NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 78, 2 April 1928, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Free Trip Home. The story of a Scots lassie who tired of -New Zealand and got a free trip Home is told v the officers of one of tlie overseas steamers no\v in port. Just about a year ago the Young ady began to pine for the country she had lelt and stowed away on a big steamer from Auckland. Three days later, when the ship was ■well at sea, she was found, dressed in boy's clothes. A much-perplexed skipper provided her , \\ ith a cabin, and gave lier a job in the galley washing dishes. She proved a very useful member of the crew, and at the end of the voyage . was allowed to go ashore. "Ways and Means." su PP olt of a request at the recent Municipal Conference by the Mayor of Invercargill . that the next annual tunctiou should be held in . southland, the delegate from Gore assured the members that they need not be afraid of going l to Invercargill because it was "dry" "Gentle- ' nien > said lie, "down South we have ways and . means of providing entertainment as good as anything you get up North. There is no need , tor anyone to be afraid of thirst.This ingenuous allusion to local prohibition and Southern lospitality appealed to the conference, but, j governed by precedent, they regretfully decided I that next year they must go North. Model of the Victory. H.M.s. Victory in miniature, with all sails set, including studding sails, and flying Nelson's famous signal, ia a handsome model made to the order of the Auckland Museum authorities •>v Mr. Henry H. Bootes, of Devon port. The little model of 3ft is painted black, with yellow poits, and is the fourth of a scries by the same maker. The others are the Great Harry, 10th century; the Sovereign of the Seas, early 17th century; the London, early ISth century. To some extent the series shows the progress of Biitains navy through the ages. In preparing the model of the Victory Mr. Bootes was advised and helped by naval officers at Devonport. Rugby and Superstition. No stone is being left unturned to ensure the success of tho All Blacks on their forthcoming South African tour. Even superstition has been consulted to some extent in the arrangements, for the allegedly unlucky 13 has been left out in the numbering of jerseys) so that die number* for the twenty-nine players run from 1 to 12 and from 14 to 30. It is, however, sigthat the team is to commence its tour from Wellington on Friday, April 13. Again, bv a coincidence, the English Rugby Union will consider oil that date an invitation by the New Zealand Rugby Union to send a team to tour New Zealand and New South Wales in 1930. Good for the Gulls. The new battle-practice target, which lies off the Navy wharf, has been adopted by the har<oui seagulls as a "very suitable perchingplaeo,' and a row of birds may be seen on the topmost rail at most hours of the day. Seagulls are disinclined to settle on ships, and it not often that they land on anything but the sea oi Mother Earth, but apparently so innocuouslooking an object as the naval target does not arouse suspicion. Lying at anchor with most of its hull submerged, the target looks more like a lattice framework than the huge and costly structure which it is. Hardly does the civilian citizen realise that it contains thousands ot' cubic feet of valuable timber, hundreds of tons of steel, and that it coat the nation nearlv £10,000. An Unusual Sight. A rather unusual sight can be seen at the home of a resident of St. Kilda (states the Otago Daily limes"). A few davs ago a nest of very young rabbits was brought to his home as pets for his children, but before long only one : remained. The householder was not quite clear what to do with the solitary survivor, and more in a spirit of fun than anything else he thought he would see if the family cat, which had just , given birth to two kittens, would adopt it. The cat literally took the rabbit to its bosom, and made more fuss over it than over its own offspring. The problem which is now facing the ■ householder i„ what he is going to do with the , foundling when it grows up. He certainly would i not entertain the suggestion of one of his'friends, i who was told the story, that in these hard times ] he should kill it and eat it. , The Perfect Girl.- ! i 1 lie late Mr. Peter Stuckey Mitchell jumped into the limelight about a* fa»t as anv man 1 who died unknown, because his will, bequeathin" ' the best part of his fortune to the most perfect representatives of both sexes, set the yomi" { idea aflutter in many lands. Girls who took a *> pride in their physical beauty considered them- < selves in the running, and it was soon noised 8 about that Mr. Mitchell had died as a New s South Wales grazier with a tine store of wealth * and that steps were being taken to sell his % estate. Ihis part of the proceedings is reported to be complete, but the problem of picking upon J claimants for the fortune is a difficult one. Mr. c Mitchell must have been a man of homely, simple ' virtues, for he made it plain that the woman who won the prize must be not only of perfect 0 physical proportions, but must have a high moral a character, a good knowledge of the Bible, and a a mastery of the domestic arts. s t Fire Brigade's Week-end. a The various branches of the City Fire s Brigade had a warm and busy week-end. Start- 1 ing shortly before midnight "on Saturday, they o answered six calls. Ihe first was to a house in Adams Street, Reinuera, owned by Mr. A. H. Irvine. Slight damage was done to the house, < and a pile of new timber stacked near the house * was charred. This outbreak was attended by the Remuera Brigade. A cable fire in O'Neill Street, Ponsonby, at a-quarter to six on Sunday g morning was responsible for a call to the a Western District Brigade; another cable fire in 0 Queen Street, just below Victoria Street, three s hours later, was put out by a crew from the 8 Central Station. A call to a small rubbish fire t in Hopetonn Street, Newton, was received at is mid-day. At half-past one the alarm was received a which proved to be to the oil store in Freeman's T Bay, which is still burning, and occupying the tl attention of a number of firemen. About a ci quarter past four, when every available man was fi at Freeman's Bay, the alarm went again. The b Point Chevalier Brigade was dispatched from the b Freeman's Bay fire and quickly extinguished a lc rubbish file on the waterfront near Rawhiti f< Avenue, Heme Bay. p P 1 The Passport of Mentality. oi

Free entrance to race meetings is, of course, a privilege much coveted by the racing enthusiast, and at the height of the season the pursuit of free passes becomes more or less of a fine art. Recently down South, however, the problem of how to see the geegees gallop and dispense with the formality of paying for entrance was solved by quite a number of "fans" without having to solicit favours from anyone. The racecourse in question is in the vicinity of a large mental hospital, and arrangements were made between the doctor in eharge and the racing club that several of the inmates should be permitted to enjoy a day's outing watching the races. The gatekeepers had their instructions to admit without question any individual who whispered the password "mental." The result was at the end of the day that in lieu of a total of about twentv bona fide patients the men at the gates estimated that nearly two hundred had bravely hreasted the gate murmuring the magic "open sesame." How the good news spread no one knew, but the fact remains that a large number confessed to mental aberration in order to pass the barrier "on the nod." "I thought the whole blooming hospital had got a day off," said one official, "when these fellows kept pouring in. They were mad all right, that is, in their keenness for the sport, but not as mad as the responsible authorities were when informed of the little trick that had been played on them. Next time it won't be quite so simple."