NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 169, 20 July 1939, Page 10

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Fish With Three Eyes. Caught in the Bay of Plenty by the fishing vessel Coastguard, a deep-water sole with three fully developed eyes has been presented to the Auckland JYar Memorial Museum by Mr. F. Johnstone. This is the only example of a fish with three eyes known to the museum expert, Mr. A. W. B. Powell, the assistantdirector. Arbor Day. A letter was received from the Minister of Interim I Affairs, the Hon. W. E. Parry, at last night's meeting of the Devonport Borough Council, asking the council to take part in Arbor Day celebrations on August 2. It was derided to carry out the usual arrangements fitting on such a day, the celebrations to be made, as in the past, primarily through the schools of the district. New Power Substation. Negotiations are still in progress between the Auckland Electric Power Board and the Government for the building of a new stil*etation near Mount Roskill, at an estimated cost of about £100,000, to supplement the existing substation at Penrose. The cost of the new .substation is to be borne by the Government. It is expected that an early start will be made with the work, and that portion of the new substation will be in operation by next winter. How Buffalo Grass Was Named. The way in which buffalo grass pot its name was the subject of interesting comment by an Australian visitor when the meeting was thrown open for questions after a lecture to the Botanical Society last evening. According to him, the name was given because the grass first reached Australia in the ballast of a ship named the Buffalo. The prrass which grows under that name in Australia aiul Xew Zealand, it was pointed out. is not buffalo grass as the United States know it. Extra Grants For Museum. ! Voluntary contributions above their normal grants have been made to the Auckland ! War Memorial Museum by the Manurewa. | Papakura and Onehunga boroughs and the Papatotoe Town Board. This follows an "additional grant of £100 made by the City Coun[cil. the extra contributions made by the local | bodies mentioned being based on a proportion that would represent £100 from authorities outside the City Council. Appreciation of the grants was expressed when the Museum Council met yesterday. Devonport Centennial Memorial. Plans for the erection of a suitable Centennial memorial in the district were discussed at a meeting of the Devonport Borough Council last night, when it was suggested that a modern bathing pavilion on Cheltenham Beach be built. It was pointed out that the present facilities were inadequate, and that such a project was a fitting one in view of the fact that Devonport is a marine borough. The urgency of the matter, if the Government subsidy is to be obtained, was. stressed by the Mayor, and a committee was appointed to further the scheme.

Trout Travels Far. A trout weighing a little over 41b with a metal tap attached to one of its fins was recently caught one and a half miles from the dam of the Arapuni hvdro-eleotric power station. The number on the fin tajr enabled the fish to be identified as being one dealt with at the Tongariro River hatchery on October 12. 11)38. "The tag on this Arapuni trout." remarked the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Hon. W. E. Parry, "should revive the old-time argument among fishermen as to whether fish from Lake Tatipo migrate over the fastflowing Huka Falls. The find is, however, of particular interest, as the distance from where the tagged trout was retaken to the Tongariro hatchery would be approximately 150 miles." History of Osiers. Reference to the original stock from which the osiers grown by the Xew Zealand Institute for the Blind at Ramarama were drawn is contained in a letter received from Miss C. I. Hedges. Renniera. The Ramarama form is under the control of Mr. W. Packman, works mannger «t the institute, whose father obtained them from Russia, in 18S0. unsuccessfully tried to acclimatise them in Australia. and then sent them across to Canterbury, where they have been grown ever since. "I win interested in the article published in the 'Star' on July 5 in connection with osiers." Miss Hedges writes. "The sets were sent to my late grandfather, Mr. George Hedges, of Timnru, who grew them extensively at Temuka, about 12 miles from Timarn. and later at Belfast, a suburb of i C'hristchurch. After his. death the business was carried on by his second son. Mr. George Hedtres, who died about six years ago. and a nephew. Mr. Arthur Hedges, still continues in the business. I thought Mr. Packman might be interested, as his father introduced them to New Zealand." The Fan gas Industry. Fungus is still pickled In some of the bnsli districts, but the war at present raging in China'has had a disastrous effect on the fungus market. It is just about <0 years since Chew Chong, a Chinese storekeeper at Xew Plymouth, found out the value of fungus as a "marketable commodity, and offered to buy as much of it as the struggling settlers of that time were able to gather from the stumps in tlic btish clearings which settlement had inado, and was "making. What the kauri •rum industry was in Auckland, so the fungus industry was to Taranaki in those early days. Although Taranaki was the birthplace of the .fungus industry, it was not many years till the trade in fungus spread over all the bush districts in the Dominion. Not long after the Great War, when dried, it was worth Rd per lb. and was then quite a thriving industry. When Chew Chong first bought it he paid id per lb for it, but the price rose during the years to about 3d or 4d per lb, the Maoris being the chief gatherers. The demand for the fungus -was unlimited in China because of the use which was made of it for culinary purposes, especially in the making of vege- ! table soup. Just at the moment the sale of fungus is at the lowest ebb.

Museum Acquisitions. The purpose of a Maori wooden implement presented to the Auckland War Memorial Mubeum by Mr. K. Muir. of Tatetonga, is puzzling the staff. Seven feet long. with one end pointed. the other ending in a flange, giving the whole the appearance of a throwing spear, the implement has not been definitely identified, though there are several theories. As the ■ Maoris are—not known to have used throwing spears, the director, Mr. fiilbert Archev. thinks that the weapon may have been wed as ft fish harpoon. A hole through which a cord might have passed for retrieving purposes appears in thi? flange, and this gives weight to the director's theory. Other recent gifts to the museum include an ornate silver cup won by the Auckland branch of the Royal Life-Saving Society in 1937 for having the highest proportionate total of lifesaving successes in the Empire, a kiwi, presented by Mrs. T. Collins, of Warkworth, the skeleton "of ft pigmy sperm whale found by the staff at Huia, a massive stone adze found 30 years ago on Silverdale Beach by Mr. William Sykes, of Orewa, and two live: giant wetas, which are now among the rarities of the Dominion's insect life. It is proposed to put one weta in the museum collection and to keep the other alive for study by members of the scientific staff.

One Tree Hill Progress. Since the beginning of the year the One Tree Hill Borough Council has issued 92 building permits, valued at £23,303, compared with 57 permits, valued at £24,849, for the same period last year, a decrease in value of £1540. This was reported at last night's meeting of the council, when it was stated that for the fortnight ended July 13 six permits had been issued, of a total value of £1220. Bus Terminal Clocks. Owing to mechanical defects the clocks-at the Auckland Municipal Transport _ Station have been somewhat unreliable during the past week. Normally controlled under a central system, they should all record the same time, but on occasions this week differences of several minutes have been noticed. These variations have resulted from a temporary interruption in the central control to enable repairs to be carried out. It was expected the repairs would be completed to-day, when the four clocks at the station would again tick in harmony. Farming Commission. The importance which is attached to the Royal Commission which has been set up by the Government to investigate the sheepfarming industry is shown by the fact that the New Zealand Workers' L T nion has decided to engage Mr. Jatnes Roberts as advocate. The commission will commence its sittings in Wellington on July 11, under the presidency of Sir Francis Frazer. Other members of the commission are Messrs. H. M. Christie, R. A. Rodger, Dickson .Tardine and Arthur Cook. For many years Mr. Roberts has been recognised as the outstanding pleader on behalf of the trade unions in the Courts. Overhaul of Pleasure Craft. Part of the small fleet of pleasure craft regularly moored in Okahu Bay. on Auckland's eastern waterfront, during the summer and autumn, a number of big keel yachts and several smaller vessels are at present hauled ii]) on their cradles at the city end of the bay, in the vicinity of the proposed boat harbour. The other units of the fleet have been taken to more sheltered places for the winter. During the next few months all will undergo their annual overhaul and repainting. On. each fine week-end, between now and Labour Day. there will be busy scenes along Auckland's waterfront. where racing yachts and cruising launches are being made spick and span for another season. Only one solitary mast, that of a medium-sized yacht which had filled and sunk, to-day showed above the waves in Okahu Bay. " Big Mouth" Street. "Big Mouth" is the English translation of "Walianui," which was decided on at last night's meeting of the One Tree Hill Borough Council as the name for a new street on the Cadman Estate, which has recently been opened for building sites. In a letter received by Mr. W. (!. Mulholland. Mr. .T. Rukutai said I the word came into being as the result of a Xgati-Maniopoto raid led by a chief called ' Tutunui. They captured several pas on the way I until they came to Manngakiekie (One TreHill), where he was killed and his followers dispersed. The people were jubilant when they heard of his death. When they came to see the bodv of this great man. they all exclaimed,'"Why. he is only a small mail, but he has a tremendous mouth!" The name Walianui was sul>seqnentJy given to a prominent chief of the Xgati-Maniopoto. whose portrait appears in the collertion. of paintings bv Lindauer at the Public Library.

Abating a Nuisance. Humour and pathos were blended in a commonplace little incident that occurred "" a crowded tram last evening. A two-year-old child, sitting on her mother's knee, was blowing without intermission a "squeaker" with a particularly obnoxious note. No dOllbt it was the child's'first squeaker, and she was the most of it; even her mother thought the'' child was clever in being able to give so sustained a performance. Tram passengers are long-suffering people, and apart from nasty looks they, of course, did nothing about the appalling din. All, that is. except a young man of obvious resource who was sitting next to the child. He pretended to admire the squeaker, but when he handed the instrument back it wouldn't "blow." The squeak was replaced by cries of anguish, but the voting man did not mind this, as he got out at the next stop. It was found later that lie had pushed a piece of chewing gum into the "works" of the squeaker. Mudfish Specimens. Hibernating deep down in the mud when the pools in which they live have dried up. and returning to the surface with the approach of more congenial conditions, two fish found in a swamp drain at Buawhata. near Pahiatua, represent a species which is probably New Zealand's queerest. The fish bear the scientific name Xeoclianna apoda. more generally known as mudfish, and belong to of primitive scaleless fishes living in fresh water confined to the southern hemisphere. Found by a pupil of the Pahiatua School, the fish arc at present on display at the school. In appearance they are like small eels, fiin long and an inch and a half wide. Thev arc a muddy brown colour. Formerly found at Hokitika. Feilding and Rangitikei. the mudfish has become rare, as the draining of the I swamps has destroyed its hnhitat. Specimens [ have been brought to Wellington from ATestport for the Centennial Exhibition. Others have been found Oft deep in clay, probably having followed a channel left by a decayed stem or root in the. course of its journey 'to a place of hibernation.