NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 103, 2 May 1936, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Rotorua Road Surface. The touring manager of the Automobile Association (Auckland) states that the Tii'auCainbridge section of the liotorua main highway has been regraded and restored to reasonably fair order. Work is still in progress oil the road, which has been the subject of complaint by touring motorists during the past few weeks because of its rough and potlioled surface. : Life of Tahitian Natives. After living with the natives at Tahiti' for a month getting material for magazine stories, an Illinois journalist, Mr. R. L. Taylor, arrived at Wellington by the Makura this week. Mr. Taylor, whose interest is chiefly in boys' magazines, said he lived the life of tlic natives completely, eating their food and spearing fish with them. He found tlicni a very hospitable and friendly people. ITe will return to the United States shortly and on the way will spend some time at Honolulu. Archbishop in Accident. Archbishop Julius, of Christclnirch, received slight injuries, principally bruises, when the car lie was driving collided with a lar<*e sedan car at the intersection of Moorhouse Avenue and Colombo Street, says the "Press." The Archbishop's car was righted with the assistance of passers-by, and he was able to drive it to a garage. Archbishop Julius has now practically recovered from the mishap, and is going about his ordinary duties.

The Barber's Work. To the average person entering a barber's saloon the barber is a friendly soul anxious to satisfv every whim and willing to speak on any subject that may arise during the tfave or' haircut. The barber is essentially a worker, however, and a recent estimate made by a r Oliristchurcli citv firm showed that theji individual barbers were handling in the vicinity of 0000 people each a yqar, half ot this number being for haircuts and the others for shaves and other treatment.. On these figures the barbers are handling 120 people a week, or 20 a day. Factory Manager's Week.

Every yejtr since 1932 a factory managers week has been held at about this time of the year at the Dairy Research Institute, Palmerston North, and lias been attended }>y considerable numbers of managers and first assistants. The object of the week is to bring the managers and research workers into closer contact with each other. The /sciences chiefly connected with the manufacture of and cheese are chemistry and bacteriology, and the workers in these departments give short addresses and demonstrations of methods in the laboratories. The main outline of the course is similar each year, but any new dc\elopme'/its are explained. The discussions that take place enable the scientists to understand the difficulties of the managers, and the managers to grasp the problems which the research workers endeavour to solve. Apart from these contacts managers and first assistants from all over the Dominion are thrown together and exchange experiences.

" Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind." One does not know whether the traffic man on duty at the corner of Quay Street and Queen Street just before 9 o'clock this morning knows Shakespeare, but if he does, then he must have been muttering horribly about the blowing of "thou winter wind," which, according to Shakespeare, only was "not so unkind" as something or other. The traffic officer was almost blown oil his feet; his coat was whirling round hiin; he had somehow to attend to his hat, which, like other hats on the morning, was in danger. But, like the centurion in the days of Pompeii, he stood his ground. He beckoned the traffic on; he waved it back, with the denying hand. And. if at times his hand did a little unrehearsed action in the direction of his hat, well, no one minded, and no two vehicles started from opposite sides of the road. When the wind blew, as well as giving Shakespeare 'the retort courteous, he leaned at a steep angle to it; he wished for three hands, waved all lie had, and hoped for the best.

Mercury Bay Monster Again. Regarding the Mercury Bay monster paragraph in the "Star" by an Auckland resident, wherein he gives the name of Hardwicke as his authority, our Wliitianga correspondent writes that, not knowing anyone locally of that name, he decided it must be Hartig. The correspondent called on Mr. Hartig, and got the following stoi;y from Harry Hartig, 75 years of age. Mr. Hartig said about 50 years ago he and two other German sailors ran away from the full-rigged ship Katherine in Auckland, and made their way towards (as they afterwards found out) Hamilton. They headed for the bush on the Waikato River, where they built a camp. Hartig was the only one who could speak English a,t the time, and was able to get some flour, with which lie used to make pancakes. Time lying idly on their hands, Hartig made a bow and some arrows, with which he tried to shoot some birds to vary the monotony of pancakes. While out one afternoon, he related, lie heard a rustle in the bush, and on looking up, with his bow poised, he about 50yds away a snake-like black object "raise its head about 14ft in the air several times with a hissing noise. Not knowing whether or not there were any serpents in New Zealand, he was spellbound. For about ten minutes he watched the monster, which was fully 40ft long. Htf then returned to the camp and told his mates, who prepared a couple of heavy sticks to attack the reptile with if attacked.' With fear and dread they put that night in at the camp, leaving' it early next morning and coining out near Paeroa, where they worked on a road that was being made. Hartig told his story to some natives, who told him that the Maoris had seen snch reptiles a hundred years ago. He still swears it is true.

A Busy Council. The importance of tho work done hy the Auckland Metropolitan Milk Council and the amount of time members give to it was shown in the second annual report presented to the council and adopted yesterday. During the year ended March 31 last the council met on 42 occasions, while committees of the council sat on 31 occasions. Finding Jobs. A very creditable state of affairs as far as concerns the placing of technical students in industry was disclosed by the monthly report of the director, Mr. R. G. Ridling, to the Wellington Technical College Board of Governors this week. Of 18 boys and seven pirls who left the college last month only two have not been placed. Another two of the 2r> are at other colleges, and 21 are in industry. Interest taken in the evening school is shown by the fact that 17 of the 25 have enrolled for evening classes. The Village Smithy. "M'm, I see you've been on Roto Roa (island for inebriates) before," commented Mr. E. D. Moslev, S.M., in the Wellington Magistrate's Court, when a burly boilermaker appeared before him to answer for fourth statutory offence of drunkenness. "It was some years ago," replied the accused. 'Do von want'to go there again?" queried the magistrate. "Oil. well," replied the prisoner loudly, "if the blacksmith's shop is vacant, 1 wouldn t mind a spell there for a while." "Vou'll certainly go there if you come before me again," said the magistrate, sentencing the man to a term of imprisonment with hard labour.

Polite New Zealanders. The people of New Zealand are the most polite in the world—so Mr. Byron H. Farrell, a Los Angeles visitor, told a reporter of the Timaru "Herald." Hi! said that lie had never encountered such well-mannered shop assistants a's staffed the Dominion's stores. Aothinp? was too much trouble for tlicin. They did not mind going up even seven floors in the elevator to satisfy a purchaser's requirements, and were always bright and smiling. Why, lie laughed, "the waiters in the hotels even say 'Thank vou' when you take your food from them. I guess all this does not reflect too well on my own country, hut it is nevertheless true," lie remarked.

The Right-hand Rule. "I cannot understand wliy tlic authorities persist with the rifrht-hand rule," commented Mr J. L. Stout, S.M., during the hearing of a motor collision case in the Palmerston >>orth Magistrate's Court. "It is definitely known, lie added, "that it is adopted from countries v ,., ii.- United States and France, where traffic keeps to the right-hand side of the road. One has only to drive to realise its absurdity, because it means taking " the eyes off the line of travel, when tlie natural inclinai« to look to the left. The rule is quite illnnV.nl in its application. It is a, pity that the new Government, which is going to make a clean sweep of traffic.regulations and establish a new code, does not give us a left-hand rule as a fundamental."

Seventh-day Adventists. A number or Seventh-day Adventists are travelling on the steamer Mariposa, which arrived from Sydney this morning, to attend the world conference of Adventists in ban Francisco this month. Everywhere that Adventists go they take the printing press, and they own and operate OS publishing houses and branches in central points throughout the world, which print Gospel literature in 157 different languages. One of these centres is located 011 the high Andes of South America, while another is in Iceland. The sale 01 literature ranges in value from £700,000 to £1 000 000 a year. More than 3000 colporteurs every day traverse the highways and byways of the earth, taking the printed page from home to home. ■ i'fv V ; " A Rose By Any Name." To the traveller in a strange land the game of speculating as to the nature of mysteriously named dishes 011 an hotel menu is an absorbing one. Once he has mastered the subtleties of a Continental bill of faro and found that high-sounding French labels! arc misleading, lie is inclined to think his savoir faire complete. $ut even plain English can offer pitfalls, as was discovered by ail American visitor, soon after he landed on a short holiday visit to New Zealand. With thoughts of a tasty cut of native game moistening his palate, he called for "colonial goose in-an hotel recently. "It wasn't till I got propcrlv started 011 it that I found out that it was not game at all —it was just lamb, he laughed. "But it certainly was nice lamb,' he added.

It Happened One Day. On a road not far from the big city a narrow bridge of fair length crosses a river. Two motorists, admiring the scenery, 01 peiliaiis, just regardless, entered upon it at either end, and, having entered, proceeded. Pace was slackened gradually, but they proceeded until, the irresistible force meeting the immovable object, they rested, nose-on after a minor collision. Until then they mi "lit have been of any race, but _as tlicy emerged from their respective driving seats they were revealed as New Zealanders worthy of the best tradition (if we can believe tourist tales). A apologised to B, and B apologised to A. Then A, with the utmost courtesy, suggeste'd that, as he was a mechanic, he might assist 13 by backing B's car off, and B, with polite gestures, thanked him and permitted the procedure. The manoeuvre completed, A drove 011, but stopped opposite B at the far end. Perhaps, just in case, he should have B's name. B complied; there were further apologies, hands were shaken, smiles exchanged, and the incident closed. Toujours la politesse.

Auckland's " No-hat Brigade." When Lord BarnTjy was in Auckland recently, he was heard to comment favourably on the pjiysique of tlie 4 average young New Zealander, and he also referred to the fact that many men did not wear hats. "I don't know what proportion of your male population makes up the 'no-liat brigade,'" he said, "but I should think it would be a greater percentage than in the Old Country, and certainly very much more than in Canada and the United States, where a bare-headed pedestrian is such a rarity as to excite comment in the street." When the subject was brought to the notice of a clothing store manager— (how seldom one hears the name "hatter" nowadays!) —lie said Auckland certainly did possess a considerable number of "110-hat sheiks." They were a permanent force, so to speak, namely, men who had gone liatless from boyhood, evidently finding that the climate favoured the mode more than it does in colder countries. He had not had many defections from his regular customers. Occasionally one would arrive at the shop liatless, but the usual reason for this was that his "lid" had blown off, generally on a ferry steamer, or while walking over Grafton Bridge. In such cases he would buy a new one, and nearly always one of similar style to the lost article. "It's wonderful how conservative most men are," he said. "They steer clear of new fashions, evidently disliking the idea of being conspicuous in headgear as well as clothing." Trade had, however, received a welcome fillip during the recent spring and summer seasons owing to the introduction of the new style hat, in light felt or "composition," with the fashionable narrow brim and unbound edge. These did not suit everybody, but were very becoming to the average young man of medium height and build. The outfitter chuckled when he related the experience of one of his most regular customers, who had bought two new hats since last Christinas. "I'm. serioi'Jj thinking of becoming a seller of hats instead of a buyer," said the customer. "I'm going to get my stock out of Grafton Gully, and start a shop 011 the city side of the bridge."