. Some expressed astonishment at the c<.mprehensive character of the work forwarded; others have given valued assistance. Only about seventy students have' not yet forwarded an assignment of work, some of these because they have taken up ' positions and joined the evening school. Consenuently, although teaching by correspondence is an indifferent substitute for educational' association between ti-e student and the, teacher, we must be gratified that both the members of the staff and the students are making an effort to use / this substitute efficiently." * .. .