LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 16 June 1938, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Temperance Rally. An enjoyable rally was held in the Methodist Sunday School on Tuesday night by the Young People’s Christian Temperance Union. Items were given by Miss D. O’Donnell (song), Miss Edwards (recitation), and a sketch by Miss O’Donnell and Mr D. Milne. Mr F. J. Parker opened an interesting discussion. Mr Sims, leader of the branch, referred to the need for co-operation between young people in churches and Bible classes, and their active support in the coming prohibition campaign. Supper was served, and the gathering closed with the singing of “Auld Lang Syne.” Boys in Breweries. "Boys today are bottling beer in one brewery in town, and it is not right,” said Mi- H. E. Denton, when the employment of youths in breweries was under discussion in Conciliation Council at Christchurch. The assessors for the Brewers’ and Maltsters’ Union, contending that public opinion would support them, claimed that it was as contrary to principle for a youth to be employed in a brewery as it was for him to be on licensed premises. It was provisionally agreed that the employers’ claim to employ one youth to every four men should apply only to the Dominion Yeast Company, and there only in the bottling of vinegar.

Fortissimo! The largest orchestra in history was assembled for the World Peace Jubilee, held in Boston in 1872. When it rendered Verdi’s “Anvil Chorus” the orchestra was comprised of 1689 instruments, which were supplemented by 50 anvils hammered by 100 firemen, and a battery of cannon outside operated by an electrical button. No Short Cuts Open. Not long since, in London, Sir Edward Beatty, head of the Canadian Pacific Railways, addressed himself to youth. Reading his speech, one’s wish grows, writes "Clearway” in the “Christian Science Monitor,” that each citizen in every nation might take his message to heart. "Is it not possible,” he asks, “that we have been too eager to make material progress—too ready to think that some ingenious trick of legislation, or some splendid attempt at development of natural wealth, might be the key to national success. Have we tried the slower road of building our characters as individuals and our characters as a nation? Have we tried, with grim determination, the slow and painful process of making the nation better by making its people better? Have we not, perhaps, in seeking short cuts to making the nation great, rich, wise and happy, forgotten that national greatness, wealth, wisdom and happiness can but be the resultant and the sum of these qualities in the citizen?” Pertinent questions. Have we? Have you? Have I?

Women's Nursing Division. In order to. raise much-needed funds for the St. John Ambulance Brigade (Women’s Division), a very successful bridge party was held at the residence of Mrs Rue, 98 Renall Street, on Tuesday evening. Despite the inclement weather there was a large attendance to assist in such a worthy cause. Supper was provided by the hostess. Mrs Wilkins won the first prize in the ladies’ competition, and Mr Bradbury among the men. A hearty vote of thanks was tendered to those who made donations to the fund. A Curious Theft. Officials of the Union Steam Ship Company are puzzled by the disappearance during the week-end of a brass name-plate, which was unscrewed and removed from the doorway of the company’s premises in Water Street. Bearing the name of Union Airways, East Coast Airways, Cook Strait Airways and Imperial Airways, the plate was 18 inches by 10 inches, and its intrinsic value scarcely appeared to warrant its theft. The only solution of the mystery which appears to be reasonable is that the removal of the plate was the work of a souvenir hunter. The matter has been placed in the hands of the police. Broadcasting Centre. The intention of the Government to proceed as soon as possible with the construction of a broadcasting centre on the site behind Parliament Buildings, was announced by the ActingMinister in charge of Broadcasting, the Hon F. Jones, last evening. Provision will be made in the new building for the gradual development of a conservatorium of music, and for the future installation of a shortwave station and television equipment. Mr Jones said the broadcasting centre would be a building of several stories. Museum Street was to be closed and the new building would face Bowen Street. General plans of the broadcasting centre had been approved by Cabinet, and the architects were now preparing the final plans and working drawings. Mr Savage at Ratana. Cordial receptions have been accorded the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon M. J. Savage, in every locality visited in the Wanganui district, a Press Asspciation message states. Mr Savage arrived at Marton for lunch yesterday, and came on from there to the school at Turakina. where he briefly addressed the children. He then travelled to Ratana Pa and saw the famous Ratana temple and the museum of quaint Maori relics. He was greeted by lusty singing at the Ratana School, and afterward was accorded a typical Ratana welcome from 500 Natives assembled in the meeting house, and headed by Mr T. W. Ratana. After leaving the pa, Mr Savage, who was accompanied by the Minister of Mines, the Hon P. C. Webb, motored to Wanganui. Nib Training. When you buy a good pen you expect it to slide over the paper. If it scratched you would soon change the nib. Smoothness, which is the hallmark of good pens, is the result of an enormous amount of research and experiment by pen companies. Nibs are tested by means of microphones and amplifiers, which make the slightest scratch sound like a lion’s roar! Before leaving the factory they have to undergo severe tests by experts equipped with earphones to detect the most minute vibrations. When a record of the noise made by the finished nib is played and amplified it is free from undesirable harmonics, and only. then is it' fit for the market. Lord of Language. “For many of us, Shakespeare’s greatest title must remain that he was, above all, a great lord of language,” said Mr Norman Birkett, speaking at the recent Shakespeare Festival. “When the critics have finished their, work, when his various qualities have been appraised—his gift of pure creation, his immense and varied knowledge of the thoughts and feelings of men, his allembracing and understanding sympathy, his saving and, redeeming humour —he yet remains for many a great lover of words, the creator of immortal speech and those magical phrases which, once heard or read, remain in the memory and imagination so long as life shall last. It is this last power, beyond all other powers, that exalts him and separates him from the rest.” Recruiting Encouraged. Renewed interest in military training in New Zealand is indicated by the assistance being given by several leading Christchurch business firms to members of their staffs who wish to join the Territorial Forces, said the Officer Commanding the Southern Military District (Colonel P. H. Bell). He said the practical interest of one firm was shown by the following notice displayed in its office:—“Join the Territorials. This business is prepared to assist members of the staff who are willing to sacrifice some of their leisure by volunteering for the Territorial Force, to help in the home defence of New Zealand. Leave will be granted for the purpose of attending the annual training camps, on full salary, and without deduction from the ordinary annual holiday leave. Help to maintain the voluntary system.” Domestic Rearrangement. An interesting story of the effect of the policy of Government relief work in the United States was told by Mr Gordon Allard, of Los Angeles, in an address to the Christchurch Businessmen’s Club. He said that he had employed a man and his wife to act as chauffeur and gardener and cook respectively, but the woman was attracted by a Government relief job and left her position. Later the man also decided to leave for the same reason. He found, however, that he could not take relief work while his wife was also employed by the Government. He decided, therefore, that although she did not earn as much as both of them it would be preferable for him to stay at home and look after the house. Many others were doing the same thing, the husbands calling for their wives in automobiles after work. Interesting Exotic Birds. A new attraction at the Christchurch Botanic Gardens is a small aviary situated at the tea kiosk. It shows a collection of brightly-coloured exotic birds, which have aroused considerable interest. One particularly notable exhibit is a pair of African swamp birds, the paradise whydah. The cock is about the size of a sparrow, with two lustrous black feathers in its tail, about a foot or more long. The back and head are of a glossy black, and the breast and a collar round the neck aie a beautiful chestnut-red. The rest of the plumage is canary-yellow. The hen is short-tailed and like an ordinary sparrow. During the Boer War. men in the New Zealand contingent tried to shoot these birds, but met with little success. They are caught by the Kaffirs with limed strings or by running them down in the swamps, as they are weak flyers.