NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 258, 31 October 1929, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Aid for the Ambulance. The Auckland Rugby League last evening received an appeal from the St. John Ambulance Brigade for financial assistance, and it was resolved to'make a donation of £50 to the funds. It was also decided to make a grant of £15 to the Hospital Board.

Ellerslie Drainage Loan Approved. Very little public interest was manifested - in the poll which was taken yesterday on the proposal of the Ellerslie Town Board to raise a special loan of £1200 for drainage work. Only j 176 ratepayers put of a total of 1235 took the trouble to vote, the proposal being approved by 115 votes to 61. The purpose of the loan is to extend the sewers connecting houses adjoining Marua Road and Umere Crescent. e Unemployment Relief Works. P About 100 men are to be employed on the s work of widening the road through Hunua Gorge. 0 Two camps, each to hold 50 men, are being established, one about four miles from Papakura and d one about six miles distant. The duplication of c the railway line between Papatoetoe and Papa- , kuva is also absorbing a large number of men, several gangs being engaged. It is also intended s to employ labour on further work on the Bombay d Hills deviation of the Great South Road, and in e widening the- road from Awhitu to Graham's Beach, to the north, of Waiuku. s c Winstone Park Playing Grounds. At a conference between Mr. Winstone and '> the Mount Roskill Road Board yesterday in 1 regard to the proposed playing grounds in the - Winstone Park Estate, which are being given to the residents of Mount Roskill, an inspection of the plans disclosed the fact that six eminently i suitable sections are available. Mr. Winstone is i anxious that the formation of the playing grounds _ should bo undertaken as soon as possible, and it is hoped that the services of Mr. T. E. Pearson, ' superintendent of parks to the City Council, will 1 be available for this purpose. . Vivisection on Humans. 3 "There is no finality in vivisection," said Mr. i M. Walker, speaking at a meeting in Auckland i last evening. It was not only impossible to t argue from the lower animals to man, he said, , but the same experiment did not have the same result on all animals. A hedgehog: could swallow ; as much opium as a Chinaman could smoke in , three weeks, and could wash it down with as ; much prussic acid as would be sufficient to kill , a regiment of soldiers, and yet feel no ill-effect. ' Realising this, medical research was now de--1 manding the living human body for experiments, ; and experiments had actually taken place on the [ Continent. Devonport Councillors Entertained. Members of the Devonport Borough Council ' were entertained by the Mayor, Mr. E. Aldridge, 1 and Mr 3. Aldridge in the Council Rooms last ■ evening. The occasion marked the renovation of > the chambers, and the completion by the council t of six months' tenure of office. The friendly relations which existed among the members was ' referred to by the Mayor, who remarked that , very satisfactory work had been accomplished i during the six months of the council's office. The , Deputy-Mayor, Mr. J. Hislop, in responding, conveyed the appreciation of the guests for the ' enjoyable function. He also mentioned the spirit ■ of co-operation which was guiding the destinies , of the progressive borough. Serum Theory Fallacious. Far from disease being on the wane because ■ of the introduction of the medicinal theory of • serums, recent statistical returns showed that it was appreciably on the increase, said Mr. M. Walker, speaking at a meeting against vivisection last evening. Further, Mr. Walker stated ' that this increase was the direct result of vivii section, without which the serum could not be prepared. He failed to see how the human body could benefit from the injection of all kinds of horrible preparations made solely from diseased portions. Just as fashions of Other kinds changed, so theories in medicine came and went, and at present the ruling fashion—it was nothing more, he said —was that of the serum. From a Far Country. Standing "like Ruth amid the alien corn" there are several rather uncommon exotics in the fine botanical garden of natives that Mr. T. L. Lancaster is getting together in the grounds of the University College in Princes Street. There is a Chinese candlenut, which promises to be an important plant commercially. The nut yields an oil with exceptional drying properties, after the style of Japan oil used by painters as a drier. There is an unsatisfied demand for this oil. Another candlenut, although it does not grow in New Zealand, comes under our flora, as it hails from the Kermadecs. Polynesians string the oily nuts on a string or dry rush, and so make a very good imitation of a candle. Perhaps the most interesting strangers are several cuttings of the Paraguay tea plant, from which, in South America, the drink "mate" is made. In that part of the world it is drunk much as we drink tea, and is said to be much more refreshing and sustaining. The Jewelled Harbour. Seen from the city side, the Waitemata is a tiling of incomparable beauty on soft summer evenings such as we had until the weather broke. A haziness blots out the distinct outlines of Devonport, and the lights are the only thing that tell where it lies. They blaze out of the darkness like the rich jewels in the belt of an Eastern potentate. A cluster where one knows North Head rises forms the buckle; the closespaced lights at the dock at the other end suggest the tongue. The Waitemata lies like a sheet of jet, on which the more elevated lights of the Shore throw long dagger-like reflections that stretch almost to the town side. It must be slack water, for they. shine steadily without a tremor, and the grid of black and gold is only disturbed when a ferry passing silently breaks the image, which trembles a moment and then reforms as the boat merges into the line of glittering points at the pier. Away down the harbour Bean Rock every eighteen seconds scatters three diamonds; off North Head the Spit Beacon drops an emerald at regular intervals, and on the town side at the end of the eastern breakwater two rubies with a topaz between hang "like a jewel in the ear of an Ethiopc."

Nesting Season for Swans. Springtime is nesting time for the colony of black swans on the willow-fringed waters of Western Springs lake. Just now broods of cygnets are" taking to the water in emulation of their graceful parents, and provide a new interest to travellers along Great North Road. The swans of Western Springs find ideal nesting places in the raupo at the western end of the lake, near the Zoo, and the cygnets have not yet become strong enough to venture to the other end, near the pumping station. The lake is a sanctuary, and conspicuous notices erected by the Auckland City Council warn off trespassers. Black swans are not natives of New Zealand, but were introduced by Sir George Grey from Australia in the early 'sixties to beautify his home at Kawau. In 1865 he presented some to the people of Canterbury, and it is said that they cleared a pathway through the watercress that then infested the Avon, and so allowed the current to run. As many as a dozen swans may be seen at a time at Western Springs, lazily gliding on the imrippled lake without effort, or thrusting their long necks under the water in quest of !} food. For years they have lived there and reared their broods of cygnets each spring, ■but when the adjacent Western Springs sports ground is completed the tumult of racing motor cycles and cheering crowds may disturb their "ancient solitary reign."