NEWS OF THE DAY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 35, 11 February 1943, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

American Poultry Expert "We are very fortunate to have him with us on the committee," remarked Mr. F. C. Bobby, superintendent of poultry husbandry, at a meeting in Henderson last evening, referring to Major Douglas Smith, of the United States Purchasing Board in New Zealand, who is a member of the committee appointed by the Government to increase egg production. Mr. Bobby said Major Smith was a pedigree poultry breeder in America, and was at present studying New Zealand methods as well as organising supplies for the American forces. Honolulu Blackout! After a business tour lasting some months and covering the east and west coasts of the United States and Canada, the Caribbean area, and some of the Pacific Islands, Mr. S. J. Robinson, of Auckland, considers that Honolulu has the most perfect and the most strictly applied blackout. He remarked that it was an offence to show the light of a cigarette after dark, and there was a ten o'clock curfew. An amazing change had been effected in this Pacific playground and pleasure resort since the Jap. attack, and Mr. Robinson had the strange experience of having Waikiki Beach all to himself at six o'clock in the afternoon. Plucky Woman Swimmer Most women brought up on the North Shore are good swimmers. Recently a fine example of this was seen after some very windy weather and high tides which brought much seaweed into the harbour. ■ A young woman, who is a keen gardener and has clay soil, which loves sand and seaweed before it will produce good vegetables, saw far out in the harbour a mass of seaweed being carried to sea by the outgoing tide. She swam to it and was able to get hold of some long pieces, which she dragged to the shore, winning the admiration of onlookers. . After "beaching" it she threw as much as she could over her shoulders- and had to make four trips before she got it all into her garden. Being a thorough enthusiast, it is predicted that she will have the best winter garden in her locality during the coming season. Travel Difficulties The problems, anxieties and risks taken by those whose business affairs to-day take them overseas were illustrated in a talk yesterday to the Creditmen's Club by Mr. S. J. Robinson, who recently visited the United States. He found conditions at Panama extremely congested, some people having been waiting for months to get air passages north and south. Mr. Robinson said he possessed a high priority, but just before he was due to leave for the United States he was politely informed by an official that it had become necessary to convey a vital piece of machinery by air and Mr. Robinson's passage might have to be postponed. When the machinery arrived and weights and measurements. were taken and calculations made it was found that Mr. Robinson would be able to travel, by the narrow margin of only one kilo, or just over 21b. Mr. Robinson attributed his good luck.to having kept up regular physical exercise on the long steamer journey across the Pacific to Panama.

Cast Into the Deep "Cast out into the deep" was the injunction once given bj 7, the wisest man on earth. One harbour wharf which has been a rallying ground for .fishermen yielded few fish when the tide was dead low. Conditions, however, have changed, and fishermen who have been specially favoured have found that now they can easily "cast into the deep," and they have been able to haul in big catches of snapper. There are still restrictions on the wharf, but when these are removed there will be a rush for positions, and big hauls should be the order. Fruit and. Vegetables Decision to ask the Government to extend the control of marketing of all fruit and vegetables so that children could get an adequate supply at reasonable prices to maintain health was made by the Wellington School Committees and Educational Association. It was described as a "disgrace" and a "scandal" that fruit and vegetables should be the price they are in New Zealand. A motion that the Government be asked to extend the free fruit allowance to school children to include stone fruit as well as apples was not carried. Wanted to be Home First Were they having a secret night out? Passengers on the last Meadowbank tram from town wondered, when two women amusingly aired their'domestic affairs, with the conductor as confidant. The tram 'was waiting at the Newmarket intersection, while another tram was coming down Khyber Pass. "D'you think that might.be an Onehunga tram— the one before the last?" one woman asked. "I imagine it'd be the last," the conductor replied. . "Oh goodness," the woman laughed, "we hoped to catch the earlier one, because our husbands will be on the last, and we wanted to get home first!" . Dangerous-Looking Chair At a meeting of Henderson poultry-keepers last evening, held in the local Foresters' Hall, it was found that there was no chair handy for the principal speaker, Mr. F. C. Bobby, of Wellington, superintendent of poultry husbandry. At the chairman's suggestion he relaxed, until called on to speak, in a huge carved throne with an elaborate overhanging canopy of wood, the angle of which gave the impression that it might crash forward on to the hapless sitter at any minute. When he rose to. speak, Mr. Bobby sighed audibly with relief, remarking that he was glad to get away from "the rookery." Soldiers' Loose Tunics When counsel for the defence- in a case before the Supreme Court in Palmerston North asked a witness dressed in khaki whether "things" were carried in the tunic, the reply, accompanied by a smile, was "quite likely." Pressing the point, counsel inquired whether such things as bottles of beer were carried in that way. Following the reply, "It would be possible," Mr. Justice Blair commented: "He's read about it somewhere." A subsequent reference to the looseness of the tunics in battledress led his Honor to compare them with the sailor suits worn by little boys. "V ery handy when going to orchards," he said.