NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 263, 7 November 1939, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Paekakariki Deviation Road.

The Minister of Publ.r Works. the f Hon. R- Seiiqilc. announces that tlie new > Plininicrton-I'aekakariki clei ial ion along ' the coast will he open to the public only '< on Saturdays ami Sundays until the J tar-sealing of the remaining stretch is 1 completed. He estimates that, given fine < weather, this part of the job -hou-irl be iini-hed in nlmui throe week*. j Lighting of Street Crossings. the Mayor of Lower llutt, Mr. • W. ( Andrews, recently stated that the Trans- ( port Depart iriell•. had been obtaining from local bodies information about the marking of street crossings at night, and that lie expected that in a very short time a system for uniform adoption throughout the country would be . announced. ] A Rare Compliment. < Kelated by a visitor at yesterday's meeting of the Auckland Rotary Club j that at one. of the receptions to the Kins; i{ nd Queen while, in the 1 nited States the representative of one. of the ' Western States who was be in.if "presented'' stepped hack for a moment, ob- ■ viously impressed by British Royalty, and with an admiring, glance at the ' smiling Queen, fervently exclaimed to His .Majesty: "Well, King, you're sure a ureal. Queen picker." "/n the Uptake." Il i- not unu-iial lor jiu'e< hearimr , eixil act ii ii w out of motor eo. li~ioiis T.i e\pre-> a di'-ire to \i-il the f-rene of Ihe ai-. idoiil. Sin h ,i wi-li \\ ;i-. 1 e\ pre>-e.| by a jury in the Supieme <'• 1111 I ye.-1 on la \ . Mr. 1J \-.-i ill. coiill-el lor olio of ill.- parti,--, .-aid it miuln be necessary for the jur\ to make more than one \i-it. as he himself had made three. Mr. Justice Lallan looked at counsel and remarked. "Perhaps the jury will be (jiiicker in the uptake." All Was Well. Two bus drivers the other day caused a. pin;' of workers at Titirnn;:i some concern when one of them flew part ol his clothinp from an oar in a dinoliy anchored in the channel. The drivers had borrowed a dinghy and none out fishin'T. when a htvi\ \ shower of rain fell, soaking them throiioh. A little rain is nothimr to li.-hermen, so one of them stripped himself of most of his elotliino and Mow his shirt on an oar propped up in the bow of the dimrliy. Workers on the beach thought the flying shirt was an 5.0.5., and were preparing to go to the rescue when they noticed the anchor being hauled up. and a minute later the fishermen were headinif for the be^ch. Church Scheme Deferred. Among the new church schemes in Auckland which have been deferred because of the war is a proposal to replace the Anglican church and hall at St. Helier's by a building in permanent materials, at a "total estimated cost of £18,000. The plans completed early in the year provide for a scheme to be carried out in three -tapes, the first stage of which is expected to involve an expenditure of £7000. "We are conscious of the urgent need of a new church," states the vicar, the Rev. L. E. Cartridge, in an open letter informing parishioners that although the scheme is in abeyance the fund for the purpo-e is being kept open. In addition to a number of smaller donations, a sum of £.">OO has been promi.-ed in the form of a legacy. Former Aucklander's Dash. How a former A tick lander on a motor tour of France immediately prior to t.hp outbreak of war made a dash to pet. back to his home in England is told in a letter received by members of his family at St. Helier's.' With a companion he was in southern France, and had some hundreds of miles to travel to reach the. nearest Channel port. As general mobilisation was in progress, it was necessary to make the journey bv devious routes. War was. declared before the two reached the coast, and when they arrived at St. Malo they had to abandon their ear, which was run into a big parage with 40 other-. To their surprise, it was taken across to England three days later. During the dasli bnck liome thev saw mobilisation in progress everywhere by day and night, but the general feeling throughout France was one of relief that something definite had happencd. Believe It or Not. Tn Islington Street. Ponsonby. the tenant of a house has had a most unusual experience. Heine troubled Avith mice, a couple of weeks back slw set a mouse trap in the yard, and the first "bag" was a sparrow. The trap was one of those circular affairs with a number of holes in it. and the sparrow was caught, by the neck, hut strangely enoucrh the neck was not broken. Instead cif killing the bird, the householder took it inside and wrapped it up in a piece of cloth, giving it occasional breadcrumbs. She kept the sparrow for a few days, and then took it outside anrl let it go. And now. believe it or not, that sparrow regularly flie= in through the back door at meal times, lands on the table, and, after receiving a few crumbs of bread, flies off again. And the amazing part of the story is that if the back door happens to be closed the sparrow lands on the window sill and peeks at the glass until it attracts the attention of those inside and the door is opened for him. Small Farms in Demand. There is a keen demand at present for farm properties in the Waikato, reports a. Hamilton correspondent. In many cases land agents are having difficulty in securing properties to suit the prospective buyers. Tt was stated that few farms of up to 100 acres were being offered for sale, although many inquiries were received for this type of property. Owners of (he-e farms appeared reluctant to sell, even when very favourable ' prices were offered. It has been notice- , able that a number of men whose businesses have been seriously affected by the import restrictions have been invest- > imr capital which cannot he otherwise I -used in farm properties. Transactions . in most, cases have been completed for | cash. For the first month after the outJ break of war, few deals were completed, , but in the la-t six or seven weeks there ; has been a stream of inquiries. Tt ap- ' pears as if people, are settling down to 'the war conditions and are investing in '• farm properties with the object of find-,-jing security for their capital. Prices ; j for properties in country districts are 'the highest for the last two or three ' 1 years. One factor which has prevented » many people from completing transac- ; tions has been that the ingoing deposits j have been too high. Most buyers are prepared to pay up to £1000, but in ' many cases the deposit wanted is much higher.

Get Along, Little Doggie.

The dog, a ,-paniel. needed no cwourageinem as it ran down Queen Street with a bedTagghd parcel of meat in its Jiiout.h. Pedestrians could not help smiling, but to the small boy in hot.pursuit it was no laughing matter. It- was almost a crying one. When seen, the dog was turning up Customs Street a good three lengths in the lead, and! the fact that one family would be having a. meatless meal seemed-a foregone conclusion. Beach Improvements. Kci-idcnts of Titirangi and visitors to the beach will appreciate improvements to lie undertaken by the Waitemata County Council. Already some halfdo/.eu hahikutca tree* on tlie eastern reserve have been cut down preparatory to the reserve being levelled. When cleared and rcgrassed. the reserve should provide a spacious picnic, ground, with an excellent runnm" track of 100 yards. It is also proposed to form a metalled roadway giving residents with motor cars access to their properties. First Coat of Sun Tan. Many sun bathers took advantage of the blazing heat of the sun in spots which were sheltered from the wind yesterday afternoon. The sunshine was brighter than ever before this summer, according to habitues of the Parnell bath>, and in the lee of the bathing sheds was a i-muil of semi-dozing men ami i;irls. .More than one, too sleepy to -hit'l into tlio .-hade, went away with back and arms an angry red instead of the rcipiired warm brown which tinged the skin- of those who had taken the sim with more moderation. Statement on Oil Tanker. \ statement that the (!iivenuiient had no knowledge of the arrival of a. large tanker reported to have left New Zealand without discharging her products because purchasing arrangements could not be made, was made by the Minister of Supply, the Hon. I). (.!. Sullivan, in replying to a correspondent to the "Press."' "With reference, to a letter under the nom-de-plume of 'Motor Spirit' I would advise you that the (iovernment has no knowledge that a large tanker arrived in Xew Zealand and left without discharging any of her products because financial arrangements for the purchase of the products could not lie made," said the Minister. "Such a suggestion is entirely contrary to fa ct." Four Speeches. A story brought hack from U.S.A. and related to Auckland Rotarians yesterday by the newly-elected District Governor. Rotarian David Ewen. of Wellington. was to the effect that every public address includes four separate speeches. "The first is the one that you prepared, probably a fairly good one. Another is the speech as you said it. This may have been passable. The third is the one you thought of afterward:—a peach. The fourth is the speech as reported, which you did not deliver and which has no relation to the other three." The speaker interrupted the sally of laughter which followed to assure his hearers that his story would be pointless in New Zealand, where the accuracy of Press reports was generally recognised. Motorists "Barge Through." Although he lias appealed for motorists to show road courtesy at intersections, the chief trallic inspector in Chi'istchurch. Mr. Rruorton. still finds that there ar> too many drivers who adopt the principle of "barging through." I'nder the regulations, a vehicle on the left was required to give way to the right, but that did not mean that a car two or three chains back should accelerate to beat the driver on ■ the left, often causing accidents or resulting in narrow escapes. At intersections there was an urgent need for the much-talked-of road courtesy. Drivers would have to show more consideration in that respect, otherwise more drastic action would be taken by the traffic department. Bombing 'Planes Over Rotorua. A flight of six Vickers Yildebeeste bombers, from the Hohsonville air base, under the command of Flight-Lieutenant P. Monckton, landed on the Rotorua aerodrome yesterday morning and returned during the afternoon, reports the "Star's" Rotorua correspondent. The spectacle of the "planes living in formation over the town attracted a great deal of interest. an<l by the time they had landed a large crowd had assembled. This swelled to still greater proportions during the time the 'planes were on the ground. Drawn up in line, the six machines presented an impressive spectacle when tlicv took off on their return (Tight. They departed in formation of threes, the tirst three circling over the town and coming back at a considerable height over the aerodrome as the second three were leaving the ground.