NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 4, 6 January 1938, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Eclipses in 1938. Eclipses in the year 193S will number lour, two total eclipses of the moon and two eclipses of the e-un. one partial and ODe total. On -May 14 and again on November 8 the moon will lie totally eclipsed. On May 29 the sun will he totally eclipsed, the phenomenon being I vi-ible jri Xew Zealand as a part Mil eclipse. ; ami the ~iin 'in November 22 will auain be eclipsed, but only partially. The May total eclipse of the sun is the first of a new series occurring every 18 years. The only one of i the series which will be visible in New Zealand aa total eclipse does not occur until the year 2025, and then it will be necessary to go to the soGthern part of the South Island to see it. Germans in the Lead. With the nearing to Auckland of the Finnish barque Pamir, the annual crain raoei from South Australia to the Cni'ed Kii gcloni i becomes an accomplished fact. Thirteen ves- > ,>e 's this season are taking part, two of them beinir of German nationality. So far not one '.it the eleven Finnish barques has reacled its loading port, but one of the Germans, the ■ Kommodore Johnson, formerly the ilagdalene \ innen, sailed from Port Lincoln on August 21 and reached Falmouth on December IS. where she was given her orders. The other. • the Admiral Karpfanger, until last year under the Dame of L'Avenir, is probablv now in South Australia, as she was due there this week, and she should clear fo-r Europe before the end of the month. Vehicular Ferry Queues. After _ keeping the Auckland vehicular ferry services under observation over the holiday period, an official of the Automobile Association stated To-day that additional landing fac-ilties appeared to be necessary before extra boats could make much improvement in the position at busy times. He said there had been such a keen demand for the transport of cars across the harbour that long queues had frequently been formed. On mot mornings during The holidays large numbers of motorists had experienced delays, there being sometimes as many as Sl> cars lined up. C Three boats had been plying in the Devonport service. and the ferry officials had handled trafficas efficiently as possible under the handicap of single landing stages. The patrol officer mentioned that his presence had discouraged the practice of some drivers in attempting to break into the queue at congested periods, instead of taking their place at the end. Britishers Look Us Over. '"The game of bowls is but a pleasant interlude of a very fine holiday," explained one of the party of British bowlers who are visiting Auckland at the moment. Some of them went up Mount Eden and watched th sun set, and then saw Auckland light up. They expressed the opinion that it was one of the most attractive sights on their tour to date, and one that will long remain in their memories. Anked for a candid opinion of the Dominion, one of the party said the scenic features were marvellous, but what had taken hold of the whole party was the intense friendliness of the people. The visitors have with them as a mascot a huge model of a British bulldog with a very gruff bark; it is most realistic looking, but its bark is much worse than its bite. Augmented Railway Schedule. Passenger traffic through the Auckland railway station has naturally lightened somewhat in the past few days after the New Year holiday rush, but it lias, nevertheless, been abnormally heavy, the ac"smmodat:on on all the southern expresses bein;i tax-, d to the limit. So heavy, indeed, are the bo-jkii.gs for the week-end on south-bound expresses that it has been decided to run special trains to Wellington at 7.45 p.m. to-night, t • morrow night and Sunday night, and at 3.30 p.m. ..11 Saturday. Although the separate nightly express| to New Plymouth ceased runn ng on Tuesday j last, special trains to that ci'.v will be run 1 at 7.35 p.m. 011 Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sun-j days up till Easter, and the inward expresses from there will arrive at the usual time of I 0.30 a.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Revaluing the City. \ allies in Auckland have stiffened in the past year or two. and ratepayers will find this reflected in their hew valuations a fortnight hence. There is a close connection be- . tween values and rents, and they move in sympathy. Hence city property owners, who ; are now rated on a higher 1 'sis than in the past, will find property owning a growing ; burden. The revision of values, which takes j, place annually, is a big undertaking, as an j ' analysis prepared by the city valuer. Mr. P. | F. Notlev. shows. The city contains over 21.3-30 houses, 1490 shop? with dwelling rooms.' 1225 lock-up shops. 1340 flats, over 50 Niches.!, 22 banks. Ofi churches. 78 commercial carages. 200 commercial rooms. 33<i factories. 170 ■ glasshouses, 07 halls, four hostels, five hospitals, 57 hotels, four laundries. Ive flourinills. • six sawmills. 32 properties for oil tank stor- < age. 20 petrol filling stations. 55 printing 1 works, 41 restaurants. 59 schools. 24S stores,! 1 31 theatres. 157 warehouses, and 220 work- i \ shops, besides which there are many tennis jt courts, bowling and croquet greens, golfl 1 courses, sports pavilions and billiard saloons., 1 two racecourses, a tram depot, a brewery, a 1 freezing works, two ambulance stations and j seven fire stations. j

City Rates Increasing. Financially-minded citizens will see in the increase of about £150.000 in the rateable annual value of Auckland, under the new city valuations, an addition of at least £32.000 to the total rate levy for 1938-39. The municipal rates now amount to 4/3} in the £ on ■ the annual value of property, made up of 1/10 ' general. Id library, s?d hospital. 3d drainage and l/7i special rate, ayart from the charge for water. On This basis chy ratepayers will be called upon to pay £000.00" in the coming year, an increase of nearly £100,000 as com- . pared with 1930-37. The Axeman at Home. One woman looked with gloomy eye on the performances in the bush-raft section at the Tuatapere sports. As champion axemen from all parts of New Zealand made the chips fly and their axes ring as they cut through massive logs in seconds, she remarked- "Yes. they make a fine sight, but I bet none of the", cuts the firewood at home."' Her observation was confirmed by one prominent axeman, who remarked that he would not cut kindling wood for £100. i Ship of the Air. With characteristic perseverance the Germans are building another mighty dirigible to replace the Hindenburg. which met wi'li disaster last year. Throughout the vears the Germans have shown unfailing laith :n the value of this type of air transport, and already the construction of the new ax ship i< nearing completion. So far it has net been named, except for a numerical drsiTn-it >on for reference purposes. The ship will be filled with helium gas obtained in the United States and will probably enter the transatlantic service within the coming year. Bowling Customs. The visit of the British bowlers has called attention to different ideas of how to play bowls. "Firing."' what we New Zealanders call ''driving," is certainly anathema to the visitors. Frank Livingstone had one drive and successfully skittled their head. The visitors, in awed dismay, said: "Oh, mate.: look at that 'firer,' that ought to be pen.ili.sed." j But they play a fast running shot, which has' the same effect as our drive. Another custom ' somewhat amused the onlookers. When a' player delivered a rather good bowl—and this! was not rare—his mates and others from! close-by Tinks gathered around him for a • hand-shaking celebration. j Education of Motorists. The Automobile Association, which ha.s a! membership of 25,000 and a staff of 19 patrol I officers in the Auckland Province, has been recently making a thorough survey of roading conditions and the conduct of drivers, and from the data collected printed matter will be prepared for release prior to Easter, with a view to informing motorists of the most common- driving faults and the means toavoid them. Where it is observed that the surface of the highway or other special con-1 ditions have been factors in causing accidents reports will be submitted to the local controlling authorities. The "Possible" at Bowls. The rare feat of scoring the maximum number of points in a full-rink competition was registered by the Tolaga Bay rink, skipped by \. F. Hurlstone, during the first I day's play in the Peace Shield bowls tourna- j ment in Gisborne on New Year's Day. Play- j ing in the A section of the tournament on' the Gisborne Club's green, H-irlstone had as I his opponent the Poverty Bay skip. R. G. i Crawford. At the conclusion of the head, all, eight of the Tolaga Bay rink's bowls were scored, each of the. eight, incidentally, being! placed within a radius of 3ft ot the jack. j Sailors Wanted in Homeland. Bearing out the fact that Germany isj rapidly absorbing her people in all avenues j jof employment, the Norddeutschcr-Lloyd J I steamer Anhalt arrived in Auckland this morning from the United States with a, Chinese crew. The complement on her two| i previous visits had been ent 'rely German, j Captain Georg Meiners explained the mi ruing; that, as the original crew were renuiied in j their homeland to enter shore oceupetioni-, i they had been repatriated from a port in the. United States, and the present c-e.v was sent I out from China via Hamburg. That leu! will | probablv be followed by other German ships, j Ware Sharks! I Unpalatable +o timid swimmers will be! the news that many large sheiks have been I noticed this summer in the Waiien.ata bar-j hour and lower portions of the Hauvak; Gulf. The refuse boat, which dumps lubbi h 1 eyon 1 I Kangitoto. has been followed by sharks -m! that vicinity, and the crew consider tli • t tl.-U j year the fish are present in g-eat-'r K'-::ib"rs than for many years. So p]e:-i'Mil are thev.j in fact, that smaller -pe -ies irve d' sertci; the area, and what was alv.ay- r» garded as ai good li-hii'ir giotind has n be-eft of si.-ipper.! Mo-t of the sharks are either biui-h o: grey in colour, but they have not 1-ien de!.nitely| identified as grey-nurse sharks. Just Fishin*. j, Lining- either side of the Devonport wharf: with a density reminiscent of a fishing com-! petition, hundreds of fi-hernten and fisher-j women have during the past few weeks taken! considerable toll of the piper and other fi-h!, that have been im-autious enon.'ii >o vcnir>c,. near the area. With so many witnesses: about, the wharf cou'd hardlv be depicted as ] the centre of many "so big" fi-hiirr stories 1 but if the cat' h was not great in qu-i'ity the|i fishermen could at lea.-t spread themselves the stories of how many thev v. -to takxig'] from the waters with hook aid line -nfinitJi patience and bated breath. !]