General News.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 19459, 5 November 1928, Page 10

General News.

Few tourists came to New Zealand during tho past month, and it is thought by authorities of the New Zealand Government Tourist Bureau that the shipping strike in Australia had a good deal to do with the falling off. Compared with the traffic at this time during other years, the decrease was considerable. It is expected that nest month will be busy. The Wellington Brass Band Contest Society at the annual meeting decided to make application to the New Zealand body for the champion contest of 1930. The contest for next year has already been fixed to take place at Wanganui in February ntxt. The election of officers resulted:—President, Mr H. D. Bennett; vice-presi-dent. Mr E. Palliser: secretary, Mr W. J. Mountjoy; treasurer, Mr "W. Husband (vice Mr Baillie. who has taken up his residence in the South Island).

A model aeroplane club is at present being formed in Auckland, to popularise the construction and flying of models and to develop "air sense." It is intended to make the present club exclusive to senior members, but schoolboys joining could be drafted to school clubs later Mofcorless gliding is to be kept in view, as such great progress has been made recently in that direction. Gliders have soared in perfect control for almost 24 hours, and have been flown to nominated destinations 17 miles away. Mr W. G. Chapman, who presided at Mr J. A. Flesher's election meeting at Papanui on Saturday evening, in the course of his remarks, stated that he was one of a committee of three appointed by the Papanui Progress League to investigate ways and means of remedying the present unsatisfactory position of the Northcote settlement. The committee would shortly bring down a recommendation to the Government, which it was hoped would result in filling the houses. At present only 15 out of 52 were occupied.

If trout are too elusive for Hawke's Bay anglers and their rods, the crow is evidently able to catch them, for a local resident recently told the following story to a "Daily Telegraph" reporter. At the Ngaruroro at Pakowhai she saw a big crow swoop to the surface of the water and rise again with a trout weighing at least 31b held in its beak. The crow at once made off, apparently towards the rookery, and in flight was followed by another large crow "caw-ing" loudly. All the time the trout was wriggling violently in an effort to force itself loose, but the crow safely carried it out of sight. A terrific explosion was heard over the whole of the Hauraki Peninsula, including the town of Coromandel, last week. Mrs E. A. Florance, the postmistress at Port Charles, says that between 8 and 10 p.m. there was a very brilliant flash of light, which lit up the whole place, followed a few seconds later by a terrific explosion which awakened everyone in the neighbourhood. It shook the houses and rattled the windows. Another resident says he saw a bright flash of light travelling through the sky at a tremendous speed in a north-westerly direction just before the explosion occurred, somewhere between Great Barrier Island and Port Charles. The local theory is that the phenomenon was occasioned by the falling of a meteor of unusual size and brilliance. The Academic Board of the University of New Zealand is sitting in Wellington, the meeting being expected to last about a week. Professor H. W. Segar (Auckland) is in the chair. Others present are Professors W. Anderson, A. C. Paterson, Maxwell Walker, P. P. Worley (Auckland University), J. Adamson, J. Rankin, Brown, T. A. Hunter, D. C. Florance, H. B. Kirk, and D. M. Sommerville (Victoria College), J. Hight, T. G. Blunt, H. G. Denham, J. Shelley (Canterbury College), W. N. Benson, A. J. Bell, G. Thompson, R. Jack, and T. Lawson (Otago University). Professor G. S. Pereh (Massey Agricultural College) has just been elected to the board under a provision of the New Zealand University Amendment Act, 1928.

Probably the first letters sent to New Zealand from Amsterdam by air mail via Batavia (Java) were received recently by a Wellington resident, Mr A. Van Rooijen, from his people in Holland. By the fast steamers it takes tventy-four days for letters to reach Batavia from Amsterdam but those sent to Mr Van Rooijen arrived in Weltevreden, near Batavia, eleven days after ihey were posted In Amsterdam —a difference of thirteen days. From Batavia they were dispatched to New Zealand via Australia. On the letters is a post-office stamp, "Per Luchtpost" (in Dutch) and "Par Avion" (in French), which indicates that they are to be forwarded by air mail. As is only to be expected, one has to pay for this very much more speedy transmission of mail matter. It cost Mr Van Rooijen's relatives 2s 6d extra on each of the two letters sent to him by air mail, and eighteen pence extra on a postcard. When your "A" battery runs down you want it charged again with as little delay as possible. Bring it to-J. I. Smail's, 734 Colombo street, who have their eauipment running night and dav, and can let vou have your battery fully charged within 24 hours. —6 Dear Sirs,—We have now used your Potato Planter with Fertiliser attachment for. planting about 40 acres and consider the machine almost perfect in both the planting of the seed and the fertiliser, at least four acres can be planted by one man with three horses in an 8-hour day.—Frank Henrn, Ohoka. Mr Heron considers he will save the cost of the machine in one season's work.—P. and D Duncan, Ltd., Christchurch. —6