LOCAL & GENERAL

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 95, 8 May 1937, Page 4

LOCAL & GENERAL

Wellington Exourslon. A special excursion train brought 450 visitors to Napier to-day, arriving at 6.33 o'clock this morning. The ex-? cursionists, from Wellington and intermediate stations, will remain in Napier over the week-end, departing at 5 o'clock to-morrow afternoon. H.M.S. uith at Napier. The sloop, H.M.S. Leith, arrived at Napier at 7.30 o'clock this morning, and berthed at the Glasgow Wharf. The vessel will remain at Napier durr ing the Coronation celebrations, and after a special service on board the vessel on Wednesday morning, ratings will parade for the municipal obsprvance of the Coronation. "Like Working at Night." Mr W. T. Young, workers' agent in the wooilen mdustry award negotiations in Conciliation Qouncil at Wellington, referred to the lqss of home life workers in the mills suffered on night shift. Mr James Evans, Dunedin, one of the employers' assessors, replied, "Btrangely enough the only difficulty we have had ra our mill over nightr shift work has been raised by the. ic u.cii . bUt- marrxed men like ivorking at night.'' Dfrection of Whlrlpoolz. It has been stated that whirlpooh1. msed by daras or other obstructions in rivers move in a clockwise directiou u the southern Hemisphere and in an anti-cloekwise direetion in the Northern i.misphere. This was mentioned dura tour of inspection b.y meinbers of the Waimakariri River Trust, and the engirieer, Mr W H. Harris, said that it had been borne out by observation on the river. The currents wero in a ciockwisc direetion except when there wp,s a special disturbing factox. Chfnese Blrd Shot. A gaily plumaged Chinese mandarin drake was the rare speeimen mcluded in the exceptional bag oi' L75 duck which was obtained by Mr A. G.ter's party of seven guns shooting over two day 8 near Port Waikato. The drake, which was brought down by Mr J. M Heise, possessed a crest, similar neck markings to & cock pheasant, and a lustrous white breast. Subsequently it was identified by the Auckland War Memorial Museum authoritiee, Why Birds Follow Shlpt. The reason aibatrosses follow ships xs not merely to secure scraps of food, but also to take advantage of the air currents made by the ship's movement, by means of which they can glide througb the air with outstretched wings, according fco Mr R. A. Falla, curator of the Canterbury . Museum, wfio spoke on bird life to the Christchurch Rotary Club. "It is wrong to say that they do not follow Scottish ships,*1 he added amid laiighter, "foy even Scpttish ships must provide free air currents."

Hospital Dlspute. "Speaking unoifieially, i am pf tfip opinion that a magisteriul iuquiry will be held into the state of aff&irs at the Napier Publip Hospital," said the Hon. W. E Barnard, M.P., in Napier this morning. He cquld give no indication as to when it would be held, however. Not long ago Mr Barnard communicated with the Minister of Health, the Hon. P. Fraser. enelosing a resolution adopted at a meeting of the Napier Labour Representation Committee asking for a public inquiry as soon as possible. Taken Llterally. The difficulties *«oountered by the employment of newspaperp as a medium for the circulation of homework lessons during the infantile paralysis epidemio were added to this week when two young pupils misconstrued the wording in an essay excercise published in the Waikato Times. The exercise asked the pupils to "wrjte a letter to Peter Pan, care of the Tjmes, asking him to find you a pen friend?" and' it was with no little surprise that Peter Pan opened two letters this week which Were ohviously raeant to go into the scbool-teachers' hands. Recently one of the published exercises instructed the children to write to an uncle asking for a birthday gift and with the children taking a literal interpretation of the question it would be interesting to know how many wondering uneles received demands from youthful nepbews and nieces. FBlling Birth Rate. Tprning to the wider subject pf populatiQn, oue might be fprgi'ven for quoting an oid Greek philosopher, who, speaking of the Athenians of his day, , wrote — "We regarjd a man whq takes no interest in pufjlip afiairs npt a? a harmiess, but a u^eless character ; a good citizen, does not neglept his own household because he takes care" of the State." Although New Zealand has perhaps the lowest infant mortality in the world, the seri&us fact remains that tjie acceleration rate qf population increase is slowly declining. It seems that the progressive fall in the bifthrate was aggravated by the depression, but the advent of more prosperous times, notwithstanding the marked inerease in the number of marriages, has failed to check the fall in the birtjirate. — Sir William Hunt at annu.a] meeting in Sydney of A.M.P. Society."