NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 93, 20 April 1932, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Like t fie Brook. Re porting upon a complaint received from a resident touching the water meter reading, the waterw »rks foreman of the Mount Eden Borough Council last night mentioned that the meter in question; had been installed in 1912, and had registered each year without having been removed <»r repaired. "This meter," stated the report, Svhen inspected in 1931, had no lid, no glass, f;t«-'e damaged, and hands off, and the tenant brad been notified of its condition.'' "It's like Paddy's gun," remarked Mr. R. J. Mills. Work Keeps Alive. Life on the staff of a daily newspaper is usually (icmsidcred to be among the most strenuous and wearing occupations, especially in the case of many American papers, which publish seven da}is in the week. A San Francisco newspaper main, writing to a former colleague, now resident i'll Auckland, mentions two hardy members of t fc.e old staff. One is in his 80th year, with t!fl 'Wars of service, and the other also is in his SOitih year, with t>3 years on the paper. Both, like» a certain well-known character, are "still goin.g strong." An Enviable Post. Applications for a medical superintendent for Auckland ittospital to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Dr. Maguire were advertised for in New Zealand, Australia and England. The board was yesterday Informed by the High Commissioner t'.Vit the English applications had been posted on ZH'arch 15. The secretary (Mr. H. A. Sommervillci) reported that there were 21 applications from Loudon, 10 from New Zealand, four from Australia, and one from India. The Loudon applications included one from the Barbadoes. The board dlecided to hold a special meeting to consider the applications. The salary is £1200 a year and iU'ee residence. End of the i Steamer Putiki. After ha ving t>ecn laid up in the stream at Wellington s.iticc early in 19:30, the Richardson Company's coastal steamer Putiki was moved into the Glasgow -wharf on Monday, to be dismantled and offered to the Xavy as a target. The Putiki's gear will probably be transferred to the same company's steamer Parcra, which is to be laid up indefinitely at Wellington. Built at Auckland by Seagar Bros, in 1904 for the WcllingtonWanganui Stoami Packet Company, the Putiki traded in coal from Westport to Wanganui and in general from Wellington to Wanganui. In 1019 she was bought by Putiki, Ltd., for the Wellington-Dun odin coastal cargo trade, and in 1921 was bought by Richardson and Company, of Napier. Modern Adventurers. Two young jnen of Los Angeles, California, who are through passengers by the Monowai for San Francisco, \rtiich arrived in Wellington from Sydney on Monday, are described officially as deportees from Arastralia, although they left their home town with perfectly honest intentions. Delbert Harter and Robert Gardiner are their names. Having completed 1 , their high school education last year, they decided', that they would do a little world travel before proceeding to college. So on February 6 th«y signed on as galley and mess boys on the Nor\tnjgian motor tanker Orkanger, bound for Melbourne. They missed the vessel, however, when SW sailed from Sydney for San Pedro, and were left stranded, with even their personal belongings; left on the tanker. They did not appear to be iii all perturbed, regarding the experience, apparently, as an episode of high adventure. Mr. JUarter will study for the ministry and Mr. (liardhicr for engineering. Cricket Jubilee.

On Friday the IBawke's Bay Cricket Association will celebrate its jubilee. Cricket in that province originated in the country districts of Wairoa and Taupo, 'fond the latter district made an organised tour of -the province, in which they played three matches .at Napier in IS7I. Clarendon was the pioneer club of Napier, but was later merged in the. Napier Club. Cricket in Hawke's Bay in the Sixties and 'seventies owed a lot to F. Fulton, am old Otago captain, J. Cotteri'll, of Canterbury, ;and W. L. Reee, of Auckland. The province .'tent a. team to Wellington in 1874, and ten yeats later one of the game's greatest advocates, 11. IT. Williams, started a long connection with Hawke's Bay cricket. At the jubilee on Friday, the Auckland Association will be represented by ]Mr. E. C. Beale, who has done a deal for the snlvancemcnt of cricket in Hawke's Bay, as well .as in other parts of the Dominion.

Work For Builders. The difference of ojjTnion between the Auckland Hospital Board ami the Health Department over the new kitchen ait; the hospital has been settled, and the board ivas informed yesterday that the Minister of Hfealth consented to the expenditure of £3500. 'The board had wanted to spend more, in order' to get the very best kitchen possible, but the Department demurred in view of the present Bnancial position. The chairman (Mr. William "Wallace) said the board's architect had the matter' well in hand, and it was hoped to go on with the work at an early date. It will be rememliered that the present kitchen was some time a;so condemned as being quite,out of. date, and in. some respects _ not hygienic. The news that the new kitchen is to be gone on with will be inrelcome news, as it is the first building job of arty size that has been announced for a long while» in Auckland. Horses' Birthdays. What was described by counsel as a curious anomaly in the Rules of Rawing was referred to in the course of the Croupier* case at the Supreme Court yesterday. It is that* a racehorse which is born before the first of August of any year is on that date automatically a yearling. This is due to the fact that the racing year begins on August 1. Its effect can be that a horse which is really a year old ntnks as a two-year-old. Take, for instance, a <»lt or filly born in July. It enters its first year in August, and is officially a two-year-old aftcsr August 1 of the following year, though, of course, it could not be raced in the two-year-old', events, as it has actually lived" only just over a year. A season or two ago Mr. G. M. Currie's mare, Pennon, foaled a filly to Limond on July 29. Three days later it had to be classed asf a yearling. The filly, which raced as Impetuocis, was therefore unable to compete in two-year.-old races, as she was only a yearling in fact. When she raced, she was classed as a three-; frtear-old, although she was only two years and a Sew days old. Mystery of the Black Dot. It is strange how contrast attracts. The recent fog viewed from the Wstitakeres gave to those few who witnessed it from there an example of how one little black dot in a sea of white will attract one's attention. In one long billowy mass the fog was seen to extend north and south as far as the eye cov.«2d see. It hung over the city like a blanket, following the contours of the higher hills with faithful reproduction. East and west of Auckland it was more or less patchy. Above the sea of mist there showed one little black dot. Always the eye would wander to it. No tell-tale contour was there to give an indication of what might be under it. From a distance it looked like an observation balloon. As time went on, Rangitoto, Mount Eden and Mount Albert poised up through the mist, but it was not until t:&« higher portions of the city cleared that suspicions were aroused that something was missing. Just then the fog played a trick. The city cleared, and the clouds were seen to roll away'. Low-lying mists rolled from the Manukau to disappear against Mount Eden, but still the black dot remained to attract. Later the missing object was discovered to be One Tree Hill, and with that discovery the mystery of the blac] C dot disappeared. The dot mingled with a ba ickgrouud of other dark objects, and proved to Ike the trees on the summit. J