NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 204, 30 August 1933, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

"Stray Eggs." The subject of* a meeting to explain to dissatisfied ratepayers the reason for the increase in rates was under discussion at the Xorthcote Borough Council last evening. The decision to hold it line already been made, and it was now a question of when and where. Various times and places were suggested, public halls in the borough, the picture theatre, and eventually Mr., E. C. Fowler hazarded the suggestion of an openair meeting. The proposal met with singularly little support. As Mr. W. C. Bilk put it, "I am f not looking for any stray eggs." School Children and Tennis. Criticism of the practice of primary school children taking part in lawn tennis tournaments wiw expressed at a meeting of the council of the New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association at Wellington last night, according to a Press Association message. '.Mr. If. X. Watson said there were fill , too many tournaments, and children were I compelled to play with racquet and balls much ■ ton heavy, and were consequently unable to make their strokes correctly. Children were spoilt as players by being brought into the game too soon. Making Certain. A great deal ha,s appeared in iha newspapers about ragwort, but to city dwellers, and even to a great many country folk, the weed is unknown. Recently a party of relief workers was sent to Riingito'to Island to clear away the ragwort and other weeds from this sanctuary of Xew Zealand plant life. A visiting botanist found that the workers were unacquainted with the appearance of ragwort and were making -sure of getting :t bv chipping away all the small plant growth near the tracks, which meant that many of the native herbs, including the much-prized koromiko, came under the hoe and slasher. Uncommon Incident. "Starving in the midst of plenty" was exemplified in Palmerston North in a new form one day recently, under circumstances quite diverting to the few who witnessed the incident. A benzine tanker, a lorry of the type used by the petrol companies for replenishing the bowsers, found itself in the anoinaous predicament of being stranded ,«, the street because It had run out of benzine. Finally a fellow-tank happened along, and- was able to supply the deficiency, and the purveyor of the mighty atom was able to move on Uβ way once more. Twelve Hundred Excursionists. Twelve hundred West Coast Rugby enthusiasts will travel to Chrtatchurch by two special Sins to witness the Eanfurly Shield match between West Coast and Canterbury at Chitotchurch on Saturday. One train will leave Bo** at 11 p.m. on Friday, and the other will leave (Irevmouth on Saturday morning. One West Coaster stated that the excursionists would not mind where their train pulled up when it reached Christchurch. They were going over to see tootball, and all they hoped was that the game would go the full distance. Push or Pull? A complaint was received from a resident last evening by the Mount Albert Borough Council regarding children ueing noisy trolleys. Considerable discussion followed, in the course of which the town clerk was asked if trolleys were illegal. He said that children were- allowed to own and use trolleys in the borough, provided they pulled them and did not push them. As the usual and accepted method of propelling trolleys is to push them, this by-law is not a popular one with the youth of Mount Albert. In i fact, some adult ratepayers arc in sympathy with the children, for it was stated that the borough traffic inspector had considerable difficulty in catching offenders, residents refusing to give information that would "lead to the capture of tlic offenders. , Social Service At Waiheke. A party of King's College Old Boys and a few friends of the City Miesioner visited Sister Pat's camp at Oncroa, Waiheke Island, hist weekend, and completed the fencing of the camp property. Although the number who made the trip was not as large as expected, thoSvj who went down worked with a will, and all the work remaining to be done was finished, so that a second trip to the island will not be ncceeeary. The volunteer workers, who bivouacked at the camp on Saturday night, were not hindered in their work by the violent rain and hailstorm .. which passed over the city on Sunday afternoon, no rain being experienced until the steamer in which they returned from the island reached the city wharves. Race Causes Interest. The New Zealand cross-country championship, which took place at Wanganui on Saturday, was followed by the largest crowd Wanganui has ever known to keep up with harriers. Easily 100 cars followed the runners by road and watched them from various points. Fortunately recent rain had laid the dust, otherwise the competitors would not have appreciated the spectators. There were also many bicycles and pedestrians, and clusters of people waited at various points to see the runners go by. Despite the large amount of traffic, there were no mishaps, although on one occasion, when a car moved off near a fence while a passenger was taking hie scat the sudden movement threw him on the fence. No serious injury, however, resulted. —"Not a Drop to Drink." A literal "drop in brandy" outside a Duncdin hotel last Wednesday speedily brought together a crowd, attracted by the unusual spectacle. _ It appears that a quantity of this spirit wae being transferred from bond to the hotel cellars, and that by some accident one of the hogsheads fell from the lorry on to the street, the impact knocking the head out of the cask. As a result the street was soon flowing with, brandy, some of which actually found its way into the gutter on the opposite side of the roadway. In all, 25 gallons of brandy, worth about £3 a gallon, went to waste, while sundry thirsty souls in the crowd looked on sorrowfully and deplored theninability to benefit by the occurrence. Many Ports of Call. An unusually large number of ports for a single round voyage will have been visited by the Commonwealth and Dominion Line motor ship Port Fremantle by the time she returns to England at the end of the year. The vessel, which discharged at Auckland in the first half of last week, started her voyage from London and loaded at New York, Philadelphia, New York again and Savannah, before coming through the -Panama Canal to Auckland. From here she went to Wellington, and from the capital port will go to Australia to complete discharge and to load for Europe. Her Australian ports of call will be Sydney, where she will undergo engine repairs, Brisbane, Port Alma, ' Melbourne, * Adelaide and Fremantle. On her way to Europe she will call at Port Said. Her ports of discharge will be Dunkirk, Hamburg, Hull, Newcastle, Liverpool and London. Migrating Eels. Before the Stanley Bay. Park was reclaimed it was noted during spring tides for the number of large eels, or tunas, which used to,feed there, especially in a creek which used to flow down from a marshy place below Glen Eoad. How far eels can remember their old feeding grounds it would be hard to say, but the morning after the heavy hailstorm which battered the waters of the harbour on Sunday several large eels were seen in the drain which the council has dug at the eastern side of the park to carry the water from the marshy place, which was formerly quite open, to the tide. The eels had clearly, unless they had been in the marshy place after the park had been reclaimed 14 years ago, wriggled over the park wall to get to their old feeding grounds. Instances can be-cited where eels have gone across country for long distances from lake to lake, and in one ease many years ago hundreds of eels in a Taranaki area travelled from the Kaihihi River at Okato to the Stoney River, a distance of about a mile or so, with no other object, it was thought, than to reach a place. where they could get a bettej: and _lees disturbed food supply. 'W , '" (