NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 226, 24 September 1927, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Islanders Disappointed. The appearance of the firtt motor car caused quite a sensation at Norfolk Island, and during the past few weeks residents have been living in hopes of seeing the first airplane there. They were very disappointed to hear that the proposed trane-Tasman flight was off. Under normal circumstances the proposed landing ground at Norfolk Island would present no difficulty to an aviator, and all the arrangements had been made. Bayewator Wit. Nicely painted, a notice erected on the Bayswater wharf by the Auckland Harbour Board used to read: "No person shall embark upon or land from any vessel carrying passengers except by the gangway provided for the purpose." By the elimination of suitable letters some Bayswater small boy has transformed the notice into the following intimation: "No ..son shall ..bark ..on .. land from any vessel carrying passengers except .. the gang., provided foi the . .pose." Oyster Season. Although the final returns of the Auckland oyster season will not 'be- available until next week, the season is expected to •Oβ on a par wit! last year, when 6500 sacks were picked. During the season that has just closed a large portion of the oysters were taken from beds which have been under cultivation, the principal supply coming from the Bay of Islands. The quality oi the oysters showed improvement, and discoloration, which had been a feature during the previous season with oysters from the Gulf, was nol so marked. It is intended during the close season to put down a number oft new beds. Hinemoa Hove-to. Tempestuous weather was experienced by the steamer Hinemoa on the way to Norfolk Island The vessel left Auckland on September 15, and on the following night ran into a nor'-west hurricane, which necessitated the Hinemoa being hove-to for twelve hours in a heavy sea. Twc feet of water found its way into the fo'c'sle, and a horse that was in a box on the main hatch was washed out, the animal being found lying in the scuppers next morning. When the weathci moderated the Hinemoa was put on her course again. "She is a great sea boat," said one oi the passengers this morning. "She rode over the wavee like a yacht." On the Wrong Car. An aged native found himself on a tramcai on the Dominion Road route yesterday, a fact that annoyed him considerably. "Ehoa! You go te wrong way," he said to the conductor. Or being informed that the mistake was his own he added: "Why not tell me this te wrong car This not te way to Onehunga." A busy conductor endeavoured to comfort him, but without success. The patriarch alighted at the nexl stopping place. When last seen he was gesticulating at the roadside, and, as apparently the English tongue was insufficient for the needs oi the moment, he epoke loudly and fluently in Maori. Not Intentional. A rumour was current in Timaru the other night that a store had <been broken into (says the "Herald"). The rumour proved to be well founded, but .inquiry revealed that the "breaking" had not been intentional. A young couple had seated themselves on the doorstep of the store, and had become so absorbed in conversation as not to notice how heavily they were leaning against the door, which was an old one. Suddenly the door gave way, and just at that moment a passer-by, erroneously concluding that the store had been broken into, gave the alarm. A constable was quickly on the scene, and the discomfiture of the young couple may be imagined when explanations had to be made. Depreciation in Cars. Some interesting data in regard to the depreciation of motor cars was supplied by members of the trade who gave evidence in a Supreme Court action yesterday. An engineer etated that it is customary to allow 20_ per cent off the purchase price for each year a car is in use. Judge Stringer expressed surprise when the witness went on to explain that a car was practically worthless after five years' wear, but it was added that it would be "worthless" only as a selling, commodity, for there is often plenty of service left in an old car. The witness might have qualified his estimate by differentiating between high-class care and cheaper varieties. lose from the Mad. Early Auckland shipbuilders were faced with . problem when they wanted to put engines or loilers, and other heavy paraphernalia in their hips, writes Mr. W. A. Wilkinson. One, the ate Mr. Carr, hit upon an original idea when ie was at work on the steamer Phoenix in the ate 'sixties. His shipyard was at Official Bay, .bout the place where Messrs. Fhillipps and mpey'e warehouse- now stands in Beach Road. Che Phoenix was launched one morning with the isual ceremony, and sank during the day. In he sand off Wynyard Pier a place had been dug •ut for her keel, and here she settled in an ipright position. When the tide was flood the miler was floated over the sunken hull, and as he water fell it gradually sank into its place n the ship. The water flowed out of the vessel hrough a hole in the hull, and when the proper noment arrived the hole was plugged up. The Phoenix floated off on the next tide. Papatoetoe's Town Plan. Papatoetoe's town plan will cost £500. After -•onsidering the matter of planning the town irea of almost two square miles, the Papatoetoe Town Board decided this week that the cost rauld be borne out of the general rate by spreading it over the next two financial years if the interest on the special loans, now paic aut of the general rate, were collected by th« levying of special rates, which had already beer struck. An offer to prepare a town plan oi Papatoetoe for £400 was made to the board bj a. surveyor resident in the district, but this was rejected in favour of the more expensive plan, As applications in connection with the work had not been publicly called, a member of the 'board urged that the ratepayers should be called together to consider the matter before an appointment was made; but this suggestion, which was put in the form, of an amendment, lapsed for £w °1 a seconder - I* was decided, however, that the ratepayers be called together at an early date to have the town-planning scheme explained to them." Insect-catching Plant. In flower at the present time in damp places on the clay hills round about Auckland, near TitJrangi, for instance, is a most interesting little plant, one of the sundews, called Drosera auriculata or the "eared drosera" About six inches in height, it has leaves of a strange form, like the ■blossoms of the tea-tree. It is the leaves which are the peculiarity of this odd plant which actually catches insects and digests them to obtain certain nutriment which is lacking in the localities it inhabits. The leaves look more like faded sepals than ordinary leaves About a-quarter of an inch across, and circular in shape, they are furnished with many glandular red hairs, which contain a viscid fluid. When an insect touches the centre of the leaf, the leaf contracts, the hairs exude their sticky fluid, and the respiratory organs of the insect are blocked up. In about three days the unfortunate insect has been injested, all but the wings and harder parts. It was of one of the drosera that Darwin wrote over 200 pages in one of hie famous works. The Drosera auriculata gete its descriptive name from the two ear-like processes at the top of the leaf, which give it rather a look of a child's drawing of an animal's head.