NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 117, 20 May 1933, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Many Dogs Poisoned. Upwards of a dozen dogs have been poisoned in the Te Papapa district during the past fortnight. Several complaints have been received by the Onehunga police that valuable sheep dogs and pedigree animals have been found dead, apparently having eaten poisoned meat. A Brave Bride. A Westport bride defied superstition at her marriage recently. The interior of the . church was being renovated, and a ladder used by painters was left in such a position that the bride was obliged to walk under it to reach the altar. She did so, evidently caring little for the superstition which is usually associated with such action. Long Walk to Auckland. In search of work, two young women left Wellington a week ago to tramp to Auckland. Their decision to undertake the long journey came as a result of several months of unemployment. They anticipate reaching Auckland in about three weeks, and said they hoped to obtain positions. However, if they should get permanent ] work on the way, the walk would be discontinued. Empire Day Celebration. A joint committee of the Victoria League, Royal Empire Society and Overseas League has arranged for 50 speakers to give addresses at the Auckland schools 011 Empire Day, next Wednesday. All the addresses will be 011 Empire Day and what it means. Wreaths will be laid on Queen Victoria's, statue, and there will be an informal conversazione in the evening at the rooms of the Overseas League, prior to the "Southern Seas broadcast." Fleet of Grey Duck. Since the shooting season commenced the grey duck from the swamps and lagoons of the Hauraki Plains have been scattered afar, and many of the birds have "gone to sea." It was stated at a meeting of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society at Thames last evening that about a thousand grey duck had been seen well out at sea. It was stated that the grey duck were decreasing in number, and that some shooters made a practice of feeding them 011 barley for a month before the season opened in order that the birds might be tamed. Work For Week-end. Residents who have oak or other deciduous trees 011 their properties are assured of a busy week-end. The cold snap this week, which was accompanied by frosts inland, has taken its toll of the foliage, and last night many leaves were shed. Two or three such falls and the trees will bo left bare. Though the cleaning up of the leaves occasions much tedious work, the beauty of the trees during the rpring and summer is full of compensation, while the leaves, if heaped and allowed to rot during the winter, make excellent manure for the garden. Bearing of Chukhor. Although the rearing of imported chukhor ha< not been a success in Auckland, the president of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society, Mr. F. E. McKenzie, speaking at a meeting of the council • of the society at Thames last 'evening, said that the society was not going to relinquish the enterprise. In the South success had been achieved, and it wrs considered that in spite of the warm climate the birds could be raised in Auckland. Tlio chukhor was a better game bird than the : pheasant, and it was proposed to obtain New < Zealand-bred stock and breed from them. <

5 Maori Hockey Carnival. Preparations aro in hand on a large scale for the Tairawbiti Maori Hockey Federation's annual hockey tournament, to be held at Gisborne 1 on June 20 to 23. It is anticipated that several t hundred players from Hawke's Bay, the Bay of Plenty and Gisborne will take part, and eating and sleeping arrangements for the visitors are 1 being made at Pohoorawiri with customary en--1 thusiasm. .The fixture will rival anything of the i ( kind yet held in the district. The principal ■ trophies arc tho Lady Ngata Memorial Gold Cup for the women's division and the Taranakc Te 1 Ua Memorial Shield for men's competition. Four ' grounds will be in use. As one match is com- ! pleted another will commence, a horn blowing at 20-minuto intervals for new games to be started. Stranded Octopuses. Hundreds of octopuses were to bo seen stranded among the rocks left baro» by the low tide along the shore between Anderson's Bay and Portobello, Dunedin, on Sunday. They varied in size, though the average measured about Oft from tip to tip of tho tentacles. Naturalists do not understand the mysterious urge of certain fish to breed, and then seek shallow waters in which to die. The octopuses at certain seasons are moved in this way, and so they aro left high and dry, not because of heavy storms and buffeting, as most people believe. Schools of whales — as many as a hundred at a time—have been found" driven on shore, rnd the occurrence has been attributed to the same unfathomable phenomenon of Nature. Back To School. The primary schools in the Auckland Education Board's district reopen on Monday for the second term of the year. The Parnell School will move into its new building in St. Stephen s Avenue, but the official opening will not take place until later in the yeai\ when thero will be a ceremony, to which the Minister of Education has been invited. The Seddon Memorial Technical College also opens on Monday, and the ( Auckland Grammar Schools and other secondary colleges the next day. Owing to a number ot pupils returning to school outside the province, additional train accommodation has been vided. There was an extra carriage on the Wellington express yesterday afternoon, and this afternoon there was also one more carriage than usual. Accommodation is fully booked on the Limited to-morrow evening. Unusual Gratitude. "We are prone to look upon many swaggers ' who call at the office asking {or a few shillings ■ to help them along as being men of little account, men who aro no good," said Mr. W. G. Gallagher, chairman of the Ashburton Hospital Board. He said that in view of this it was gratifying to learn of the case of a man who since 1931 re- i ceived 5/4 and 3/ on different occasions, and who ; returned to tho office recently and refunded the full amount, though his funds were very small, s The board expressed its satisfaction at the ges- i turc. Another instance of gratitude is reported. < Some time ago a farmer who received assistance 1 in the way of relief labour from the North Tara- i naki Unemployment Committee expressed the i conviction that recipients of such help should r repay the value of the work done as they were s able. He said that ho would do this, ( and recently, without any reminder from the ( committee, he sent the first instalment of £1-3. r 1 Reckless Pedestrians. i "Motorist" writes: —"Pedestrian," who wrote 1 the paragraph about reckless motorists in last - night's "Star," like most of his kind, views mat- > ters from only one angle. It has been proved 1 time and again in motor accidents that the f pedestrian has been to blame. If pedestrians, c waiting to catch a tram, make a point of looking c for traffic before they stepped out on to the road- i way, there would be far fewer accidents. Fre- 1 'luently the motorist is blamed when a pedes- 1 trian is knocked down. Police officers always i make a full inquiry into the actions of the 1 motorist, but often they seem to. forget to inquire a just how negligent tlie pedestrian was. Some I pedestrians flirt with danger. They mpvc from a the footpath to catch a tram or cross the road < without looking to right or left, and if they C are knocked down the motorist is charged with j negligent driving. Is that f;:ir? j