General News

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26728, 12 May 1952, Page 6

General News

Synthetic Tobacco The Sugar Research Foundation said to-day that a new synthetic product made from sugar cane looked and tasted like tobacco. The process nas been patented. Bagasse, the product left over after all the sugar is removed from the cane, is beaten, • cut and abrased, and then it is washed up and the fibres are screened. Alter tnat it is given some more beating and then me fibres are put througn a papermaking machine. At that point the product looks like tobacco. Chemicals are then added to give it a tobacco taste and smell. When that is done, the material can be used in cigars, cigarettes or pipes.—Washington, May 10. Mayor Sings on Radio An unusual interlude was provided in a programme played by the Lyttelton Manne Band, and broadcast by Station 3ZB yesterday morning. The Mayor of Lyttelton (ivjr F. G. Briggs), who is also president of the band, sang a ballad, “Thora,” with band accompaniment. Mr Briggs had previously sung at public functions in Lyttelton. Bride Christens Plane x Shll wearing her bridal gown and train, Mrs Graham Prosser christened the Auckland Aero Club’s new sevenseater de Havilland Dominie aircraft, City of Auckland, after sne had been married by the Rev. A. R. Anderson, °f St. James’ Church, Mangere, in the clubhouse at Mangere aerodrome on Saturday alternoon. Mrs Prosser was formerly Miss Alma Jean Cgttapach a daughter of Mr and Mrs C. Cattanach, of Mangere. She stood on a passenger gangway and broke a bottle of champagne oyer the nose of the aircraft, while her husband and guests watched. The aero club bought the plane from the Royal New Air Force and will use it for taking parties of tourists to scenic resorts and for other work, lhe machine is the largest plane owned by an aero club in New Zealand. Neither the bride nor the bridegroom is a member of the club nor are they pilots—(P.A.) Ahead of Schedule Mr Ernie Old, aged 77, cycled into Sydney from Melbourne yesterday two and a half hours before his reception committee turned out to greet him He had covered the §59 miles between the two cities in three days and had made the journey expressly to meet Professor Frank S. Cotton, of Sydney University, who wished to check on his muscular reactions. Mr Old has cycled across Australia six times in the last five years, and has travelled six times between Melbourne and Sydney.—Sydney, May 11. Naval Recruiting The coming visit of H.M.N.Z.S. Bellona to England was proving a great spur to naval recruiting, said CaptJlln *u G »y’ M - Dolphin, senior officer of the New Zealand Squadron, after presenting trophies at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron’s eightieth annual prize-giving at Auckland. He added: “I am now getting five or six », da y wtl ° wail t to re-engage, lhe Navy s manpower position has much improved, and we hope to man more snips next year. In peace time we must have a highly efficient and well-balanced force which is capable of expansion. We do want to get the right type of fellow to join—that is, one who is really fond of the sea and regards the Navy as not just another job. It was up to the Navy to produce a career, and he thought it was doing so. said Captain Dolphin. It was the Navy Board’s policy to send away from New Zealand to work with their units, and it was only the Korean war which had upset these arrangements. Coronet Peak Praised In Coronet Peak, New Zealand had one of its finest winter tourist attractions, said the Prime Minister (Mr Holland) in Invercargill yesterday afternoon. Mr Holland visited the Coronet Peak ski-ing ground on Saturday morning. There was nothing finer of its kind in Australia and New Zea? land, he said. It was a triumph of private enterprise. The Mount Cook and Southern Lakes Tourist Company was to be most warmly commended on its enterprise in developing the ground. It had made good roads in difficult country, and was providing modern ski-ing facilities for both adults and children. With the new air service between Melbourne and Christchurch, Coronet Peak was now handier to many Australians than most of their own grounds, Mr Holland continued. He was in no doubt that thousands of overseas tourists would come to Queenstown when the magnificent attractions of Coronet Peak became better known. “There is no doubt that New Zealand • has a great national asset at Coronet Peak, which is little more than half an hour’s drive from Queenstown over one of the most interesting roads in the country,” Mr Holland added.—(P.A.) Grading of Beech Timber The “end user" of beech did not know what quality he was buying, although some merchants adopted their own system of grading, said Mr J. Cooney (Westport) at the annual meeting of the New Zealand Institute of Foresters at Tapanui on Saturday. He said that a standard grading should be adopted, and branding in the millers’ yards should be insisted upon. The uses of the various kinds of beech should be publicised, added Mr Cooney, because beech was a good wood for certain purposes. The institute decided to recommend to the Director of State Forests (Mr A. R. Entrican) that a standard grading for beech should be adopted. Mr A P. Thomson (Wellington) said that a move in this direction was being considered bv the State Forest Service. The grades which were under consideration were silver, red, mountain, apd hard beech.—(P.A.) Youthful Harrier Burton Silver, a six-year-old Wellington boy who runs anything up to six miles every Saturday, may become, as his father was, one of New Zealand’s greatest cross-country runners. He is the son of Mr F- B. Silver, who as a Wellington harrier rose from a sick-bed to beat the famous "farmer miler,” Randolph Rose, for the Wellington cross-country title it) 1924. Burton Silver thinks nothing of his weekly harrier outings with the Scottish Club, running with the senior slow pack over five and six-mile courses. He tries to win whenever he can and invariably leads the slow pack home. Children’s Post Office The first children's post office in New Zealand was opened at the Kelburn Normal School. Wellington, on Friday afternoon, when between 60 and 70 letters were dispatched. Approval has been given for the use of a special rubber stamp showing the origin of the mail, which is then taken to the Kelburn post office for cancellation of the stamps. When the office is in full working order, postal notes and money orders will be on sale, and parcels and telegrams win be accepted. The “postmaster” and “postman" will each serve for a fortnight. Snake Found on Beach A yellow and black snake found on the Ninety-mile Beach some weeks ago is said by Dr. Gilbert Archey, director of the Auckland War Memorial Institute and Museum, to be a venomous tropical sea snake called Pelamis platurus. They are occasionally washed up on the coasts of the Northland peninsula. He believed this species had been found only about 1? times in New Zealand. The snake, which is now preserved in spirits and is in good condition, has a pointed head. It is 2ft 6ip long and its dark back and yellow bellv taper to a flattened tail striped yellow and black. The snake was dead when it was found-

Suspected Thieves Detained A big hole in the plate glass window of the shop of G. T. Pearce, boys’ and men’s outfitters, at the corner of Victoria and Albert streets. Auckland, was noticed by a group of about 15 Maoris who were travelling home after a dance at 12.15 a.m. yesterday. The Maoris kent watch, and detained three men until the arrival of police officers in a patrol car. The group was involved in p spirited melee in Wellesley street, near Federal street—more than a block away from the broken window. After a brief scuffle, the police restored order and arrested the three men. who will appear in the Auckland Magistrate’s Court this morning.—(P.A.)