NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 11, 13 January 1934, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY.

"He Who Hesitates—" It is reported that about five weeks ago a school of blackfish drove ashore at Maori Beach, Stewart Island, and were stranded. The number was nearly 200, and some of the lish were 20ft in length. Some of the settlers visualised a good take of oil, but they did not commence operations quickly enough, and the monsters were swept out to sea by the next high tide. Cutting the Urewera Bush. The export of timber from the To Whaiti mills continues, and heavily-loaded lorries are arriving in Whakatane daily, eays the "Star" correspondent. Both sawn timber and heavy kahikatea logs are beinjr eent to Auckland to fulfil heavy orders. During recent weeks the Whakatane waterfront has presented an unusually busy scene, for three and four boats have been in port in the one week. Verandah Damaged. Fire which was believed to have started in a clump of bamboo alongside the front steps damaged the verandah of a large twostoreyed house in Fern Avenue, off Golf Road, yesterday afternoon. The wind blew the flames under the house, which is occupied by Mrs. T. S. Wallace, and some of the timbering under the verandah caught alight. The outbreak was extinguished by the Remuera and Parnell brigades without difficulty. Vicar Averts Panic. The presence of mind of a vicar prevented a panic when St. John's Church, Folkestone, England, was struck by lightning recently. What appeared to be a ball of blue, fire seemed to explode over the church. The church shook from end to end. Most of the electric lights went out, and the building was for a moment brilliantly illuminated by a blue light. Then the vicar, the Rev. T. S. Adams, who had not preached the sermon, ro*e from his scat, and in a few words allayed the feans of the congregation. Several had made for the doore, and a woman fainted. Air Mail Stamp. . A special stamp and a limited number of souvenir envelopes are to be issued for themail to be carried by Flight-Lieutenant C. T. P. Ulm in the monoplane Faith in Australia on liis homeward flight across the Tasnian early next month. The design of the stamp will be similar to that of the present air mail stamp, but it will be printed in a different colour, with a special overprint. The quantity of mail matter to be carried will bo limited to about oOOlb, and in addition to ordinary postage, an air mail fee of 6d for each half ounce will be levied. Cafe au Lait! "The time is coming when there will not be any more white faeee; we will all be cafe au lait," said the Rev. Clyde Carr, M.P., in an address at the Choral Hall,- Christchnrchj on Sunday evening. "It is coming inevitably, with the facilities for travel and the way the races mix together. -1 saw recently a picture of a Japanese girl enjoying the snows ot Switzerland. The nations cannot continue to shut up in watertight compartments. I await*with great interest and hope the reisult of the great experiment in that melting pot of nations, America. Cafe au lait!" " Too Cold to Dance." Sunny Xew South Wales has evidently not lived'up to its reputation for fine weather during the New Year holiday season. In a letter to a friend in Auckland, a lady who has been on holiday at Armidale, in the New England district, siiye: "It has rained nearly every day. On New Year's night we sat around a big fire, and it was even too cold to dance. We have even been going to bed with hot water bottles." The writer also mentions that the orchard where she is staying was established nearly a century ago, when the grandfather of the present owner planted a number of cherry stones in front of his house. They are still growing atnd bearing fruit. Popularity of Smoking. However Frenchmen may feel the pinch of hard times, there is one thing they are not disposed to give up, and that is tobacco. It appears from official figures that the output of the Government' factories in 1932 was only 1.6 per cent less than in 1931. Another feature of the accounts is the constantly increasing demand for cigarettes. The goods turned out by the factories are divided into six classes—smoking tobacco, chewing tobacco, snuff, cigars, cigarillos and cigarettes—and only the lastnamed showed ah increase. In weight they represent one-third of the total output; in quantity they reach the impressive total of 18,427,000,000, which ie nearly five times as great as the pre-war consumption.

Hare Breaks Car's Windscreen. An unusual motoring accident occurred on the Waimangu Road on Thureday afternoon. A visiting motorist, with a party of ladies, was returning from a trip to the big geyser, and when the car was between two high banks a hare sprang out of the scrub on the hillside and struck the windscreen with euch force that it was shattered. ; The driver and his wife had glass ecattered over them, but they escaped injury. The steering wheel and column bore evidence of the impact. The hare was found to have a broken hack, and Ut was destroyed. It is surmised that the? animal had been asleep beside the road, and, being startled, sprang out at the approach of the car.

Mrs. Malaprop Again. At a small meeting recently of men who are not ill the habit of attending public functions, much less speaking at them, the chairman tripped himself up with words he believed to. be in keeping with the solemnity of the occasion. "There are,' , he gravely announced, "many different 'fractions at work in Parliament." There was no laughter, and no doubt everybody present heartily agreed with him. Shortly afterwards somebody got up and started to talk about a subject that had no bearing on the business before the meeting. "I think," said the chairman, "that the matter is totally 'irreverent.' The third and best came at the end of the meeting, when he was summing up the poeition. A rise in the price of a commodity had been proposed, and it was the chairman's opinion that the new and higher price was not in the least 'absorbent.'

Northcote Water Supply. Since the rejection by Northcote electors at the poll of the proposal to enter .into a contract with the Auckland City Council for 21 years for a supply of water from the Waitakerc Eanges, the Borough Council has concentrated its attention on means for the purification of the water taken from the source at Lake Pupuke. A committee has investigated the offer of a company to install a filtration plant. It is now stated that it will not be practicable to finance this scheme without taking a poll, for authority to borrow the money. In view of the time that would be occupied by the poll, it is considered that a comprehensive loan scheme should be placed before ratepayers to deal with the position. This would embrace the cleaning out of the borough reticulation and the electrification of the pumping plant at Lake Pupuke, in addition to the installation of a. filter. _ A water diviner has also submitted a proposition respecting locating a sufficient supply by boring for water. These matters, Will be further gone into by the committee before it reports to the next meeting of the Borough. Council. j

Australian Mails. By the Monterey, which came in this morning, 257 bags of' Australian mail arrived, while . the Marama, due from Sydney on Monday morning, has 248 bags of Australian mail, of which 00 bags are for Auckland.

Growing Population. Xew Zealand's population continues to grow steadily, the latest statistics showing the total as 1,53(5,004, including Maoris to the number of 71,131. Auckland maintains its position as the largest city with 210,800 inhabitants, exceeding the population of Wellington by 73,000. High Prices for Books. A first folio Shakespeare, that had been in the family -of Major Hareourt Vernon from shortly after its publication, was sold in London last week for £2800. It is slightly defective. The record price of £14,500 was paid by Dr. Koscnbach for the late Lord lioeebery'e copy. At the eaiite sale an apparently unrecorded edition of '-Pilgrim's Progress," printed in Edinburgh in 10S:J, fetched £125. A French sixteenth century "Book of Hours," with 43 miniatures, went for £SOO. Difference in Farmers' Faces. The unexpected further advance in the price of wool at the recent Wellington sale caused prices of sheep to soar at the Te Kuiti stock sale yesterday,'says the "Star's." correspondent. Never for many years has such spirited bidding and keen competition been seen at a King Country sale. Those in the large assembly who were shecpfarmers. could be distinguished by their happy faces. Others present looked serious and said little.. They were dairy farmers. Match for " Kangaroos." The Australian Rugby League team, which, despite loss of the Test matches, has a fine record for its tour of England, which is being completed to-day against a strong England thirteen, may be seen playing in Auckland in the course of its early return home. The chairman of the Auckland League, Mr. G. Grey Campbell, stated this morning that the local executive is endeavouring to arrange the fixture, and in the event of finality being reached, 15 Auckland players will be selected for training. The Kangaroos arc scheduled to leave Southampton on the 17th Inst, by the | Jervis Bay. Rivalling the Maori. That the modern boy, in eplte of having a lot done for him, is still capable of doing something for himself is demonstrated by the patience and ingenuity of two Wellington boys. They cycled to Manakau Beach, near, LeVin, during * the recent holidays, and on arrival there, instead of spending their sleeping hours under the stars or in the more orthodox tent, set to work with their sheath| knives and constructed out of flux sticks and flax leaves a small but snug whare that would have done credit to a skilled Maori craftsman. They slept in this hut for about a week, and in it were completely free from the heavy rain that fell during that period. Exchange and Tourist Travel. Adverse exchange rates between Britain and Continental countries have practically ruined tourist trade on the C&ntinent, according to Miss Nina Daly, an English visitor to New Zealand, who has been conducting parties through the Continent for the past 12 year*. The position was i=o serious, she stated in Chrietchurch, that in some parts appeals had! been made for Government relief. The fact that Xew Zealand had an adverse rate on London, by affecting tourist traffic to Great Britain also indirectly affected the Continent, since many New Zealandcrs formerly visited parts of Europe when on a trip to the Old Country. On the other hand, she believed that the exchange rates would result in more tourist traffic to Xew Zealand. Pioneer Steamer Passes. After lying at Port Stanley, in the Falkland Island", as a hulk for more than half a century, the pioneer British steamer Great Britain, launched in 1843, hae boon broken up. In these days, when liners carry big printing shops, it is'interesting to rorall that the first nautical newspaper was published in the Great Britain on a voyage from Melbourne to Liverpool in 1861. "it had only four ieisues, andj consisted of four pages, each divided into two columns. It was more than a month after the steamer left Melbourne thnt the first issue was published, it being explained in the load-, in« article: "We have postponed the publica-l tion of pur first number until we could j o-uarantec meteorological favour should we fail in securing that of our readers." Thirst for Knowledge. Fortune-telling is on the increase in Great Britain. At the present time it is estimated! that there are more than 20,000 fortune: tellers pursuing their calling, some in Great] Britain earning as much as £30 a week. In, many towns in the provinces the clientele is, so lnx"o that appointments are fixed weeksj ahead. There is also a bigger demand foij luckv charms and tokens which arc supposed' to ward off all kinds of evils. Fancy prices are often paid for charms which are mass-; produced and cost a fraction of a penny toi make. "Superstition is more rife than ever, | a prominent social worker said recently. "The only real fortunes aro those gohiß into the pockets of the people who profess to tell theuclients' future. It is surprising how people return time and again, clamouring for more knowledge of what ie going to happen to them."

Office Workers Compared. That the conditions enjoyed by thrwe who work in office* in Xew Zealand' are in striking contrast to those ruling for young men in similar positions in England, and particularly in London, is the opinion of Miss Nina Daly, an English visitor. In London, Miss Daly said, in an interview in Christchurch, office employees had to live miles away from their work," with the result that they spent their hours awav from work during the day in travelling to and fro. During about four months of the year they were lucky if they saw their homes in daylight during the week. In New Zealand young men in similar positions could leave their offices and be engaged in healthy sport for some hours in the evening, or they could spend the week-end in the mountains or at the seaside. That form of relaxation wae impossible in England. Mail-sorting Obstacles. If you were a postal official and received a letter addressed to "Mr. So-and-So, Hot Stuff Street, New Plymouth," how would you deliver it? This is but one of the problems that the mailroom etaff at the New Plymouth General Poet Office has had to deal with m recent months, and one, incidentally, in which the solution wae found, states the ."Taranaki Daily News." The addressee in this particular case was located in Currie Street. .Imagination and ingenuity, it would appear, are demanded in large measure from the mail sorter if he is to .dispatch to their correct destinations quickly many of the letters and parcels which come through the Post Office. A reporter was informed by a postal official that New Plymouth received its share of the 18,201 incorrectly and insufficiently addressed' letters and the 8704 letters with no addresses at all that were posted in New Zealand last year. "The eenders flatter us by their confidence," he said, referring especially to th© latter category; To receive mail addressed to residents of "Twopenny" Street was a common occurrence, the official said. The pOstman who had Tukapa Street on his run delivered that. A short time ago a letter was received for someone in- "Lime" Street, but it was not long before the owner wae located in Lemon Street. ' i