NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 33, 9 February 1937, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

What is a Cattle Dog? The question whether an Alsatian could be registered as a cattle dog was briefly discussed at the meeting of tbe Jnglewood County Council, when it was stated that the Act f'id not specify any particular breed of dog as a cattle dog. If a farmer could prove that a dog was used for driving cattle, he could have that dog registered as a cattle dog, the inspector said. He instanced the cas.; ol two fox terriers that were used to drive cattle, and hud been registered as cattle dogs for three or four years. Party Objective. One of the objectives (if the Xew Zealand Labour party is the socialisation of the means nt production, distribution and exchange, and the advisability of amending this policy will be discussed at the annual conference of the party, which is to be held at Wellington at Ka-ter. The matter will be introduced for discussion by way of a remit from the Xew Lynn branch, which will move that the objective be altered to read as follows: "The objective of the party is the overthrow of capitalism, and the establishment in its place of socialism —meaning by "socialism" the public ownership of all sources of wealth and exchange, co-operatively controlled by the workers engaged therein." Good Late Apricots. Stone fruit crops in Otago are now reaching the peak of the season, and particularly good apricots are coming in from Central Otago. There has been more rain than usual, and its effect on the general condition/if the trees and also nil the appearance of the apples and pears is apparent. Apple crops are heavy, and the quality, as a whole, should be above the average, us ihe trees are more Vigorous and better in general health. Kxport crops should also be above the average, and information from oversea.! indicates that the Kiiglixh market should be a. reasonably safe proposition for growers. Bowls a Tiring Game. Bowls was once regarded as a game essentially for old men—or at least for men who had become too old for cricket, tennis and games. Tournament play, however, is strenuous, and taxes the physical strength of the comparatively young as well as of the old. There were players at a recent Taranaki tournament ranging from about 21 years to over 75 years. One young player of splendid physique remarked that he had played cricket, tennis, Rugby football and other games, but he had never felt so tired as he felt after having played four rounds of bowls in the pairs tournament. He had been playing from 0 a.m. until nearly 7 p.m., with an hour's break for lunch, and during that time had delivered 3">2 bowls and had traversed the green 84 times at least.

Two-way Radio Trucks. The preliminary work in the Auckland Electric Power Board's scheme to equip its service trucks with two-way radio communication facilities has l>een completed, and it is now possible to prepare a specification and call for tenders. This fact was reported to tlu> board yesterday by the general manager, Mr. R. H. 'Hartley.' The report stated that it would bp necessary to have the receiving equipment some distance from the city, as the board's urea was not particularly good for radio reception under ordinary power outputs. The transmission set should he established at King's wharf, and the receiving station in the centre of the board's area, possibly at Otahuhu. The receiving station would be operated by remote control from King's wharf, where the existing staff could attend to the communications. The report was adopted, and authority 'given for the calling of tenders. Maoris as Farmers.

Acknowledging tributes paid to him by Messrs. Taite to Tomo, px-M.P. for the Western Maori electorate, and by H<>n<rihonpi Kapara, the paramount chief of the Maniapoto and Waikato tribes, at the Te Kopua jubilee celebrations on Saturday. Mr. W. J. Broadfoot, M.P. for Waitomo. said the Maori land settlement scheme inaugurated by Sir Apirina Njrata and continued by Princess Te Puea Herangi, was proving a jrreat. asset to the Maori race. The plan had spread over the Dominion, and there were 74 schemes under way, covering about 000,000 acres. His advice to the Maoris was to work amicably with the Department, because it had the capital, and the officers had the desire and will to help them. The Maori settlers should seize every opportunity for advancing the settlement scheme us a means of becoming independent farmers, Mt. TJroadfoot added. Air Ambulance. The discovery of a broken longeron in the new air ambulance recently purchased by the Auckland Aero flub has caused delay in putting the machine into service. The aeroplane, an American Heechcraft, reached Xew Zealand about Christinas. Tt cost over £2.">00. to which the public subscribed, and is probably the fastest aeroplane in Xew Zealand, it" cruising speed ranging from 1-V> to ltiti miles an hour, according to altitude. The machine is almost completely assembled, but the •.'round staff of the dub at Mangere i« unable tn complete the work until repairs, which may include the fittin.n of a new part, are carried out to the satisfaction of the Clovernment inspector of aircraft. The Beeelieraft has accommodation for the pilot and four passenfrers, but it can be made ready in a few minutes to carry, in addition to the pilot, a stretcher, patient and attendant. Tt is a cabin biplane with retractable undercarriage, a metal propeller (ind an electric starter, and internally resembles an expensive closed motor car.

Famous Badge-holders. The preeentation of the gold insignia of office, carrying with it the honour of "distinguished life membership" of the Wellington branch of the English-speaking Union, showed that Sir Douglas Mawson was already a life member of the body. The president of the branch, the Hon. W. Perry, M.L.C., said the only previous recipient of the badge was Lord Nuffield. Happy Heme Bay. The passenger tendered a. florp for a threepenny fare. The eon*tc#>r glared, tore off a ticket, and counted out seven threepences. "That'll have to do you,"' he said, with a hint of asperity. •'Don't know what's the matter with them tins morning. They've all been to church, or something. Not a small coin among the lot of them," and, with a gesture of helplessness, he dipjied into his bag to bring up a fistful of half-crowns and florins, "tin this Heme Bay run they are the best lot of passengers in Auckland. Not another district can compete with them. Always lots of small change, and. what's more, a happy '(■ood morning!' for the conductor.' . Magisterial Surprise. There do exist people whose signatures conform to the almost forgotten standard of copperplate. One case cropped up in the I'hristchnrch Magistrate's Court recently. Mr. K. 0, Levvey. K.M., during the hearing of an inquest, questioned a witness' signature. "Is this your signature, or is it stamped Y , ' he asked. The witness assured him that it was hia usual signature. An examination of any hotel register will reveal a deplorable lack of legibility among the signatures ' of fully ."><) per cent of travellers. There are some business men who take the precaution rif having their name typed underneath their signatures, and the practice is capable of extension. People's Playtime. In supporting a proposal to spend money to provide a running track at I'rince, Hdward Park. Mr. I). Weir, a member of the Pa pa k lira Town Board, last evening spoke strongly of local bodies' responsibilities towards providing sport for the people. "The working people of this Dominion have now more time on their hands, and public bodies will have to provide sports- grounds," he said. "Sport plays an important part in developing the physique of the people, and we must do our best to help the young people of Papakura."' The chairman, Mr; McEntee, agreed that the time had come when the people's playtime was an important part of community life, and the board would be failing in its duty if it refused to help.

A Rich Country. "Yes, you are a very rich country.' . This was the comment of a French tourist, who recently made a tour of Xew Zealand. Among the towns visited was Kaikohe. situated in the midst of a thriving agricultural district. The Frenchman took a photograph of a fruit ehop conducted by an Oriental, and some advertising boards concerning tung oil sections for sale. "What you do iii New Zealand would l>e laughed at in France," he said. "You have good land all around and a rural population. Your people are too well off to grow vegetables. You import your potatoes from Pukekohe, and your fruit and vegetables from Auckland. Yes, you are a rich country indeed." Party Tickets. Apparently with the object of eliminating confusion at elections, particularly when candidates of the same surname and different parties present {hemselves to the electors, a remit will be presented to the annual Labour party conference next month, suggesting an amendment to the Electoral Act where it relates to party tickets. The remit, which will be sponsored by the Dannevirke and Xortb Canterbury branches of the party, suggests that it be a recommendation to the fJovernment that ballot papers for all elections shall state not only the candidate's name, but also the name of the party that the candidate supports, failing which it shall not be unlawful to distribute outside polling booths party tickets.

Northcote'e " Annual Fire." A block of about, ten acres in Church Street. Xorthcote, to the south of the Birkenhead and Xorthcote Gas Company's works, is covered by a bulbous plant known as Watsonia. Each summer this seeds and dies, and regularly each year the area, which is owned by the estate of the late Mr. -Edmund Hell, is swept by fire. This is known locally as "Xortheote's annual fire." At 8.30 o'clock last evening the Xorthcote fire brigade was summoned to a fire in the dry weed, which Htarted at the bottom of .the hill, near the beach. The flames were fanned by a westerly breeze, but were kept within reiiHonnble bounds, and none of the houses in the locality suffered damage. The weed did not burn as well as usual, as it was yet partly greer owing to the wet season. A large crowd •lathered and watched the burn for an hour. Fast Wool Ships. A remarkably fast passage of less than 14 days from Wellington to Yokohama wa> recently completed by the Osakn Shosen Kaisha motor ship. Tokyo Muni, which delivered a shipment of wool in less than four weeks after it was sold in Dunedin. and a fortnight after the Wellington sale. The Tokyo Main, which came specially from Australia to lift the wool, loaded KOOO bales ,-it Dunedin and 3000 bales at Wellington. The ship departed from Wellington at 12.20 a.m. on January 12. and arrived at Yokohama during the afternoon of January 25, havinn made the passage of over 5000 miles in a shade over IS) days, at nn average speed of over 10 knots. The Tokyo Mam and her sister shin Canberra Maru are motor ships of 0-177 tone gross register, and are capable at full power of a speed of 21 knots.