NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 125, 28 May 1937, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Nurses for Spain. "I don't think we should encourage nurses from this hospital to go to Spain," declared Mr. K. Holland at last night's meeting of the Wellington [Hospital Board, when it was recommended that-the board, in accepting her resignation; should place on record its appreciation of the courage and sense of duty of Nurse I. Dodds, who had left for Spain to assist with Red Cross work. Mr. Holland said that it was clear that Spain needed munitions more than it did nurses, and that there were certain political interests who were cultivating the idea of, nurses going to Spain. He referred to the Communists, who, he said, had arranged the farewells. The recommen- 1 dation was agreed to. ~ Punch as Prophet. One Of the quaintest features of the Punch exhibition, which was opened in the Art Gallery last week at Auckland, is a series of pages showing how the paper, through its artists, especially Dv Maurier, predicted some of the chief modern inventions half a century and more ago. Among these mechanical developments are broadcasting, television, gramophones, air mails to India and China (1843), underground railways (1846), and "tin hares." There are also forecasts of pillion-riding and mixed bathing in the Serpentine, Hyde Park, now known, as "Lansbury's Lido," after Mr. George Lansbury, who brought the change about, during Labour's political regime. Unusual Air Freights. v Uncommon cargoes seem to be the lot of air services throughout the world, and New Zealand's services, although so recently established, are no exception. Union Airways have been called on to carry dogs and various other kinds of household pets/ The last fortnight has introduced an unj usual feature to the daily freight records with the carriage of canaries! (reports "The Press"). What has in-j duced the different owners to have transferred from Christchurch to Palmerston .North or from Palmerston North to Christchurch five cages of. the birds has, however, not been revealed. j Apprenticeship Research. "The apprenticeship. system must be regarded as a legitimate part of the educational structure of the country," states the annual report .of the Director of the New Zealand Council for, Educational Research (Dr. C. E. Beeby), "and an investigation has been started in three centres into its workings. The main purpose is to work out a technique for examining the adequacy of trade training in New Zealand. Three trades were chosen. Mr. A. A. Kirk (Wellington) has completed his survey of apprenticeship in the plumbing trades. Mr. G.E. M. Keys (Christchurch) is working on the electrical trades, and Mr. T. Conly (Dunedin) on the iron trades." A Beer Strike. ' Miners are touchy in the matter of beer. Their job is a .dusty one with corresponding desiccating effects on the throat. But a 1 principle they may put above the quenching of a thirst. At Corrimal, New South Wales, last week, the miners declared the local hotel "black" on "two grounds—(l) dismissal of a popular barman and (2) at 9d, as the. price of a "schooner." Other hotels outside the district charge Bd. Pickets guarded the boycotted "pub.," and there the matter stood as the Sydney mail left. ' • Footpath Obstacles. Pedestrians using Salamanca Road in the vicinity of Victoria College had to watch their step this morning as the result of the footpath being obstructed owing to the work of somebody possessed of a perverted sense of humour. A heavy block of concrete covering a sump was raised a few inches above the path level—making an ideal obstacle to trip over—and a few yards away a,similar block had been taken ; up and broken in several pieces. Beautifying Mount Etako. A letter has been received by the Wellington Beautifying Society from Mr. H. Gore Adams, formerly of Wellington and now resident in Cairo. During a recent visit to this city Mr. Adams was much impressed with the view obtainable from the Tinakori Hill radio station (Mount Etako), and j he has generously offered to give a number of native trees for planting on Mount Etako, and the society has gratefully accepted the offer. Arrangements will be made by the hills committee to have the planting of the trees undertaken during the season about to commence. The society anticipates extensive planting of cabbage trees on a number of prominent hill slopes. An Alpine Garden. The establishment of an alpine garden in the Arthur's Pass National Park was referred-to in a report presented to yesterday's annual meeting of the council of the Royal Society of New Zealand as the most important scientific work to be undertaken in that area. The preparation of the site has been carried out under the direction of Mr. M. J. Bafnett, superintendent of reserves for the Christchurch City Council, and a space is ready for planting, and only awaits the commencement of the season for this work to bo put in hand. The board intends for the present that the garden shall be representative of the plants growing naturally in the area controlled by the board; exotics will be rigorously excluded, but consideration will be given at a later date of the advisability or otherwise of including alpine plants from other parts of the country so that it may function in some degree as a national alpine garden. It is intended to spend £300 as an initial step in the construction of the garden. The destruction of deer and chamois is also being carried out by parties acting under instructions from the Minister of Internal Affairs in order to conserve as far as possible the plant covering and thus check erosion, indications of which are becoming more and more manifest in this region. With the limited finances available, additional tracks have been made, shelter sheds and bridges built, and other improvements made. ,

From "Heaven.

A gift from ''heaven" of 4s 9d fell to the- lot of. 8 travelling greengrocer of Greymouth recently, reports the "Grey River Argus." He was driving peacefully along Tainui Street in his cart when there was a sudden clang of dropping silver in the vehicle. The coins had apparently come from the pocket of the pilot in an aeroplane directly above him. The aeroplane was stunting at the time, and this would explain the unusual gift of small change. Second X.P.M. Liner. ,News has been received that the steamer Van Rees, which is now en route irom Singapore to New Zealand in the South Pacific service recently established by the X.P.M. Line with the motor-ship Maetsuycker, has-been diverted, to Wellington, arid will now arrive here about June 4or 5. It was originally intended that she should first call at Auckland, proceeding thence to Wellington and Sydney. She will later call at Auckland, thence Sydney, Port Moresby, Sourabaya, Samarang, Batavia, and Singapore. The Van Rees is a steamer of 3050 tons, and was built at Rotterdam in 1913. Award of Honours. *"It is very pleasing to see that honours are being conferred on people who have given long public service and not necessarily piled up a stack of money and a name for themselves," said Mr. J. K. Archer, speaking of the honour conferred on Miss Rose ( Muir, former lady superintendent of the Christchurch Public Hospital, at a meeting of the Christchurch Hospital Board on Wednesday (reports the "Press").; "ft has formerly been the custom to award honours' as a reward for political service or contributions, and I am glad to see that those who have given long service to the public are now being given more recognition." Ragwort and Blackberry- ■■■-,• The Haurakl Plains County Council is making determined efforts to eradicate ragwort within the county (states a Ngatea correspondent). The inspector reported at Wednesday's meeting that during the past month he had visited 384 farms. He found that some careless farmers, were neglectful and he had issued final notices to these insisting that the weed be treated, otherwise prosecution would quickly follow. The destroying of blackberry was also being insisted upon with very fair results. The wet weather had to some extent militated against the operations, but the inspector was quite satisfied the settlers generally were doing their best. Blackberry plants on the county roads had been treated with spray. A letter was received from the Piako County Council asking that the ragwort growing on 400 acres owned by the Hauraki Plains Council at Patetonga be cleared. It was decided to reply that this had been treated and that the area was now free of weed. Appreciation was expressed at the Piako'County's action in drawing attention to the menace. One member said it was only by the united efforts of all counties that ragwort would be kept in check. Native Land Rates. The failure of the Government to reach any finality regarding the payment of rates on Native lands continues to give the Rotorua County Council cause for concern, and at the annual meeting on Wednesday it was decided to again represent the matter to the Minister and to suggest that now that many of the farms, in the Ngakuru and Horohoro districts were rapidly reaching full production capacity, the council was entitled to some protection for;i the payment of,rates, states a Rotorua correspondent. In his annual report the chairman, Mr, H. P. Ford, said that development work pn Crown arid Native lands at Ngakuru and Horohoro had increased rapidly during the past twelve months, and that new areas of land were now being made available for selection. The recent revision of the coupty valuations showed a large increase in the capital values of the newly-developed areas. Many of the farms were already providing excellent butterfat returns. He considered that once the Native farmers had been satisfactorily established on their properties they should be entitled to'no more benefits than the European farmer. It seemed almost I certain that the Government • would protect itself for the payment of instalments and interest out of the butterfat cheques of the settlers, and he thought that when these agreements were being drawn up some provision should also be made for the payment of the rates out of the returns.