NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 148, 25 June 1934, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Boys Bake Prize Bread. First awards for a 2lb white and brown loaf were secured by entries made by the Wanganui Youths , Afforestation Camp at Kaitoke at the South Taranaki Show, held in Ilawera Uu-t week. In view of the fact that the boys were taught to bake bread at the beginning of this winter, their effort may be regarded as being most creditable. Birkenhead Water Supply. Yesterday, for the first time water was pumped throng]) the new pipeline aerobe the harbour which is to supply Birkenhead. The water pumped yesterday was to flueli portion of the main, and to-day further flushing was done. It is expected that within the next few days water from the city will be available for the Birkenhead residents. Historic Church. * Amongst thofe • who attended the anniversary celebration of St. John the Baptist Church at North'eote yesterday was Mr. Isaac H. Creamer, of Reimiera, who was present as a child at the dedication of the church by Bishop Selwyn 75 years ago. Mr. Creamer's father gave the site for the church, which was erected in 1839. All in Smoker. The preference shown by women for the smoking compartment of tramcars was marked in one tram on Saturday evening. At the safety zone near the Queen; Street terminus were seven women and several men assembled, and as the- empty Balmoral our pulled up the men stood aside to allow the women to step on first. Without exception every one of tlie seven women sat down in the smoking compartment, and each occupied a separate seat.

Age of Transition. In the course of hie address at the Town Hall yesterday. Dr. F. W. Norwood said that the West had in Christian culture and tradition the greatest thing in history. It had established throughout the world institutions, colleges and medical missions, and had been responsible for generations for public services to the Slate. It had been the eaving principle of civilisation, and it had to be used for the building of a new order. By creating the impulse to do'justice, and to love mercy and walk humbly, the present age, which was one of transition, could be an age of creation for a newer, nobler and fairer world.

Opossums and Poison. It is cheaper to purchase poison than opoesum trape. In the Kaimata district some person or persons are believed to be employing the poisoning method for securing opossums. The outcome has been the death of a valuable dog belonging to a farmer in the district, etates the "Grey Star." The dog died after eating a bait for opossums. An opossum can be trapped, but, according to the law, he cannot be hunted for hie skin by setting poison for him. The owner of the log is on the lookout for the layer of the poison, and neighbouring farmers arc much concerned as to wlrat might happen to their dogs. It would be a dangerous practice for any person to continue setting down poisonous bait, and a coetly one, if caught. The Weather and Wireless. If there were, among the audience which heard a lecture by Dr. W. A. Macky at Dunedin University, any theorists who claimed that wireless has an effect upon the weather, they musk have hastily discarded that view before the lecture closed (save the "Otago Daily Times"). Dr. Macky stated that at any given moment 100 flashes of lightning per second wore occurring somewhere in the world, bo 13,000,000 horse-power of electricity wae continually going to waste. At the conclusion of the lecture Dr. R. Jack referred to the figures quoted, and stated that for anyone, in the face of them, to suggest that the comparatively email amount of electricity involved in the use of wireless could have any effect upon the weather was ridiculous.

Looking Back 60 Years. The 5.3. Atrato, the first steamer to make the trip from England to New Zealand, arrived at Port Chalmers in June GO years ago. It left Port Chalmers at 4 p.m. on June 18, 1874, arriving at Lyttelton on June 20, coming to anchorage at 1 p.m. The immigrants were brought ashore to the immigrant barracks by the s.s. Mullogh. The voyage out occupied about six months, owing to a. breakdown in the enjrine near the Cape of Good Hope, after which the veeeel put back to Plymouth, under sail, for repairs. A Christclmrch resident, Mrs. Howoy, recalls the voyage out, made when she was 14 years old. Mrs. Howey said that the- huge paddle wheels, which propelled tile ship, churned up the sea, and the eun playing on the foam held the attention of the children for hours at a time. For those days the ehip was large, 3300 tons. Captain Husband was in command. When Mrs. Howey's j family readied New Zealand, they lived in Christchurch for some years, and later in Timaru. One of her brothers, Mr. "Benskin, drove the firet train from Christchurch to Timaru, on February 4, 1876. An Elephant Fish. Something of a rarity in Southern waters and certainly strange enough in appearance to arouse cariosity, a fish of the speciee known as the elephant fish attracted much attention when it wae exhibited in a shop window in Invercargill last week. Over 3ft 6in in length, the fish has a large head, with eyes placed high, a domed forehead, and an elongated nose not unlike the trunk of an elephant. The markings on the side of the lace further strengthen the resemblance to an elephant. The "trunk" ie bent towards the mouth at a sharp angla, and is flattened at the end into a kind of tongue, which is covered with tiny holes, and appears to be used for absorbing minute articles of food, such as insects. The mouth is large, but has no teeth. There are two eets of fins at the eides, the front onee being about lOin long and the rear ones about 4in, a long tail coining to a fine point like a whip lash, and sharp fins on the back. The markings and sliadee of colour on the skin, which is mostly a bright silvery grey, are rather striking. A peculiar feature of the fieh's structure is that.it has no bonee, only an elastic gristle, which -can be easily cut. This specimen was caught at Blufi". Elephant fish are fairly common in the north, but are seldom seen in southern waters.

1935 Landing on Anzac. A Oallipoli Pilgrimage Council has been formed in .Australia, with the object of landing a large party of Australians and New Zealamlers on tlie Gallipoli Peninsula on Anzac Day, April 25. The party will leave Sydney on March. 23, and will spend two days on Gallipoli, April 25 and 20. The secretary of the council, Mr. E. S. Murray, of Melbourne, states that, the tour will occupy ten weeks, and he is hopeful that a large number of New Zealand people will join the Australians in commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the landing. By special arrangement with the Imperial War Gravee Commission, the party will be conducted over the whole of the Anzac battlefield, and a dawn service will be held on the beach. After leaving Gallipoli the party will be taken to Constantinople before beginning a six-day tour of the battlefields and war cemeteries of Palestine, and provision lias been made for visits to Jerusalem, Betlilehem and Cairo. "The pilgrimage, , '' said Mr. Murray, "is open to all—returned soldiers and others —special arrangements having beer, made for relatives of those who fought in both theatres of war. Lectures will be delivered on tho way, so that those in the party will know tho hietory of the campaigns and the story of the cemeterioe."

Maori " Has a Vision." A visit to a Maori "who had a vision and who has formed a colony of his own." was reported to the Taranaki Education Board by the attendance officer (Mr. G. Paecoe), states the "Taranaki News." '"I have failed to get his children back to school, as our school does not lit in with his belief," he said. "He has previously appeared before the Court, when he paid up 'all lines. I am taking out another .summons, which is all one can do, hoping that he will get tired of paying." Small Poultry Yards. At the last census it was ascertained that nearly 70 per cent of the poultry flocks in, the country came within the category of being fewer than oO birds, states the "Nelson Mail." Of that 70 per cent nearly 40 per cent were between 12 and 2.3 birds," and slightly more than 22 per cent were between 25 and i>o birds. More than 30 per cent of the blocks j cons'isted of fewer than 12 bir.N. In 1020 the j South Island had a higher pe;- capita density j of poultry than the North Island. The South: Island was also the main source of food supply to the industry, and it ie estimated that at the present time the poultry flocks of the Dominion consume about 2,000,000 bushels of wheat a year. " Deal With Plenty." "We .have attacked scarcity, and beaten it. Now we have to deal with plenty." said Dr. F. W. Norwood, the noted preacher from the City Temple, speaking in the Town Hall yesterday afternoon. "We inuet find some different system of distribution, or modify the present system, but merely to rake over the present wealth and redistribute it equally will not solve the problem. The last way to achieve human unity ie the distribution of the spoils. I am with you to the last ounce in a definite constructive effort to minimise the inequalities of human existence, but what we must find is the motive to make this possible," '

The Shakespeare-Bacon Controversy. "In a letter to Professor T. D. Adams accompanying "Fly Leaves" of the Ladies' Guild of Francis St. Alban, Mies Alicia A. Leith, of London, vice-president of the Bacon Society, writes: "Our universities and libraries have been so grateful for their sete sent them that I venture to hope yours will not bo less' so. The subject is of vital interest, and who now believe Bacon to be our national poet and greatest Englishman have even liitely increased tenfold, if not a hundredfold. It is the only reasonable solution of what has ever been the Shakespeare mystery." Professor Adams forwarded copies of the "Fly Leaves" without prejudice to the Otago University Council. Bishop Fitchett asked if the pamphlet was humorous. "Not wittingly," replied the Chancellor, Mr. W. J. MorrelL

The Two Extremes! "I ?aw the last lamp post and the last lighthouse and had a drink in the last publichouse in the Southern Hemisphere," said Mr. G. M. Warren, of Liverpool, who is paying a very brief visit to the city, to a "Southland Times" reporter last week. "I was down at Bluff for a little while this afternoon, and a few yeare ago I visited H&mmorfest, in the extreme north of Norway. As far as habitation goes, you cannot get much farther south or north!"* Aβ a matter of fact, the southernmost lamp post of New Zealand is in Invercargill, a relic of gas lamp days. Bluff streets were never lamp-lit before they got the electric light. Aβ to the southernmost publichouse, one has to remember that the Chilian town of Funta Arenas, on Magellan Straits, is an electrically-lit city of 27,000 population, does not incline to prohibition, and is about 100 miles more southerly than the Bluff. Bitterns in Town. A male bittern, presumably the mate of a female bird caught at the Fitzroy railway station the previous Tuesday, was captured on the Mangorei Road, within lOOyde of Devon Street, New Plymouth, last Saturday, states the "Taranaki News." The capture was made by Mr. L. Murray, who saw the bird crouched on the footpath. He caught it with the aid of a snek, which was thrown over the bird. Later the bird was identified by Mr. W. .W. Smith as a male bittern. Both birds were in poor condition, the female, which is about a third larger than the male, being apparently ill at the time of capture. Mr. Smith states that the bittern is a native bird, which is bejoniing comparatively rare. It usually livee near lakes and in swamps, and settlement hae forced it back into the hinterland. To capture two- of the species so close to town is indeed a novel occurrence. The pair of bitterns were liberated near the lake in ''Brooklands."

Raid on Lampreys. Lamprey. eels are appearing in Taranaki streams, and Maoris and others have already made catches, statee a New Plymouth daily. Despite the rough weather on Tuesday nigiit and a much swollen river, several .Maoris attended the weir on the Wawalntiko River at Fitzroy and obtained a good bag of lampreys. The eels have a peculiar mouth, with which they attach themselves to stones and other obstacles. The heavy flood on Tuesday evening washed the lampreye to the side of the eti'eam, where they were captured. This necessitated some wading on the part of the fishermen, ropes being passed round the waiet for safety. One party obtained about 50 fish, which was a good reward for braving the cold and the wet. The Maori name for the lamprey is piharau, and in'the old days large numbers of this edible fish were caught, smoked and stored for special occasions.

Bridal Couple on Night Express. The afternoon express from Invercargill for Duncdin on Wednesdays is more or less, generally recognised ae the "honeymoon train," for on that day there are invariably one or two sets of newlyweds ready to begin travelling on their new state of bliss, states the "Southland Times." Scarcely ever, however, doee~a couple travel by the night express for Christchureh on Sunday. Last Sunday the eight of confetti strewn on the platform and a couple taking leave of friends revealed that some at least are not slaves to custom. As a matter of curiosity, a reporter asked a local minister whether a marriage ceremony might be performed on a Sunday. "Yes, I think so," the minister replied. "One can be married on any day between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Although I have never heard of a ease, I do not think there is anything- in New Zealand to etop Sunday marriages. Perhaps ministers may refuse because that is their busiest day."

An " Appalling Anomaly." "What do we call an improvement in business methods? It is something that instead of doing the work of 100 men does that of 500 men. All these so-called advances we are making are in the direction of reducing labour, and throwing men out of work," said Dr. F. W. Norwood, of the City Temple, London, in the course of hie address in Napier. "For a long time the slack was taken up by men going out of one trade into others, , ' he went on. "Now all tho avenues have been taken tip. We are making men unemployed and calling it progress. Are machines bad things? No; Have we saturated all , our markets? No! It lib just that the people cannot buy our manufactures. Can we justify the appalling anomaly of precious foods being thrown into tho sea when thousands are .etilrving? Some New Zealand farmers have put large quantities of their milk down the drairie. The- consumption of milk in New Zealand ia exceptionally low. What's the matter? Don't you like milk? I do not j know why you are not selling milk in the J streets of your town. In Sydney milk bars [ are exceedingly common, and tin , people arc beginning to find that they like milk Very much indeed." . ■ J