NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 304, 26 December 1933, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Admiral Byrd's Launclu Admiral '.Byrd'e private 13-ton launch Edeel Ford, which was left at Wellington when the expedition ehip Jacob Ruppert departed for the south, has been towed across to the boat harbour. The Edse] Ford will be at Wellington for a considerable time, probably until the Byrd Expedition calls there on its' homeward journey to the United States in 1035. A Christmas Snowfall. Typical English Christmas conditions prevailed at the Chateau on Christmas morning, when visitors awoke to find snow falling. The fall commenced about 4 o'clock, and continued until 7.30. The enow remained on the ground round the Chateau until about 8.30, but continued falling on the mountain all day. The weather was flue at the Chateau during the afternoon, and the evening was very cold. Fellow Romans. When Biehop West-.Wateon entered the gymnasium of the Cathedral Grammar School, Christchurch, to take part in the annual prizegiving ceremony, and hand the awards to the successful boys, he was accorded a welcome in ,Latin by the captain of the school. The biehop, not to be outdone, replied wifcli eaee in the same language, and both speakers were heartily applauded. Later in the evening the chairman, Dean Julius, remarked that there was one prize missing from' the list. It should be, he said, for. the parent who could translate the bishop's remark on the spot. The Bear of Oakland. Admiral E. E. Byrd'e ice-breaker and auxiliary supply ship Bear of Oakland, which is now on her way from America to join the Antarctic expedition, is expected to arrive at Wellington this week. She will make only a, short stay, during which 200 tons of coal, left here by the steamer Jacob Ruppert, will be loaded. She will probably leave Wellington towards the end of next week, and is expected to join the flagship in January, both ships then proceeding to the ice barrier to land the expedition and its supplies. Name For New Ship. The Union Company has decided to name the new steamer which is at present being built by Alexander Stephen and Son, Ltd., Linthouse, the Waitaki. The new ship has •been designed for the service from Melbourne to Bluff, Dunedin, Lyttelton and Wellington, and will replace the company's Wainui, now running in the trade. The Waitaki will be of 2200 gross tonnage, and will be similar in design to the Wainui, but faster. The Waitaki will be registered at Dunedin, and ie expected to arrive in Xew Zealand about next June. No Discrimination. "It cannot be too widely known," eaid the chairman, Colonel A. Cowlea, at the laist meeting of the Wellington branch of the R.S.A., "that there is no discrimination whatever by the R.S.A. in its treatment of 2sew Zealand men and Canadian, Australian, Imperial, or any other returned soldiers who have served under the Union Jack. They are entitled to participate in all the benefits of the association. There is, of course, only a certain amount of money to go round. The South Africans can go to the South African War Veterans' Association, to whom we pay money." Yacht Eace Incidents. The ocean yachting race from Auckland to Tauranga at the week-end, which had a most spectacular finish in that at the end of 121 miles the yacht Waione beat the Nga Toa by one second, was not without its incidents. A high wind veering from nor'-west to'west gave some of the boats a dusting, and in a squall the—Queenie's mainsail was carried away. " The same gust also broke the spinnaker boom of the Mahaki, the broken end striking one of the crew, H. Wilson, who was for'ard taking it in. He got a cut on the neck and a hard crack on the jaw, and the neck' wound required medical attention when the boat arrived at Tauranga. He is reported as having quite recovered. The yacht Celox left Auckland at 10.30 a.m. on Saturday and arrived at. Tauranga at 10.;>0 a.m. on Sunday. A.A. to the Rescue. A small parry of women were preparing to camp at a bay near Waiwera la.st Saturday, and the youngest member of the party, a girl of about 12, took charge of the tentpitching operations. The large and voluminous folds of the tent became tangled, but she finally managed to get inside the tent and hold the polp up while two women tried to'peg out the guy lines. One pulled a rope too strongly and the tent sagged drunkenly and collapsed, with the girl inside. She tried to get up, but only succeeded in getting the canvas more firmly wrapped around her. Everybody pulled and struggled, but the mass of white canvas etill retained its prisoner. Then a passing A.A. man saw their plight and hurried down to the beach. In a few moments the unhapy girl was released, and the tent was pitched in army style. Those three women are very keen advocates of the Automobile Association's patrol service. The Latest Fishing Story. With tlie coming of the holiday season, fishing yarns are in fashion. All the way from Birmingham, to an Aucklander who once lived in the Midland city, ' comes the latest story, and it is one that New Zealand anglers will find it hard to beat. A disciple of Isaak Walton was eating his lunch by the riverside, while keeping a wary eye on his float. His repast consisted of cold steak and fried onions, and, ae he ate, a few bite of onion dropped into the stream, and a good-sized fish came up and devoured the morsels, evidently scorning the more orthodox lure on the hook. Two days later the fisherman was trying his luck at the sair; spot. Imagine his astonishment when he saw the same fish, or one remarkably like it, swimming towards him with something in its mouth. The fish came right up to the edge of the stream, and, having released the object in its mouth upon the bank, retreated, stopped and waited, apparently for expected developments. Reaching down, the angler examined the object. It proved to be a small raw onion, which the fish had evidently captured as it floated down the stream, and had brought to the angler to b.e fried for lunch! "Ye Banks and Braes." A touching little incident took place at the infirmary when Mr. W. Wallace, chairman of the Hospital Board, Mesdames Kidcl and Dreaver, and Mr. W. K. Howitt were going through the men's wards in the Costley Block to wish the inmates there the compliments of the season. A fine old colonist, over 90 years of age, with long, flowing white beard and classical face, who was lying in bed, was delighted to see the members of the board, whom he said he had welcomed the previous year. He felt that hie time at the infirmary would- not be long now, but he still had a good voice, and r as he knew that his visitors were mostly of Scots origin, he would like to sing them -a<s a Christinas greeting one of the fine old songs of Scotia. Dr. C. E. Maguire, ,th.e medical superintendent, suggested that he should sing "Ye Banks and Braes," and Miss Rudd, the lady superintendent, agreed that this was one of his best songs. He began to sing in clear tones the words of the beautifirl song, while the other patients In the ward and those standing around his bed listened with intent stilljiese. Hβ sang in a way seldom now heard. Away back in memory to the daye ; of hie youth, he continued to the end, and. then; with a firm grip of the hand, wished hie visitors the compliments of the eeaaon, saying that he wae glad that his singing had '■ appealed to them, for he could eee the pleasure i in. their faces.

Auriferous Country. . . . "I'm quite satisfied that if any young men were to go on to these goldfields and exploit the possibilities offering, they would do quite well —better, anyway, than they can on relief," said Mr. C. B. Pfeifer during an address to the Napier Rotary Club when referring to goldmining activities in the country at the back of the Kawarau area, between Arrowtown and the West Coast. Australian Tariffs. "Australia has. often been criticise.! over the harshness of her tariffs," eaid Mr. D. Reese, of Chriatcliurch, speaking on returning t from a business trip. "While it may be proved in individual cases that some of their Customs charges are excessive, it ha* to be; conceded that the Australian schedule is built I entirely on an Imperial basis and gives defi-j nite and important preferences to other parts of the Empire. New Zealand participates in these advantages to an extent which must prove very beneficial to the timber and other industries able to export." Strawberries Cheap. Strawberries touched their lowest price this season at the auction market this morning, when best quality fruit sold at from (id to 7id a chip. This is attributed to the fact that"there had been no sales since Saturday and growers had two days' product to dispose of. The auctions were held at 7 o'clock, and many people, in addition to the regular fruiterers and hawkers, who are familiar with the conditions at this time of the year, attended the market and took advantage of the opportunity to obtain cheap fruit. Birth of Wool Industry. On July 2(3. 1801}, the Secretary for th-e. Colonies, Lord Hobart, received from Captain Macarthur, of New South Wales, the forecast| of the birth of Australia's wool industry. The; document refers to the success of imported Spanish sheep, and Captain Macarthur offers to take up the production in Australia of fine wool for Britain's supply. He says he is willing to take the financial risk if the Government will give him land and allow him to select shepherds from among the convicts. This old document ie now likely to find a place in Brisbane Museum. - Haymaking At Christmas. The showery weather of the week had an interesting effect on the shopping activities of country people of the Morrinsville district. Most of them had hay to harvest, but on the days when light rain fell.it was impossible to get the hay in, so a great many country ' residents took "the day off to come to Morrins- ' ville and visit the shops. On Saturday the weather was fine, and as a consequence very ■ few country people were in town during the day, all hands being wanted in the harvest fields. However, -on Saturday evening the country people rolled up in full force for the late shopping night, and the crowd in the streets exceeded expectations. •Phenomenal Growth of Maize. The rapid growth of a crop of maize sown by Mr. It. Perkins at has caused universal comment (writes the "Star" corres- , pondent). The maize was sown on November j 29, four inches deep, on new ground. In seven, days it appeared, and when measured on J December 23, 17 days afterwards, the stalke measured from 19 to 38 inches, the general length being about 27 inches. Some of the crop had grown at a rate of two and a quarter inches a day. No rain had fallen during that period, but probably the ground was hot and moist the whole time, and the maize was thus forced forward. It was sown unsoaked, and only 2cwt of manure was used to the acre. Mr. Perkins is- city-bred, and makes no claim to being an expert farmer, and it was thought by eome that the crop would be aj failure, owing to t'.ie droughty conditions at the time of sowing. Unemployment In Shanghai. The Auckland Chamber of Commerce has received a communication from the British Chamber of Commerce at Shanghai pointing, out that there is much unemployment and distress in Shanghai and warning people not to go there in search of work. During the past few years relief hae been afforded to . indigent Britons through the British national j societies, but *o great has the problem become that theee societies are no longer able wholly to meet the demands made upon them. A joint committee has now undertaken the collection of funds, from which those societies I will receive assistance commensurate, with their needs. In the course of its inventigutions the committee ascertained that many British subjects arrive from different parts of "the Empire under the impression that €in /j ployment is easily obtainable in Shanghai. Such is not the case. In fact, so acute ie the j depression-that many firms have been reluct-., antly compelled to reduce staffs and i : ulunus, thus swelling the numbers of unemployed. Many Holiday Motorists. Thousands of motorists took to the roads . during the holidays. The Automobile Asso-I, ciation report that the volume of motor traffic was very heavy, particularly on the North Auckland highway, and every bay between Auckland and Waiwera was crowded with motorists and their tents. On Saturday thu north traffic was referred to by a patrol as phenomenal. The seasonal influx of cars from | the South was also very heavy. The many vehicles caused several parts of the south highway to. become rough. Complaints have ( been received by the A.A. of the patch near Ramarama which is particularly bad with pot holes, and the road between Ngaruitwahia and Hamilton. Although graders have been at work on this stretch, the grading does not last, and bad corrugations have resulted. A large number of telephone calls was received by the touring department of the A.A. on Christmas Bay. Most of the people* were inquiring if the boisterous weather had affected the various roads and camping grounds. Christmas in the Hospital, ' The wards of the hospital wore gaily decorated when Mr. W. Wallace, Mr. M. J. Sitvage (Leader of the Opposition), Mr. W. K. Howitt, and Mesdames Kidd and Dreaver, ; with Dr. W. Gillice Borrie (chairman of the), medical staff), Dr. W. J. Craven (medical' euperinendent), Miss Nuteey (lady superintendent), and Mr. E. J. Lyell (house manager) visited them on Christmas morning. : Hardly two wards' were alike, and No. 22 perliaps was the most distinctive. Never before did the patients jseem so imbued with the j Christinas spirit, and many had helped to gaily decorate their wards. Tlje children had i a great time with an exhibition of miniature aeroplane flying, given in their honour, when ; airships flew all over the. wards, greatly to , their amusement and astonishment. Most orj : the little patients wore- aeroplane caps, and' nothing better could have been provided forr them. The preparation and delivery of tho ( ; Christmas dinner to the wards was' a triumph of organisation for the kitchen staff, which ; worked under the direction of Miss Roks, the diet supervisor. The dainties this year seemed more prolific than last year, and no less than ', 300 chickens were* cooked, to provide with all the other things for the thousand persons comprising patiente and staff who had to.be ; catered for. By noon the whole of the food from' the kitchen had been sent to the wards, :' and the "all clear" order was given. The ! staff were congratulated on their very line ' achievement. In many of ihe wards the ; patients give three-cheers for their .visitors and : at the Nurees , Home the nurses, in high gleei,• at the high: prajse thqy 'gojk for their- efforts onV behalf of the patiente gave three, hearty cheere ! for the Hospital Board. Archbiehop Averill ) held his' customary Christmae'service in Ward ) 17, the patients heartily joining in the service i , and singing. v • i'