NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 123, 26 May 1937, Page 10

NEWS OF THE DAY

Land for Exhibition. : , ' Permission .for the use of a strip'of the Rongotai College grounds for ihe Centennial Exhibition was sought by the Exhibition Company from the Wellington Colleges Board of Governors yesterday. The secretary of the company (Colonel H. E. Avery) stated that in return for the use of the college ground for approximately eighteen months, the company would pay a lump sum to the Board of Governors in compensation, earmark an exhibition building as a college pavilion, and would restore the land used to its original state. Arrangements would also be made for the pupils to use city reserves for play areas while the college ground was used for the Exhibition. The piece of. land sought includes an area owned by une Wellington Education Board. The Board of Governors appointed a sub--committee to deal' with the matter. Lectern for College.^ As a commemoration _of his daugh-, tcr's appointment as headmistress of the Wellington East Girls" College, Mr. E. C. Isaac, of Brooklyn, has designed and constructed a lectern for the college. The lectern is to be presented at a suitable function to'be arranged. Storm in Tea Cup. There was a storm-in'a tea cup at the meeting of the governors, of the Wellington colleges i 'yesterday, afternoon, when the. chairman (Mr. L. McKenzie) took .exception'to a-.- sub-: committee, haying,, informed an appointee that she ha"d been successful in her application before the sub-commit-tee's decision was confirmed by the board. It was pointed out that if board members acted individually in such matters, chaos would follow. Another board member also complained at the rapidity with . which special meetingc were convened and held. However, the feeling was short-lived, and the meeting soon settled down to serious business. Fantails and Rabbits. , The workmen engaged on the river protection work at the Silverstream end of the Western Hutt access road spend their days in pleasant surroundings and close contact with wild life. The hillside behind the road is covered with beautiful native bush, and native birds fly about near the roadway, while rabbits burrow on the riverbank. When the road was visited by a "Post" reporter yesterday a fantail was flying above the motor lorries and a rabbit was seen browsing 'within a few yards of the men and machines. One School Book. Recently returned from a trip to Europe, the Rev. Father G. M. Colgan, speaking at Auckland, said the children attending the schools in Italy had but one book. It contained sections devoted to spelling religion, history, and the usual school subjects. All the children were in uniform, looked healthy, and were examined dailyl at the school by a doctor. Every day the children were given a hot dinner at the school, as many as 600 sitting down at a time. Signor Mussolini had caused the building or reconstruction of 26.000 schools. No Third Party Cover. The. fact that the third party insurance would not have applied in the event of an accident involving personal injury occurring was pointed out by Mr. H. R. Cooper (appearing for the City Council), in the Magistrate's Court at Palmerston North, when Raymond Towler was fined 10s, with 10s costs, on a charge tof driving a public car when not in possession of a licence entitling him to do so. {Mr. Cooper stated that the .defendant/being under 21 years! of ago, had not been eligible to secure* such a licence, but' had driven passengers from the railway station early in the morning. The City Council was not pressing for a severe penalty, but had brought the case as a warning. ■ Native Birds. ; ."V. •' '. ■;;:■.; '■■ ': '-".. "' .'' "Help to keep thl native bush and you help to keep ihe beautiful songsters of our land,'!* stated the Minister of Internal Affairs (tlje Hon. W. E. Parry)' yesterday when commending th.2 work of the New Zealand Bird Pror tection Society. "If we could obtain a national feeling towards the preservation of both species there would-be no need for enthusiasts constantly to, seek to remind citizens of the aid they should give in preservation work." In referring to the native- bird sanctuaries at Kapiti and the Little Barrier, the Minister said that- the Dominion would have long ago been bereft of its native birds if those safe retreats had not been provided. "People.interested in bird life and the bush," he added, "can obtain a permit from either the Lands or the Tourist Department to, visit Kapiti-or Little, Barrier Island. I often think what a treat it would be to city folk if we could bring over to the mainland some of those magnificent birds for them to see. Many people know these birds at present only, from seeing them in plain or coloured photographs. It would also be a help in safeguarding the birds. People would then see how beautiful the birds were —how 'precious they were to their country."

Car Thief's Ruse. The search for a sedan car, stolen from Wellington early last week, led to a Levin resident making,.the somewhat startling discovery that his car bore the same number plates as those by which the missing vehicle was being advertised (states.'an exchange). It now transpires that .after removing the car from Wellington the thief or thieves proceeded northwards and on arrival' in Levin changed the two sets of plates. "Forsaken Mountain." The annual report of the Ruahlne Tramping Club recalls that, while tramping in the. Ruahines, several private parties had been confused by an unnamed mountain 5420 ft high on the Pouranaki-Te Hekenga Ridge. "This peak seemed to have been overlooked when the^ authorities were naming mountains in that district and we, therefore, approached the Lands and Survey Department and were successful in having our suggested name of Maungamahue accepted. The English interpretation of this word is 'Forsaken Mountain,'" the . report adds. . ' . Pioneer Motor-Cyclists. v Although in some, sections the road has not yet been formed, motor traffic has passed from Canterbury to Nelson over tlie Lewis Pass route (states an exchange). Recently four young men rode two motor-cycles from Christchurch to Reefton and back to Christchurch in 19 hours 35 minutes., The actual riding time was 15-hours for the 334 miles of the return journey. Several serious obstacles were met on the route, but the four men, all members of the Canterbury Auto-Cycle Club had taken many precautions, and, although they/were nearly exhausted after overcoming the • last obstacle in the dark on the return journey, they completed- the double trip in the day. Although the road to Lewis Pass was in good order the highest speed at which they .travelled on their light-weight machines was 40 miles, an hour. A Carver's Joke. Although a casual' visitor to the Maori house in ■ : tHe. Otago Museum would probably never notice the fact, •several of the more recently-carved .skirting boards of the; house depict humorously". a historic sporting event —Phar Lap's: victory in the 'Melbourne Cup (says the' "Otago -Daily Times"). With subtle cleverness, the artist has woven into his carving Phar Lap, complete with jockey, passing the winning post, andx has even included a bookmaker gathering in a harvest from his clients. It is all.done in a decorative, style*typical of the art of the Maori craftsman, but so skilfully has the carver recorded his little joke that no one who was not actually aware of it would realise that the panel bears\anything but the legendary figures of true Maori, art. . Preparations for Biff City Work. A considerable amount of equipment and material' will be required before the main construction and tunnelling work upon the £200,000 sewerage scheme' can be commenced, but it is expected that sufficient plant, which is being obtained both locally and 'abroad, will be on.hand to enable a start to be made upon/the shaft's and permanent drives within about ; a month. " Exploratoryl shafts are being, sunk to determine the. nature of the ■ ground'""through;•!'^vhiph 4 the tunnel under the city will runI.' One of these is • being driveii to; a- depth of 40ft in Hopper' Street, where, it is thought, rather soft material and a considerable amount of water, will have to be contended, with... A number of the shafts will be sunk to ,divide the tunnelling world into, short lengths, and. as - the tunnel;.will strike directly across the city the shafts .in' some cases, will be driven front private property,, to enable which special arrangements have to" be made with prbpe'rty owners. ; .i.. '■'•- ■.'; '' ; :''.;:.;...' .- \ ■ "■.;■■.