General News

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21086, 10 February 1934, Page 12

General News

s r More Work for Youths This week has been a panicui. larly good one from the point of . view of the Boys' Employment \ Committee. Six boys have been • permanently placed on farms and , eight permanently in trades. Three » have been placed temporarily on [ farms, six temporarily in trades, and \ H have receive :i temporary won; 5 of a miscellaneous nature. These > figures were given to a representa- ; five of "The Press'' yesterday by : Mr G. M. Keys, who said that there ' seemed to be a brightening up o! the woodwork trade. There were ' 42 new registrations, which was a reduction on previous weeks. The '■ stall had had a very busy period i just before the schools commenced when an average of about 60 boys who had previously been registered, called at the office each day to see if there were any positions offering. Birds as Weather Prophets j There are many ways in which ' birds are thought to foretell the I approach of a rainstorm, but two leases from the Burnham district i seem to show ability to foretell an ! approaching wet summer. A well-| | known farmer of the district re- j | cently discovered a nest of skylarks under a bent bit of corru- : gated iron where the mother was j J engaged in hatching out four eggs lin a well-sheltered position. The Uiher concerns the nest of a pair of hedge-sparrows, which had guarded against the wet summer I by laying jr. a closed cultivator box. The birds had entered through a small hole at one end and built their I home at the other, well screened ' from the wintry blasts. !

An Unusual List | An unusual list of animals in- j Upectecl by Mr D. J. White, impec- j tor for the- Canterbury Society for j the Prevention of Cruelty to Ani- j j mals, is contained in his last report ! ito the society. Mr White reported ; having inspected 73 monkeys, two ; baboons, one wombat, two tigers, ; five lions, one leopard, one panther, j | one honey bear, elephants, one i i hippopotamus, two zebras, 40 horses, | | one-hybrid sheep, and five dogs. The i I animals were in Wirth's Circus. I j Yachting and Racing "Putting men into one-design racing machines and training them to be slick sail handlers and shrewd tiller jugglers never yet made yachtsmen," said Ihe chairman (Mr G. R. Curtis), at yesterday's meetI ing of the New Zealand Yachting Council. ''We have men in our Sanders Cup crews to-day who can't splice an eye in the end of a rope. A yachtsman is supposed to be an amateur sailor, capable of keeping his boat up to concert pitch, of getting the best out of her under all conditions, and beating the other fellow, when it comes to racing, by good seamanship as well as by good tactics, and not merely by knowing just what you can do under the Yacht Racing Association rules." I Old Racing Programme i An interesting gift of a programme of a race meeting in Auck- i land on December 11, lf!4f), lias been received by the Auckland Racing i Club. The programme is artistic- ■ ally printed on silk. There were four races, a Maiden Plate, of 25 sovereigns, a Ladies' Purse, of 'M sovereigns, twice round the course, the three horses engaged each carrying 13.0, a hack race for which post entries were invited, and an Innkeepers' Purse, of 30 sovereigns, for which the weight was 9.112. j

Radio Beacon For Signals | An assurance that the Government | had not lost sight of the necessity for radio beacon fog signal conslrucI tion on the New Zealand coast was | contained in a letter received at a I recent meeting of the Auckland Harbour Board from the Minister fur Marine (the Hon. J. G. Cobbe). It was stated that arrangements were in hand for carrying out experimental work to ascertain Ihe suitability of various suggested localities. "The board will keep its attention fixed on this subject and not allow the Marine Department to relax," said the chairman (Mr T. 13. Clay). Thermal Activity Interesting thermal activity hasbeen noticed at Rotorua recently. Following a blow-out in the lake near the Pauranga stream, which is not an unusual happening, there have been some curious occurrences in the Kurau reserve. The big boiling pool at the base of Pukeora Hill has reached a high level, and there." has been an unusual disturbance of waters in the centre. The mud geyser near the soda pool has been throwing up muddy water lately, and has increased its height by about four feet. In other parts of I the reserve there have also been I evidences of increased activity. In the existing hot spring, after unusual activity with a big overflow, the water suddenly stopped flowing, and half an hour later the spring | burst out 20 feet away with a bigger flow of water than ever. Dogs for Honolulu A shipment of considerable interest to New Zealand dog breeders was made this week, when two pedigree Scottish terriers were sent by the Niagara from Auckland to a buyer in Honolulu. The dogs were sent by an Auckland breeder in response to an enquiry from a woman in Honolulu. A dog pup and a ,young bitch were sent, and. although they have not. been exhibited at shows, they have both been very favourably commented on by experts. As far as can be ascertained there are no Scottish terriers inHonolulu. The export of dogs from the Dominion to Honolulu has been confined mainly to one Hawaiian dealer who makes occasional visits. The quarantine period for dogs entering Hawaii from the United States and England is six months, but that for dogs from New Zealand is only one week. [ First Thing First A story 's being told by railway people of a small boy who was travelling from Well'ngton to Auckland for his holidays, says an Auckland newspaper. Every time the guard came round, this small boy asked the guard if the train had arrived at Te Awamutu yet. This became rather disc, nccrting to the guard, but at last the train did arrive at Te Awamutu and the guard called out: ''Here you are, j my boy, this is Te Awamutu." The j boy very politely said, 'Thank you, sir," but did not move. "Well," said the guard, "aren't you going to get out?" "Uh, no," replied the boy, "I'm going to Auckland, but mother told me to eat my sandwiches at Te Awamutu, and I'm 'just going to eat them."