NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 39, 15 February 1929, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Closer Land Settlement.

As a 'strictly non-politioal body," the executive of tie Auckland Council of the New Zealan.l Institute of Horticulture has approved of the ;ind policy enunciated by the Government for closer settlement of better lands by smallholders, with effective financial assistance. Utilisation of Shoal Bay. The asset which Shoal Bay would be were it enclosed by a causeway, was brought under the notice of the Auckland Harbour Bridge Association last evening in a letter from Mr. E, A. Laidlaw. He pointed out that under a reclamation scheme there would be space in the bay for an aerodrome, motor racing area and sports ground, and that the prospective revenue would l>e greater than the cost of pumping. The board deferred the proposal for future reference. Prospective Farmers. A party of thirteen English schoolboys left for the South last evening for Waitaki to learn the agricultural side of the school work. They intend to remain in New Zealand and take up iarming. While in Auckland the boys were entertained by Messrs. Clutha Mackenzie, E, G. Sollar and K. I. Gardiner, old boys of Waitaki High School, and other friends. "Yesterday the boys were taken to Mr. Clutha Mackenzie's farm at Manurewa. Minister Goes Aloft. "We had a wonderful view of the 'battle,'" said the Minister of Defence (Hon. T. M. Wilford) yesterday on his return to the city after making the journey to Red Beach, where the sham fight was held, in a Bristol fighter piloted by Major Isitt. He added the trip was a much more comfortable one than had it been made by oar. The Minister was twenty minutes in the air over the scene of operations, and the flight iwck to the Hobsonville aerodrome was made in seven minutes. War on Eels. Maoris in the Taranaki district have made it clear they do not share the aversion with which the eel is regarded by various clubs that have been set up to wage an eel war. The activities of the eel clubs have provided much eport for members and anglers, and the natives have been much alarmed by reports of heavy hauls taken from their favourite eeling waters. To many Maoris the eel has from the early days been regarded as a staple article of diet, and the methods devised for catching him have shown much enterprise.

Orafton Bridge Safeguards. Safeguards to deter persons mounting the parapet of Grafton Bridge would involve the Auckland City Council in a cost of £680. The city engineer, Mr. W. K. Bush, reported last night that it would he extremely difficult to deter persons who had made up thejr minds to jump uver from doing so unless a structure was erected on top of the parapet in a manner that would largely spoil the appearance of the bridge. The wire screen for which the estimate provided would be for a length of 820 ft, the bridge itself being !>73ft. On the recommendation of the Works Committee, no action was taken. Trout Deteriorating. Trout fishing is not what it used to be, according to some members of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society, and last night the council of that body decided to try and get the Government to import 100,000 rainbow trout ova from California. When the trout were first introduced they ran to a great size, but eince then they never seem to have been able to recapture their old form, and fishermen complain that the sport is not what it used to be. One man paid last night that at Taupo, which used to be a fisherman's paradise, he had not been able to average a fish a day in recent fishing. It was stated that the brown trout had not done well in the Auckland district, and the society decided that it would not purchase any more. Bequest to Charities. In the will of the late Mr. Allan Skene, of St. Heliers, who died on January 28, bequests amounting to £2050 go to charitable institutions in England and Scotland. Most of the money is distributed in sums of £50 to hospitals, many of which are in London and surroundings. The Portsmouth lifeboat fund and the temporary home for lost and starving dogs, in Battersea* Park, are among the institutions which benefit. The largest bequest is a sum of £400 to be invested in British Government securities, the income to be devoted to the John Knox Parish Church, of Aberdeen. Altogether £300 has been assigned to the Dee Swimming Club, of Aberdeen, and £200 to the blind asylum of the same city.

Ancient Bobtailed Shark. There is a shark down the Eaat Coast which 1-as no tail, but by way of compensation has a nickname. According to Mr. C. Ferris, the GisI'orne man who goes spearing sharks, the natives at Anaura regard this queer fish as a taniwha, or water-kelpie, as they say in Scotland. This particular shark is about 15ft long, has a bobtail (bitten off, it is supposed, in his youth), and is called "Mutu" by the Maoris, who ha.ve known him for years. Each summer he comes back regularly. Mr. Ferris says he has known Mutu for 50 years, and his uncle (a Maori) before him l-new the thing for some 80 years previous to that. This uncle always insisted that the man who killed Mutu would never have any luck. Oddly enough, there is another bobtailed shark en the coast, this second one being in the habit of frequenting Muriwai. Both these big fish are what the Maoris call reremais. Link with Remuera. As an alternative route for traffic from Remuera to the city, a scheme was submitted to the Auckland City Council last evening by Mr. G. W. Sanders, which would enahle residents of Remuera to come straight through from Remuera Road to nearly the top of Khyber Pass. The scheme, it was stated, would obviate citybound traffic going through Broadway, except by crossing it. An important work entailed in the scheme, it was stated, would be a bridge oveF the railway line, but this, explained Mr. Sanders, could be arranged with the Railway Department and the Highways Board. The proposed route would be even more important if the Mount Eden Council would take Clive Road through to Mount Eden Road. The suggestion was referred to the Town Planning Committee for a report. Kapai te Maori. While newspaper correspondents are saying rude things to one another in the dispute as to whether it shall be Whitianga or Mercury Bay— the pakeha and Maori viewpoint being equally strongly championed—it is refreshing to find that at least one organisation has of its own free will gone back to the musical language of the original owners of this fair land. In the itinerary of the Auckland Tramping Club one notices that the club hut in the Waitakeres has been called "Ngaro te Kotare," which may be translated "the hidden kingfisher," or "the kingfisher that is lost." No doubt the idea is to suggest the hidden haunt of that beautiful bird. Old hands cannot help regretting the utter ignorance of the Maori tongue of most of the young folks of to-day. It is a beautiful language, full of poetic images. Moreover, the Maori was a keen observer of Nature, and named every hill and dale with an appropriateness that is too often lacking in the rather intiane nomenclature which is so prevalent today.