NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 307, 29 December 1930, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Taking the Risk. Out of the 137 men put oil to one-day relief ■work in Wanganui last week, one man, conscientious, intimated that he did not desire to start in case it might rain and he would not get the full day in. "Go ahead, old man, rain or • not," remarked an official, "your wages will be ' in the envelope at the end of the day's work. He started. Useful Presents. i "I am not questioning bankrupt's statement, . but my experience of the Bankruptcy Court is that a piano is a favourite wedding present," re- , marked the Official Assignee, Mr. J. H. Roberton, ; during his examination of a bankrupt pastrycook at Christchurch the other day. Bankrupt had said that the piano in his possession was his wjfe's, given to her by him as a wedding present. Quinnat in Lake Kanieri. A 41b quinnat salmon, 23Jin long, was caught in 'Lake Kanieri, Westland, recently, by Mr. N. B. McCallum, of Greymouth. These quinnat are land-locked, and the only place on the West Coast where they are available is Lake Kanieri. That mentioned .was a beautiful silvery fish, and the flesh was very red, of the true salmon type, while the taste was not at all ''muddy," as is sometimes the case with fish caught in lakes. "Hands Across the Sea." The "Star" welcomes the centenary issue of the "Montreal Gazette," which was recently received. It encloses an interesting souvenir in the form of a reproduction of its own issue of November 11, 1830, and an editorial article mentions that at that time the paper had been in continuous publication for nearly 50 years. The "Gazette" may, therefore, claim to be one of the oldest newspapers in the British Empire. Camp at Waihi Beach. The camp this season at Waihi Beach is the largest on record. . Some 400 people at the one time were surf bathing yesterday morning. The first tennis courts on the beach were opened by the Mayor on Saturday afternoon, the bowling green is ready for grass, and electric light will shortly be introduced throughout the reserve. Over 150 cottages and 60 tents are fully occupied. Campers include a contingent from the Auckland Trampers' Club. Some 60 boys from the Huntly district, under the care of the Rev. Mr. BushKing, go into camp to-day. Deep-sea Fish Near Harbour. With the gradual warming of water round the Auckland coastline, various types of deep-sea fish are making their appearance close to the land. Flying fish have been seen, in large numbers off Cape Brett, and mako shark have come a*j far south as the Hauraki Gulf, a 3001b specimen having been caught recently by a party off H.M.s. Laburnum. Several schools of porpoises made their appearance yesterday off Whangaparaoa Peninsula, and some of them were seen close inshore, frolicking their way up Railgitoto Channel. Gold from the Deep. Nature does not often throw out gold for the picking up by passers-by, but ouch an occur-' rence is reported by a trawler's crew that visited the Nuggets last week. Fine gold glittered on the scales and skins of the fish that came up in the net, and after their dying flappings, some of the dus't was swept up from the deck, enough to enclose and take to Dunedin for the convincing of the sceptical. It is conjectured, no other cause being assignable, that the gold came out of the Molyneux River with the fine sand that was stirred by the net. Not Santa Claus. Alarmed by a noise at two o'clock this morning, a Mount Eden housewife got up to find that her residence had been entered by a thief, who had evidently made a thorough search of the bedrooms. In her own room her handbag, lying on the dressing table, had been turned out. Both front and back doors were wide open. The thief had evidently entered through the front door, the key of which had been left out for boys who were sleeping on the verandah. The lads' clothing was inside the house, and their pockets had been searched and a small sum of money stolen. This experience should be a warning to others to keep their houses securely locked at night. Lost and Found. After being lost for the greater part of yesterday, two boys, aged six years and nine years, were, found by an elder brother at the Central Police Station about midnight. Early in the morning the boys, who were bare-footed, were playing with a toy aeroplane near their home. The toy was carried away by the wind, and they followed it to Freeman's Bay, where they became lost. They wandered through the city all day and at dusk were found beyond the Green Lane tram terminus by a resident. He gave the boys tea and later telephoned the police. The boys were sent to the station in the care of a bus

driver. Schoolboy "Howlers." An unusual and difficult operation was recently performed at Gisborue by Mr. F. Valentine, on a half-grown sheepdog. The dog showed signs of acute suffering and was walking as stiffly as if it had swallowed a ramrod. The dog was chloroformed, and the surprising discovery was made that he had' swallowed a wooden skewer 7in in length. The operation was a complete success, and' not long afterwards the dog was able to run about again, though obviously suffering from the effects of the operation. How the dog was able to swallow a piece of wood Tin long is a mystery which Mr. Valentine was unable to explain. Sea Elephant Ashore. A very large crowd at St. Clair, Dunedin, had a close view yesterday of an unusual visitor, when a sea elephant appeared on the rocks near the beach. It was first noticed about 10.30 a.m., and, after floundering about for some time, made off out to sea. It returned later and went ashore on the rocks, where it stayed for some time before it decided to return to sea again. It was about 15ft in length. The sea elephant, or elephant seal, is the largest of the seal family, the male sometimes measuring 20ft in length. It derives its name from the shape of the nose in the adult male. The colour is greyish, and the teeth relatively very small.' They live in families and societies and feed on fish and molluscs, especially cuttle fish. The skin furnishes good leather, and the oil is valuable for burning. The 'only palatable part is the tongue.

Dog's Difficult Mouthful. With examination time at the end of the year, there usual comes a crop of "howlersj" and the Taranaki primary school inspectors lia\ e selected a few that have come under then- notice. One bright youngster said that "Marco Polo was an explorer of the interior of the Tudors. Ideas as to who was the leader of the Saracens varied, and this honour was ascribed to Lord _ Jellicoe, Salaman and Aladdin. The answer required was doubtless Saladin. Some others were;- The wile of Charles I. was the Young Pretender. The first Christian missionary to England was the guillotine." "Cartier discovered Aluminium. "The name associated with the Revenge is Te Kooti " "The name associated with the Bocket was Guy Fawkes." "The Methodist Church was founded by John Methodist." ' Before the jury syetem, criminals were tried bx Act of Coa.