NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 307, 28 December 1935, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Notice to Our Readers. There will be no issue of the "Auckland Star" on January 1 (New Year's Day). The Shortland Street office will be open tiU nine o'clock on Tuesday, New Year's Eve. In the Money. ''... The Takanini trainer of trotting horses was very much in the picture at the Auckland Trotting Club's meeting yesterday. Smith had a drive in seven, of the eight races, and six times, he finished in the money. He recorded one straight-out win, a dead-heat for first place, on'e second, and three thirds. , Quick Work. An example of now modern means of communication have cut down distance was provided by a sequel to the Empire Christmas broadcast at Wellington. Speaking from 2YA on behalf of New Zealand, and in response to greetings from his grandchildren in London, Sir, Harold Beaucliamp was on the air at 3 o'clock on Thursday morning, At 3.14 in the afternoon he received a cablegram from a friend iii Boston, Massachusetts, informing him that he had heard every word that Sir Harold had spoken. Air Mail Coming. The Christmas air mail from London, which, through being delayed 24 hours on its way to Australia, failed to connect with the passenger steamer Monowai, was dispatched from Melbourne on Tuesday by the cargo steamers Canadian Challenger and Kaimiro, the former, clue at Lyttelton on Sunday, taking the Southern portion, and the latter, clue at Auckland on Tuesday, with the North Island's share. Both are also carrying ordinary Australian mails. Had the air mail not been delayed, it would have arrived at Auckland by the Monowai last Monday ■ and been delivered before Christmas. Also 24 hours behind schedule, the next Empire air mail is du" at Sydney to : day, and if no cargo steamer is available earlier than January 2 it will be dispatched from Sydney by the R.M.M.S. Aorangi on that date, arriving at Auckland on January 0. Popular Devonport Domain. The country cricketers in town for the annual tourney have no regrets that Eden Park was otherwise occupied for the first twoj clays of the contests, as they have become enamoured of the charms of the Devonport Domain and its amenities. The wickets and outfield were perfect, while trees offered a grateful shade from the blazing sun for those waiting or watching. A refreshing swim was available at the adjacent beach; a satisfying lunch at the "village inn" nearby; :wid afternoon tea, with seasonal dainties, provider! by the ladies' committee of the North Shore Club. All these things combined to provide cricket under the most satisfying conditions, not to mention the enjoyable ferry trip, with a close-up view of three ocean-going monsters like the Orama, Rangitane and Mariposa-, lying at adjacent /berths yesterday morning, which provided finite a special thrill to taik about when the country men return home. A vote of thanks to the ladies and officials of the North Shore Club was carried with hearty cheers at the tea interval yesterday." No School Homework. The "no homework, longer school hours" experiment at the Keighley Girls' Grammar School, England, was touched upon by the headmistress, Mrs. Margaret Kirk, in the course of her annual report. There are 400 girls at the school, said Mrs. Kirk, and only six children and seven parents had expressed themselves in favour of a return to the old system. "My idea behind the plan," said Mrs. Kirk, "is that I want the children to go home from school free from any task for the next day, so that they could spend their evening in whatever way thev thought best, with the wireless and the films or other amusements." Touching upon the same subject, the Arch-; bishop of York expressed the hope that the girls would take the advice of the headmistress on the. use of their spare time for following up interests of their own. He ( urged them to find some really strong interest with which they could exercise their minds and to give it all they could. J

Large Shark in Harbour. While flying over the Tamaki Estuary between Lady's Bay and Buckland's Beach on Thursday afternoon, two occupants of an Auckland Aero Club aeroplane, Messrs. P. C. Lewis and F. Stewart, saw a shark, which « they estimated was at least 12ft in length. ! The fish was first mistaken for a porpoise, but when it rose to the surface it was seen Ito be a shark. The exhaust from the aeroplane apparently scared the shark, which dived and was not seen again. Missed by a Day. Mr. T. I'. Hughson, a Taranaki business man, who has returned after nine months in Britain and the Shetland Islands, believes he missed seeing the Loch Ness monster by one day, reports the "Post's" New Plymouth correspondent. Mr. Hughson said he was told "the monster had appeared" the day after his visit. Extraordinary tales were still being told of the appearances of the monster. Mr. Hughson said that many people believed it was a myth engineered by ferry steamer'owners, who were enjoying a roaring trade on the | loch, but others believed as devoutly that it was genuine. One man swore to Mr. Hughson that he had seen the monster on the surface of the loch for 20 minutes. Busy Day for Shopkeepers. Yesterday was another good day for Auckland shopkeepers, and various stores were crowded from early till late by people, principally women, who were making purchases to replenish larders "which had become depleted since Christmas Eve. All branches of busi- ' ness, however," came in for a good share of business, as many people, not content only with securing Christmas gifts, were choosing presents suitable for the New Year. It was noticeable that tourists off the Orama and the Mariposa were well to the fore in buying mementoes, Maori carvings and tikis being particularly popular with the visitors. It was abundantly clear that the heavy tourist traffic, coinciding with the holiday period, had assisted materially to swell the takings of shopkeepers this year. A Helpful Guard. A Christchurch business man who has recently returned from the North Island remarked that he had a most unusual experience while travelling in the Wairarapa district. The guard on the train came through the carriages whenever they were passing anything of particular interest, and explained to the passengers just what it was they were seeing. The traveller was most impressed with the manner in which this guard gave passengers the little extra service which made the journey so much more interesting. He also commented on the fact that there was no provision on the railway stations between Wellington and Napier for passengers to secure meals. The journey took all day, and tea was all that could be secured. Another question asked by this observant business man was why the Government did not organise a service of ice-creams during the hot months and have boys travelling back and forward through the train selling ice-creams and cool drinks. Pipis and Crabs. Pipis have their uses and advantages, but this bathing season it seems that they are going to prove troublesome on the Brighton beaches, reports the Christchurch "Press." Prom far up the beach near the Waimakariri River to the estuary at Sumner, numberless pipis abound, and bathers on till pails ct the beach- have received cut feet. The pipis all along are packed close together, and run in a strip several yards wide, which it is difficult to cross with bare feet. They have the sharpness of knife edges, and most bathers have found by now that to run into the sea is lo invite nasty wounds. Last year The pipis were very plentiful, but few residents imar any portion of the beach can rem?n>be- a season when they were so abundant. The two circumstances may or may not have any connection, but it has also been found by bathers tiiut an ; extraordinary number of large crabs are present in the shallow water near the shore this year. One regular bather who had never ttffi) the experience before was bitten on his toes by crabs twice in a quarter of an hour The crabs are quite tenacious, and one wts still attached to the bather's foot when he pulled it out of the water. Queer Freights by Aeroplane. A likely development of commercial air services in New Zealand will be the use of aeroplanes for freight carriage, for it has been well said that air freight includes "anything and everything." Even the limited experience of regular air services the community lias had so far has provided illuminating illustrations of the variety of urgent demands which can be met by aerial transport. Recently nearly a quarter of a ton of West Coast whitebait was flown' from Christchurch to Wellington to meet a shortage in supplies. Last year a consignment of yeast was rushed to Nelson to satisfy the needs of a baker who had exhausted his supply just, when he was preparing for the big bake for Christmas. How much this traffic is likely to develop with more services is shown by the record of Qantas Empire Airways, which celebrated the first birthday of its operation between Singapore and Brisbane on December 10. On a recent flight from Singapore the ashes of a person cremated in Italy were carried to Brisbane in a copper urn in the freight compartment of a Qantas air liner. Next to the urn lay a box containing a setting of eggs consigned from London to a poultry fancier in Sydney. Orchids, cocaine, models of theatrical, scenery, an Act of Parliament forwarded to London for the King's sir/iatlire, anthrax cultures, radium, live lizards, an electric razor, gas mantles, dyed moleskins, microscope spare parts, natural history specimens, and shark ~'-'-'.s are but a few of the more unusual | consignments that figure on the freight maniI fests.

Good Farmers of the Future. That there should be no lack of good farmers in the future was indicated by the keen interest displayed in the calf-judging parades that were a feature of the end of the school year in the Morrinsville district. The Morrinsville Calf Club, which was sponsored by the Morrinsville A. and P. Society, is conducting its third annual competitions, about 100 children at the Morrinsville and surrounding schools being on its list of members, each of whom reared a calf this season. For various reasons some of the calves were not on parade at school just before the holidays, but other children demonstrated their enthusiasm by leading their calves along the road for over four miles from their homes to the school, and others were taken in lorries. At Morrinsville School there were 14 calves on parade, and at Kereone School, which is the centre of the well-known Kereone soldier settlement, there were 19 calves. The judge, Mr. W. MontgOmerie, a prominent Te Aroha farmer, stated that the calves were generally of good dairying type and were in just the right condition. In the two previous seasons tliat Mr. Montgomerie had judged the school calves some had '** too fat for dairy cattle, the children mistakenly thinking that the fatter a calf was the better. This error had been pointed out to them at the calf club parades, and now there were only occasional calves that were "too well done" or carried "too much condition," as dairy men say. Each child with a calf in the parades at the schools was presented with a button badge inscribed "Calf Club Member," and the owners of the best four calves received ornate certificates of merit. The three best calves from each s'hoo' --■' , be el'"" 'e to compete at the Mor- ]••---"'• \. and T*. Show in March in the calf club championship of the district.