NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 174, 25 July 1930, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Flying at National Park.

There is a probability of a landing ground for aeroplanes being made at Xational Park. Mr. F. C. Chichester, who made the flight from England to Australia, recently visited Xational Park, and came to the conclusion that an excellent landing ground could be made within a short distance of the Chateau. The area, is level, extensive, and, it is stated, could be easily prepared. Unwanted "Immigrants." Two Chinese tdrtoises were passengers on the Marama, which arrived at Wellington this week. They were intended to provide a touch of home to the Chinese there. After some delays and much discussion with agitated Orientals, the authorities decided that it was impossible to admit these amphibians to the Dominion, and the long journey ended with the execution of the travellers. "Came a Thud." ■ A Maori judgment debtor was being examined by counsel at the Court at Wanganui regarding "the state of his finances, which, according to his own account, were not too promising. Counsel commenced to ask the Maori what he got out of a certain scrub-cutting contract. The Maori replied that he got nothing out of it. "What, nothing!" said counsel. "Xo," replied the Maori, "we came a thud." An Unusual Eide. The unusual sight of a conductor draping the front of the motorman's compartment of a tram was witnessed in Queen Street this morning. People wondered at the attitude of the man' who usually serenely collects fares inside the car, but the explanation of his somewhat perilous position was not hard to find. Apparently the overhead gear had refused to function in the ordinary way, and the conductor was holding it "in reverse" in order to get the tram back to the repair barn. Sports for Girls. Efforts made by the Auckland Y.W.C.A. to encourage play among girls are hampered by the lack of playing fields. Miss Jean Begg, the general secretary of the organisation, writes, in the forty-fourth annual report: "We cannot over-emphasise the need of more playing fields for girls in this city. Our association supports the Auckland Girls'* Athletic Association in its heroic attempt to provide the city with a girls' sports ground, and regrets that it is receiving so little support from the general public." "Don't Roar!" When a counsel becomes engrossed in a cross-examination, and a witness is inclined to be excitable, sparks begin to fly. At the height of a cross-examination in the Arbitration Court yesterday afternoon Mr. Justice Frazer remarked:" "I'm afraid if you two go on roaring at each other, you will make me deaf." Counsel for the plaintiff in the action suggested that it might be better if he stood further back, but his Honor replied: "I will let you go nearer if you don't roar." Club for Boys and Girls. A club for boys and girls has been started in Auckland, and the experiment is being watched with unusual interest. The object is to establish a high standard of relationship between the sexes. In" the annual report of the Y.W.C.A. Miss Jean Begg, the general secretary, states that it is comparatively easy to get boys and girls to play together, but the desire of the association is to get those of the later "teen" age to work and study together. She adds that the lack of good leadership continues to be a problem in the club movement. Wind at Eongotai. Eongotai is one of the windiest places in socalled '"Windy Wellington." The aerodrome there has a wind-recording instrument, and its daily charts often show a run of wind greatly in excess of that recorded at Kelburn, where the official meteorological records are taken. For instance, yesterday week, when a southerly reached Wellington about 6.40 a.m. somewhat suddenly, a number of gusts at Eongotai reached 60 miles an hour. The gale reached maximum force at 12.45 p.m., a gust of 74 miles an hour being recorded at that time. Thereafter, although there were several more gusts of 60 miles an hour, the wind gradually decreased in force, a calm being reached later in the evening. XeedI lees to say, there was not much flying that day. Damage by Snowstorm. The snowstorm that struck the country between Taupo and Xapier a few days ago had some unusual features (writes the "Star's" correspondent/). The weight on the telegraph wires canted over the poles for more than a mile, and several miles of line were damaged. Curiously, the only pole that was broken was composed of two railway rails bolted together. Perhaps the cold made the iron brittle. The wood poles bent over with the weight of snow, so that they cannot be climbed, and have to be practically reerected. It has interfered with the telephone communication with Xapier, but other routes are available. A large pine tree at the Bangitaiki Hotel was pretty well stripped of its branches. As no other trees there have ever been stripped, it proves the unusual weight that wires will hold. A camp of ten men has been formed at Eangitaiki to repair the line. The Gaudy Male. In all but few instances the male animal wears more brilliant apparel than the female, man being one of the few exceptions. One is reminded of the almost -universal rule when looking at the very uncommon collection of birds in the show of the Avicultural Society, most of the male birds are gorgeous. A peculiar feature of the adornment of some very interesting birds called "weavers" is that it changes from remarkable brilliance to utter drabness. These birds get their name from the- remarkable manner in which they weave the material out of which they build their nests. Even with nothing more than dried grass they make a material almost as tough as a bit of sacking. At the present time the males of the Grenadier wearer and Napoleon •weaver are not much more interesting than the hen sparrow in the matter of garb, but at the approach of the breeding season they put on the brightest of hues, and are resplendent in scarlet and gold, so to speak. And when attired in all their glory they strut and pose in front of their consorts with all the vanity imaginable. Then in due time, when domestic affairs have been attended to, the male drops bis finery and is as humble looking as a lifeguardsman in fatigue dress. Vanished Hand-cart A quarter of a century or more ago a feature of Auckland's transport was the collection of hand-carts that used to stand for hire down

about the railway station and the liead of the Queen Street wharf. They -were pushed by men of a type we don't breed nowadays.. They were all elderly, some of them verging on decrepitude. Xo doubt they had all been young once, and grown old in a business that was gradually decaying. In those days Auckland used to depend *on horse cabs, and it was not everyone who could afford the fare; Auckland -was not so wealthy then as it is to-day, and people looked twice at a sixpence. These handcarts were twowheeled affairs, and either pushed or drawn by a single "shaft" exactly like the handle of a lawnmower. Auckland being Hlly, -the older men used to puff considerably, and people of humane tendencies felt rather shabby at using man-power in such a way. For eighteen pence one of those old chaps would take quite a load from the ferry or the station anywhere within a mile or a mile and a half, and even the economically-minded must have realised that the money was* well earned. It is probable that there" still remain, stowed away in some backyard, one or two of these quaint Telics of early , Auckland, and if so one should certainly be put j in the Old Colonists , Museum. It would strike , the present generation very much as a rickshaw strikes a European the first time he rides in one.