General News

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28169, 7 January 1957, Page 6

General News

Gulls Attack Duke Lord Cilcennin, a former First Lord of the Admiralty, used a whale bone to beat off two skua gulls which attacked him and the Duke of Edinburgh on the south Shetland Islands on January 4. The Duke, accompanied by Lord Cilcennin, went ashore at Admiralty Bay to visit a “maternity home” for a quarter of a million of penguins, a message received at Buckingham Palace said. The enraged gulls swooped on them. Lord Cilcennin picked up a whitened whale’s bone, one of many lying on the beach, to beat them off. The Duke of Edinburgh, in the Royal yacht Britannia, later sailed for Port Stanley in the Falklands.—London, January 6.

Rescue From Cave Rock Members of the Sumner Surf Life Saving Club assisted two young men who got into difficulties on Saturday afternoon at Cave Rock. The men, who were swimming outside the patrol area, found the tide too strong and clambered on to the nearest rock. The surfmen swam out to the rock and assisted them to the shore. Climbing Curtailed Unsettled weather in the Mount Cook regions curtailed the activities of mountaineers in the area during the holiday period. The Hermitage report last night stated that no outstanding climbs haa been recorded, although there was the usual influx of visitors for the holidays. Chief Bottle Smasher One of the busiest men in London this week, according to the “Daily Mirror,” is 41-year-old John Anderson, bottle smasher at a big London brewery. He is generally fairly busy, but the return of Christmas and New Year empties has meant he is working overtime smashing 5000 bottles daily. After washing, bottles are checked for cracks and chips. Rejects are sold to the glass manufacturers at £2 a ton, but they must first be smashed into small splinters. Wearing rubber boots, thick gloves and protective goggles, Mr Anderson steps into a tank and hurls bottles against the steel wall. “Some blokes in this game will club one bottle to smithereens with another,” he said. “But that way you are too close to your work. I find flagons and quart sizes easy, but half-pints and nips take a lot of breaking. You’ve got to use vim when you throw them. I can flatten a fly on a wall at 20 paces and last summer I won all the prizes on tne coconut shy stall.”—London, January 5.

Big Trout A fine specimen of rainbow trout weighing UJlb was taken from the delta of the Tongariro river on the south-western side of Lake Taupo by Mr Stuart Boyle, of Wellington, on Saturday evening. The trout was 294 inches long and 19 inches in girth. A special fly tied by Mr G. Rough, of Christchurch, was used. The two men have taken 70 fish during the last fortnight, many of them over 51b. Oil Search in Northland Exploration for oil in the Kaitaia area of Northland will probably begin in the late summer or early autumn this year. Almost all the capital of a small Kaitaia company has been raised locally, and 5000 ft of casing is on the proposed drilling site at Kaiaka. The company has acquired prospecting licences giving rights over the bulk of the area between the Mangamuka ranges and the east and west coasts, and extending up the far northern peninsula. Swimming Race for Dogs

A feature of a regatta at Kawhia, Auckland, was a dog swimming race. The dogs, who appeared to be thoroughly enjoying the limelight, were taken out in a launch and swam back to their owners on shore. That is, all except one, which insisted on returning to the starter’s launch. The race brought back memories for Sister M. Reidy. She remembers the day the first dog race was held to provide funds for the hospital she had come to Kawhia to close down but which she was asked to keep open. Dog owners on that day, more than 40 years ago, had to whistle their dogs to the wharf. Sister Reidy remembered that she purchased a large bone from the butcher, stood on the wharf, and waved it at ner dog, which came in a very easy first.