General News

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22414, 30 May 1938, Page 8

General News

Not Understood | Autograph hunters were active on board the | French warship Bigault de Genoullly _at Lyl- 8 teiton yesterday- The French seamen main- I tained the reputation of their country for I politeness and good humour, signing every- | thing, including books, obligingly. Many people | tried out their knowledge of French on the ! sailors; some were successful, others were less 1 so. and a frequent reply to questions was je I ne comprends pas*’ (“I don’t understand ). 1 Horses In Warfare j “The day of the horse is not over, in spite ■ of what they msy say,” said Colonel P. H. Bell, Officer Commanding the Southern Military District. speaking at the annual reunion of the Veterans’ Association on Saturday evening. Recently. he said, when defence schemes had been carried out in certain parts of New Zealand, someone had said: “I wish we had a regiment of cavalry.” ‘"There are parts of New Zealand where you can’t use motor vehicles—you must have horses,” he added. Slips on the West Coast Heavy rain at the week-end caused a washout in the Runanga district. The railway line at the camp was washed out, interrupting the road and railway. Three co-operative mining parties at Dunoilie had their bridges washed a way, and two slips on the Rewanui railway are likely to prevent the Liverpool mine working to-day. In Greymouth 210 points of j rain were recorded for the 24 hours to 9 a.m. yesterday. Blackball experienced an extremely heavy downpour, and a slip occurred at Ngahere* Interfering with the railway traffic. — Press Association. Hundreds Visit French Sloop To cope with the number who wished to inspect the French warship Rigault de Genouilly j at Lyttelton the Railway Department ran four special trains yesterday. More than 1500 travelled by rail and hundreds more travelled by car. From 2 o'clock until four there was a continual stream of people along the wharf, lined up in queues awaiting their turn to go on board. Although the two hours allotted for inspecting the ship were extended by 15 minutes, easily 70 persons had to be refused admission. A sergeant and five constables controlled the crowd at the gangway, and although there was scarcely room to move freely on the ship there was no disorderliness. Bell From Transport The bell from the transport steamer which carried many New Zealand soldiers overseas j will, it is expected, be presented to the Dunedin Relumed Soldiers’ Association in the near future. The bell formerly belonged to the Port Napier, which was originally named the Hawke's Bay. In time it was known as “Transport No. 9,” and subsequently was known as the Martand. The vessel was owned by Messrs Thomas and John Brocklebank, Ltd., of Liverpool, until recently, when it was sold by them to foreign interests. As the result of representations made, the bell was not included in the sale and will be forwarded to Dunedin. Emu-shooting Expedition Wallabies, kangaroos, and emus were a common sight on some of the Australian country roads, said Mr Percy Oliver, of Napier, who, with a Napier friend, has been spending the last four months on a touring holiday of Australia. On one occasion they were with a shooting party which went out after kangaroos and emus, but while they were able to bag two of the latter, Australia’s kangaroo population was not affected. ‘The birds run exceptionally fast and are very tricky,” Mr Oliver added, “and in spite of their bulk they are hard to draw a shot on.” In some parts of Australia, he added, the drought was so bad that farmers were disposing of sheep at 3d each. Plague of Bats A plague of rats is troubling New Plymouth. So heavily has one shopkeeper been affected that losses on his stock in the last two months have cost him more than the weekly rent. Cats, traps, and poison have had little effect. An explanation of the present plague is offered by a businessman, who said that unusual warm weather recently caused them to delay their storing for winter, but, with the cold snap, they have been forced to leave the rivers, which run beneath the town, and make for food. “Poker Faces” at Casino "One would think that one would see excited and animated faces round the tables at the Casino at Monte Carlo, but such is not the case.” This statement was made at the weekly luncheon of the Wellington Rotary Club by Mr Cyril Sander, of Wellington, who has returned after a visit abroad of eight or nine months. “I never saw such a lot of ‘poker faces’ in my life,” Mr Sanders said, describing his visit to the Casino. “The ‘permanents’ just sit there playing till the evening and working out their systems on pieces of papers.” Some were wagering in 1000 franc notes (about £7 10s), and not very far away a poor woman was betting in five franc notes (about Is). Mr Sander explained that in order to get into the Casino at Monte Carlo one had not only to exhibit one's passport but also to obtain a special pass, and at the same time give one’s address for the time being and the country to which one belonged. This precaution was taken so that if the visitor was “cleaned up” at the Casino, he could be sent out of the country in the right direction toward his home. Nature Tricked Tricked by the unusually mild season, several fruit trees in Napier have already commenced to burst into spring blossom, and in some cases trees may be in full bloom within a week. Elm and willow trees have not yet commenced to shed their leaves in some instances, and new shoots are forming with great rapidity. This hoax that winter has played has proved to be general, and trees all over the Napier hill area are still displaying last year’s foliage. This pre-season blooming is likely to mean the loss of many private fruit crops, as the frosts and rain that are undoubtedly to come sooner or later_ will play havoc with the new shoots on the trees. Auckland Harbour Bridge Requests for a definite expression of the Government’s intentions on the building of a harbour bridge at Auckland are to be made by the Takapuna Borough Council, in accordance with a resolution passed recently. Mr C. H. M. Wills, stating that the construction of the bridge was vital to the development of the North Shore and the whole of North Auckland, moved that the Government be asked for a definite reply. The council was unanimous in its agreement. In answer to a question from Mr R. White, Mr Wills said that by a harbour bridge he meant the whole project, including causeway?, to Northcote and Bayswater. Without causeways, said Mr White, the bridge would not benefit Bayswater residents, whom he represented. Little-known Caves

A visit was recently paid by Mr H. S. James, of Hamilton, and a party of friends to some little-known caves at Taumaratotara, between Te Anga and Kinohaku, 30 miles west of Waitomo. The entrance to the caves is hidden in dense bush and is exceedingly difficult to reach owing to the rough character of the surroundiftg country. Only about 50 persons have visited the caves since they were discovered in 1914. Mr James and his companions had to make two descents, one of 20ft and another of 50ft. with ropes, to reach the interior of the caves. At the bottom they found themselves in-a stream of a depth varying from a few inches to several feet. The caves extend for a distance of half a mile, the width ranging from a foot or two to 90ft, while the roof is from 40ft to 100 ft high. The whole of the roof is illuminated by glow worms and gigantic stalactites are suspended from it. Some are of blanket formation, while others represent a variety of grotesque figures. Other stalactites have joined with stalagmites in mid-air to form columns of silica. Another feature of the caves is a crystal pool. Only two other caves in the world are known to possess such a pool. The formation in the water resembles coral and gives the pool, a remarkable beauty.