NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 38, 15 February 1939, Page 10

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Maiden Voyage. The .Shaw Savill and Albion Company's motor liner Dominion Monarch will leave London to-morrow and Southampton on Friday on her maiden voyage to New Zealand. She will be under. the command of Captain YV. H. Hart man, and will come out via Teneriffe, Capetown, Durban, Fremantle, Melbourne and Sydney, reaching Wellington on March 25 and Auckland on April 1. Came Too Late. The air above Eden Talk wne filled with the shrill cries of boy and girl secondary school students when a visiting English cricket team met a combined colleges' eleven this week. To what extent the majority of them cared about the match was a matter for conjecture. One boy seemed to show appreciation of the game when lie was hoard to remark, "We should have come earlier," but he disillusioned those who heard him by adding, "We would have missed French if we had been here this morning."

Destruction of Animals. According to a statement issued by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, destruction of cat*; mid dogs in Auckland and its suburbs totalled 1806 between Xoveniber 10 and January 26. In addition, 115 cats and dogs wore destroyed ais a result of the inspector's examinations. In the same period 411 animals were brought to the society's clinic for destruction, or new homes. Usually more animals are destroyed by the eoc-iety in December and January than at any other time of the year, ,'is registrations then become due,' and also us a result of people going away for holidays.

Northern Ireland Objects. The determination of the people of Northern Ireland to remain separate and distinct from the Free State its revealed by a sticker attached to the back of an et.velope in which a letter from Belfast reached Auckland. The blue-edged sticker hears the caption. "Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom." To bear out this contention, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland are mapped in primrose edged with orange—or rather, a colour that seems most likely to be orange in view of the section of Ireland that is being dealt with. On the map, Eire is left in white. The sticker bears the numeral "1" in the top right-hand corner, the inference being that this is only one of a series in an organised publicity campaign. Canary Home Builder. A crested hen canary, escaped from a cage, is making herself very much at home in a Devonport residence. For some days she fluttered round a cage containing another j canary, and was ultimately imprisoned with it. She regained her freedom, however, and eince then has been busily engaged in building a nest in a hanging basket on the back porch, not a yard away from the cage containing the other bird. Gathering material from every available source, the hen canary hae constructed a well-made nest, the position of which constitutes a problem when the lady of the house wishes to water her conservatory. The canary fights for her food with the sparrows around the bivck door, finding refuge from their concerted attacks in the shelter of the neet. Already two egge have been laid, and students of cage-bird ornithology in the district are now awaiting the possible practical results of this struggle for existence in the life of a self-supporting hen canary.

The Bottle Drive. ~' A suburban school is aiming at securing ! a dental clinic for its pupils, and in order to raise funds it has taken up a bottle drive. Since school began on February--1 the bottle supplies of the district have gradually' dwindled, and now they are on the point of exhaustion. One; infant who got in before the bottle- man.arrived after the New Year celebrations "topped the'score" for his class with a dozen or so outsizes in bottles, and is anxious to maintain his,average. On retiring last evening he calmly told his father that he would have to drink more beer, as he wanted more bottles for teacher. Replied father wistfully, co-juring up visions of what he could accomplish but for a restricted weekly allowance: "You had better ask mother about that." Father is hopeful, but not overoptimistic, of his chances of accumulating a •rood supply of bottles for his son's benefit, thereby assisting a worthy cause. He has determined to arrange matters this evening so that mother will tuck her son away for the night. Perhaps—who knows?—the little chap may speak and be heard.

Arapuni's Big Thirst. ,f I ■ For the first time since? the Arapnni jpower station came into operation, the spillway and falls have been dry during part of the present summer. Towards ice end of January, prior to the heavy downpour which soaked the Auckland the level of the lake above the dam fell below the overflow mark, and the only water passing through' to the river below was that which fed the turbines. Early this month the spillway was partially covered, but only for a few days, and this week the whole of the flow has again been going through the powerhouse. Besides supplying the increasing demand of the Auckland province for power, Arapuni has lately been carrying part of the Wellinn-ton load as well, to relieve the Mangahao plant, where the water supply is considerably below the eunr-ner normal. The smaller flow in tlie Waikato is attributed to the light rainfall early last spring, but the most important influence on the lake is probably the increased consumption due to the two new turbinee, Avliich have raised Aramini's output to nearly 75 per cent of its ultimate capacity.

Defendant's Broken Back. An unusual reason for a request for an adjournment of a ease set down for hearing in the Magistrate's Court yesterday wae advanced by counsel for the defendant. When the names of the parties-were called., counsel said he would ask for a long adjournment, as his 'client was in hospital, having been involved in a motor car accident. lie had suffered a hcbken back, and it was doubtful* whefher hje would be sufficiently recovered for some tiuie. It was decided to adjourn the case for .two' months. First Impressions. "One thing that first impressed me about Auckland was a lack of paint," remarked Mr. Andrew Bell, who is visiting Xew Zealand in the course of a world tour, when he was interviewed to-day. "My early impression of Auckland was distinctly unfavourable. Some buildings I saw had a dreadfully shabby appearance—one or two of the shops looked threadbare." Then he added with a smile: "But that was an early impression, Travelling further afield in the city. I was much mnio favourably impressed. Many of the shops in Queen Street would be a credit to any city in the world."

Swing From a Derrick, Cadets on' a visiting cargo ship have found an exciting way of amusing themselves when work has slackened late in the afternoon. For the past few days ferry passengt'ie have seen thorn swinging out on the ship's-derricks, holding on to the hooks until veil out from the side, then making the long drop to the water. The idea seems to be to perform the maximum number of swings before dropping to the water. With practice, some of the cadets have become more daring, ajid the boldest ones have begun to essay a somersault or two. As one ferry passenger remarked, it is really a variation of the ancient Maori swing game, in which the natives swung over bush streams on the end of rata vines. "Just Whittlin.'" Judging by the films, one of th 6 most popular pastimes among American working men is "whittling," or carving chips from a piece of wood. Whittling is not so prevalent among local menfolk, but the fact that something about the art is known in Auckland was demonstrated by a school-bound youngster in Mount Eden Road yesterday morning. He had a large piece of soft wood in one hand, and, with elaborate care, he was shaving chips off it. using a dangerous-looking sheath-knife to do so. He was walking, but only just, and his mind was so intent on his work that he took no heed of the many amused glances he received from passers-by. Y.M.C.A. Praised.

"The Young Men's Cliristian Association in Auckland is a most creditable organisation, and is doing excellent work," stated Mr. Andrew Bell, of Scotland, in an interview today. Mr. Bell is visiting the Dominion on the final stage in a comprehensive tour of the world. He has been associated with Y.M.C.A. work in Scotland for some 50 years, and was for 35 years general secretary of the association in Glasgow. "I have visited branches in almost every part of the world," he said, "and the association in Auckland is, taking everything into consideration, doing work as creditable as that done by any association it has been my privilege to visit." Beekeepers More.Hopeful. The fine weather of the past few days hae brought new hope to despairing beekeepere throughout New Zealand. So far the honey crop has been a failure in all districts except Canterbury, and usually the season is practically over by now. If the good weather continues, however, the flow of honey may be extended beyond the usual time. In such case the season's results will still be poor, for in many districts—Manawatu and Taranaki, for instance—beekeepers report that the honey gathered so far is not sufficient even for the bees' winter feeding; Ire Canterbury alone a crop approaching size is ~e.xpeqtcd. Everywhere else high winds and r? broken . Weather have given the beee few uninterrupted working da ye. -■

Consolidating Country Schools. Good progress Las been made on tlie new school at Te Awamutu, which was oeoun last July, and it is expected the building will be ready for opening when the second term begins on May 22. The school will have ten classrooms, and will accommodate 400 children. Important changes affecting several of the surrounding districts will be made under a consolidation scheme now being planned, and it is expected that at least four small schools, those at Kihikihi, Tokanui, Rangiaohia and Te Rahu, will be closed. The new building will enable an intermediate department to be established at Te Awamutu, ae a link between the primary and secondary schools. It ie thought possible that the upper standards firm sonw of the other surrounding schools may be drawn upon for the intermediate department. "Where's the Captain?" ■ They wanted to see the captain. Sixty of them —forty Maori school children from North Auckland and twenty boy scouts from native troops at Poroporo and Poroa, near Whakatane, who were being shown over a modern liner. Few of them had been to.the city before, so they decided that the whiteeoated steward who met them at the gangway entrance wae the skipper, but later agreed that he couldn't be, because he didn't wear a cap. So they picked on the young officer who ehowed them around, but' were disillusioned by their guardians. Then they agreed that a Harbour Board official who stood busy on the wharf must surely be the captain. Look at the way he was ordering the carters around, look at the white cap and the gold braid—yon could see it shining from the boat deck. When the real skipper did arrive to talk with them, they looked at his grey lounge suit and bowler hat unbelievingly. Nevertheless,- they delighted him with a haka and marched off hie ship singing.