NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 207, 31 August 1940, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Waikaremoana Road Blocked. The Public Works Department is still engaged in clearing the large slip on the Rotorua-Waikareiuoana road near Ruatahuna. The slip, which is of loose material, came down in heavy rain three weeks ago. Since then vehicles urgently needing to cross have been sent over with «reat care, but it will be sonic time before the road is clear. Bequest to Wellington College. The executors of the will of the late Mrs. J. P. Firth have intimated to the board of governors that Wellington College benefits to the extent of approximately £0000 tinder the will. The money is to be used to' enable boys attending the college to continue their studies at the university or at a technical college. The board placed on record its appreciation of the donor's generosity, and a letter of thanks will be drafted to the relatives of Mrs. Firth. Farms for Soldiers. Two areas of improved farm land, comprising 749 acres and 495 acres respectively, have been purchased by the Government between Lichfield * and Tokoroa, near Putarum, for subdivision as soldier settlements. With the 1700 acres recently bought in the same locality from the Matarawa Land Company, a block of 2944 acres will be available for subdivision. The price paid for the two first-mentioned areas was £12 an acre. Regarded as land of excellent quality, the block is admirably suited for small-scale farming. Capture of Samoa. On August 30, 1914, six ships of war and two transports appeared off Apia, the .capital of German Samoa. Steaming ahead under a flag of truce, H.M.S. Psyche entered the inner harbour and landed an oflicer, who demanded the surrender of the islands within half on hour. He was told that surrender could not be given, but that no attempt would be made to interfere with the landing of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. The troops landed. All bridges and roads leading to the town were placed under guard, and the German flag which had floated over Apia for 14 years was hauled down. The landing" of the X.Z.E.F. is notable as the first instance of an oversea. Dominion having dispatched an invading force across the ocean to capture foreign territory. Boy*s Long Air Journey. Eleven-year-old John Jamieson, from Perak, Malaya, was the most seasoned air traveller among the passengers who i arrived from Sydney yesterday by the flying-boat Aotearoa. His journey to New Zealand, which he made alone, began with a 400-mile motor trip to Singapore. There he joined the Qantas flying-boat, and, flew to Sydney via Sourabaya, Darwin and Townsviile. In Sydney, where he was delayed owing to the postponement of the Aotearoa's. flight from Monday to Friday, he stayed in the hotel used by the pilots of fasman Empire Airways, and through the kindness of the proprietor's wife was able to see many of the sights that any schoolboy would like to sec in Sydney. He has come to Xew Zealand to enter Waitaki Boys' High School, and his air journey will be completed on Monday with a flight to Dunedin. In Auckland he was met by two Waitaki old bovs, and a master at the school will take charge of him at Dunedin. Maori Rock Carvings. Carvings of considerable ethnological value, in a cave which featured largely in the tribal wars of the Rotorua and Taupo district, are protected by an order in the ••Gazette." An area of'two'acres is declared a native reserve, as a place of historic interest. The cave, which is below the Aratiatia Rapids, is believed to have been first explored bv Europeans in 1920, when Mr. H. Hill, of Xapier, and Mr. R. H. Ward and Mr. G. Stubbs, of Taupo, entered it. It has since been visited frequently by fishermen, and some of the carvings have been mutilated. Mr. W. J. Phillipps, of the Dominion Museum, carried out field work in the neighbourhood last year, and it is as an outcome of the report he presented that the action is taken by the Government. The carvings on the domed ceiling of the cave are mainly canoo shapes, numbering 04. Four types of canoe are represented. A lizard "and two human figures are also incised in the soft rock. They are believed to be the only cave carvings in the district. Grey River Bar. Since the five-knot run in the Grey River on Tuesday, following a brief storm, it had not been possible for two days, owing to rough seas on the Greymouth harbour bar, to carry out sounding, but a moderation then permitted this work. It was found that there was a gain of over 2ft in the depth, which is now approximately 20ft 3in at high water. Combined with the heavy westerly seas on the bar. which stirred up silt deposits, the moderate fresh in the river has evidently done excellent work in scouring out a'good deal of the unusually wide sandbank, which has adversely affected shipping for two weeks. Although the improvement is only slight, it will relieve anxiety with regard to the timber trade, which, it was considered, would be adversely s.ffected. The projected loading of the largest timber cargo for a considerable time would have had to be reduced to one-third to keep the draught of the vessel within the restrictions imposed by the bar depth. This particular vessel will possibly still have to restrict its loading, but possibly not to the s?me extent as was earlier anticipated ;