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Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 46, 23 February 1934, Page 6

Motorist's 111-luck. A motor car was destroyed by five on the Devil's Elbow, on the Taupo-X apier Road, under unusual circumstanccs on Saturday night. While travelling towards Napier, tiic car broke down, and its owner, Mr. Stockhouse, of Napier, left it 011 the side of the road for the night. men lie returned to recover the car, lie found that during his absence it had 'been burned. Whether or not the fire was accidental or incendiary cannot be ascertained. Niue Island Boatmen. '"The finest boatmen in the world,'' was the opinion expressed by Captain L. G'. Boiilton, master of the Government motor ship Maui Pomare, in speaking of the Niue Islanders. Captain Boulton said that when the ship was at Niue on the last trip, a tremendous sea was running. The waves were sweeping clear across the jetty, and at times tlie boats lightering the fruit from the jetty to the Maui Pomare would disappear froni sight in the trough of the waves. So skilful were the boatmen, however, that there were no capsizes and not a case was lost. Eventually conditions became so bad that the Maui Pomare had to up anchor and put to sea for safety, leaving 1400 cases of bananas in the shed. Pure English in Dominion. Two visitors to Christehurch said this week that they had been greatly impressed during their tour of New Zealand with the remarkable purity of the language spoken by New Zealanders. They are Mr. an ; fLMre. A. D. McEvoy, residents of the Isle of 'Man. "We have heard very few slang words here, and the enunciation of the people is good," said Mrs. McEvoy, who added that the only word used in New Zealand which one would not hear spoken in England was "bowsers." They were called "pumps" in England. "I think that your speech is much purer on the whole than in England," said Mr. McEvoy. "Even the workmen on the streets speak good English here, and we loved to hear how well the Maoris spoke."

Mining at Thames. In an endeavour to devise means of resuscitating the low-grade mining proposition undertaken by the Kuranui Golden Hills Company, Ltd., a conference is being held at Thames to-day between the Hon. C. 35. Macmillan, Minister of Mines, Mr. A. T. Tyndall, Under-Secretary, and representatives of the Unemployment Board, the local body, the mining company and the borough commissioner. Mr. Macmillan, who was in Auckland this morning, said that the scheme appeared to be a sound one from the point of view of employing large numbers of men, and both his Department and the Unemployment Board were anxious to see if further prospecting could Lie arranged, with a view to reviving the operations that the company had started. Tale of a £10 Note. This is the tale of the £10 note, a sorrowful tale, which demonstrates that truth is sadder than iiccton. There travelled from Lyttelton up to Wellington a party of Christchurch citizcns, and the most consequential of the party had in his possession notes to the value of £55. A prudent person, he deposited the money with the punier. The following morning he retrieved his notes, in a sealed envelope. Sliding one hand into the envelope, ho gripped the notes, withdrew hie hand, crumpled up the envelope, and threw it overboard. Then it occurred to him to count the notes. And he found that a £10 note had accompanied the envelope overboard. A few evenings later the party travelled back again. The evenrng grew late. The note-tosser missing one of his party, went searching on deck. There lie found the missing one, peering dejectedly over the.rail. 'What's the matter?" he asked. "Nothing," said his companion. "I thought I might see that envelope." Modern Travel. Bed-in Hokitika and breakfast in Wellington is fast travelling, but actually the "Wellington Aero Club's Waco machine, flown by Squadron-Leader G. L. Stedman and bringing a passenger back from the West Coast, was never "reved" up on the run, but maintained an easy cruising speed of about 110 miles per hour. Hokitika was left at .5.30 a.m., and a 15-miuute stop was made at Blenheim, the flying time being three hours and a quarter. By boat and train or boat and service car, the journey takas just under 24 hours, provided (says the "Evening Post") the traveller times his trip to lit. in with one of the three train days in the week, For a coiwiueraoie part of the journey the Waco practically flew herself, for a special stabilising device makes it possible to trim the machine so exactly that almos-t a dead level and dead-line course is flown in smooth air. King's Counsel Conditions. That the conditions ruling the office of King's Counsel were financially unattractive was one reason advanced by Mr. R. Twyneliam, president of the Canterbury Law Society, to account for the lack of appointments to that office in recent years." Mr. Twyneham was commenting on the possible appointments of three men—Mr. A. H. Johnstone (Auckland), Mr. Watson (Wellington) and Mr. J. B. Callan (Ehinedin) —to fill this rank, and he stated that these men were members of the profession who thoroughly deserved that honour. He explained that Mr. F. Wilding, senior, was at the present time the only King's Counsel in Christchurch, and he was appointed before it became necessary for a King's Counsel to sever his connection -with the solicitor's branch of the work, and to devote himself solely to the Bar. A King's Counsel in New Zealand was not allowed to see his clients except in consultation with a solicitor, and he could not accept a brief save through a solicitor. His position -was in many ways identical with that of the English barrister, though, in addition, a King's Counsel in New Zealand could not cond.nct a case before a magistrate for a fee lower th.-m 10 guineas, and he could not appear in the Supreme Court without junior counsel. Neither of these restrictions applied in the case of an English barrister without the rank of King's Counsel.

A Very "Touchy" Cargo. A very worried chief officer met a "Taranaki Herald" reporter when he boarded the oil tanker Balaklava at the Newton King wharf, New Plymouth. "Look at that locomotive," he said, pointing to an engine shunting trucks unloaded into the steamer Port Victor 011 tlie other side of the wharf. "A little leakage, a spark from the engine, and then —no more ships, 110 more wharves, no more people." He went on to say that New Plymouth was the only port in the world where such a state of affairs would be allowed. "In another country they would hang all the authorities for tiiat,_ yes, hang them all. We iiad to ston our consignees testing the (spirit this morning becane-e of the closeness of that engine," he said. Contrasted with this "dangerous carelessness" were the extravagant regulations enforced on board. There was no smoking allowed on deck at all; indeed, one officer walked a quarter of a mile away from the Balaklava to light his cigarette. None of the usual chipping and painting of a ship while in port was in progress. In the big ports of the world tankers never really went into port, the officer said.! Special arrangements were made for their die-1 charge, and harbour authorities were only too pleased to be rid of them. At London, for instance, tankers discharged at special docks a mile down the Thames from the Pool.

" Crashing the Gate." Notwithstanding the policy of the carnival executive to make the chargcs of admission as low as sixpence, there are hundreds of '•gate crashers" in the community (states the Wanganui "Chronicle"). A portion of Cook's Gardens fence, behind the Opera House, was torn away on Monday night, and it is estimated that several hundred people "crashed the gate"' through that entrance.

Only One Forbes. j Youthful pride in the family name re-j suited in a Matanuita teacher receivin r an. amusing shock last week, when a surprising contradiction came from a pupil. Ihe teachei , was advising the class that Mr. Forbes would arrive in Matamata the following day to open the show, when a youthful scholar, boasting the same name as the Prime Minister, but thinking of his father, who was away, piped: "No, he won't. I am sure father won't be back by then." " Where's the Hotel ? The decorum of a meeting of the Matamata Chamber of Commerce was suddenly turned to hilarity this week. The meeting had just concluded a short discussion on the need for an hotel license in Matamata when, during a lull in proceedings, the door burst open, and a loud voice inquired pointedly: "Excuse me, but where's the hotel in Matamata?" The question .was so apropos the discussion that members of the chamber thought a practical joke was being played on them. The explanations which followed, however, showed that the unexpected caller was one of a party from the South Island which iiad toured the main streets of the town looking for an hotel. On being told of the circumstances, that Matamata had no hotel, the visitors registered their hearty vote in favour of the proposal that it should have one. Franconia Mails. An unusual position has been created concerning the mail at Auckland to be taken to Sydney by the Franconia. A mail notice yesterday stated that the mail would close at the, C.P.O. at 1.30 p.m. to-morrow, to connect with | the Franconia at Wellington on Monday. This] is the usual practice, ,in order to relieve the mail taken by the Limited on the Sunday, although the late fee postages go by that train. In this ease, however, it happens that the vessel does not leave Auckland for Wellington until 7 p.m. to-morrow, so it was decided last night to close the mail at 5 p.m. to-morrow, to be put aboard the Franconia here. Late fee letters will be taken by the Limited on Sunday, and the "extra penny" closing time will be (5.15 p.m. at the C.P.O. j and 6.50 p.m. a.t the station. I Looking for Pastures New. A taste of the embarrassment to which the adventures of Mary's little lamb subjected ite owner must have been experienced by a Napier resident to whom a forlorn-looking sheep attached itself in Milton Koad last week. The man had just alighted from his bicycle to walk up Milton, Koad, when he noticed the sheep-—whose presence in town is difficult to explain, unless it was a refugee from the flooded area at Meanee—trotting towards him. The animal evidently decided that it had found a friend 'at last, for, when the man continued on his way, it persisted in following a his heels, and indeed accompanied him to his home, where it lost no time in making itself at homo on the front lawn. The following morning, when "the man rose to go to work, the sheep was still on his lawn, and appeared thoroughly contented with its changed circumstances.

Bowls and Spoons. In somewhat curious circumstances the owner of a silver teaspoon dug up in the garden of a Gisbornc residence was identiiied in' Wellington the other day. About six years ago a Gis borne resident, while working in his garden, dug up a solid silver spoon bearing the inscription: "The gift of the Countess of ——." During the afternoon tea adjournment at a Wellington bowling club the conversation worked round to the subject of spoons, and a brother of the Gisborne man was led to remark that the only Bolid silver spoon that he had ever seen Was the one that was dug up while he was on a visit to Gisbornc. This remark aroused the interest of another member of the club, who lived in Gisborne 15 years ago, and who is very well connected at Horpe. Inquiries lie made definitely established him us the owner of the spoon, and later he showed the Gisborne resident's brother another but larger spoon bearing a similar inscription. Incidentally, he mentioned that the spoons were 180 years old. He himself is between 70 and 80 years of age. Picnics by Rail. In Christcliurch the railway gets the I picnic business, which goes to the harbour in Auckland. With 14 picnic parties to transport, ranging in numbers from 100 to ISOO, railway officials at Christcliurch have had a busy time last week-end. In all, over 5000 people attended these outings, and another 1000 took part in picnics from Timaru on Saturday. Added to this were the race traffic on Saturday and heavy express trains from the south. Six schools held picnics on Friday, these being:—Linwood to Leeston, 000 passengers; Cashmere to Templeton, 200; Wliarenui to Aniberley, 400; St. Matthew's to Lyttelton, 200; and Heathcote to liangiora, 150. On Saturday 550 took part in the Somerfield school excursion to Little River, and 400 attended the West Spreydon school picnic to Dunsandel. Three firms also held their picnics at Stewart's Gully oil Saturday, 300 travelling to this destination. On Sunday the railway staff picnic was held at Little River, ISOO attending, and a newspaper picnic at Quail Island was attended by 150, while there were 200 at the Suburban Cricket Association's picnic at Stewart's Gully. On Saturday GOO travelled by rail to attend the Timaru Trinity Sunday school picnic at Cave, and 500 attended the Timaru combined Methodist Sunday schools' picnic at Tcniuka. Scraping a Ship. Marine growths of odd formation, some of them several inches long, saw the light of day for the first time yesterday, when the big German barque Magdalene Vinnen was drydocked at Devonport, to have her hull cleaned. The marine growth has accumulated during long months in tropical waters, and especially during the time when she lay off Assumption Island, in the Seychelles, while guano was being loaded from native canoes. The hard, shell-like formations which' grow on the bottom of a ship in these waters appear to be a kind of coral, sponge-like in shape, and entirely different from the barnacles of temperate seas. In the case of the old-style windjammer a heavy growth below the water line was sufficient to reduce speed from a potential 10 knots to a problematical six, but the Magdalene Vinnen, with her auxiliary engine of 500 li.p., is not so handicapped. How fish may act as dock labourers in cleaning a ship has been related by Mr. George F. Simmons, leader of a scientific expedition to the South Atlantic Ocean during 1923-26. The Blossom, in which the long voyage was made, had accumulated a large amount of 1 weed 011 her copper bottom, and this slowed her down considerably. "As soon as we dropped anchor at Ascension Island," wrote Mr. Siiqinons, "the black turbot, or trigger fish, swarmed about the hull. Naturally lovers of seaweeds, they had subsisted largely on refuse and carrion in the waters to the lee of the island. To them the Blossom must have seemed like a banquet table, for they soon nibbled every strand of weed from her hull. They went further than that, for "when the giant tuna dashed in toward them tlieyj pressed for protection against the copper sheeting and raced forward and aft to make their escape. ; Their . sandpaper-like scales! polished our hull until we were as clean as possible." ' I