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Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 18, 22 January 1926, Page 6

While bathing at the railway hole in the Pohangina River last Friday afternoon, two Ashhurst boys had an exciting experience. A large eel was seen among the rocks at the bottom of the hole, and one of the bathers, armed with, a gaff, dived in and succeeded in jagging the monster, which immediately set up a great fight to get free. A terrific struggle ensued, and the eel, after actually towing one of the bathers down stream" wrenched itself off the gaff. Instead of escaping, however, it made a savage attack upon tne amateur big game fisherman, who, despite having the wind up considerably, finally got it ashore. The eel proved to be ,a good specimen of the "old man" variety, measuring 4ft llin in length, and weighing 25jib.

To essay the walk acroßS Grafton Bridge this morning was a difficult and uncomfortable task, because of the force of" the wind and the > driving rain. A woman, however, failed to realise the fury of the wind and set off to cross the bridge with an open umbrella over her head. She had gone only a few yards when a playful guet caught the article and before the woman Was aware had whisked it out of her hands and over the bridge, where it finally came to rest among the trees below, battered and useless. Bathers at the becahes near the city would be well advised not to leave their clothing unattended while they are enjoying their dip, as a number of complaints have been received lately of rilled pockets while the owners have been having their bathe. This week several parties at Point Chevalier Beach had the unpleasant experience of losing all their pockets contained—in one instance it amounted to a considerable sum in cash besides other articles, and in another ease a party of three had their money, cigarettes, and even their tram conceeion cards stolon, though the thief or thieves considerately left 1/C in one pocket, which enabled the despoiled ones to pay their bus fare to tofcn. A good rule for bathers is to takt very little money wjth them and no jewellery or articles of any value when they go bathing an beaches near the city. At the nnmifll conference of the New Zealand Association of Nurserymen, at Dunedln. a motion was passed congratulating Sir Alex. Roberts on the knighthood conferred on him for his work in charge of the New Zealand exhibits at "Wembley. Mr. Atwood, who was at Wembley in charge of the New Zealand fruitgrowers' exhibits, eulogised the work of Sir A. Roberts. While the recipient of the honour had beeVi harshly criticised at first, much of the criticism, said Mr. Atwood, was not justified. Much of the trouble at the start was caused by labour disputes. Sometimes it was carpenters, and sometimes electric light workors, with the result that there was much delay. When things were in shape, however, the New Zealand pavilion was very'well managed, and the staff to a man was behind Mr. Roberts. , His manner of control of New Zealand's display, said Mr. Atwood, was, considering the size of the country, the best of any of those of the British Dominions. "I look upon this offence as one of the most serious under the Licensing Act," said Mr. E. D. Mosley, S.M., in the Oamaru Polico Court yesterday, when inflicting a fine of £5 and £2 0/4 costs on William Harrison for procuring liquor ; for John James Elder, a prohibited person. The accused, who pleaded guilt/, in a statement, to tbe police said he had paid a visit to Elder's house and supplied him with some whisky. Elder's wife had remonstrated and both men had gone away and had got more beer. Harrison said lie did not know Elder was prohibited, but the magistrate asked him why he had gone and got more beer for Elder after Mrs. Elder had told him her husband was prohibited. For procuring liquor, Elder was lined £2 witli 17/ costs. A tramp received a hot reception near Taihape the other day. He called at a house and asked for something to oat, and then, as he was still shaky and parched .as the result of a heavy drinking bout, he had the cheek to mumble, "I say, missus, I Euppose you haven't got a drop of beer you could let mc have." This angered the "missus," who was busy scrubbing at the time, and she jumped to her feet and told him that if he didn't clear off she would pitch the bucket of water over him. "Cripes, you are a wowser, missus," said the tramp in disgust, but the word "wowser" had barely passed his lips when the irate little "missus" drenched him with the full contents of the bucket. She then snatched' up a broom and swung it round her head so menacingly that the tramp made a headlong dash for the gate, apparently only too glad to get well out of range of such unexpected feminine fury. "Mountaineering under expert guidance in New Zealand is not so dangerous a pastime as the average individual thinks," said Mr. Roy Twyneham, who returned to Christchurch after a visit to Mount Cook. "For instance, during a recent climb of Mount Johnson (nearly 10,000 ft), which occupied eight hours, we cut steps on the snow face. For nearly three hours we tackled the rock faces leading to the summit, and although our party of three was roped, I. seldom saw the front man. For the greater part of the time the person next to mc was out of sight. On our journey down we met with an almost perpendicular rock face, as smooth as a table. A crack about three feet wide extended from top to bottom of this face. In meeting an obstacle of this kind the person in front (who at the time happened to be mc) works clown the break, the guide standing at the top with a tight rope. The second person is then let down. The climbers then at tbe bottom "anchor" the rope while tbe guide descends. The only risk therefore, in a position of this kind, is taken ■ by the guide, who, if he misses his footing, may have to fall twenty or thirty feet before' being held by the rope. Absence of 'nerves' is. of course, a necessity, but, given this, the climbing is comparatively safe because of the elaborate precautions that are taken when meeting dangerous conditions." "There are so:iie very strong reasons vhy we should have an active association in New Zealand," said Mr. J. Toomath, in speaking at the meeting held last evening, when it was decided to reform the Xew Zealand Natives' Association. "We have in Wellington the Chinese National party and almost next to it is the Chinese Masonic Club. A member of the latter's executive told mc not so very long ago that their object was to monopolise the whole of the fruit and vegetable business. Already they are doing that," added the speaker, "and they are growing their own vegetables in the Otaki district and transporting them to Wellington on their own motor trucks. That should not be. The Australian natives do not stand for that sort of thing." The annual excursion of the Old Thames Boys' Association to Thames has been fixed for to-morrow (Saturda3'). The p.s. Wakatere ha 6 been chartered, | and will leave at 9 a.m. sharp, returning ) from Thames on Sunday, at 2.30 p.m. j Excursionists desirous, of prolonging j their visit may remain till Tuesday. The 1 Thames Association is making preparai tions to entertain their visiting comI rades, and an interesting reunion may Ibe anticipated. I "An accident, resulting in a boy being J knocked down by. a motor car, occurred Jin Park Road yesterday afternoon. The I boy was playing on the footpath and i suddenly ran out into the road in front ' of an approaching motor car. The driver swerved to avoid the boy but struck him on the leg and knocked him down. The boy received a few slight bruises and suffered from shock, and was able to proceed home.

An Auckland business man who had left his motor car parked in Wyndham Street got a pleasant surprise yesterday. When, he went back he jumped in, and the first thing that caught his eye was a notelefc tied to the choke on the dashboard. "Hullo, a note from the traffic people," he said to himself, thinking he must have been caught for exceeding the twenty minutes or whatever the time limit may be for that street, and he quite expected a request to call at the Town Hall. Opening the missive he was surprised to find that it was from a brother motorist, who apologised, and said he had backed into the car and inflicted certain damage on the splashboard and other gear at the rear. "Please have repairs effected without delay, and send the bill to mc," concluded the polite note, and it was duly signed and an address given to which the account could be sent. The motoric had not, as a matter of fact, noticed anything wrong with his ear, but after purusing the note he jumped out, and there, sure enough, the back of the car had obviously been bumped. There have been so many stories published about the road-hog (and unfortunately he does root round too often) that this true story of the perfect motorist deserves full publicity, with the hope that all others who inadvertently bump into standing unattended cars wiil be equally scrupulous, and at least beg pardon, even if they don't feel in a position to add that graceful little touch about the garage bill. A. correspondent of the Lyttelton "Times" writes: I noticed in your paper that a "young offender" was fined for using an electric torch as a bicycle lamp at night. I would like to point out the foolishness of barring torches. A bicycle lamp is about the most casual thing in the world for a sneak thief to steal, while a torch can bo easily slipped into the pocket when the bicycle is left anywhere. There is then no ensuing annoyance when one returns, finds hi*, lamp stolen, and has to walk home or run the risk of being caught riding without a light. A torch throws a much better light th'ii the so-called "bobby dodger," and is not half the trouble to keep in working order. Lastly, if using a torch as a bicycle lamp is an infringement of tile by-law, why is it that policemen are allowed to use them ? I have often observed policemen in full uniform riding at night with only a torch, and no legal lamp. "There is no work fiere for bootmakers," said a defendant in a maintenance case at the Magistrate's Court this morning. "Some men have been walking about the city for five months without a job." "Don' f . people buy shoes in this weather?" asked Mr. Singer.