NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 285, 2 December 1931, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

The Canny Scot. "Scottish thrift has often been misunderstood," said. Dr. S. F. Hunter,-of Knox College, Dunedin, in his St. Andrew's Day sermon at St. Paul's Presbyterian Church. "The people who give the biggest sums to charities and deserving institutions are Scotsmen. This liberality is made possible by this very thriftiness. But the saving characteristic has often become sheer meanness, and a mean Scot is just about -the meanest creature on earth." . • Luxury Yacht Not Coming. It is not now expected that the American luxury yacht Camargo will visit Auckland. Previous advice was that the vessel would arrive here during last week-end, but it is now reported from Suva that the owner, Mr. J. Fleischmann, never had an intention of coming to New Zealand. The Camargo, which is at Suva, is making a leisurely cruise of the Pacific. From Fiji she will go to the New Hebrides, and from there will return home via the East. A party of wealthy Americans are on board the yacht. Grape Culture in North Auckland. The cultivation of the Italian grapo vine in North Auckland has, brought Signor Francesco Seognamillo to the Dominion (states the "Northern Advocate"). Ho arrived by the lonic in company with Mrs. Seognamillo, who is a daughter of the late Mr. William Clifton Mogg, of Lapford, North Devon. Signor Seognamillo recently purchased a property at Kaeo, and, in addition to growing lemons, grapefruit and passion fruit, he intends to import Italian grape vines, probably from Australia, to produce grapes for winemaking. Before acquiring the Kaeo property he occupied a post in the Italian Royal Police. Pamphlets by 'Plane. A final, spectacular appeal to the electors was made by the Labour party in Rotorua yesterday, when Mr. A. F. Moncur, the'party candidate, travelled by aeroplane throughout the electorate, dropping 8000 pamphlets (reports the "Star's" correspondent). He left the Rotorua aerodrome at four o'clock, circled over the town and dropped the first instalment of pamphlets. •Then he headed for Matamata, Putaruru, Arapuni, Taupo and other districts, returning to Rotorua about 6.45 p.m. Owing to a high wind, most of the first lot of pamphlets were blown out into the lake, but in the evening's calm the distribution was very effective. This electioneering "stunt" awakened keen interest, and hundreds of people watched the 'plane's departure and return.

Thrills For Parachutist. A parachutist, Pilot-Officer J. S. Eraser, had a narrow escape from landing on a shed when he made a 1400 ft jump from a moving aeroplane at the Wigram Aerodrome, near Qhristchurch on Saturday. He used a slow parachute, and tell 600 ft tefore he opened it. To the crowd below it appeared that he was dropping at a terntic speed; and there "was a general feeling of relief when the pilot's 'chute was seen to open. Ihe airman calculated when within 100 ft of the ground that he would hit the top of a shed and this would have meant severe injuries in the strong £S that was blowing. By contro ling the cords of the parachute, he just managed to sideslip past the shed, and then sav immediately ahead of him a high fence In the nick of time he spilled the wind out of the parachute and landed safely a few yards from the fence.

Philomel's Record. Although she will never go to sea again— for the very good reason that most oi her engines have been removed-H.M.s. Philomel, the training shin of the New Zealand Division, has nothing to be ashamed of, for she has a proud record of service. The standard compass of the warsnip is among the exhibits at the naval base at Devonport, and visitors are informed. that her record is as follows:—1894, Bohenie Creek Expedition; 1896 Bombardment of Zanzibar; 1897,, Benin Expedition; 1899-1900,. South African Naval Brigade; 1914, transferred to the .New Zealand station; 1914, capture of Samoa; 1914-18 convoy of. troops to Europe during the Great War. Classed as a light cruiser, with 16 guns, the Philomel (2575 tons) was launched at Devonport, England, in 1890. Among the men of the Navy she is familiarly referred to as "old fighting Philly." Incidentally she is the fifth British warship of her name.

Tagging of Trout. At-a recent meeting-of .the council of the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society complaints were lodged regarding the manner in which trout were being tagged. It was asserted that the flesh of several tagged fish that had been caught had been very much inflamed near the tail, and, in view of that, tags should not be used. Professor Percival stated in defence of tagging that, as far as could be ascertained, fish did not suffer as a result of it. He pointed out further, in proof that tags were not harmful, hat the fish did not lose weight from the practice. Many stock owners in the Dominion adopted the method, and also the Marine Department in Canada. It Was suggested that the fish should be marked by means of colourings, but Professor Percival said that by this method not more than thirtv fish could be marked with three different colours. With the present system of tagging, far more fish, could be identified.

Naval Base Curios.. A rusty old anchor is among the exhibits at the naval "base, Devonport. A neat brass plate informs visitors' that the anchor originally helonged to the German sloop Adler, which was wrecked at Apia, Samoa, during the big hurricane which swept tho island in March, 1889. live German and American warships were lost in _ the harbour during the hurricane, H.M.6. Calliope being the only vessel to make the open sea. The British warship's dash to safety lias been made the subject of a familiar painting. The Adler's stream anchor lay at the bottom of Apia Harbour for 40 years, but in January of last year it was discovered and brought to tho surface by divers from HM.s. Dunedin. It was presented to the base by the Administrator of Samoa. Another exhibit at the base is a fragment of armour plate from X gun-turret of H.M f s. New Zealand. The turret was struck by an llin German shell during the Battle of Jutland.. In appearance it resembles a huge mushroom. Recently a Maori chief presented the base with an old field gun found by his people on. the hills overlooking one of the North Auckland West Coast beaches, and he has promised to supply a full history of the gun at an early date/

A Crowded Museum. In the Old Colonists' Museum. Auckland has a wonderfully interesting collection of relics of other days, and these, together Avith the pictures and documents, enable the present generation to reconstruct the fascinating story of the settlement'of New Zealand. The present generation is not generally supposed to be very enamoured of the past or of anything particularly aged, but there will come a tame When the Old Colonists' -Museum will be looked upon as one of the most interesting spots in Auckland. It will be a colonial edition of the exhibition of early relics in the Guildhall, London, and of the Carnavalet, Paris, two of the most fascinating civil museums in the world. Recently the Old Colonists' Museum has received a number of valuable additions, and it is now far too crowded. In the matter of pictures' the position has become intolerable . from the visitors' point, of view. It is the detail in the pictures and prints that give theni their right to be in the niuseum, and at present some of them are hung so; high on the wall that if one wanted to read the title one Would have, to get a step-ladder to do so. At the other extreme many of the. pictures are actually hung on the floor level, and they run imminent danger of having .the glass broken by the feet of visitors— not necessarily careless ones, either. The City Council will have to do something to provide more space, or the museum will become so crowded as to be a mere jumble. , w J ;' .