NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 224, 21 September 1929, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY.

"Flower Week" for the Hospital. Ihe good cause of the Auckland Hospital Auxiliary will be assisted next week ixi a novel and attractive manner. It will be "Flower Week" and the public are requested to make their purchases at the Auxiliary's stall at-the corner of Queen Street and Victoria Street or at its shop in St. James' Theatre. Contributions of flowers and produce will be gratefully received. Nevr Schooner Building. V> ork has commenced on the building of a. new auxiliary schooner at Mr. Geo. Niccol's yard at Freeman's Bay. The vessel will have a length of 112 ft, a beam of 27ft, and a depth of 9ft, and will carry about 300 tons of cargo on a 7ft draught. This is a larger vessel than those recently built for the coastal trade. She- is expected to be ready for launching early next year, and although it lias not yet been decided what type of engine will be installed, she will probably have a full-power Diesel unit. Dominion Day. People are not so proud of the honour of New Zealand having been elevated to the distinction of a "Dominion"' as might be expected with a day set apart to mark the event, which happened 22 years ago. Banks and insurance offices will close in Auckland, but otherwise very little notice will be taken of the anniversary. It is one of those holidays which we could very well alTord to miss out of the calendar. In order to correct a wrong impression that has got abroad, the Post Office notifies that pensions will be paid as usual on Monday. Aeroplanes for Auckland. Included in the cargo of the Port Melbourne, which arrived at Auckland yesterday from London.. \Vere four aeroplanes. Two were Fairey 111. F machines for the Hobsonville Air Base," and two were Gipsy Moths, for the Auckland Aero Club and the Air Survey and Transport Company. Special attention has been attracted by the Faireys, because they are the best type yet imported into New Zealand. The undercarriages are convertible for land or water use, and the engine is the Napier Lion 12-cylinder type, with a capacity of 530 horse-power. The machines have a speed maximum of about 100 miles an hour. Thirsty Bandsmen. Some bandsmen are thirsty souls. A belated account (£3) for a keg of beer was received by the Wellington Free Ambulance, having been forwarded by the Melrose Football Club. It seems that the club promoted a dance in aid of the funds of -the Free Ambulance. Securing a band on very easy terms, the committee felt constrained to "turn it on" for the players, but the account was not rendered until long after everything had been cleared up. The chairman (Mr. C. .1. B. Norwood) offered to foot the bill, but when the committee heard that the dance had yielded a profit of £50 they would not hear of it. Apparently it had been £3 well spent, and should come out of the general fund. Cheer for Christmas. i

Mention of Christmas cheer makes folk realise that the year is slipping by, and that soon the customary round of gift purchases will commence. Thoughts of those who are unable to make purchases are occupying the minds of the Mayoress. Mrs. A. D. Campbell, and helpers in the work of the Mayoress' War Memorial Library League. They are appealing to people of good will for books, calendars and Christmas cards with which to prepare the Christmas packages to be sent to soldiers in the backblocks, to patients in country hospitals, to children in orphanages, and to inmates of philanthropic institutions. If the parcels containing gifts are small, they may be left at the Town Hall, and if they are large members of the league will arrange to have them collected. i . w Old System Survives. New Zealanders probably do uot realise how large a proportion of the examination work of the University of Xew Zealand is still conducted by examiners in Great Britain. Most of the I more advanced work is so conducted. Papers are iset in London for Final B.A. and B.Sc-., for Honlours and Masters' degrees in various faculties, | fur Engineering degrees (mechanical, electrical, j civil and mining), for certain higher Lav/ examinations, etc. In addition, theses for various doctorates are sent Home to be adjudicated upon. For the present year's examinations in New Zealand ISS individual pajiers have seen set in Great Britain and Ireland and printed in London. Shovrers of Frogs. Mr. G. J. Marshall. writes: "Allow me to narrate an experience I had in the Old Country when I was a lad. I was at a country railway station. At one end of the station was the entrance to a cutting; at the other end the land | fell awav, and there was first a bridge and then an embankment. It was summer. A heavy rainstorm occurred, but passed quickly. I and the railwavmen sheltered in the station, and went out as soon as the rain was over. We found, between the railway lines and on the bridge, a multitude of little frogs which were jumping about ill all directions. I did not see them fall, but I saw them there where they were not before. There was no grass in which they might have been hidden, and there was no pond or stream in the vicinity. I simply narrate the facts without attempting an explanation. The men who were present said that they had been taken up by a whirlwind from some pond and dropped with the rain." Voices from Underground. | Remarkable as an experiment, and no less • so in the crystal clearness of the singers' voices, was the concert given in the Cathedral Chamber, Waitomo Caves, last evening by arrangement between the Broadcasting Company and the Tourist Department. The concert was relayed from the cave by two land lines to Auckland, and was broadcast from IYA. Only the slightest suggestion of an echo could be detected by lis-teners-ill, and thousands must have been delighted at the splendid acoustics of the underground chamber. Much trouble had been experienced in taking a piano into the cave, said Mr. A. E. Wilson, ox the' Tourist Department, in opening the concert. If possible, he added, another programme would be arranged for at a later date, and one of the guides would be asked to give a talk on the caves. The artists last evening were Miss Millicent O'Grady, soprano; Miss Nina Scott, elocutionist; Mr. Len. Barnes (station director), baritone; and Mr. Owen Pritchard, violinist, Mr. Cyril Towsev, the pianist of IYA, was accompanist, and also plaved two solos. f The Elusive Ambergris. Can you tell me, please, if the enclosed is ambergris, and how much an ounce it would fetch :n the market?" was. the gist of a letter with accompanying parcel, sent from a little reader of the '"Star" who lives in a coastal town. The string was cut, and a told or two of brown pauer taken off, but as there appeared to be something 'ancient and lish-like". enclosed, more caution was observed with the rest of the wrappings. When-the contents were at last disrobed, there was an odour suggestive of taking the lid otf a venerable gorgonzola cheese. Bracing himself, the expert gcasped the object, and took a sniff. When he recovered consciousness he examined the sickly-looking greeny-grey substance from a safe distance, and eorrectlv identified it as the remnant of a specimen of Solanum tuberosum which had probably been thrown overboard from some passing steamer in the dim past, or quite ! possibly from a sailing ship. In other words, it was a very over-ripe piece of potato, that humble vegetable from which are said to have sprung "the butcher, the baker, and the maker.'' It is almost beyond belief the queer things folk pick up on the beach and 'fondly believe to be ambergris, worth many shekels. The classic story, of course, comes from Napier, where they banked a lump of antiquated tallow, and kept it in the safe for months pending the result of the analysis from London.