NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 26, 31 January 1934, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Northcote Beaches. The provision of battling facilities at Xorthcotc beaches, more particularly at Hall 3 Beach, is to engage the attention of the borough council. It was resolved last evening to obtain a report on the most suitable location of Latliing sheds and the method of financing.

Godwit Season To-morrow. The godwit shooting season opens tomorrow, and will continue until March 31. There are indications that the sport will be good. ■ Birds arc plentiful on the western beaches, especially in the vicinity of the Kaipara Harbour. There are also a fair number at Muriwai. The season is planned to give the birds ample time to recover from the exhausted and thin condition in which they arrive in New Zealand after their long flight from Siberia.

A "Love" Score at Bowls. A stir was caused at the Morrineville bowling tournament on Anniversary Day when Fruisli's Claudelands rink (the ultimate winners of the tournament) beat Kirk's Morrinsville rink by 3C—O. Not only did the beaten rink fail to ecore on any of the 14 heads, but the winners averaged nearly three points on each head. Although IS teame were competing in the tournament, no bowler present could recall a previous caee of a rink failing to score. Fruish secured four wins and a lose, and Kirk one win and four losses.

A Certain Dividend. Much has been written about the use of systems at race meetings, and liow to get big returns from small outlay, but the only ones who invariably win are apparently a few boye, whose system is watertight. Yesterday three boys were seen jetruggling out of the Takapuna racecourse with three medium-sized bags full of bottles. They said it was their practice to collect bottles after every race meeting, and the jingle of coins, which ranged florn threepences to florins, showed that bottles were not the only things they found. Even 60 the trio only got the second dividend; two other boye had already made two trips.

The Scotsman's Paradise. What is a Caledonian grandstand? Devonporfc residents, writes a correspondent, may justly claim to have within their borough the best of such grandstands in Mount Victoria. From its summit one may see, particularly on Anniversary Day, every kind_ of summer sport. There are the regatta, swimming and other aquatic sports, cricket, tennis, bowls, fishing and horse racing—all within a small radius —and the price to view these is nothing, beyond the exertion of climbing to the top of the hill. With such a variety of sport to be viewed at the one minute from its summit, Mount Victoria must be unique among the Caledonian grandstands of the world.

Public Good Turn by Scouts. To keep a watch over the whole course of the T.T. race for motor cycles at Waiheke Island on Monday, Anniversary Day for accidents would have'required an army of first-aid ■specialists, etc. The St. John Ambulance authorities therefore established one or two depots at suitable points, and had other stations manned by stewards, who could *ignal to one of the main depots the fact that a cyclist had had a spill. One of these points was manned by Patrol-Leader E. Richardson and Second E. Aeliwin, of the Tui patrol, Lone Scout troop, Auckland, and were _f'_"';»d on duty by the scoutmaster who was visiting the island' for the week-end.

Baked His Week's' Takings. How a business man lost £100 during the week-end ie being related at Nelson. Actually hw week's takings, excepting the silver, which was undamaged, were baked in an oven while he was enjoying a bathe in the warm blue, waters of Tasnian Bay. Rueliing olf to a seaside cottage at Tahunaniii, he did not have time to go to the bank, and hid hi* takings in the oven, as this was not being used during the holidays. However, a party of relatives arrived while he wae absent at the seaehore, and a (ire was lit to provide tea, no one of the party knowing what was being over-cooked in the oven. The banknotes were toaeted to a cinder.

Work for Harvesters. There will be plenty of work offering for harvesters this season, a labour agent told a reporter of the "Timaru Herald." The agent said that, due to the tangled ntate of most crops, harvesting would be a, long and elow business. The failure of the harvest in Marlborough had resulted in many men coming soutlr, and some of these had already made their ■ appearance in South Canterbury. Although a start has been made in some districts with cutting wheat, it is not expected that the harvest in South Canterbury will begin in earnest for about a fortnight.

A Tennis Addict. Mr. R. W. Roydhouso, of Carterton, hae a record ■ which -in probably unique in the annals of New Zealand tennis tournaments. The Wairarapa. tourney, juet completed, in which, partnered by his daughter, lie reached the linnl of the combined doubles, A grade, is the thirty-first ili succession of, tliese tournaments in which he bae been a competitor, ilr. Roydhonse, who is a senior vicc-prceident and a valued member of the association, is a very keen tennis enthusiast, and this year has given trophies to encourage inter-club doubles competition in the district.

Mass of Fish. A member of a party of eight Aucklanders who enjoyed a launch fishing cruise to Cape Brett has just returned enthusiastic about his experiences, amongst which was the result of a two hours' run from Paihia, just across from Russell. "A marvellous sight," he declared, "wae when we came across a trevalli school, which stretched across the surface of the eea as far as the eye could see. It was just a dark floating mass, with the fins of the fteh' ' protruding. Skimming the water were thousands of kahawai birds. We caught 30 knhawai on spinners in as many minutes. Using them as bait, we were able to catch 17 hapukas, the largest of which weighed 841b, and 100 snapper and a variety of other fish. We had a ntcrat exciting time for four hours, and returned to our headquarters; well satisfied with the patch and the sport it provided. The trip gave us a small idea of the wealth of fish that abounds off tlie New Zealand coast."

Six Wickets for Three. . A. holiday cricket match at Kailierc, Hauraki Plains, on Anniversary Day ended in a remarkable manner, the last six Kaihere batemen being djsmiewd by a Morrineville team for the addition of only three runs, thus oiviri" SJorrinsviUe a win on the iiret innings by only five runs. Morrinsville batted first and scored 131. Kaihere's first four wickets put on 123 rune, and with only nine runs wanted to win and six wickets in hand the "•ame seemed as good ae over. At this stage the sixth and seventh bowlers tried by Morrinsville changed the look of the game, and the innings closed for 120 runs. The bowlers were A'. Thomas, whose average was five wickets for 23 runs, including three .wickete for one run in the final over of the day, and J Devlyn, whose three wickets cost seven runs, including two wickets for two runs in his last over. Both bowlers are slow righthanders, and have seldom bowled in club matches. Their run of success was a surprise to club mates and opponents alike. Some of the batsmen dismissed had been making good scores in the Hauraki Plains competition. The game was played on a matting-covered concrete wicket.

Radio in Motor Cars. "That in the opinion of this conference the use of a wireless set in a motor vehicle in motion is not conducive to 'safety first,' and that Steps he taken to prevent such practice from becoming a. source of danger," was a resolution carried unanimously at a meeting of the- South Canterbury Automobile Association. The Scrap Iron Market.

■ Xo definite arrangements have been made for a sixth visit of a Japanese steamer to New Zealand to load scrap steel. The live ships which so far have be.cn here must have taken to Japan, among them, some 35,000 tons of tscrap metal, and it eeems the readilyavailable supply has approached exhaustion. There is still a good deal of suitable scrap in the country districts and ou the West Coast, but most of it is so distant from a shipping point that railage would make the sale of the scrap profitless.

No Pets Allowed. An example of the strict enforcing of the decision of the Christchurch. Tramway Board not to permit pets to be carried on the trams by passengers is reported. A woman boarded a tram with a magpie packed in such a way that the contents of the package were not apparent. However, the conductor had his suspicions aroused, and after the woman had travelled some ' distance he asked her if she was carrying a live animal, and, oil learning that she was, he requested her to leave the tram. She did so, and had to complete her journey on foot.

Ratana's Crops. Ratana's grain-growing enterprises continue with a marked degree of success, and at the present time areas of the golden wheat may be seen in stook, while other crops are in the ripening stage (states a Wanganui paper). It is remarkable how the soil hae stood up to the successive cropping of wheat. It is true that the wheat is much shorter in the stalk than it was a few seasons ago, but at the same time it is well cared. The farm is well supplied with equipment, and there is also a large workshop in which running repairs are carried out to the farm implemente.

Supreme Court Sessions. Although other cases will be added this week, the list of cases to be heard at the criminal sessions of the Supreme Court which open on Tuesday next is not likely to be a heavy one. At present there are but ten cases set down for trial, mostly breaking and entering charges, but one woman is charged with attempted murder. Mr. Justice Herdman and Mr. Justice Smith will preside. No decision has yet been made concerning the date of the trial of William Alfred -Bayly, on charges of murder.

Runaway Motor Car. Parked in steep Boulcott Street, Wellington, a motor car ran away on Friday afternoon, and in its career downhill struck a woman pedestrian on the pavement outside a jeweller's shop in the Willis Street intersection. The car evidently had not been put in gear, and when the brakes failed to hold, it began to run downhill backwards, quickly gathering speed. It mounted the kerbing and shattered the window of the jewcller'e shop. Mrs. W. M. Ellis, of Wadeetown, was knocked down, receiving abrasions to her left leg, an indeed wound on the hand, and shock, while another pedestrian, a man, narrowly escaped being hit.

Echo of Big 'Quake. With the big Hawke's Bay earthquake only an echo of three years ago, it might reasonably be expected that all administration details in connection with it were, ''cleaned up" long ago. Such, however, is not the eftse, for as far as Hastings .wae concerned it wan not until last week that all formalities in connection with the death registrations were cleared up. It will be remembered that there were several of the bodies unidentified, and of these there were four which were left unregistered. On Wednesday, however, the coroner, Mr. G. Ebbett, J.P., registered these four unidentified bodies, and so finalised details of the registration of all those who lost their lives in the earthquake in Hastings. This means that death certificates for all those bodies which were unidentified are now available.

Just Wanted the Holes. Amazement at the Awatere County Council's remarkable decision that it could not accept the association's offer to provide a white railing at the top of tho cutting lending down to the Awatere Bridge on the nortnern side "owing to the precedent such action might create elsewhere within the county's boundaries," was expressed by the president at the monthly meeting of the Marlborough Automobile- Association. When he had recovered from the shook of hearing tho letter read, Mr. Furnees demanded to know what precedent could be created. "We offered to put tho blooming thing up! ,, he exclaimed. "All we wanted was that they should lend us the land to put tho holes in. What can you do with people like that—what can you do?" Dr. Redman considered that (he matter should not be allowed to drop. There had been accidents at the scene, and it was a proper place for attention. Ho moved that the subject be deferred until next meeting, in the hope that some of the Awatere members of tile committee would be present. The motion was carried.

Something Like a Finish. Eighteen teams, representative of Smith Auckland and Goldflelds clubs competed in the Morrinsvjlle Bowling Clllb'e annual lullrink tournament on Anniversary Day. Showers made conditions unpleasant at times, but the green played well'. At the end of the five: rounds three tennis had cadi four wine and a loss, and the issue had to be decided on the aggregates. Fruish (Claudelands) was the winner of the tournament with an aggregate of 102, followed by Butler (Morrineville) with 72, and L. Buehan (Te Aroha) with GO. R. Buehan (Te Aroha), whose rink won the recent Te Aroha. tournament, wae a competitor with the same rink except for the lead. He finished up in fourth position with three wins, a loss and a tie, his only loss being to a rink-- skipped by his father, L. Biioluin. The unlucky skip of the tournament was L. Buehan, who had the misfortune to promote an opponent's bowl with his last bowl when lying eu-re for a tie. Thus he lost the game. Had he kept off the head with hie last bow] he would have secured a tie, and been the winner of the tournament with four wine and a tie.

Fences, Gates and Cattle. Tlie laws of Moses anathematise those who remove their neighbours' landmarks, and in these modem days owners of cattle must have anything but kindly feeljnge for people who remove their fences. Two persons were charged in the Wellington Magistrate's Court with' allowing stock to wander. One said that a neighbour had burnt a post and rail fence for firewood and turned hie (the defendant's) stock oil to the road. Several other fences'had been burnt by the .neighbour over a period- of some months, and the defendant said he would have taken action but for the fact that the man was a relief worker. The City Council ranger said it had come to his knowledge that fence posts had been stolen, and the magistrate thereupon entered a conviction and an order to pay costs in respect of each of two charges. The other man, who appeared on two charges, ascribed one offence to the carelessness of hikers in leaving a gate open, and the other to the fact that a gate had been lifted off its hinges by people who were celebrating the advent of the New Year. He was ordered to pay costs on one charge, and was fined 10/ on the other.