NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 90, 17 April 1929, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Thrifty Scholars,

lhe Savings Bank scheme which was inaugurated at Brixton Road School in October, 1926, to encourage thrift amongst the scholars litis proved a great success. There are now 162 dejMjsitors, with a t."tal weekly average of £4 o/.j. The. total deposits to date is £4:51 1:5/3. The school has an average attendance of 531.

Tram Derailed. A tram hound to Morningside, which ran ofT the linos while turning from Karangahape lioad into Symonds Street at 4.30 last evening', held U|> other tram traflie from the Queen Street loute for about ton minutes. Kortunatelv the car had not reached the Symonds Street tracks, and trams outward-hound via Wellesley Street were not blocked. Protecting Pukekos. Lntil the results of a scientific investigation ol the pukeko are known, 1 will not declare an open season," was the gist of a telegram received from the Minister of Internal Atfairs at last night s meeting ot tlie Auckland Acclimatisation Society. Ihe telegram stated, however, that anvone whose properly was being damaged bv the birds could make application for permission to destroy them. Members of the societ v declared that they were; not at all satisfied with the Ministers reply, and would bring the matter up again next season. Waterside Danger. Wide gaps in the decking of the boat skids neai the Birkenhead whart are considered to Ik' a source ol danger to children who are attracted to the waters edge. An appeal to remedy the cause of recent accidents was made to the Harbour Board yesterday by the Birkenhead Borough ( ouncil. While the skids are not the property of the board, members thought that the boat owners who use them would be onlv too willing to ellect the, necossary repairs, »hoti|<[ 11n- danger be directed to their notice. It was decided to write to the owners accordingly. "Doubtful" Pork. Hori from up the Wanganui J'Jivcr "put a neat one aeros-," a Wanganui linn a few days ago (reports the "Star's"' correspondent). He brought down the carcase of a pig, it 11 nicely scraped, and «,old it t<i a firm at a price satisfactory to both parties. Hori received a cheque, as he was in a hurry to return to his blackberry patch. Later an inspector called in to inspect the carcase, but it did not take hirn long to discover that the pig had died at the pa from some cause or other, and had not been killed bv a butchers knife and properly bled, of course it could not lie passed, and now the heads of the firm are. wondering if tliev could identil'v Hori if they took a week's holiday and visited the various pas along the river. Gifts to Auckland Museum. A valuable collection of shells, which took over 40 years to assemble, has been presented to the Auckland Museum by the family of the late Mr. Charles Cooper, of Mount Eden. With the collection goes ;i library of scientilie works. Excellently arranged and catalogued, the collection comprises over "JIMMI species of sea, freshwater and land .-hells, most of them from the Auckland Province, but many from South Sea and Pacific islands. At a meeting of the .Museum Council vesterdav atternoou. the president (Mr. H. I'.. \ aile; said that the collection was regarded as one of the most complete private ones in New Zealand. Other gifts were acknowledged by- the Museum Council from .Messrs E. Earle \aile, H. ii. Bootes, Frank Moore (England), Ben Keys (Te I'uke), W. M. Eraser (Whaugaref), D. J. Campbell, (_. .1. Black ((iisbornej, and H. E. Vaile, and from Dr. P. S. Power. "Bouquet" for Harbour Board. It is commonly stated that local body representatives receive "more kicks than iia.lt|K?nnies." Therefore it was with a measure of satisfaction that members of tne Auckland Harbour Board yesterday received a letter from Mr. I). B. Kussell, expressing appreciation of courtesies extended by tliein, and asking that the \\ hau Hiver be safeguarded by insisting on a sutlieien* clearance in the centre span of the proposed new bridge across the river at New Lynn. "May 1 wish that your capable, board ma be returned again," wrote the well-known advocate of the Wliau Canal project. A chorus of "Hear, hears" greeted Ihe sentiment, and. aifter it had been decided to request the engineer and harbourmaster to report on the matter to the hoard in committee, a member remarked jocularly: "It iooks as though his llattery has caught on.' ' Manukau Harbour Drainage. Ilie discharge of drainage into the Manukau has robbed some arms of the harbour of a good deal of their lormer charm, and under certain tidal conditions puts a tang into the sea air that is nauseating rather than invigorating. Ltlorts are being made to improve conditions, ami the Auckland Harbour Board is strongiv advocating that outlying local bodies should combine with the Auckland and Suburban Drainage Board and seriously tackle the * problem. According to advice received at yesterday's meeting of the Harbour Board from the Minister of Health (Hon. A. .1. Stall worthy), the conditions obtaining at the head of the Manukau, near West field, had been referred to the Medical Oflicer of Health at Auckland. He has been asked to expedite the report of the engineer of the Drainage Board dealing with the inclusion of the outlying districts in the district with a view to getting all interested delegates together again so that the subject of Manukau drainage in its entirety might be thoroughly thrashed out and something definite arrived at. The Mount Wellington Koad Board also wrote acquainting the board of the fact that it will give full consideration to the sewerage question when the report relative to the drainage of the whole area between the Waitemata and Manukau Harbours is presented. Climbing the Kauri.

A very instructive demonstration of kauri tree climbing to collect the gum was given during the week-end by Messrs. A. I'. and (_'. Browne, of Auckland, before members of the Auckland Tramping Club ami their friends. By the permission of Mr. \V. Walker, one of the big trees on his Henderson Valley property was used. It is very fascinating to watch the climber, wearing boots with spiked toes and with a "seven" hook in each hand, literally walk up the huge kauri tree, about 00ft to * the Jirst brancli. On reaching tlie branches, a rope i* thrown over a convenient limb, and the descent made in this manner whilst sitting in a cradle sling, the slack of the rope being wound round the leg to regulate the speed of the descent. In this way the hands are free to collect the gum, which is scraped off the bark into a pan and thence into a bag slung across the collector's back. Mr. Browne also demonstrated how the descent could be made with the use of the hand hooks in tlie case of an emergency, and also the methods used in the early days prior to the use of the spiked boot and hand hook, when the climber had to throw the rope over a low branch and haul himself up hand over hand. Afterwards several members donned the boots and essayed to climb a few feet of the tree, but, to the uninitiated, it is a very difficult feat, and one that, requires a good nerve. With the fast disappearance of the kauri tree, the average towndweller has very little opportunity of witnessing such an exhibition, and, to one who has not previously seen an expert climber at work, the ease and grace with which the tree can he ascended and descended is a revelation, and an experience which will not be readily forgotten.