NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 69, 23 March 1931, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Maruia Hot Springs. Despite the fact that there is no accommodation house at the Maruia Hot Spimgs, on the West Coast, says the Westport "Times," and that nothing has been done to the baths, which are in urgent need of attention, it is reported that people are now to be charged 9d for a single bath, 2/ for three baths, and 0/ for twelve baths. A recent visitor to the springs said that people 5 there are indignant at the charge that has been made, especially when there are no facilities. They consider that much-needed improvements _ should be carried out before there is any thought " of charge. Good for the Tea Trade. "I have seen a great change in the social I life of Parliament during my 41 years' associa--1 tion with it," said Sir Walter Carncross, Speaker r of the Legislative Council. "Nowadays nearly all 2 the members are tea drinkers. There was a time I in the early days when a man who went into , Bellamy's and asked for a cup of tea in the afternoon was regarded as an effeminate creature. > To-day it is a regular custom for members of 7 both Houses to partake mostly of tea. It has 1 been a great change for the better, a.nd to me , one of the most noticeable changes in the social life of Parliament." ] The Month for Schnapper. 5 March is the month when the school fish l come into the Manukau Harbour, and many boats i were out yesterday. One party from Weymouth ~j landed 150 schnapper and stopped fishing because j they had caught more than they wanted. For the 1 most part the fish were of a nice eating size, ) and there were over a dozen that were big enough to provide a breakfast for a whole family. One "old man" schnapper, estimated by the - launchman (who has been fishing on the Manukau i for over 30 years) to weigh between 201b and 301b, [ was hooked, but it broke away. A couple of sharks also took the bait, but the schnapper lines were not strong enough to hold them. Child Welfare Act Assailed. To dissociate the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom from any official . connection witli her action in interrupting Parliament last week, Miss Constance McAdam called ' at the "Dominion" office. Miss McAdam, who is a member of the league, caused a mild stir by . tearing up a copy of the Child Welfare Act and throwing the fragments from the ladies' gallery into the chamber. "In case of any reflection on the league, I wish to state that this body is entirely for law and order, and it knew nothing of my intention to do even this simple thing,'" she said. "It is in the interests of law and order that this Act should be opposed." Troubled Slumber. "The greatest trick that was ever played on me was when I was teaching years ago in the hinterland of the King Country," was what an old schoolmaster told a number of interested listeners on a seat at the waterfront the other day. In the hot summer weather, he said, he used to swing a hammock between the branches of two trees in a shady spot in the bush, where he slept very soundly at night, to be awakened early by the singing birds. One morning when he awoke after a few hours' sleep (after having come from a dance), he was startled to see, high up in tile branches of one of the trees, and looking right down at him, the skeleton of a cow's head, witli long horns. It was eerie in the extreme, and looked almost like an evil spirit come to disturb the beauty and quietness of the bush. Those country boys were the behaved he had ever seen, but the chance to scare the wits out of their schoolmaster was too gocxl to lose. The great gaunt thing, with its <rhost-like appearance, had so affected him that he decided to shift his sleeping place, and he never slept in that spot again. Tidying Up. L T neinploynient relief work has been variously applied, and one of its most useful applications has been in the direction of tidying up public reserves in various suburbs. This work has been done in the Xgatarmga Reserve, at Stanley Bay, where the stone edging of the footpath leading from the entrance to the tennis courts has been cleared of grass and moss accumulations of several years' growth. It has come as a surprise to quite a number of local residents that the footpath had a stone edging. Alongside the pathway that leads from Glen Road to the reserve a quantity of heavy timber has also been cleared. About a coupld of years ago a space near the ferry wharf entrance was levelled and iaid down as croquet lawns. They were planted with grass seed, and during a mild early winter the growth was quite promising. Later, however, the seepage of sea water killed the roots, and it became evident that the experiment of late grass planting Mas nut a success. Several of the residents formed themselves into a working committee, being prepared to labour with pick and shovel to clear the ground. They suggested to the borough council that a grant of about 100 square yards of scoria should be made, this to be laid down under , the turf. This was agreed to by the council, and the lawns now bid fair to make excellent progress. . The "Banana Box." Esses Toe" writes: "The splendid behaviour ' of the Union Company's Tofua in a hurricane during her last Island trip prompted one of the j ship's company to describe her as the best sea boat in the fleet. Allow me to confirm this well- . deserved encomium, writing not as a saloon pas- . senger, but as one of the 'other ranks,' who made ' the journey to England by her. Converted dur- • ing the war into a trooj)ship, the Tofua was cer- -' tainly not the last word in luxuriousness so far , as the rank and file were concerned. Space was f limited, and there was not a superabundance of i comfort in the sleeping accommodation in the < holds, but when rough weather waa encountered we had reason to be thankful, for the despised ( 'banana box' (known as such on account of having been engaged in the Island fruit trade) proved < herself a sailing boat. We were somewhat J envious of the more spacious accommodation of the Willochra, which sailed with us, until we met * with heavy seas—then our opinions were altered. e Whereas our companion rolled and tossed in a j most uncomfortable fashion, our less pretentious boat appeared to ride the waves like a gull. That experience taught me that appearances are not . everything when it is a ease of going down to the sea in ships." Old King Cole. l r A group of men, some young and some old, { were lamenting their fate and the hard times the r Dominion was passing through when one of them t said that what was needed was the discovery of x new gold, or new coal. One of the oldest men f present said that his grandfather was one ot Wellington's old residents, and he had handed down a story telling how coal was first discovered in Wellington. "The first Anglican minister was J named Robert Cole," he said, "and he soon commenced tp spy out the land, and one day walked as far as Silverstream, at the Hutt, where he was seen by a surveyor who had been out prospecting, and was returning to town to report to Wakefield, who was an agent of the Xew Zealand Company, j When the surveyor got to Wellington he said to his chief, "I have been out to the Hutt, and saw ~ Cole there." "The deuce you did!" remarked Wakefield. "Where?" "Oh, a mile or so this a side of Silverstream." A ship was just leaving for Home, and Wakefield ent the welcome news \ to London that coal had been found at Silver- c stream, in the Hutt Valley, and urged that this a fact should be announced on all the Xew Zealand c Company's new maps, which, on the letter's 1 arrival at Home conveying the important news, 1 was eventually done. "The joke," said the old t narrator, "is an old one, but it is quite true; but \ that is not quite the discovery we want to make c these days!" 11