NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 264, 7 November 1932, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

A Quiet "Fifth." It is generally agreed that Saturday's celebration of the "Glorious Fifth," otherwise Guy Fawkes- Night, was the quietest for many years. Possibly the youngsters were not so well supplied, with cash, owing to hard -timee; possibly also the fact that authority has placed restrictions on dangerous fireworks during the past two years had something to do with it, but, whatever the cause, the display of pyrotechnics was less spectacular (and lees noisy") than usual. No serious accidents were reported..

Next Mail For "Brett's." A handy mail by which "Brett's Christmas Annual" can be conveniently sent to friends in the Old Country will close at Auckland on Wednesday evening at seven o'clock, and will be eent next morning by the Kew Zealand Shipping Company's Opawa direct to London, where it will be due on December 15. The postage by this route is only one penny. By the Vancouver route the ' postage is fourpence. A Long, Long Pull. A local resident Csays the Cambridge "Independent") and his two friends had a long, trying pull on Sunday last week, when an accident occurred to their. outboard motor at the top of Arapuni Lake. All went well on the outward journey, but just at the end of the 25-mile trip the propeller struck a rock near the edge of the lake and broke into several pieces. Realising the fact that they were far from home, the party set out on the heartbreaking return trip, and it can be appreciated that it was a very tired crew that rowed the small boat back to the landing. Bunny Goes Over the Top! How high can a rabbit jump? One Kiwitahi farmer settled this question to his own satisfaction recently when he gave chase to a rabbit which headed for a "rabit-proof" netting fence along his boundary. Nearing the fence the rabbit "took off" like the champion hunter at an A. and P. show and cleared 3ft of netting without touching the top. According to this settler, hie netting fence has not been a success. It puzzled the rabbits for the first few weeks, but now they regard it with contempt. Valnable Thrash Stolen. One frequently hears canaries sing sweetly from the ehade of some verandah, but it is seldom that a thrush is heard singing from blissful captivity on the verandah in the heart of a city. A bird fancier, Mr. H. L. Howard, of Vincent Street, City, has always kept canaries and thrushes as" pets, but on Saturday night a thrush that he valued at more than £20 was stolen from the cage on the verandah. He missed ite usual melodious song in the morning, and, going outside, found that the cage had been broken open. The thrush was the delight of passers-by in the street, particularly in the later afternoon or early evening, when it sang best. Mr. Howard said that it was not usual to cage thrushes, but that when domesticated at an early age, they made excellent pets, thrived in congenial captivity, and sang lustily. Mr. Howard mourns the loss of his pet, which was eight years of age, and stolen on the eve of its birthday. Trade and Barter. According to recent advices from England, the difficulty of arranging exchange with European countries is limiting trade seriously in Great Britain, and a system of barter is in vogue. A member of a well-established motor cycle manufacturing firm in Birmingham states in the course of a note to an Auckland friend that his firm had to accept Greek tobacco in Athens in .payment of motor cycles supplied to the Athene police force, and had to take plums in Czecho-Slovakia in the same way. Both these commodities had to be shipped away and sold by the motor cycle firm. Fifteen European countries, he added, are carrying on this system of barter. "We are indeed fortunate trading with overseas Dominions," he adds. "Although we expect you are etill feeling the depression acutely in New Zealand, our Australian business is looking up fast. We think New Zealand will be through the worst in a few months' time." Thief in Churches. Notices warning members of the congregations against thieves have been posted in several Christchurch churches, as a result of thefts that have occurred while worshippers have actually been at the altar rail receiving Communion. All the evidence points to the thief being a woman. On three occasions during the past two years large sums of money have been stolen from members of the congregations of various churches, with whom this woman pretends to be a fellowworshipper. The latest theft occurred on Sunday week at St. Luke's Church. A parishioner arrived at the church for the 8 a.m. Communion ser.vice, and was joined by another woman, who had just ridden up on a bicycle. Both sat down in the same pew. The first woman went to the altar rail, naturally leaving her purse behind on the seat. The other woman remained behind kneeling, but when the communicant returned, her companion and the purse containing £13 were both missing.

Whitebait is Worth While.

The total amount of whitebait caught last year (states the annual report of the Fisheries Department) ' was, according to returns submitted by local inspectors of fisheries, 2941cwt (approximately), of an average wholesale value of 2/ per lb, or about £11 per cwt, so that the total value could not be less than £32,000. During the year 66,3561b of canned whitebait was» exported, valued for Customs purposes at £7459. "The whitebait fisheries as a whole, though varying considerably from year to year owing to natural causes, have undoubtedly shown a general decline in every succeeding decade since the earlier years of settlement," states the Chief Inspector of Fisheries (Mr. G. A. Hefford). "Overfishing, drainage, cultivation and stocking of lands and the depredations of such introduced fish as trout have each, in some degree contributed to this reduction, and tliero is urgent need, before it is too late, to throw light on the extent and significance of each of these factore. The discovery of the' peculiar circumstances connected with spawning of the epecies has already provided a solution to one problem of first importance. This knowledge should be acted upon and measures taken not only for the protection, of known spawning grounds, but aleo for the restoration or creation of other grounds where conditions are naturally suitable."

Hospital Board Belief. "The Hospital Board is getting- into disfavour with, many landlords because it refuses to pay full rents to those who, through lack of means, are not able to pay rent. Our rent bill is much larger than we would like it to be, because we 4 are already heavily overdrawn iu that direction, and landlords, on account of the nature of their investments, have to bear a heavy burden. We don't profess to pay rents; all we do is to pay part rents to assist at a time like this to-try and keep a roof over people's heads. If we paid full rente, it would be a fair estimate to say ■that it would run into ' well over £2000 per month, or £25,000 per year. No provision is made to meet an abnormal demand like that." The above statement was made by Mr. W. K. Howitt, chairman of. the relief committee of the board, when aeked by some of the landlords why the board did not do more in the way of paying rente for people in distress. The relief committee had discussed the question at many meetings, and had even held special meetings for the. purpose, and had a good grip of the subject from every angle. It is admitted that property-owners. are hard hit, but the Hospital Board was not a pensions board; it purely gave relief, and that relief sometimes wae hardly enough to keep soul and body together. The best was being done with charitable relief to a very deserving class of the cumin unity, with the limited amount-the Hospi[tal .\mX p.% itff AiapinaaT }ff