NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 236, 5 October 1935, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Christmas Story Competition. Entries are already being received for the Christinas short story competition which is being held by the “Auckland Star” in conjunction with tbe “Christchurch Star-Sun.” Writers are invited to send in, not later than November 20, stories of about 2500 words. These must have a connection with Christinas, and preference will be given to those with a New Zealand setting. Three prizes are offered —four guineas, two guineas mid one guinea. Maori Gatherings at Bluntly.

An important native gathering will take place at Waahi pa, Huntly, on Tuesday next in connection with tl.e anniversary of the young King Kuroki. Visitors from all over New Zealand will attend. Many matters of importance to the native race will be dealt with, including the future welfare and establishment of the Maori King. The native attitude in the pending general election will also be discussed. A sports meeting is to be held in connection with the gathering, and entertainment will be provided by a noted troupe of Northern Maoris. The following evening the troupe will give an entertainment at Ngaruawahia. Pewter Bullets. <

A story told by a member of the selection committee for the Loan Exhibition of Antiques has both a humorous and a tragic side. While he was examining several pieces of pewter belonging to an early settler of Auckland he was told by the owner how in those early days North Auckland abounded in wild pigs. The tale-teller and his brother found that bullets made of pewter were much better than the ordinary lend ones, so they melted down the greater part of a collection brought to this country by their parents. Thus there disappeared into the insides of pigs a collection of pewter that would now be worth several hundred pounds.

The “ Man In Blue.” Close to the wall of the Ponsonby reservoir, on the Karangahapb Road footpath, is a seat which often affords ’'grateful rest to tired pedestrians, particularly the elderly. On a recent sunny morning an old man who was dozing there, with half-closed eyes, was observed suddenly to jerk himself upright. The explanation for his start was that when almost asleep, he had observed a pair of legs clad in blue serge coming towards him. It was not a police officer, but a passer-by who happened to be wearing a suit of the “official” colour. The old gentleman was heard to remark disgustedly that if he had only looked a little higher up, so that a civilian coat and waistcoat could have come within his line of vision, he would have gone on resting. A Bath in Japan.

Taking a bath in Japan is a different thing frdm taking one in your own home, accqrding to' Miss N. Moncrieff, who related some of her experiences in the East to members of the Travel Club yesterday. 'J he baths in Japan were community affairs, she said; the men took theirs in chorus about four in the afternoon and the women a little later. At one inn at which she stayed a good deal of explaining was needed before the innkeeper understood how Europeans wished to take their baths, but finally he had the bathroom doors taken off and put round the other way, with their locks inside, for the benefit of his" foreign guests. The Japanese, said Miss Moncrieff, made themselves clean before entering the bath by pouring buckets of water over themselves. Once in the bath they would settle down to a comfortable gossip. Relief Workers’ Holidays.

A circular letter from the New Zealand Returned Soldiers’ Association. dealing with the question of paid holidays for relief workers has been received by the Dunedin Association. The letter states-that until further notice is given it has been arranged that each of the- following holidays will be regarded as paid holidays for all relief workers other than those employed under schemes 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, 7 and 11:—Good Friday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day, the King’s Birthday and Labour Day. Any relief worker, including gold prospectors, under schemes 5 and Ba, who is eligible and who would ordinarily lie employed, will receive pay as though he had worked, but those who would be ordinarily standing down on the day in question will not receive pay.

Southland Timber. The timber industry, in common with other industries in the Dominion, was hard hit during the earlier periods of the economic crisis, so much so that mills' in all parts of New Zealand were considerably restricted in their operations. In many places the industry was practically at a standstill. For some little time past since the period of national recovery' has been felt in both town and country districts there has been a recrudescence of activity in the timber industry. Last week the Paua loaded 35,000 super feet of timber at the Bluff, part of an order for 349,500 super feet, which constitutes a record order in the Dominion for Southland case timber. The timber industry in Southland has been considerably stimulated in consequence of this order, and there are signs in many other directions of the reawakening of industrial activity. Progressive Perth.

One of the.most progressive cities seen in the course of an extensive tour of Europe, Great Britain and America, is Perth, the capital of West Australia, according to Mr. H. E. Morton, who passed through Auckland yesterday by the Mariposa. Mr. Morton said that the city' council of that city had been gradually buying acre after acre in the environs of the city, and had been laying it out on approved and modern methods of town planning. “They' are doing wonders,” said Mr. Morton, “and the town clerk, Mr. Bold, seems to be the moving spirit behind it all.” lie added that he and his wife had seen many' cities in the world since they left Australia du their world tour, but few had impressed them more than Perth. The other city which Mr. Morton put in the same category' as Perth was San Francisco, which had been made famous by the simultaneous building of two mighty bridges. ” Made In Birmingham.'”

Mention in “News of the Day” of the greenstone tiki sent from New Zealand to England and found to have been made in Birmingham recalls to a correspondent an amazing adventure that once befell two soldiers of the regular army in India. They raided a temple and stole a golden idol, getting away with it after a terrific fight with the° guardian attendants, who had “spotted” them. Painfully wounded, they examined the treasure, which bore on its base the mark of the hardware metropolis, and was made of the finest—brass. A few years ago the Associated Chambers of Commerce of Great Britain held their annual conference in Birmingham, and the chairman was the late Sir Gilbert Vyle, head of the firm of Averys, Ltd. In the course of a characteristically witty speech at the annual banquet he said: “Gentlemen, as you well know, Birmingham is - ftc-n described as ‘the city of a thousand trades.’ That description is‘amply justified, for there are over a thousand skilled trades within our boundaries, and our craftsmen are famed the world over. No doubt most of you have heard a dramatic monologue entitled, ‘The .Green Eye of the Little Yellow God.’ I can assure you that here, in Birmingham, we are in a position to supply the green eye and also the little yellow god, either separately, together, or in bulk.”

Tide Tables for Next Year. The harbourmaster, Captain H. H- Sergeant, has prepared the tidal predictions for the first six months of 193(5. These are of interest to the hundreds of folk whose chief pleasure it is to iisli and to make excursions by launch and yacht in the gulf* and along the coastal waters. Officers of yachting clubs and aquatic associations requiring details can get them by applying to the harbourmaster. Machine Versus Horse.

Those who predicted during the time of the introduction of farm machinery that the machine would soon entirely displace the horse on the farm would have lost all confidence in their prophetic powers if they had attended the Claudelands spring horse fair last week. An entry of 200 horses suitable for all classes of farm work were eagerly competed for by a large attendance of farmers, who paid prices up to £5O for their purchases. This would indicate that the machine is never likely to displace the farm horse entirely.

Archery Now the Game. Archery, of a sort, would seem to have supplanted kite flying for the moment in the youthful favour of Christchurch. The streets have been terrorised for the last two weeks by enterprising, if unskilful, gangs of youths who follow this ancient art. Their intentions may be good, but danger arises from their misdirections. For the most part the bows and arrows are of nondescript appearance, and just as liable to shoot off at a tangent to the line of fire as go straight. This factor, combined with an untrained eye but a vast amount, of energy, makes the late afternoon walk in certain streets a rather hazardous affair. Making Hay at 8500 ft. »

High mountains are given little thought as possible pastures in New Zealand, but in the Austrian Tyrol every piece of mountain pasture is made use of, according to Mr, Walter Baker, of Christchurch, who returned last week from a holiday in Europe. “If you climbed to the top of a hill 8500 ft high in the Tyrol at the end of the summer you are as likely as not to find a farmer there mowing the grass with a scythe,” he said. “The grass is sent .down the mountain sides in nets, and it all goes to make hay. Nothing that will make hay is neglected, and the cows are led on the plentiful mountain flowers as well as the glass.”

Uses of Dust. “One must be very careful about dusting,” said Archbishop Julius, speaking about suggestions for cleaning the Christchurch Cathedral. “It is said that the famous eighteenthcentury sculptor, Flaxman, once went to Westminster Abbey and found a man cleaning statues, including one of his own. He jumped at him in a rage and dragged him away, asking him what he meant. ‘Bid you not know that I allowed for the dust when considering the light and shade in making the statue?’ he said. Flaxman was an authority on the subject, and certainly I should not like to have anyone tampering with an effigy of me,” concluded Archbishop Julius. New Zealand Lands. “In my opinion the South Island has a greater area of good land than the North,” said Mr. G. IT. Holford, speaking of the value of irrigation and soil survey work in New Zen In nd at the conference iq Christchurch of South Island progress leagues. “We do not suffer the disadvantages of scrub land and fern land,” he said. .Mr. Holford pointed out the benefits to be gained by concentration in the districts where farming was most profit; able, saying that in the United States of America" farmers had been removed from thousands of acres of unprofitable land, where they had been struggling to survive, to land which was more productive.

Material Values. There is a material as well as a cultural value in the knowledge of artistic values, and the Loan Exhibition at present in Auckland abounds in examples of artistic treasures which were purchased for small sums. Facing the lift on the top floor of Hart’s building, where the exhibition is being held, is a beautiful carved Flemish table, dated about 1800. It was bought by Mrs. John Seabrook for 7/, and she had to have several eoats of paint removed from it before its original beauty was revealed. Other examples are in the purchase of a piece of Chelsea plate for a few shillings, and -its eventual sale for over £3O; and in the purchase by Captain G. Humphreys Davies for lid of a bundle of books, one of which later brought to him a net profit of £7B. Many Years a Firefighter.

The resignation from the Morrinsvillc Volunteer Fire Brigade of Superintendent W. E. Grigg, who has been in charge of the brigade for the past 11 years, and has 27 years’ service in various brigades, was received with expressions of sincere regret at the brigade meeting on Thursday evening. Mr. Grigg has left the district to reside in Matamata. The feelings of the firemen were voiced by Deputy-Superintendent G. Lingard, and Mr. B. Chapman expressed thanks to Mr. Grigg for his services to the borough. Mr. Grigg received the coveted gold star for 25 years’ service two years ago, and has qualified for a silver bar to it. He had previously served in the old Arch Hill, Grey’ Lynn and Auckland City brigades. Tablet Danger.

“You could put my name in place of Mr. Gordon's and say' that exactly the same thing happened to me,” said Mr. G. C. W. Reid, managing director of the Reid New Zealand Rubber Mills, in conversation with a “Star” reporter. He was referring to the incident in the Magistrate’s Court at Taumarunui this week, when a coat worn by counsel, Mr. J. A. Gordon, suddenly burst into flames. The fire was caused by friction between some loose chlorate of potash throat tablets and a box of wooden matches. The same happened to Mr. Reid a tew days ago. He beat out the flames with his hands, but there was not much left of the pocket. Striking a tablet against a safety match box, a city chemist demonstrated how highly explosive they were. Friction against a nail, or other object, in the pocket might set them off, he saiil, or it might happen even through the tablets being carried loose in the pocket l>y themselves. A blow would explode them. There was nothing that could be done to counteract the danger, owing to the freedom with which the substance gave up its oxy'gen. They were usually sold in a bottle or a tin, and the only safe way to carry' them was in a tin by themselves. Ravages of the Borer.

Apparently the common house borer has been credited with more notoriety in New Zealand than is strictly its due. The annual report of the Director of Forestry (Mr. A. D. McGavock), detailing the work done by the State Forest Service in the last year, mentions that in an effort to develop practical measures for the control and prevention of borer attack numerous inspections and examinations of infested material were made throughout the year. “While the common house borer (Anobium domesticum) has undoubtedly been responsible for the greater part of the attack of the softwood timbers, it now appears that it has been erroneously -credited with the attack of such hardwoods as tawa, taraire, 'etc., which are commonly infested with the powder post beetles (Lyctus spp.). The insect now causing most damage, however, is undoubtedly the native two-toothed longhorn (Ambeodontus trtetis), the ravages of which are being reported in increasing numbers from all parts of the Dominion. It cannot be emphasised too strongly that continual inspection of all woodwork is necessary .if practical control measures of this and other wood-boring insects are to be effected.”