General News

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21988, 12 January 1937, Page 8

General News

St. Elmo's Fire A ball of fire hovering round the trunk oi a pine tree about 20 feet from the ground startled . and puzzled a party of Hamilton motorists at Newstead, Waikato, on Sunday. Very soon the, ball r6se slowly and then, dispersed. The phenomenon the motorists observed is a very rare one called St. Elmo’s Fire, or less often corposant - (corpus sanctum); > St. ’Elmo’s Fire , appears as a globular light on a masthead or yard of a ship during, a storm., In its nature the “fire” is an electrical brush or glow. 'Although most of the recorded cases of the phenomenon ;, relate to balls of fire on ships!, masts, it could' from its nature appear on the top or branch of a tree. It was no doubt-such a glow that the Hamilton motorists saw. • ■

• Styx Over-bridge It : is expected that the heavy , construction work on the' over-bridge at the Styx railway crossing will be completed by the Public Works Department at the end of February. The construction of the approaches and other detail work will be pushed ahead to allow the bridge to be brought into commission at the end of March, -The contract for, this over-bridge was the first let in Canterbury as part of the Government's scheme for the elimination, of level crossings throughout the Dominion. Its design, is interesting as a 1: model for others for which contracts have still to be let, . including those at the Sockburn, Selwyh, Ashburton, and Prebbleton crossings; Summer Ski-ing on the Tasman

Although summer (ski-ing has been enjoyed regularly for some seasons past ,on the Mueller glacier and the head of the Franz Josef glacier, . this Christmas for the first time a party of members of the Christchurch Ski Club had excellent ski-ing on the slopes from the head of the .Tasman glacier to the morraine below the Malte Brun 'hut. The secretary of the club (Mr G. G. Lockwood) said, on his return yesterday that the snow was in excellent cqndition, the .surface having been .improved by one or two good falls during the. last fortnight. The runs from the Lendenfeldt and Tasman saddles to the morraine, over a perfect surface of an inch or so of powder snow on top. of spring,, crust, had been all that could be. desired. Cor)- , ditions ' for summer ski-ing were better .than,, usual because of the extraordinary season, but it was proved that the area at the head of the Tasman was a good place for enjoying the sport in summer. Timaru Talks to Budapest Although telephone' messages have been put through from Timaru to London, it was not until Saturday, night that a message was sent to the Continent. Then a conversation was held with Budapest, 15,000 miles away, from the office of a local firm of sharebrokers. Had conditions been satisfactory, the call would have been put through on the previous night, but as there was tod much noise it was held over. The conversation lasted three minutes and conditions, which were good at first, improved until there was little if any deed for repetition. Motorists in Trouble Through not crossing Bruce Creek at an angle several motorists were caught in the creek yesterday, but later managed to rescue their cars. The Bruce was not easily fordable, but the Cass was, according to one motorist who went from Greymouth to Christchurch. He said that the Gorge road was in good order. A five-seater sedan motor-car capsized on the road between Aickens and Otira yesterday when the driver was unable to control it after he struck a pot-hole. The occupants were not injured. New Zealand Leads the World The claim was made yesterday by Dr. F. H. McDowall, of the research staff of Massey Agricultural College, that New Zealand was now leading the world in research on cheese production. Experts from abroad and particularly from America, where New Zealand supremacy is readily admitted, are to visit Massey College this year to observe our methods. Dr. McDowall himself is the author of a book which.. embodies the latest that New Zealand has to say on the subject. 'A Student of Carnivorous Plants “Carnivorous plants are my particular study at present,” stated Professor F. E.. Lloyd Macdonald, professor of botany at McGill University, Montreal, interviewed on arrival at Wellington yesterday by the Maungariui from Sydney. He was on h)s way to Auckland to attend the biennial congress of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science, which opens there to-morrow. Professor Lloyd said he had been abroad for more than a year studying in London; Germany, and Australia; In .the Commonwealth; there were a great many species of plants which lived by preying on insects.' He lenderstood that there were one or two species in New Zealand—blatterworts or perhaps - sun- , dews—but he did hot intend to stop in the country to study them.—Press Association. Tramping to Milford Sound More than 40 people have made the crossing to Milford S oun d over the Grave-Talbot Pass in the last Week or two, and all have been most enthusiastic about the beauties of; the fiord region. Hiking trips to Big Bay and round the Greenstone and; Routeburri valleys were arranged for several parties, ■ and riding trips to the lower Hollyford and to the West Coast have also been organised. Many Australian visitors have made the trips, and the Dominion has been represented by tourists from as far north North Auckland. Long Bicycle Ride The feat of a Mount Albert Grammar School boy in cycling from-Auckland to Wellington in seven days has been eclipsed recently by a Wellington College boy, aged • 14, who rode from Wellington to 'Auckland in four days. He left his home at 6 a.m. on Monday of last week, and arrived in the northern city at 6 p.m. on Thursday, having encountered heavy weather, with strong northerly winds. The boy had had some previous experience of road cycling, being a member of the Poneke Cycling Club. Tried to Snatch Purse from Under Train Heedless of the grave risk she took,, a woman knelt by the side of the Limited express as it was moving out of the Auckland station last night and attempted to snatch a purse which had been dropped on the rails. Fortunately she was saved from accident by the quick action of a porter, who pulled her back. The woman was one of a party bidding farewell to . a woman passenger in a sleeping car at the end of the train. The passenger was on the platform saying good-bye to her friends, and apparently did not notice the warning gong, as she . did not attempt to board the train until it was moving. When doing this, she dropped her purse, and' it fell to the rails. After the passenger’s friend had been restrained by the porter another railway official waited until the train had passed; before he stepped down bn to the line and picked the purse up. He then raced along the platform, caught the train, and handed the purse to the , guard.-f “The Press” Special Service. “Lifts” For Pedestrians The old custom of motorists stopping on the road to give pedestrians a “lift” is now rapidly falling into disuse. This is not considered to be due to any growing discourtesy among motorists as a class, nor to any marked growth in the American practice of “hitch-hiking,” but is probably purely the result of a legal position by which any car .owner who, has mercy, on a foot-weary pedestrian automatically assumes a serious financial risk. Motor accidents nowadays are numerous, and if a driver with' a passenger is involved in a collision with another vehicle, he may easily be placed in the position of having to bear at least part of the compensation costs in the case of injury to his passenger. Accordingly more than ordinary care is required when driving with passengers, and even among the most cautious of motorists there is a disinclination to give “lifts” in the lordly fashion which, was followed, a few years ago. Further complications have arisen under the Law Reform Act which was passed by Parliament last year. Under this measure the court is empowered to determine the degree of negligence shown; by drivers involved in a collision and to assess damages accordingly.