LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 June 1938, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Aerial' Activities. Mr G. Cunningham, with Mr P. Fagan as passenger, in a Miles Whitney Straight, and Mr M. L. Pirie, with Mr J. Register as passenger, flew from the Hood Aerodrome to Wellington on Saturday, both machines returning to Masterton on Sunday. A Heavy Frost. A frost of 12.7 degrees was registered in Masterton this morning, this being the heaviest so far this winter. Housewives who had left washing out on their lines found the clothes frozen stiff by nine o’clock last night. If the day and night remain fine, it is expected that the frost recorded tomorrow morning will exceed that of today. “Not So Badly Off.” “Farmers would do a lot to help themselves by dropping this eternal mournful countenance,” said Mr C. Stanley at a meeting of the Tem-’ka branch of the New Zealand Farmers Union. “The farmer is not so badly off as might be gathered from the newspapers. He decries his own industry and says that the other fellow is getting the long end of the stick; but he is not always right. No doubt we see a lot of mud, but we are inclined to forget pay day on the twentieth of tne month.”

World Dangers. Returning by the Remuera yesterday after research work during a sabbatical year in England, Professor James Rutherford, of the Chair of History, Auckland University College, said that war seems inevitable, though perhaps not for at least two years. There were, he said, three danger points—the Suez Canal, the Balkans, and the Far East. Any might cause war, and each, to a great extent, was bound up with the others. One event which might prevent war, or at least postpone it, would be an unequivocal statement by the United States that in the event of a crisis it would not be neutral. One element of comfort was the unquestioned unity of the British Empire. New Educational Work. The educational work which is being carried on at the Canterbury Museum by Mr George Guy, educational officer, has recently taken a new turn with the introduction of films and lantern slides, which are shown to parties of children and teachers. Already there have been ten screenings. The films deal with subjects such as the life of the tuatara, the kiwi and the beaver. Some of them have been made in New Zealand, and include films taken by the Auckland Museum. The extent of the educational work done at the museum is indicated by the number making visits from the schools during the last term, 3458 children and 243 teachers.

Education by Mail. A suggestion that those living in country districts be given an opportunity of securing technical education by correspondence is to be sent to the Minister of Education, the Hon P.

Fraser, by the board of governors of the Christchurch Technical College. The subject was introduced at a meeting of the board in a report submitted by the chairman, Mr T. W. West, and other members spoke in support of the idea. Anniversary of. Bunyan.

A suggestion that the 250th anniversary of the death of John Bunyan, which will occur on August 31, should be commemorated in an appropriate manner, was made by Mr H. H. Driver at a meeting of the Auckland Council of Christian Congregations. Mr Driver said that Bunyan’s book, “The Pilgrim’s Progress,” had been more widely translated than any other book except the Bible, and that it had had a great influence on the Christian world. There was a tendency to ignore the Puritan period, but it was an age of great theologians and he did not think the anniversary should be passed without celebration. The matter was referred to the executive of the council. Value of Solar Eclipses. One reason why eclipses of the sun are so eagerly waited for by scientists was indicated by Mr I. L. Thomsen, of the Dominion Observatory, in an address on solar physics to the Canterbury branch of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Mr Thomsen, who had been discussing the use of the spectroscope in determining the constitution of the sun, said that an eclipse helped greatly in making possible the observation of the sun’s atmosphere. When the bulk of the sun was hidden by the moon in an eclipse its atmosphere could still be seen as a brilliance at the edge of the dark mass. It was then possible to study this section of . the atmosphere of the sun in isolation from its parent body. Not Understood. Autograph hunters were active on board the French warship Rigault de Genouilly at Lyttelton. The French seamen maintained the reputation of their country for politeness and good humour, signing everything, including books, obligingly. Many people tried out their knowledge of French on the sailors; some' were successful, others were less so, and a frequent reply to questions was “je ne comprends pas” (“I don’t understand.”) Lemon Curing. The proposal to establish a ’ cooperative lemon curing factory in Gisborne is being pushed forward energetically by the committee recently appointed to further the scheme. Tentative plans' for a proposed building have been approved, rules of the society have been prepared, and arrangements have been made for the registration of the society at an early date. The establishment of a lemon curing factory will fill a great need in the Gisborne district, which is regarded as the most suitable for lemon growing in the Dominion. Helpful Officials.

The absentmindedness of a Taranaki student from the university vacation provided the opportunity for railway officials to. show both consideration and resource. The young lady left her handbag at the station at which she joined the train, and when the guard came to inspect tickets she was without her authority to travel on the train and also had no money with her. The position was explained to the guard, who had a telephone message sent to the station, where the bag had been found. The stationmaster gave authority for the lady to travel without her check, which was in the bag, and he also informed the guard, for the young lady’s relief and peace of mind, that the bag would be forwarded by the next train. Archbishop on Business.

“We must remember that industry and commerce exist for public service and the mutual benefit of those engaged in them, but, as with so many things in this world, the methods which have to be pursued are calculated to obscure the ends which they serve,” said Dr. Temple, Archbishop of York, in a recent speech. “People are engaged in rivalries which develop into cut-throat competition, and it may be asked: ‘How can I love my neighbour as myself if I am doing all I can to secure an order which he also wants?’ We can do this if we are prepared to be happy when the order goes to our rival. It is to the benefit of the community that goods shall be produced and circulated with the utmost efficiency and at the least cost, and this is ensured to a great extent by competition. In the world today, however, we have probably reached a stage when there should be more regulation of competition than there is.” Little-known Caves.

A visit was recently paid by Mr H. S. James, of Hamilton, and a party of friends to some little-known caves at Taumaratotara, between Te Anga and Kinohaku, 30 miles west of Waitomo. The entrance to the caves is hidden in dense bush and is exceedingly difficult to reach owing to the rough character of the surrounding country. Only about 50 persons have visited the caves since they were discovered in 1914. Mr James and his companions had to make two descents, one of 20ft. and another of 50ft. with ropes, to reach the interior of the caves. At the bottom they found themselves in a stream of a depth varying from a few inches to several feet. The caves extend for a distance of half a mile, the width ranging from a foot or two to 90 ft., while the roof is from 40ft. to 100 it. high. The whole of the roof is illuminated by glow worms and gigantic stalactites are'suspended from it. Some are of blanket formation, while others represent a variety of grotesque figures. Other stalactites have joined with stalagmites in mid-air to form columns of silica. Another feature of the caves is a crystal pool. Only two other caves in the world are known to possess such a pool. The formation pi the water resembles coral and gives the pool a remarkable beauty.