NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 248, 20 October 1939, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

New Mineral Spring.

A soda water spring has been discovered at Oromahoe, 12 miles from Kaikohe, on the Paihia Road. While drilling for bridge foundations on the Pakaraka-Blackbridge Road, the Public Works Department struck the spring 55ft under the bed of the stream. It rose sft above the level of the water with the casing still in the bore. When the casing was withdrawn the spring forced up through the stream. It is hoped to put a permanent casing in the bore and leave the spring intact.

Magnetic Quints. The Dionne quintuplets continue to be Canada's stellar attraction for tourists. They are as popular at five years old as they were at two, and daily hundreds crowd into specially constructed galleries at their nursery home to watch the five at play. By the end of the tourist season in September, *2,000,000 people had passed through the turnstiles, 500,000 this summer. There is no decrease in the "heavy traffic to the town of Callander, 200 miles north of Toronto. The quints are under provincial guardianship, and there has never been any charge to see them.—Canadian Press.

Labour Week-end Excursions. Bookings for the week-end on both

ordinary trains and excursions are heavy. An extra train will run to Wellington this evening, leaving at 7.40 and arriving in the Capital City at 11.15 tomorrow mornin.?, while a special will also leave Wellington at 7.45 p.m. today for Auckland. Excursions wn'l be run to Te Aroha, Waitomo, Whangarei and Rotorua. The trip to Rotorua is proving most popular, and trains will leave for the thermal region at 11.45 to-nipht and 1.25 p.m. to-morrow, both arriving back in Auckland late Mondav evening. Trains leave for Te Aroha and Waitomo at 1.10 p.m., and for Whangarei at 2.10 p.m., all arriving I back late on Labour Day. ~ I

Buty Time For Painter*. In anticipation of an influx of visitors for the Centennial Exhibition, which opens on Wednesday, November 8, hotels, accommodation houses and other establishments in which cater for the travelling public hate been undergoing a general renovation. This activity began during last year, and has given rise to an exceptionally heavy demand for paints and wallpapers. There has also been a continuous unsatisfied demand for skilled labour, and a considerable amount of work has had to be passed over, due to this factor. As an indication of the position, one leading firm alone has been employing more than 300 workmen, and could have provided work for more if they had been available. \ Scapa Flow Defences. The daring and cleverness of the German submarine in attacking the British battleship Royal Oak, while it was lying in Scapa Flow, was stressed by Mr. George Forsyth, a former New Zealand naval instructor, whose hobby is the study of British naval matters. Scapa Flow, Mr. Forsyth explained, is composed of a number of the Orkney Islands. During the last war several of the entrances into Scapa Flow were closed by sinking old merchant ships between the islands, leaving certain

channels open to allow the coming and going of the Fleet. Booms were thrown across these openings. These booms were in three sections, and were made of submarine net. From each of the two islands on either side of the channel these nets would be run out and fastened to buoys, to one of which would be attached the third net, covering the remaining gap. The other end of the middle net would be attached to a trawler, bv whose movement the barrier was opened or closed like a door. There would be a series of these booms, and the first one would be closed before the second was opened. A similar system of defence, Mr. Forsyth believed, existed to-day, and so it can be seen how diffi- ; cult it was for a submarine to get in, ] and also to get out again. I

Debts Not Cancelled. "lhe war does not cancel debts of British subjects to enemy traders. The impression prevails that if New Zealand importers received shipments from Germany and had not met the drafts, they could leave the matter of payment over until the end of the war. This is not the position, and debts due to enemy subjects must still be met. The Public Trustee becomes the agent for th® receipt of debts due to the enemy, and .the funds are held until the manner of their disposal is decided.

Community Pound. Arrangements have been made for representatives of the New Lynn Borough Council, and the Waitemata County Council to meet in conference and discuss joint pound requirements. At present a poundkeeper acts for the Titirangi riding of the county and the Glen Lden and New Lynn Town Board areas, and. the pound, which is not ill a good state of repair, is at Xew Lynn. It is suggested that a suitable site should be selected and a new pound built. The county council has received a number of complaints about stock straying on public roads. Department Stores Active. Department stores have shown an increase in turnover as compared with last year, according to a recent survey of wholesale and retail trade in the Wellington district, and it is thought the increase has been fairly general I throughout the Dominion. The depart- | ments which have led in the expansion of turnover are drapery, outerwear, conI fectionery, kitchenware and hosiery. It is stated that the larger purchases of hosiery are due partly to the fact that the public has been buying beyond immediate requirements, and that some reaction is therefore .likely. Question of Capacity.

A conflict of opinion in the Stratford Court on the amount of liquor required to make two youths drunk was the cause of some amusement, states the "Taranaki Daily News." Mr. S. Macalister, counsel for the licensee and barman of a hotel, against whom two charges of supplying minors were made, said he did not know how the youths concerned, boys of 18, could liave got drunk on two beere and half a bottle of whisky. Mr. W. H. Woodward, S.M., expressing surprise at the statement, said hp considered it sufficient. Mr. Macalister replied that it would not have been enough when he was a boy. I hen your experience must have been different from mine," Mr. Woodward declared.

| Prices of Used Cars. An effort by motor firms in recent months to reduce the '"trade-in" values of used cars offered in part payment for new cars is reported in the latest bulletin of the Department of Industries and Commerce. The bulletin states that owing to the high prions ruling in the Dominion for second-hand cars, a determined move has been made by motor organisations to reduce the general level. As present stocks of used cars are cleared the prices for resale should therefore be lowered. "Stocks of secondhand cars are high," adds the bulletin, 'and this plays a big part in the more or less general decision to grant lower 'trade-in* terms. The policy should eventually result in reductions in stocks."

Worthless German Banknotes. Valueless except as reminders of the disastrous consequences of unlimited inflation, numbers of German banknotes of denominations running into eight figures or more, which were in circulation when the German currency collapsed 15 years ago, are in the possession of people in Auckland and other parts of New Zealand who visited Germany at the time. One of these notes, which has been kept by an Auckland business man, is for 10 milliarden marks 10,000,000,000 marks—equivalent to £500,000,000 at the par rate of exchange before the currency was depreciated. Its nominal value was equal to double the amount of the French indemnity to Germany in 1871, yet it was purchased in Hamburg at the end of 1925 for 2/6. Only a few months later it was worthless. The date of issue printed upon it is October 1, 1923 Earlier in 1924 German 5000-mark notes, of a nominal value of £250 each, were procurable at 10 for a penny. I The Place of Honour. They gave me the place of honour— close to the bucket and sponge," said Miss B. E. Carnachan. ex-chairman of the Seddon Memorial Technical College, when replying at a little presentation ceremony yesterday. Mr. G. J. Park, director of the college, had referred to Miss Carnachan's unremitting devotion to duty in the office of chairman, sayin"- | that she had never failed in her attendance at any college function, being | faithfully present even at the school's boxing matches. Miss Carnachan said that she never had been a boxing enthusiast, and did not relish the sight of blood but as chairman of the board she had patronised the sparring bouts with quite a lot of interest. She thought, however, that a ringside seat made the contests too realistic for a adv. Mr. R. A. Rew, chairman of the board, on behalf of board members and the staff presented . Miss Carnachan with a ladies handbag, being supported in his remarks by Mrs. F. Mcßride and other members of the board