NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 108, 10 May 1927, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Kumaras Wilt. A resident of Epsom, who is rather fond of gardening, had a nice patch of kumaras growing. Hβ noticed the leaves were wilted, and, upon more careful examination, saw that some visitor had carefully removed all the big tubers without disturbing the plants to any great extent. New Zealand Has the Most Ice. "New Zealand has probably four times as much ice as Switzerland," said Mr. J. Horn, M.P., at a road conference at Mount Cook. "I have been told that the Tasman Glacier is the largest in the world. It is of 12,000 acres, nearly the size of Switzerland itself." (Laughter.) Suburban Drainage. Cabbage Tree Swamp, the lakelet that forms at Edendale in the winter months, also several other swamp areas in that vicinity, will probably soon be things of the past, as a joint meeting of the Mount Albert and Mount Eden Borough Councils has been arranged for the purpose of discussing tenders for the construction of a sewer from the Mount Eden boundary, across the Mount-Eden district to Meola Creek. The intention of the two local bodies is" to have the work carried into effect as quickly as possible. Chinese Gratitude. A queer parcel was recently found on the main detour route at Papatoetoe, and its contents, which ranged from aromatic herbs to literature of quaint hieroglyphics, suggested that the owner was a Chinaman. The parcel was eventually claimed by a Chinese resident of Bombay. He explained his loss with the words"Load welly bumpy; him fallee off." The parcel happened to be much prized by the owner, who proffered half-a-crown to a small boy as a reward, remarking: "You go see pictures with. I got two little boys home. They go see pictures every week. They likee pictures." Lure of Football. "What did they get last year?" was a question asked at a meeting of the Mount Edeu Borough Council last evening, when a letter was received from the Eden Rugby Football Club asking for a donation in the same way as last year. "Three guineas," was the reply when a councillor asked what the previous donation was, and without discussion a similar amount was voted. One of the councillors mentioned that at an earlier stage of the meeting a request for a donation of £3 3/ towards a wireless installation at the Auckland Hospital had been refused. Unconquered Spirit. There is a saying, "If at first yoa don't succeed, try, try, try again." The recent local body elections may have aroused sad feelings so far as some of the candidates were concerned, but possibly they will be consoled, even stimulated, by the experience of a Blenheim local body candidate. He is described as an unconquerable soul, with head battered but unbowed, the holder of the world's record for defeats at local body elections. He has been unsuccessful on 26 different occasions. He once obtained a seat on the Blenheim Borough Council at a by-election, there being no other candidate, but when the municipal elections came along a few months later the ratepayers rejected him. Less Necessity For Speeches. "The Government has been criticised lately for the infrequency with which Ministers speak, and we have been called in some quarters the Silent Ministry," said the Hon. W. Downie Stewart, Minister of Finance, at Feilding last night. "It is true that we do not talk as freely or as frequently as was the practice at one time. I can remember when the Ministers of a previous Government were criticised for travelling round speech-making and banqueting, instead of working. But if I am called upon to justify the present practice, I would point out that in these modern days all the information necessary to enable the public to form a judgment as to the state of the country and its production, trade, commerce and finance is furnished in great detail, and hence there is not the same need for public speeches." Chains as Safeguard. At the inquest held yesterday in regard to the death of a tramway employee, who fell to the road from the platform of a Ponsonby car on Aprtt 9 last, it was suggested by counsel for the Tramways Union (Mr. J. J. Sullivan) that the chain to prevent passengers from alighting on the wrong side should be placed higher up than at present. The deceased had lost his balance and fallen over the chain. They did not want something to merely breaM a fall, but something to prevent a fall. The coroner (Mr. W. R. McKean, S.M.) saw no necessity to add a rider to his verdict of accidental death. The tramway men in the present case could have stood inside the car had they desired to do so. He had not heard of similar accidents occurring before. Mr. Mackay, for the Tramways Depart" ment, pointed out that the chains were the standard height for Australia and New Zealand. An Involuntary Bath. "Man overboard!" The alarm was shrieked last night by a dozen voices just as the 5.10 ferry from town touched Devonport wharf, and everybody laughed. People always laugh when some too adventurous passenger finds himself in the water betwixt boat and wharf. The unfortunate on this occasion was a youth of about 18, who had misjudged the distance. Apart from the shock of the sudden cold plunge and the damage to his clothing, he came to little harm, and was apparently more concerned with retrieving his hat than with climbing aboard. After a minute or two, he scrambled on to the lower deck, and a broom was requisitioned for the salvaging of his floating headgear. Scores of passengers watched the operations in high good humour, and the fact that the hat fell back into the water several times before it was finally fished out was regarded as a great joke. Meantime, the youth beat it for home as faat as his wet legs could carry him, leaving a trail of drips down the entire length of the jetty. Railway Board's Praise. Commenting on the recent visit of the Duke and Duchess of York to New Zealand, the New Zealand Railways Board has issued a statement. Inter alia, it says: "The programme which the Department was required to carry through was an exceptionally heavy one, involving the preparation of special services in each island, and the running of almost ten thousand train miles by the Royal, pilot, emergency and empty trains called for by the Dominion itinerary. The whole of this preparation was performed, not only without a mishap, but with a spirit of helpfulneds which reflects the highlit credit on everyone concerned. The board is sensible of the fact that but for the cordial assistance rendered in every sphere by the men engaged on the work, from the building of the trains to their running, catering, and protection, the completion of the programme, correct to the finest detail, would not have been possible." The Shooting Season. In view of the opening of the shooting season, it may be mentioned that there appears to be some doubt on the part of property-owners on whose land wild fowl are to be found as to who is entitled to shoot without taking out a license. The position is set out in clause 14 (3) of the Animals Protection and Game Act, 1921, which stipulates that: "Any person in bona fide occupation of any land, and any eon or daughter of such person, may during an open season take or kill on that land without a license (but subject to all other restrictions imposed by or under this Act) any imported or native game that may be lawfully taken or killed under a license in the district within the boundaries of which such land is situated, or such first-mentioned person may, in writing, appoint some other person to take or kill such game in hie stead during such open season, in which case he shall not himself take or kill imported or native game without a license such appointment remains in forced