NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 218, 15 September 1930, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Successful Winter Climbs. A winter ,ascent of Mounts Ngauruhoc and Tongariro in eleven hours from the-Chateau was made by Mr. Jones and Mr. J. Townsend, of Wanganui, and Mr. C. Standage, of the Chateau, led by a guide, Mr. Krist Berifren. An Englishman's Word. Sir George Richardson, in a brief address at the Devonport Orphans' Club on/ Saturday, in speaking of the standing of the English, stated that during a recent visit to America he was not long in ascertaining that the word of an Englishman was his bond. While attending the League of Nations he talked with a university professor'of a foreign land, who remarked: "You Englishmen during the Boer War pursued your object and won. TMsn you said to the Boers, 'Go now and govern your own. country,' and for that spirit England was admired immensely." An Unusual Visitor. Wellington Harbour will receive an unusual visitor next week, and it is stated that the deputy-harbourmaster has not yet decided which of his. pilots will bo detailed to fetch the craft in. The visitor is an "amphibian," th© "Cutty Sark" flying boat, which is coming down from Auckland with Squadron-Leader L. M. Isitt as pilot. The day of the flight depends upon the weather, but; if the conditions are favourable it is expectcd that the 'piano will arrive on Tuesday. It has not yet been decided how long the machine will be in Wellington. Squadron-Leader Isitt will be accompanied by a mechanic. , ' Flames in Wakefield Street. Shortly after seven o'clock on Saturday evening a cable broke and burst through the footpath immediately outside a shop window in Wakefield Street. By 7.30 a largo crowd had gathered to witness the hissing jets of flame which rose in three places from the path and illuminated the vicinity for 40 yards around. The heat of the flames cracked the window of the shop in several places, one crack running the full length of the window. The City Fire Brigade was called out, but soon retired, as the hosing of the break would have been of little avail. By 8.30 the flames had died away. Yacht Race Vigil.

Practically every wireless station except the right one seemed to be "on the air" early yesterday morning, when a "broadcast report of the America Cup yacht race was being anxiously awaited from Slienectady, New York. Scores of local yachting enthusiasts had contrived to he 011 deck at 3 a.m. to glean the first news of the great contest, but the vivid Yankee of the expected "talking report" was sadly missing from the succession of voices—British and foreign— which were heard, from time to timo*.over the ether. Every half-hour or so the announcer from 2YA, Wellington, would suavely report that no news had yet been received and express the hope that "the Fates" would prove kind for local enthusiasts. But America, for once, was as silent as the grave. Ancient Anchor Found. When the seven whaling chasers were moving from their winter /anchorage in Evans Bay to the Glasgow wharf, Wellington last week, one of them fouled and brought to the surface an ancient rust-eaten anchor of unusual pattern. This relic of the past, which has been lying in the mud at the bottom of Evans Bay for upward of CO years, was formerly used to anchor a mooring buoy. Several yards of chain cable were still attached to it, the links of which were practically eaten away with rust. The shank of the anchor was unusually long in proportion, measuring about 7ft, while adhering to it were numerous oysters—or the shells which were once the bottom half of the oysters. The anchor, in general gives the appearance of having been locally made, as the flukes are practically straight. It docs not bear the appearance of having been made in a single casting. New Road' Outlet. Consideration is still being given the proposal to form an arterial road from the waterfront road, near the Orakei Basin, to join the Panmure-Howick concrete highway and provide a through route to OtahuKu independent of the Great South Road. A deputation from the Remuera East Ratepayers' Association is to ask the Mount Wellington Road Board to-morrow evening that the roads in the board's district should be formed to give alignment with the proposed outlet. It is proposed that the new outlet should cross the railway by an overhead fridge and skirt the Orakei Basin, joining an extension of Lucerne Road. After crossing the lower end of Waiatarua Road it would meet Meadowbank Road abotot half-way up' to the •St. Helier's Road, and then go in as direct a line as possible to the junction of Abbott's Way and Lnnn Avenue, near the Mount Wellington boundary, crossing the property where Lake Waiatarua has been drained. After reaching Lunn Avenue the outlet would be taken to the Panmure-Howick highway, from which a concrete road leads to Otahuhu. The proposal, if given effect, would obviate congestion of outward traffic at Symonds Street and Newmarket.

In the Bananas. In New Zealand we have known cases where a gnake has come up from Fiji in a bunch of bananas. This is not strange, as the ships that carry fruit do not use refrigeration, but an even more remarkable instance of animal immigration is reported from the Old Country, where the steamers carrying fruit from the West Indies and from South America use refrigerated space in order to land their cargoes in good condition. "The Times" says: "Small snakes, often poisonous, and very large spiders are often accidentally imported with bananas, and find their way to the zoo, but as both snakes and spiders can live for many weeks in a half-dormant condition without food or water there is no reason why such journeys should not be made successfully. It is more surprising to find that delicate little mammals will sometimes survive the risks encountered in the cutting and handling of the bunches/transport to'the ship and voyage of several'weeks at a steady low temperature in the hold. Tile City of Leicester Museum recently received a murine opossum which had reached the city in a bunch of bananas from South America, and sent it as a gift to the zoo, where it is now safely housed." < A Massive Fence. "Taiepa kino" writes: Strolling along the new waterfront road yesterday I was appalled when I saw the formidable fence that is being erected: on the seaward side, from the city end to Orakci. * Hugo; concrete posts, taller than a man, and almost bulky enough for a telephone box, are set out at frequent intervals, and between them it is intended" to erect substantial ii on .stanchions, the ■whole to be railed with galvanised iron piping, three rows of it, the °top one about 2in in diameter and' the lower about liin. » It is .an enlarged example of ; the sort of' thing they put round tombs* and'other doleful memorials. Where the idea originated I do not know, but obviously it was conceived, without a particle of respect for the. yifew—which, after all, is what nine out of .ten people will want, to see when they use the road, mat the effect will ['be on motor, car people it is difficult to predict, but, one would imagine the motorist's view'of the harbour being very much what one sees ivlien looking; out of the window of. an express train—... a blurred row of telegraph poles. At the-St. Heliei-'s Bay end a much more appropriate finish to the: seaward'side of the road lias been given— and'much less expensive.. The St..Helier's Bay people have simply built a long knee-high wall of undressed stone. This.appropriate finish does not' distract one when gazing seaward, and it lias the added advantage that one can sit on it and admire the lovely view of harbour, head- , land and island at one's leisure.