NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 73, 28 March 1933, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

I Mako Shark's Savagery. J The ferocity of the mako shark is so well known ae to need little comment. This attribute was illustrated recently at Mercury Bay, when a ehark made an attack on the launch Dauntless. When the launch was beached for cleaning purposes, three mako shark's teeth, broken off, were found embedded in her timbers just the bilge outlet; Apparently the mako had bitten off more than he could chew. Daylight Meteorite. From two localities, fairly wide apart, come reports of a meteorite being seen in daylight on Sunday. A .man who wae hiking on the Waitakere Ranges stated that shortly after noon he eaw an exceptionally bright flash of light in the sky, and was under the impression that a meteorite had fallen quite close to him. He made a search in the surrounding bush, but found nothing. A resident of Ostend, Waiheke Island, stated that at 12.15 on Sunday he saw a meteorite, which appeared to be double the brightness of Jupiter. He said that it was very clear in the south-west sky, and was falling when he saw it. Fifty Years a Footballer. This year is the jubilee year of the Auckland Rugby Football Union, and laet night Mr. J. Arnell was re-elected to the position of president. Mr. Arneil played his first senior match in Auckland, and a year later he played his first interprovincial match for Auckland. Since then he has been continuously a resident of Auckland, and associated with the A.R.U. as player and official. That he should occupy the presidency during the jubilee year of the union, after 50 years' continuous association with it, is certainly an uncommon event, and probably without parallel in New Zealand sport. Mr. Arneil might be said to have been for 50 years an Auckland footballer. One of the Old School. Memories of Dr. Mac Lure, of lan MaeLaren fame, were brought to Auckland Rotariane yesterday when Dr. Kenneth Mackenzie, in the course of an address to fellow Rotariane, recalled the conditions under which the medical profession carried out their duties in the early days of Auckland settlement. "We pay a tribute of admiration," eaid the speaker, "to these men for the hard service which they gave, as in gig or on horseback they covered great areas of undeveloped country, often almost devoid of good roads and bridges. Stories of some of their long night rides make us feel indeed that we belong to a softer generation. Typical of these men was Dr. W. G. Scott, who'for fifty years practised in Onehunga, and whose practice in his earlier years lay in all the country from the Manukau to the Waikato and Mercer." When the Fog Came Down. On Sunday week, while cruising in the Hauraki Gulf, the Bayswater launch Lady Joan sighted the keeler Dorothy on a reef of a small island between Motuihi and Waiheke. She had run aground in the fog, but the crew reported, "All well." The fog came up thicker in the afternoon, and, after landing their families at

Bayswater, the owner and crew of the Lady Joan decided that, as the Dorothy might strike trouble attempting to get off at high tide, they would stand by. By this time it was nearly dusk, and the fog had blotted out every landmark. The Lady Joan could only be navigated by compass bearings, and after an anxious trip the steersman wae unable to pick up the island again. Another eerie trip back to the vanchorage followed, and ; although the search had proved fruitless,' the' attempt" to render aid was worthy of th* best marine, traditions. It transpired that the Dorothy remained on the reef overnight in a calm sea, was floated off undamaged, and got a tow home next >day. Auckland Trampers Benighted. Twenty-four hours behind schedule, a party of eeven trampers, including three women, returned to Auckland yeeterday afternoon after spending an uncomfortable night in the open in the high country near Clevedou. The party, which coneieted of Misses Z. Bishop, I. Farrelly and K. Wells, and Messrs. W. S. Home, A. Campbell, J. McComiah and J. Odlin, left Auckland by car at 8.30 a.m. on Sunday, and commenced their tramp from Clevedon along a ridge to the Tapapa Kanga Stream. On arrival at. the Orere Valley, it wae found that the trip had taken longer than anticipated, and when darkness came the party wae obliged to spend the night in the open. There was an ample 1 supply of food. When the return journey was commenced in the morning, the trampers learned that they were 17 milee from the point where the car Had been parked. A search party which had set out from Auckland met them as they were returning to the motor car. New Zealanders In Canada. "The seriousness of the unemployment position in Canada conclusively indicates that New Zealanders who may contemplate, visiting Canada to secure work should know the facts, and the futility of taking such a step," eays the New Zealand Trade Commissioner, Mr. J. W. Collins, in a letter to the Unemployment Board. "Many New Zealanders who came to Canada during the

last three years have not yet succeeded in obtaining employment, and at the present time several ' young men and women find it impossible even to maintain themselves. New Zealand school teachers, accountants, cabinetmakers, carpenters, electricians, musicians, shop assistants, nurses and others have tried in vain to secure steady employment, and are having a very difficult time. The New Zealand Government offices established here have proved a boon as a common meetingground, and, wherever possible, help has been afforded. The New Zealanders generally have been of a very independent, intelligent type, and have shown great courage and initiative in facing conditions as they exist." The Magic "Gate." A man naturally of few worde, Mr. J. Arneil, presiding over the annual meeting of the Auckland Rugby Union last night, gave an excellent tabloid history of Rugby in Auckland, when impressing on players the improvements in presentday conditions they had to be thankful for. When he started playing as a senior 54 years ago, he said, there were only two playgrounds in Auckland —the Metropolitan ground, next to Government House, in Princes Street, and the Outer Domain. The former was a cow paddock, which was rarely cleaned up for play, and had the further disability of a rail fence hard up against the touchline on one eide. He remembered, a player tackled on the sideline there who crashed hard into the fence, and his head and shoulders were wedged so tightly between the rails that other players had to wrench the rails apart before he could be released. The Outer Domain had a very rough surface, corrugated by watercourses. Graftcn Gully, with only a short footbridge far down ite depths, presented a considerable descent and climb on the way to the Domain, making the players appreciate the "house at the corner" when topping the track on the return journey. There' nvere no dressing sheds, players going to and from the games in their .toge. North Shore later got a ground, and the present Domain Cricket Ground, in its early stages, came into use. But none of these offered facilities for a "gate," and the union eventually leased a ground opposite the then Junction Hotel, at the corner of Manukau Road and Great South Road, where the first gate charges were made to pave the way for dreseing-rooni and other facilities. Matches against Australian'teams in 1884 and against Wellington in 18SU were played there. Then came Potter'e Paddock (now known as Alexandra Park), with a grandstand and dressing-rooms, which served from 1886 to 1913, when an arrangement was concluded with the Cricket Association which toqk Rugby out to Eden Park, with the present amenities and an assured income.