NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 25, 30 January 1934, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Not at Takapuna. A pronounced glare in the northern sky last night, indicating a fire, apparently somewhere in the Takapuna district, caused many inquiries of the Takapuna Brigade last night. Ail the information gleaned ,therc was that the brigade had received no call, and that the fire appeared to be in the vicinity of Murray's Bay. The blaze did not last more than a few minutes.

Godwit Season Opens. Reports promising a good supply of godwit for the shooting season, which opens next Thursday, have been received from the Far North, where the birds arrive from their nesting places in Siberia. When the birds arrive, they are thin and exhausted after their long flight, but soon put on condition in Xcw Zealand. Towards the end of the season, which closes on March 31, they are very fat.

Gunnery Practices. The cruisers Dunedin and Diomcdc left for the Hauraki Gulf this afternoon to carry out gunnery exerci.es. On Saturday the vessels will visit the Kawau regatta, and return to port on February 9 to refuel and provision for their Southern cruise. They will leave for Eussell on February 12, where a regatta U to be held, and on February 24 the warships will leave for Southern ports, returning to Auckland on April 28.

Because of a Bee. A bee caused a motor accident arid the postponement of a cricket match yesterday by alighting on the arm of Mr. R. Binmore, of Forbes Street, Onehunga, who was driving four other members of the Ponsonby Cricket Club's senior team to Hamilton, to play a match against the local side. When the drivers attention was momentarily distracted by the bee on his arm, the car left the road and ran up a bank, being considerably damaged, while the occupants received a severo shaking.

The Bad Egg. Xo one lias a {rood word for the had egg— not even the poultry keepers. A remit was adopted at the twenty-third annual conference of the Xew Zealand Poultry Association, which concluded on Friday, urging that every effort be made to eliminate the had egg from the Dominion market by a uniform method of "candling" or testing. It was stressed and agreed by all delegates to the conference 'that the had egg is one of the greatest drawbacks at the present time, and that steps should be ■taken to ensure the public receiving a guaranteed article.

Heavy Shipping. The wharves arc busy to-day, with seven overseas vessels berthed. In addition to these there are a numuer of local coastal ships loading. The Avelona Star is the largest vessel in port, and others loading for England arc the Mahana and the Zcalandic. The liner Wanganella arrived this morning, and the steamer Triona this afternoon. The Magdalene Vinnen is also unloading at the King's wharf, and at the North Wall are the lighthouse steamer Matai and the research B'hip Discovery 11.

Grass Fires. Suburban fire brigades had a busy time yesterday putting out grass fires. Two were attended to by the Remuera Brigade, one in Great South Road, Penrose, damaging the base of a telegraph pole before it was extinguished. Sparks from railway engines set lire to grass alongside the track at Morningside, and also at Alfred Street, Onehunga, the first being put out by the Mount Albert Brigade and the other by the Onehunga Brigade. Two calls to grass fires were received last evening by the Mount Eden Brigade, one outbreak being in Rautangi Road and another in Dominion Road.

Stamps Not Accepted. Numerous applications for "shilling" certificates of date of birth are being received by the Registrar of Births from parents whose children have to submit documentary proof of their age when the schools reopen. As so many parents send the registrar a shilling's worth of postage stamps, which are useless to him in his official capacity, and are not negotiable, intending applicants would be well advised to forward a postal note for one shilling. This will save the delay entailed in the return of the stamps, with a request for a postal note instead, prior to the issue of the certificate.

Devonport Traffic Rush. Over four thousand motor cars are estimated to have passed through Devonport on Anniversary Day on their way back to the city. Three vehicular ferry boats were in constant operation, but owing to the phenomenal rush they were hopelessly unable to cope promptly with the demand, especially between the hours of five and seven o'clock, when there was an added number of vehicles coming from the races. As each ferry pulled out with its quota of vehicles, the waiting queue of cars stretched from the ferry wharf to Church Street, approximately a quarter of a mile. One traffic inspector, assisted by a policeman, had an arduous job, but he was equal to the occasion, and dispatched the cars without a hiteh.

Harbour Thrills. The heavy sweil on the harbour this morning provided some new thrills for Auckland dwellers who have taken up a temporary residence at North Shore for the summer. It is unusual to have such strong winds at this time of the year. The Bayswater and Stanley Bay services received the most severe buffeting, as the sea was running up-harbour. Perennial residents using those services this morning were generally glad to have a "bit of a dust-up" for a change from the monotony of the customary calm, but summer visitors did not seem to know just how to take it. Naturally the passengers crowded to the lee side, so the motion was sluggish on a heavilyloaded trip. When the boat was berthed the swell caused the decks to heave considerably, and some difficulty wae experienced in placing a foot on the gangway at just the right moment.

A Rapacious Shark. A striking example of the rapaciousness of sharks was related to a "Taranaki Daily News" reporter by a Moturoa fisherman on Saturday. Two lines were down from the one launch, and both were being brought to the surface, one holding a hapuka and the other a Oft shark. When near the surface, the shark was observed suddenly to make a wild dash at the hapuka, biting it completely in two, though handicapped by the hook. In the meantime, the shark was hauled to the surface, where, after a fierce struggle, it eventually broke free. The line was brought to the surface, for the fisherman j*> discover that while his companion's line stTTI held the head of the hapuka, the severed end had drifted into a hook on his line, giving him the dubious satisfaction of catching a hapuka —in two parts. A remarkable fact is that though sharks of good lengths teem at the fishing grounds, so far this season none has been reported near the New Plymouth beaches although thev are frequently seen close in on the rocky paVts of the coast. A special bell is installed at the Ngamotu palladium to wam bathers of sharks in the vicinity, but it has not been found necessary to ring it this season.

Piha Vandalism. Vandak have been at work at Piha. Nikau palms have been cut half-way up their stems and the heads left lying where fallen. As the nikau is one of the most beautiful trees in the bush, it is desirable that something should "be done for its protection. Recently the Museum authorities made a plea for the protection of the bush at Piha.

An Economic Potpourri. "We are living in a rapidly" changing world. With Communism in Kussia, Fascism in Italy, Hitlerism in Germany, and Kooseveltism, which seems to be a clumsy combination of Douglas and Dick Seddon, in U.S.A., it in becoming increasingly difficult to keep pace with modern economic and political developments,*' declared Colonel Clo-sey at the Douglas Credit conference at Palnicrston North.

Wages for Wives. A recent applicant for a marriage license stated that in the women's column of a newspaper he had noticed the advocacy of wages for married women. That, he said, must have been written by a spinster, as married men, in most cases, had nothing left after buying their tobacco and an occasional pint of three X. However, he had overcome the difficulty by promising to give his future wife threequarters of his food, which he thought was sufficient recompense to offer her for cooking the other quarter for himself.

Napier's Heat Wave. The heat wave which was experienced in Napier last week continued unabated on Friday evening, when hundreds of residents sought relief in the surf at the various bathing beaches in the district. As is usual with a westerly wind, the water was far colder than might have' been expected from the heat of the atmosphere. The maximum temperature reached in the shade on Friday was 84.5, half a point less than on the previous day. On Saturday morning the atmosphere was again humid, and at half-past eight o'clock the temperature in the. shade registered 80 degrees.

Wool Cheques To-day. Estimated to amount to about £450,250, the proceeds of the second Auckland wool sale of the season, held on January 15, will be distributed among the growers to-day. With the £.'i27.094 realised from the first sale in November, the growers will have received about £503,376 more than from t lie two corresponding sales of last season. The total amount of wool sold at the two sales was about 45,500 bales, as compared with 45,208 at last season's sales. Particularly important to the Auckland Province is the fact that lower grade wools have risen in price as much as the higher grades.

A Windy Spot. While driving round a corner in the Kakahu district recently, the patrolman to the South Canterbury Automobile Association .(Mr. F. T. Owens) had the front of hie car forced off the road by the wind. To avoid capsizing, the patrolman headed the car straight down a 16ft bank, finishing up in a gorsc hedge. A team of horses, had to be secured to get the car back on the road again. Mr. Owers told the committee that the nor'wester seemed to lift the front of the car clean off the road. Ho had been told that three other ears had gone off the road at the same spat, which was a short distance west; of the Kakahu School. . I

Chilled Beef Cargo. k The second chilled beef cargo to leave Auckland for the English market is being loaded into the holds of the Avelona Star. Yesterday afternoon and evening the work was carried out quickly, more than 1000 quarters having been loaded in that time. Care has to be taken not to bruise the meat, which is hung on hooks instead of being stacked in layers. Special railway wagons are used for transfer from storage to the ship's side, where the beef is loaded into chambers in which special chilling treatment and caTeful stowing are seen to. The Sultan Star took the first shipment of chilled beef from Auckland earlier in the month, when 130S quarters were exported. The Avelona Star's consignment will be greater than that amount.

Lunar Phenomena. A partial eclipse of tlic moon, visible in New Zealand if conditions arc favourable, will occur to-morrow morning. The moon will enter the true shadow at 4.1 a.m. At 4.43 a.m., when the eclipse will be at its greatest, three-twenty-fifths of the moon's apparent diameter will be obscured. The moon will pass completely out of the shadow at 5.24 a.m., and set, as seen from Auckland, a few minutes later. This month is also remarkable in having two full moons, the first having been on January 1, at 8.54 a.m., and the second being to-morrow at 4.31 a.m. As the period between full moons is about 29 days 12 hours, it is only when full moon occurs on the first or second day of the month that a second full moon is seen in the same month.

Youth's Long Swim. A King's College boy, Athol Coats, who is just under 10 years of age, swam yesterday from Paihia to Russell and back without landing in 3 hours 15 minutes, including 10 minutes' rest off Russell wharf. The straight line distance across is about two and a quarter miles, but owing to the tide Coats is estimated to have swum five and a half miles altogether. He swam overarm throughout, and the only refreshment he received was six lumps of sugar. He finished in excellent condition. Three other King's College boys, Brian Carbury, Donald Stride and Peter Miller, accompanied him in a row boat, the two former pacing him occasionally. Athol Coats is a son of the Rev. R. G. Coats, vicar of Mount Albert, and despite his youth is Oft high and weighs fully 12s t.

Cure for "Body-line" Attack. The hard-thrashed subject of "body-line" bowling was raised once more in an interview at Wellington with Mr. P. W. Bush, a passenger on the Mataroa, who played for many years for Surrey and was a member of the first English side to visit the West Indies. In his opinion "body-line" bowling was a consequence of the modern tendency of the batsmen to use their pads so much. That prevented a bowler getting wickets with an off-break in many instances, so they had to try for the leg pin. Were umpires so perfect that it was possible for the leg-before-wicket rule to allow them to give a batsman out if, in their opinion, the ball would bowl down the wicket, irrespective of where it pitched, then batsmen would not be able to smother so much, and there would be no necessity for drastic methods of attack.

A Lost Trophy Goes Home. To lose a trophy won in 1890, for several years and to have it returned to him through a visit to Auckland at the same time that the cup was found and its discovery published in the "Star" was the experience of a Mr. A. Davies. The cup, which had the initials "P.B.R.C." —at first thought to be intended for a "Ponsonby Boating and Rowing Club," if one ever existed —was awarded to Mr. Davies by the Poverty Bay Bowing Club for a sculling race which he won in 189(i. A woman friend of his a few days ago had seen a paragraph stating that an anonymous workman had found the cup in a burnt house in Wairiki Road, Mount Eden, a year or two ago, and had brought it into the "Star" to see if the owner could be found. Consequently, four years after he had lost, it, and 37 years after he had won it, Mr. Davies received his trophy. Its sentimental value for him will have grown with the adventures, even if it js badly damaged by fire. " I