NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 67, 21 March 1939, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Miniature Bush Fire. A miniature bush fire, which started in high fern and gorse on a vacant section at the pastern end of Kohimarama Beach last evening, was quickly fanned into a Maze that licked up a steep sjope towards a house at the northern end of Aumoe Avenue. The Tamaki tire brigade was summoned at 5.18, and plaved large quantities o f water on the outbreak from two 400 yds leads of hose for over an Hour. Ornamental and flowerino- trees on the slope wore considerably damaged by the flames.,and the accumulation of div scrub and other growth was completely burned off. Lower North "Warfare." indication of the importance placed on motor transport in inod«ra warfare is "iven in the plans of the tactical exercises to be carried nut this week by the Ist Composite Battalion, which is undergoing its annual camp training at Papakura. The plans will involve the use of motor vehicles to transport at halt an houi"s notice over 400 officers and men from the cam]) at Kaukapakapa to repel mva-dmn troops. The scheme presumes an "enemy landing" at Orewa. with the "enemv" occupying Silverdale and attempting to breakthrough to seize the railway at Kaukapakapa The Composite Battalion will be required to restore the situation. It will bivouac at Kaukapakapa.

Money for Expansion 4 reply to a request from the Waitemata Eloctrie Power Board for an assurance that £.)0.000 moneys would be forthcoming this year whs received at a meeting of the hoard yesterday from the Minister of Finance, the Hon. AN'. Xash, who stated that the question of providing such funds would receive consideration at a later date. The Government at present, he wrote, was more concerned with the requirements of local bodies jduring the current financial year. The board's I difficulty is that orders for material needed to carry out necessary extension have to be made any tiling up to nine months beforehand, and. if no assurance i« forthcoming from the Government that loan money will be available, it cannot risk placing orders. The hoard has written to the Power Boards and Supply Authorities' Association, requesting it to take up the mutter with the Government. City's Milk Supply. With supplies diminishing daily owincr to the dry weather, arrangements have been made by the Auckland Metropolitan Milk Council for a sufficient supply for this week, but if the dry spell continues there is no guarantee for the immediate future. Mr. N. R. Chapman, secretary of the council, states that the Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. W. Lee Martin, has given permission for a supplementary supply to be obtained at once from certain farms at Aka Aka, in the Waiuku district. Although these farms were.not registered for town supply, the milk would be pasteurised and woukl be perfectly safe, said Mr. Chapman. The trouble was that pastures were drying rapidly, and the yield was falling everywhere, even on the low-lying lands at Aka Aka. In four weeks the eupplv obtained by the four principal Auckland distributing companies had decreased by 4fioo gallon* below the normal figure of about 24,000 gallons a day.

Howick Power Supply A report that a deputation from the Howick Town Board, which had met him recently with regard to the power supply in their district, seined fully to appreciate the hoard's difficulties, and that every endeavour was being made to improve the continuity of the supply, was made to a meeting of' the Auckland Electric Power Board yesterday afternoon by the general manager, Mr. R. H. Bartley. Tt had been explained by the deputation that as a result of power interruptions the Town Board's accoimt for pmn'j>ing water would, be incoeaeed, as more water had had ■to be pumped during the period governed'by the high rate. Mr. Bartley added that in a report which he proposed to bring down shortly in connection with the improvement of the supply in the Howick and Pa-kuranga districts, the East Tamaki area would also be included. Mr. Bartley's action in agreeing to meet the Town Board with respect to ""the waiter account was confirmed. j

Unsatisfactory MM Venture Ends. F.pr the past four months a party of »ten men has been at work at Port Oraag, Soutihlaand,. dismantling a timber mill, which in its day was the largest operating in the South Island. The port is open to -the prevailing south-westerly weather, and can be worked by shipping only at spasmodic intervals. There are believed to be at least 1000 tons of valuable mill machinery and another 1000 tone of rails to be removed, and these are being shipped to Bluff by the auxiliary scow Horouta, which was sailed specially down from Auckland for the purpose by * Captain Milieu. The mill was closed down «even years ago last November, but before that there had been a mill operating at Port Craig since ilO2O ; in which year it small factory was erected to produce timber for the teMing of the structure now being demolished. This was capable of producing 4(),0(;)0 superficial feet a day* and its yearly output was somewhere in the neighbourhood of .S.OQfuiooft. Material from the mil), which i« being slumped in lots of 60 or 70 tons, is being landed at Ocean Beach, near Bluff, and is meeting with a- ready sale.

Game Birds Nesting. In view of the near approach of the shooting season, sportsmen may be interested to learn that according to a resident of long standing in Rangitoto, To Kuiti. pheasants and native pigeons on his and adjoining properties are nesting at the present time. Should this prove to be general in this district, the authorities may be well advised to consider delaying the opening of the season for pheasants, as it would appear that if the usual date. May 1, should be adhered to, considerable loss of young birds must result. Damage by Opossums. Reports of damage being caused to orchards by opossums come from residents in the Kohiniarama and St. Hclier"s distri'-; . At the week-end a Kohiir.arama resident looking over a friend's property wheu he noticed a pear which had had practically the whole of the skin nibbled away. Ke pondered over the matter, and wondered what manner of bird had caused the damage. He submitted the exhibit to the loofll authority on all such subjects, and was promptly informed that opossirms were at work in the district, and this was fresh evidence that they were increasing in numbers. Teachers and Temperament. "I think that quite a number of those who get into the training colleges are not fit for the teaohine vocation." said Mr. W, Fraser, headmaster of the Hamilton Technical College, when speaking at the weekly luncheon of the Hamilton Eotary Club yesterday. Teachers, he said, must have "the right temperament, and must be fond of children. They also he able to command the respect of iheir ]iui>i]s. "As far as girls are concerned."' Mr. Fntsi-r continued, "teaching is a strenuous occupation, more so possibly than most vocation*. There i.* a great deal of extra preparation by way of examinations, although the remuneration may be slightly better." Sickness Among Women. Sickness among women and girls has caused a considerable drain on friendly society funds in New Zealand in recent years. and is in excess of the actuarial standard for youths and men. A report to the biennial conference of the Manchester Unity Order in Auckland yesterday showed that female sick claims had accounted for £2636 of the total of £8284 by which the payments to cover •sickness had exceeded the expected liability, yet female members represented only }0 per oeiit of the society's membership. "I -don't think anyone can view with complacency the increased costs for sickness." >-aid Mr. F. A. Smith, one of the society's directors. "In Auckland it has been noticed that the prevalence of short period sickness is very deleterious."

Moa Embryo Found. A moa's egg, broken evidently just ae it

was about to be hatched, as the bones of the chicken were mingled with the she]] fragments, was found recently by Mr. E. T. Frost on the foreshore at Doubtless Bay, Xorth Auckland. From the shape 'and curve of the pieces, it would seem as if the epp would have been over six inches in length. Other finds of well-preserved bones were made close by; and it is probable that the nest and bird were overwhelmed by a fire, as the charred remains of «crut> can be «een on the same level. A curious feature of these old remains is that the jaw bones and other small bones of the tuatara lizard are to be found mingled with them. The reptile was apparently an abundant contemporary with the moa. * The foreshore at DoubltJess Bay was evidently the home of hundreds of moas. That the Maoris hunted and ate them is certain, as their bones can be found around the old oven sites mixed with the bone* of seals, fish and birds (such as the kaka) and sea birds (mutton birds, etc.). These bones appear to be all of the same age and in the same state of preservation. In certain hollows in the sand dunes, where the wind has removed tiie sand from an old consolidated floor, there are evidences of large numbers of moae congregating in a small space.

Confusing Road Names. Reference to the confusion caused by various names given to roads in the East Tamaki district was made at" a meeting ye*terday of the Auckland Electric Power Board, when the delay caused in restoring power in Oriniston Road on March 1 was under discussion. The general manager, Mr. R. H. Bartley, in reportdng on the .question, said that it certainly looked at first that the board's faults service had blundered badly, but on looking into the matter a satisfactory explanation could be given. Briefly the reason for the delay was that the call received indieated that the power was off in Ross Road, East Tamaki, whereas the trouble existed in Ormiston Road. The chief engineer, Mr. A. O. Glasse, said that when the original work was done by the board in East Tamaki. Oruiiston Road was referred to as Okl Whit ford Road. The board had other instances of wrong names having been given by consumers. and gangs now realised that it ivas hopeless driving round a large area looking for faults.; and considered it better -to return to the depot and await correct information to come ; through. It was also mentioned during the discussion that one road in Hie district was known by residents as Twilight Road, for the ■reason that » Mr. Pay lived at one end of it and a Mr. Knight at the other. Tim reports by the board's officers were rei-eived. and a α-esolutiion passed by the board in ciiinmittee that all faults must lie reported to the general manager -was adopted.