NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 200, 24 August 1937, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Shilling Buys a Hack. At a Bnudaberg (Queensland) City Cooncfl sale of impounded stock, the highest bid that could be raised for a fairly well proportioned teek was 1/. Xo one could be induced to bid any higher, and he was eventually knoeked down to a relief worker. Thames Gold. Gold to tie value of £600 was won by men employed under the gold prospecting *efaeme in Thames.and Ooromandel areas during July, according to figure* just released by the certifying officer. Mr. S. Smith. Id the Coromandel area., 83oz 3dwt were won. valued at approximately £440. In the Thames area 31oz 7dwl were won. valued at approximatelv £160.

Power Board's 40-Hour Week. The adoption of tie 40-hour week by tie offic-e staff of the Auckland Electric Power Board -will mean the closing- of the offices on Saturday morning at an eariy daw, according to a report received by tie board at its meeting yesterday. This report indicated that the five-day week would jtrobably corns into operation early next month, bnt that in orda- tOj meet tiie eonvenienee of customers the cash office won3d be open on Friday evenings to facilitate the payment of accounts at an office which is being opened on the ground floor of the board's building. Trampers Afield. The reeeut dry -weather brought ont the trampers of Auckland in large numbers, and they made good use of the Waitakere scenic highway. In the brisk breeze on Sunday the road was not only dry. but at times " verv dusty. Members of a tramping club were on the road, and smaller groups were also taking the air. At least one overseas tourist, was there, having a quiet Sunday ramble. At present the highway is -well dotted with points of interest. At one curve, -which is as yet unfenced. there is a sheer drop of some height from the highway to the Exhibition Drive immediately below. Few birds have been heard of late in the vicinity, and tuis. which are seen occasionally, are noticeably silent. Search for Moa Bones. Advice has been received that the Government is prepared to grant £1200 toward the cost of further excavations for moa bones for museum purposes. The Wanganui Mu&eun authorities, intermittently t,ver the last few yea'rs, have been excavating for moa bones on the property of Mr. J. Todd, of Malirikiri. with a marked degree of success, but the work has been hampered by shortage of funds. The museum has now ten complete mounted skeletons, the majority of the bones having been obtained from this deposit. The locality is in the nature of *• spring with a considerable area of black liquid mud, which has kept the bones in a wonderful state of preservation, even small ring bones of moas" necks having been recovered. Check on Sheep-stealing. The anomalies thai have arisen under the perm it system for the carting of st<x-k after dark are being investigated by the Department of Agriculture and other Government Departments concerned,* , said Mr. E. Hay at the annual meeting of the Canterbury Sheep Owners' Union. "We have held for some time that the position would be folly met and the work of the Police Department greatly simplified if consignment notes or waybills were carried by aD persons in charge of stock on consignmeHt on public roade. Recently a deputation waited on the Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. W. Lee Martin, to discuss matters relating to sheep stealing and the transport and droving of stock. The Minister promised every possible assistance, and acknowledged that our requests were reasonaSe." Lesson from Japan. If -the wish of the Cnristchurch CSty Council traffic department is realised, the solution of the parking problem for bicycles will be found by following the example of Japan. The commirtee reported to the Christchurch City Council that a suggestion had been received that as a means of overcoming the problem of bicyclee being left lying on the footpaths the council should edopt a method similar to that used in Japan, where, in cities like Kobe and Yokohama, the use of a stand on every bicycle was made compulsory. Similar stands were available in Christchiirch for a email sum. and it was desired to give publicity to this fact with a view to encouraging cyclists to take advantage of this method of parking bicycles. The committee had also decided to make further inquiries from overseas in regard to these stands. A Lost Lake.

Where is Lake Ruby? A survey party which traversed the Hohonu Ranjre. on the West Coast, in 1907. reported that from the top of Monnt Ruby could he seen two lakes, at the foot of the eastern slopes. Five members of the We=t Coast Alpine Club *pent a recent week-end searching for the lakes. But they found no trace of them. The parly claim that, according to the survey made by the 1907 party, they reached the supposed site of the lake. All that was missing there was the lake itself. The area showed distinct signs of comparatively recent earth disturbances, cansed. members of the partv think, by the Arthur's Pass earthquake of 1929. and it is considered possible that the water of the lake was liberated by the earth tremors. The party and the West Alpine Club are by no means yet convinced, however, that the lake does not exist. Further explorations will he made next summer, and it is hoped that an aerial search can elso be made.

Fish Plentiful in Samoa. It is said that there are over 600 varieties of fish in Samoa, some of which ere edible. while oth-ers are poisonous. Edible fish are not over-abundant, and fiehing is not carried on in a commercial way by the natives. The village of XtnnuSi. however, is noted for the number of crustaceans caught in the waters tiearbv.

Demand for Bonds at Fiji. An Aucklauder who has returned from Fiji states that a good deal of trouble has been occasioned there to people landing without a return ticket. They are called" on to find a Jjtond. and ekhough the average amount ** 5 3 ° V £25 - xnerc ha-? been an instance of £150 being demanded. There was no trouble, however, for Xew Zealander* who went there with a return ticket to the Dominion. Business Methods. Business methods in 3Tew Zealand, considering it was a relatively new country and was isolated geographically", were by no means as backward as might be expected, said Mr. H. L. Freeman, an American business man visiting Christ-church, in an interview. What he had seen had compared most favourably with methods in other parte of the world, he said, although there was not the same keenness of competition, and accordingly there had not been such intensive development in business spheres. In Other Words, Ventilation.

Following out the theme that the advance of science in industry, while intensifvinir unemployment in some sections, created fresh avenues to absorb more workers. Dr. Parke RKolbe, head of the Drexel Institute of Technology, Philadelphia, told Auckland Rotarians yesterday that one of the newest industries in UJS-A. -was air-conditioning. This development was being extended not only to railways, steamships and public buildings, but also to the private homes of the people. A "Health" Passport. Domestic servants in Istanbul will in future be unable to obtain employment without a health '"passport." A ?y6t*m of compulsory blood tests and monthly medical examinations has been started by the municipality for this purpose. Every cook, servant, housekeeper, kitchen help, p-orter. groom, chauffeur—whether employed in private houses or in boardinghouses, hotels or restaurants— must visit the municipal doctors for medical examination. Employers are being held responsible for seeing that the new system is observed. Heavy fmes will be imposed on those whose servants do not submit themselves for regular medical examination.

Aborigines and ** Hoodoo.** Declaring that there was a '""hoodoo" over their camp, aborigines of Uranga, on the Bellinger River, migrated to another camp at Burnt Bridge, in the Kempsey district, Queensland. Eight natives had died at TJranga, and so great was the fear of the survivors that the Aborigines Protection Board had no option bnt -to -consent to their transference to another camp. An inspector for the board found that tie tribal "medicine man ,1 in one camp had been "pointing the finger of death" at the blacks, and he was threatened with punishment. Australian aborigines are curiously susceptible to "pointing." A native at whom a bone is "pointed" by an enemy becomes convinced that he will die, and die he does, in nine cases out of ten, no assurances that the bone is harmlesß being sufficient to quell his superstitious fears.

Crafty New Zealand Birds. Some of the birds of Xew Zealand, for example the bellbird and the long-Tailed cuckoo, which the Maoris call the koekoea, are particularly adept et mimicry. Especially fond of deception is the cuckoo. While walking in the wood.* one might be heard very close, but immediately uj«m seeing an intruder he adopts protective taction. A second shrill call will come from apparently a -great distance, and the stroller may well imagine that the bird has taken flight. But on the contrary he has not stirred, but. is rather sitting there on the same branch, from where he emitted his first call, probably gazing at you through the trees and wondering just how effective was h* ventriloquism. The same cuckoo is also known as a. persisient beggar. He will induce his partner to lay in the nest of e little grey warbler, and to throw out the eggs of that bird to make room for her own, thus foisting his offspring on the patient riroriro and evading his own duty as provider.

On the Trains. The number of "fares" collected daily on tie Auckland tram? is between 132.000 and 133.000, according to a statement made in a tramway appeal case yesterday. Judging from tie connection in which the wa* made, the inferem-e to be drawn i* that these fares are drawn from round about 50.000 pasienjjers. most of whom make a doub'e trip, and some more than that, in ihe course r>l the day. Commenting on the vasjaries of tramway passengers. Mr. A. E. Ford, tramway*: manner, happened to <)U<ite a woman found travelling without a ticket, and her explanatioii that -he had overl»>oked the matter in consequence of mentally di-tnrbed. as she had j;ir=t had an interview with her lawyer. "Terhaps she had not the money left for her fare after such an interview." slyly suggested the magistrate who was a member of the appeal court. The witness went on to cite instances requiring alertness and courteous persistence by tram conductors. He had known, he said, of a passenger to r~\x reading a book, with an old tram tk-ket projecting fron: the volume a<= a bookmark. A competent conductor would not be misled by this bit of "staling" into overlooking a direct request for hi* fare from the pre-oecupied reader.