NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 259, 1 November 1928, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Strike Affects Tourist Traffic,

Few tourists came to New Zealand during the past month, and it is thought by authorities of the New Zealand Government Tourist Bureau that the shipping strike in Australia had a good deal to do with the falling off. Compared with the traffic at this time during other years, the decrease was considerable. It is expected that next month will be busy. Helping a Good Cause. The sum of £12 has been donated by the Devonport sub-branch of the Navy League towards the funds being raised by Canon Grant Cowen for the Brett Home for Destitute Children at Takapuna. This donation represents the proceeds from the guessing competition and children's fancy dress dance held on August 23. Mrs. A. deal was the winner of the set of afternoon tea forks which were donated by Mrs. C. Seager, of Victoria Koad, Devonport. Keeping It in Order. With its long-drawn crescendo and pathetic and equally sustained diminuendo the 6yren on the Papatoetoe hie engine is to play quite a useful part in Papatoetoe life in the future. Promptly at 7.30 every Monday morning the syren will wail its loudest, and the good folk who live in that picturesque suburb will have an opportunity of setting their watches and clocks. The decision to have a weekly wail is, however, based on quite another reason, as the fire brigade superintendent has convinced the Town Board that it is necessary to have the syren's howling apparatus regularly tested to keep it in first-class condition. Dixieland Baths. Mention of Dixieland's proposed swimming baths at Point Chevalier, which have been the subject of so much discussion within recent weeks, was made in the report of the Auckland Centre of the New Zealand Swimming Association, presented at the annual meeting last evening. It was stated that the baths would be the means of strengthening the centre and the sport generally, and would also provide further facilities for teaching swimming among school children. The plans for the bath and equipment allowed for a high diving board, with a good depth of water, which would permit of the Dominion diving championships being held in, Auckland. Milk which Does Not Flow. Of the many industries with which business men who are travelling by the commerce train have become better acquainted during the past few days, one of the most interesting has been the manufacture of dried milk at the Waitoa factory of the New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company. The process is somewhat complicated, and in the noise of the clattering machinery the explanations of the guides were difficult to follow, uut the visitors came away realising that the manufacture and export of dried milk constitutes a valuable side industry to the wider business of dairying. The factory at Waitoa deals with 32,000 gallons of milk per day, and the output is largely exported. Splendid Services. The splendid services rendered the community by the St. John Ambulance are not always fully realised by the public, as the organisation is modest in regard to its work. An incident has been brought to notice that should have the widest publicity. The ambulance was notified late last night that a patient suffering from an internal complaint had to be brought into Auckland. The sick man, who is about 70 years of age, was at a farm close to Helensville. The location of the farm was given in a vague way, and the ambulance officers had difficulty in finding the farm. They succeeded at about half-past one this morning, after walking over paddocks and getting their feet wet in swampy country. The ambulance arrived at the hospital at 4.30 *a.m., having been about four and a-half hours on the road. The two officers who made the trip were Messrs. S. E. Langstone and S. Aspinwall.

From Mine to Battery. A visit to the surface workings of the Waihi mine, a drive through some of the fertile lands which are now giving new life to this one-time flourishing mining community, and the better part of an hour spent amid the giant wheels and thunderous noise of the ore-reducing plant at Waikmo made up a very full forenoon for members of the commerce train party. The visitors were interested to learn that at Waihi and Waikino the company employs a total of 630 men of whom about 170 are at the batterv. In the crushing and chemical treatment of'ore some 800 tons are put through daily for a return of approximately £1300. Old hands declare that the days of profitable mining at Waihi are bv no means drawing to an end, and in this connection it is interesting to state that of the gold exported from Auckland Province in the year ended December 31 last (a total of £338,000) Waihi produced £330,000. The aggregate for the Dominion was £.33.->,OOO. In 70 years the value of the gold exported from New Zealand has approximated £33,000,000, and the fields of Auckland Province have accounted for nearlv a-third of the total. Wonders of Bird Life.

Describing the habits of petrels in their nesting grounds, Mr. Guthrie Smith, in the course of a lecture at Wellington, said that by the manner of their return each night one was reminded of the feeding of the exiled Israelites by the buds which fell from the air. The petrels alighted so thickly that they were caught by objects on the ground, and it was possible the next morning to gather them by hand. An upright kerosene tin was almost certain to contain two or three birds. An apt simile was used bv Mr. Smith to describe the return of the petrels to their roosting ground. From a mutton birder's whare he had watched the birds arrive. At 7 p.m. the earliest birds began to alight. They settled with an entire absence of fluttering and dropped the last few feet vertically. The "sound of their landing was similar to that of rain upon a roof. Soon, however, great numbers to settle, and the noise was like hail tiil the even more numerous late coiners arrived and alighted but almost silently, like the falling of '"snow' Then followed an endless rushing about, eacli bird seeking its mate and calling aloud till the chattering was reminiscent of a flock of lambs at shearing time.

Old-time Ways with Hecklers. The first meeting in connection with the general election campaign held at the Auckland Infirmary took place last week. Some of the residents became reminiscent after the meeting and spoke of the electioneering davs of over 50 years ago, when feeling often ran very hio-h and men did not hesitate to take off their coats' to settle their political differences. The case was cited of the late Sir Harrv Atkinson, who issued a challenge at one of his meetings in iaranaki to a number of hecklers, who would not let him continue his speech. He said if*hev would pick out the best man amongst them to meet him at the close of the meeting he would be gad, and then they would know who was the better man. It was, he said, a cowardly way to tackle a man in a bunch, but man for man he would stand up to anv of them Inother man who worried Sir William Fox with irritating remarks that no man was any good who only drank cold water (Sir William wis a well-known temperance advocate), at last wore out the candidate's patience, and he replied'lf that man remains here till the meeting j s over 111 give him the biggest dose of cold water he ever had in his life." Pointing in the direction of the river which ran only a few hundred yards ST* 7 " h « added: "Hell know about cold water .hen. The man left the meeting before it came