NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 31, 6 February 1937, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Young Cricket Enthusiasts. The fact that the reopening of the schools will be considerably later this year is evidently appreciated by 'the small boys of Auckland, who attended in force, at Eden Park yesterday, with the result that the attendance for the first day of the representative cricket match between Auckland and Wellington was much larger than usual for a week day. Loyalty is a strong point with the young Aucklanders, and most of their enthusiasm was reserved for the occasions when a Wellington wicket fell. A Lengthy Case. With a five-day week operating at the Supreme Court, jurors who were empanelled to hear charges of cattle stealing against a Xorth Auckland farmer this week were occupied till nearly nine o'clock last night before they were in a position to return n verdict, which was an acquittal on all counts. The trial began on Wednesday, and in all 32 witnesses were called. The majority of the witnesses were Maoris, and in many instances their evidence had to be tendered" through an interpreter.

1 300 Acres for Houses. The land taken for tlic State housing scheme in the Hutt Valley, near Wellington, comprises about KlflO acres, and the value is £127,310. Some of the owners have not yet received notification of the intention to take their land over. The laud extends on either side of the main road from Park Avenue In Taita. Gorge. On the eastern side nf the road the whole of the land has been taken right hack fo the river, and on the other side the depth of the proposed purchase is about a quarter of a mite. The projected railway line up llio ITutt Valley will run through the area, and that possibility has been allowed for in the area to lie taken over. Old Wreck at Napier. Souvenir» from tlio iron-Kulk-d vessel Jiontmorcney, the remains of which can be seen in the Napier inner harbour at low tide, are being sought by Xapier residents whose parents came to Xew Zealand from England in the vessel. The Montmorencv. which was one of the first iron-hulled vessels to come to Xew Zealand, caught lire in Xapier roadstead on March 27, 1807, and in an attempt to save the vessel the captain ran her ashore. .Since the M3l earthquake the remains of the vessel have been visible at low tide each day. Two Xapier residents who actually came "to Xew Zealand in the Montmoreney' the trip before she was wrecked are Mr.' and Mrs. Montgomery, of Battery Road, Xapier. Mr. Montgomery, who is DO years old, was one of the earliest residents of "the district, and for some years was driver of the mail coach from Xapier to Waipawa. "Greatly Exaggerated." A story -.vliich has its origin in Katikati. near Waihi, where a supposed "corpse" came suddenly to life, was recently told to n "Star" representative, reports our Wailii corrcspendent. Its authenticity is vouched for. The principal actor In trie iittle drama had been desperately ill. and so precarious was his enndition th.it the physician believed he would not survive the liiglit. This, the medico passed on next morning to a friend of the supposed dying man. and a report that death had occurred gnined currency in the township. Moved by an impulse of sympathy, the friend immediately set about ' prepariii" a wreath. The man, however, did not die. and on his recovery to normal health he hastened to pay his respects to his sympathetic friend, having, during the process of convalescence, heard ahout the making of the wreath. The happy denouement can be imagined, as the visitor explained that his death, like Mark Twiiin's reported demise, "had been greatly exaggerated." The " Oyster Derby." The first oysters of. the 1037 season arrived at Invercargill at 2.30 o'clock on Monday afternoon. A jar of them placed on the desk of the editor of the "Southland Times" at that time won for Mr. IT. Thompson the 1037 Derby, his fifth victory in eight years and his second in succession. In former years the derby has been over hours before it was on Monday, but the comparative lateness was not, due to any lack of enterprise on the part of the competitors. In the pasl it has been the practice to send launches out from IlinlT to rush ashore the first sack caught by the trawlers, but the weather effectively daunted the hopes of any who hoped In get an early advantage by this means. The merchants could do nothing but wait on the oyster wharf until the arrival in the early afternoon of the first two of the trawling fleet. Mr. Thompson got an early delivery of a sack of oysters, and lie and his sons took turns in carrying the heavy burden from the oyster wharf to the road, where a car was waiting. Once in the car no time was wanted on the journey to Invercargill. A boy in the ear employed his time in opening oysters from the sack to fill the bottle for tlie editor—no mean performance in a fast-moving ear. The next stop was at the "Southland Times" ofTiee. where Mr. Thompson received the riband trophy, inscribed "Oyster Derby, 1937 —the Winner," for his victory, and, turning from derbies to stern business, went to his shop to prepare against the onrush of a public eager for a taste of Hie oysters they had not soeu for four long months.

Mount Eden Baths. The work of installing the ehlorination and filtration plant at the Mount Kden Baths his been completed, and pure water is now provided in the baths for swimmers. Visitors to'the, pool have expressed their pleasure at the big improvement the new plant lias brought about. Girls and Boys. Small children are apt to get tired of doing one thing for any length of time, but the organised games conducted bv the Community Sunshine Association at Cribblehirst, Crey Lynn, and Potter's Parks, during the past month, have shown that girls an- in general more affected than boys in this respect. The cricket games played by the boys were fully en joyed by the players, who entered into the spirit of ibe games with zest, and rounders were a success with the girls. If the children were on the swings, however, or playing tennis or band ball, it was not very long before they changed fr one to the other, with childish unconcern, no doubt thoroughly enjoying themselves, but confusing the supervisors a little, perhaps, in the process.

Intermittent Workers. The solution of the employment problem, and the one which the Government would have to face up to. said the Hon. YV. 10. Parry, Minister of Internal Affairs, at Morrinsvifle yesterday, was to train an army of workers in ratio to the intermittent labour required. The Covernment would be responsible lor the payment to these men of a living wage during the season in which their service's were not required in industry. "When industry needed men tliey would then have trained workers to draw upon. Mr. Parry said tin question of farm labour and wages would-be thoroughly investigated and necessary adjustments would be made. Other industries beside farming needed workers for a (lush season of the year, after which the industry was not concerned about how (he worker lived for the remainder of (he year. New Zealanders in London. Eleven Xew Zealand schools now have London branches of (heir old students- associations. The list, given in the "Xew Zealand News," is as under:—Christ's College: Hon. secretary, Mr. Hal Williams. -CI." Bedford Square, W.C.I. Wailaki: Mr. I{. ]•'. de Vries, •17. f.'resham Street. K.C.ii. Wanganui: Mr. C. J. Winy, 111. Buckingham Street, W.C.2. Wellington College: Rev. I!. K. Young, IS, Ferndale Road, Knlield Lock. Middlesex. Xelson College: Mr. .1. 11. Andrews, Holm House. Mussclhurgh. Midlothian. Otago Roys' High School: Dr. I. H. Maclean. St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington, W. 2. Christehurch Roys' High School: Mr. J. Struthers. on, St. James' Avenue, Hampton Hill. Middlesex. King's College: Mr. .T. W. Potts, c/o Xew Zealand House. Auckland Cirnninuir School: Mr. A. S. Kintoul, ISS, Hamilton Terrace. X.W.K. Auckland Diocesan flirls' School: Miss M. C.uußon. .'iO, Elvaston Place. 5.W.7. Marsden. Wellington: Mrs. C. Itamnnn. Miss Xita Kei.l. MS. Bromley Road. Heckenham, Kent.

Men for Harvest Work. The fact that f>7 farmers in and around the Morrinsvillc district had engaged men from the special camp .if sustenai men established at Morrinsville in December by the Minister of Labour was referred to by M>. 11. Coulter. M.P. for Wailcato, when addressing the Morrinsvillc Chamber of Comrce .in Thursday evening. This seemed t.i indicate, said Mr. Culler, that the establishment of the camp had been justified, although unusually wet weather had interfered with harvesting work. The cam), manager had told him that farmers had asked for the same men to be sent to them when applying for further workers. ami that was proof' that farmers were satisfied with the men. Several men from the camp had been placed in permanent positions on farms, and one was managing a farm where there were 02 cows lo be milked while the owner was away. Mr. Coulter expressed the hope that the camp would be i-.-tainecl. and the men used for other work. Some had alreadv been sent out to clear ragwort on infested farms.

Successful Agriculture. In (he Xorth Auckland district there are many desolate stretches of land, most of which have been attacked with spear and spade by the gumdigger. During his tour of the Xorth the Minister of Lands, the Hon. Frank Langstone. inspected many of these waste spaces, and he became particularly interested in a large area of ironstone country in tlic vicinity of Wnipapa, near Kerikeri, containing some I.VOO acres. Kxperiments were carried out bv the Covernment for sou..' vears on this bind with a view 1,, the establishment of pastures, but these were abandoned owing lo lack of i>in-oilr:l»illy result-. A settler on a small i.ri'ii of Ibe sa: l.isof land iidioininir the Crown property invited Mr. I.anu-itoue (~ inspect his hol.liie- of ten acres, and the Minister was "really Mir-

prised at the grass establishment, which n, extraordinarily good. Tlic settler explained that what. Hie Minister had seen was the result of individual effort over three years. He had worked the section with a view to getting it ready for citrus growing. At the present time about live acres are in red ami white clover, ryegrass, cocksfoot and pastialnni, this representin>' a balanced dairying pasture. The occupfcr said he had used blood and bone and phosphatie manures. TTc had applied about 12ewt to (he acre over the thro-; years. The Minister, in noting the success "achieved, complimented the settler on his work, which forms a valuable addition to the information available in treaCn;; this class of land, and which may prove of great benefit to others.