NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 70, 24 March 1933, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Record Cricket Gate. i It is officially stated that the 'estimated, attendance of 20,000 pt the Basin Reserve, Wellington, on Thursday, to see the English cricketers in action, was well within the mark. Approximately £82."> wae taken at the gates, which is believed to be a New Zealand record for one day's takings at a cricket match. „ Help For Distressed Cricketers. It was stated at the welcome of the Yorkshire Society to the JM.C.C. cricketers at Wellington that when the Australian cricketers were 5 in Xew Zealand, Bradhian's favourite bat, autographed by members of the team, was given to: iieli> dietreased cricketers. Amid applause, if | was announced that Leyland's bat, autographed by members of the M.C.G. team, would be ruffled 1 , by t.he Smith Family cf X,cw Zealand, with the s ' consent of the Xew Zealand Cricket Council, and . the proceed* would go towards helping cricketers " in distress. The bats are to be raffled together.

J Contaminated Waters. ! In giving evidence in the Supreme Court l recently in an application for an injunction 3 against the Wellington City Council, a ranger of the Wellington Acclimatisation Society said that ' on one occasion he put a trout in a kerosene tin 1 in the Karori Stream just-below the effluent from i the septic tank. It was arranged so that the , water from the effluent flowed over the tin. When he went back in the evening the flsli was dead. 5 He had picked up as many as 38 dead fish in one I day below the effluent. 'Replying to the judge, : witness said there were no fish in this stream to [ attract anglers, but some years ago it was a beautiful stream. ' Maori and Dog License. Are Maoris obliged by law to pay dog: ' license fees, juet the twine as pakeha dog ownersT This question is likely to be settled by means of a test case in the Magistrate's Court, for it was stated at this week's meeting of the Piako County Council that one Maori landowner near: Waharoa had declined'to pay the dog tax, and expressed his willingness to be prosecuted by the County Council in order to test the matter. The clerk explained that the present law stated that anyone who is harbouring a dor or is in control of a dog line to pay the tax. The county solicitor had advised that under an old Act 'Miiomi did not have to pay dog tax, but that Act'was, repealed in 1010, so that now Maoris are liable for the tax. Auckland 'Plane For Wellington. Wellington's air fleet hae been augmented by the addition of. a Moth that has been bought by the Aero Club from Mr. R. G. Tappendeu, an Auckland private owner. The machine was flown from Auckland to Wellington by its owner-pilot on Friday afternoon, taking ' four hours live minutes for the journey, and at the display on Saturday afternoon was used by Wellington pilot.*. A new engine has recently been installed, and the Moth has beon thoroughly overhauled and painted. It is fitted with shoulder etrajw for acrobatics, and a compass as well as all thestandard fittings. The club now has a fleet of live machines (nays tl|e "Dominion"). i\nd the new Moth will prove'a valuable acquisition in many ways.

Got it the First Time. Constant reiteration of a oarticular statement by one of the counsel engaged In i> ea ■'*> heard in the Supreme Court in ChvUteuurnJi caused Mr. Justice Blair to sliow imliatience (says the "Christehiircli Times"). Ul>chiring that lie fully understood the statement when it wae flret made, and that there woe no necessity to labour it, his Honor remarked! "You'd be surprised how intelligent I am sometimes in understanding what is said." Later in the heariiigi when it was necessary to add eome figures quoted by a witness, liis Honor's addition was found to be correct and that of the crossexamining counsel was slightly in error. "I got it right Bret time,,and I'm rather proud of it," remarked his Honor jocularly.

Maori Boy's Adventure. Peter King, a Maori youth, was reported dead yesterday morning, but he is in the Whakatane Hospital, alive. King, who is employed on a farm at Rewarau, near Tannatua, was attempting to cross the flooded river with a horse and dray, when he wim swept ofl". The horae broke loose from it« harness, and when the dray wars found capsized in the river the reasonable conclusion was that the driver had been drowned. Later in the day it was reported, that he was beim; cared for by Maoris lower down the river. When the dray overturned he was "winded," but managed tn scramble on a log, on which he was swept a mi!p and a half down the river. Hu was bruised and exhausted when he wailed nehore, and a constable took him to hospital, where he is suffering from shock. • Horse Races At Sports Meeting. Horee races are to be held at the Kerepeehi Sporte Association's meeting on Easter Monday, with the full sanction of the Minister of Internal Affaire, the New Zealand Racing Conference and the New Zealand Trotting Conference. Horses, riderej owners, etc., and the association's officiate will not, therefore, be liable to disqualification, as they were last year, and as they would have been this year, had the decision to run straight-out' raoee been-'adhered to. When application was made last month to the Minister under the Race Meetings Act, 1909, he advised the association to obtain the permission of the Racing and Trotting Conferences. Realising that straight-out races would not be sanctioned by theee bodies, the sports committee added novelty conditions, and the programme wae then approved, on condition that the club was registered. These registrations have now been effected, and formal permission from the Minister is expected within a few days. Memory For Faces Needed. To be a successful beggar one must apparently develop a certain technique, to which a little histrionic talent is a useful aid. Observe the method of a Cliristchurch woman practitioner. She approaches her victim with the rather agitated query, "You are a Cliristchurch lady, aren't you? ,, and, curiously enough, she generally finds her assumption correct. Then, becoming tremblingly lachrymose, she unfolds a rather involved story about coming from Rangiora or some similarly remote spot, explains that her house ie locked up (an irrelevancy that does not dawn on the listener till afterwards), and that she is stranded in the city with threepence and nowhere to. go till she meets her family. Her final and tearful, "I don't know what I'll do, I'm sure," generally draws a generous florin. The lady made the fatal mistake recently of approaching the eame victim on. successive days. The second attempt was discouraging. Stung! How a email, innocent busy bee nearly caused a motorist to damage hie car or capsize it was related at Gore recently. The motorist was proceeding from Gore to Mataura when a little honey-hunter flew in at the side of the car and gently alighted on the neck of the driver. Apparently the resting-place was not favourable, and the insect showed its disapproval in a way I known to all the bee tribe. The driver gave' a startled jump and immediately endeavoured to "swipe" the disturber of the peace. In the excitement of the moment car and destination were forgotten, but the near of a fence | post directed the driver's attention to how much he would miss it by. The quick application of the brakes arrested the car to a certain extent, but a mudguard and head lamp tried hard to dislodge a heavy post before the eomewhat excited driver brought the car to a standstill. A inspection and a few hard knocks with a hammer straightened the mudguard enough to illow the car to proceed on its way, with a driver vowing vengeance on all bees.