NEWS OF THE DAY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 85, 11 April 1945, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

Slight Error A transport plane flying over northern New Guinea waters recently advised an R.A.A.F. Beaufort bomber wing that what appeared to be a submarine had been sighted off Kairiru Island. The Beaufort had boen doing a 24-hour-a-day patrol over this area. However, because of the sighting, extra Beauforts were sent up. When the object was found the report to base stated: "One whole whale, 50ft, five miles off shore, 10 miles «ast Kairiru, course 150, speed five knots, spouting." Turakina Tunnels New methods in the re-concreting of inverts, wall, and arches of the ' Denlair and Turakina tunnels on the Okoia-Turakina rail deviation south of Wanganui, to make these formerly faulty tunnels among the strongest in the Dominion are expected to speed up the relining to the rate of up to 100 ft daily. If the supply of materials and labour is maintained, reconstruction work on the Turakina tunnel will be finished in about nine months, and on the Denlair tunnel approximately a month later, says an exchange. Luxury Doll's House A doll's house built in Georgian style with slated roofs and shuttered windows and fully furnished to scale has been on display at Stewart Island recently. The house was made by Miss Cardia Russell, of Invercargill. Much of the furniture and fittings were made by Mr. W. Mumby, of Stewart Island, while many of the household requisites were given by Miss Baker. The completed house has excited much favourable comment, the fittings including a piano, complete with musical score, a standard lamp, a pendulum clock, a range, a small kettle and irons and an oak dining suite, but most interesting of all is the miniature cutlery, the small cruet and the exquisite long-stemmed t wine glasses with the two accomfck panying tiny bottles of wine.

On A Fuss At a suburban primary school yesterday, during a general talk session, a little girl asked her teacher what she would like to be if she came back to this world after she had died. Would the teacher like to be a racehorse, a draught horse or a brood mare, she asked. Without waiting for the embarrassed teacher's reply, the child said: "I would like to be a brood mare. You should see the fuss that daddy makes of his brood mare." Accomplished Bird Budgerigars can be taught to speak quite well, but one that can to all intents and purposes ask its, way home must be unique. There is such a budgie in Invercargill. The bird had been taught to speak its master's name and address, and the accomplishment came in very handy the other day when the bird flew some distance from its home and became lost. However, it was able to tell the people who found it the name of its owner and where it" lived and within a short time it was returned to its home. Mosquito Breeding Ground? Although the well-tended grounds surrounding the Savage Memorial at Bastion Point regularly draw expressions of admiration from visitors, the Pool of Remembrance is the subject of a good deal of critical comment. Originally planned to provide a reflection of the monument in the foreground of the visitor's approach, it was an idea with merit but it has not worked out that way. The water is now partially covered with thick green slime, and feathers of seabirds, float forlornly on the surface with other rubbish. Local residents contend that the pool is a breeding-ground for mosquitoes. A suggestion has been made that a self-reticulating fountain would prevent stagnation without wasting water. It also has been suggested that the pool should be stocked with goldfish, although this would probably necessitate deepening the pool. '