NORTH AND SOUTH

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 79, 29 December 1925, Page 4

NORTH AND SOUTH

That a young orphan boy in one of our orphanages should be the bughtest boy in the school which he attended, and have a certificate of proficiency while be was still in standard five without having to go through the sixth standard course, was the cause of most favourable comment by the members of the Auckland Hospital Board (reports the Star”). The boy was getting the best home and school training which he could get. It was expected that the lad would go far i’n his scholastic career, and it was decided to write to. those in charge of the orphanage congratulating them on the boy's success and the splendid work thev are doing amongst those who responded so readily to the fine example -et before them and the excellent training they receive.

An implement that should be in the antique exhibit at the exhibition is the stone-crusher used by the Hauraki Plains County Council, being almost 50 years old. At last meeting (states an exchange) the engineer reported that its limit of usefulness had passed. Every part that could break bad done so with the exception of the main frame. The crusher did not run for one full day during past months. The engineer mentioned that the cost of maintenance to date was now greater than the estimated cost of the contract. A. discussion ended in the tacit acceptance of a member’s advice to wait until the frame breaks. If the frame breaks and is renewed the council, so he says, will have a new crusher built bv the gradual renewal ot every part.

The opinion that the climate of Auckland was not suitable for boys and girls to be set to the year’s school work before March 1, was expressed by Mr. Noel Gibson, headmaster of the Dilworth Institute. Auckland, at the prize-giving ceremony recently (states the “Herald”). Mr. Gibson said the fact that the school had been forced to forego its annual camp was to his mind the greatest loss of the year and not the delay in opening, which resulted from the infantile paralysis epidemic. The standard of the work was as high at the end of the third term as it had been in previous years, although the school had not opened before April. He thought they lost rather than gained by starting work before the end of February, although this was a point upon which there was a diversity of opinion.

The ancient question as to how nationality is determined was well thrashed out at the monthly meeting of the Gore A. and P. Association (writes the correspondent of the “Southland Daily News”). If a man was born of New Zealand parents a month after they landed in China, is he a Chinaman, etc., etc. The actual question the members were endeavouring to get a ruling on was, “If a mare is mated in Britain anil is shipped out and foals in New Zealand, is the foal eligible to be entered in classes for Dominion-bred stock?” Information was given that. Mr. Coubrough had written to the Clvdesdale Society for information on the point before entering his filly, and had received word to the effect that ilie owner at time of mating was considered the breeder, but for show purposs it was always allowed that the owner of the mare while it foaled could be the breeder. The members present decided to write to the society to have a written ruling on the subject themselves for future reference.

“With all the fences, drains, and improvements in the way it is very unlikely that any large volume of water will ever come over from the Waima. kariri into Christchurch,” said Councillor A. McKellar at a meeting of the Citv Council (slates the “Lyttelton Times”). Councillor McKellar added that the Waimakairiri came over into Christchurch once, in 1868. Part of the flood waters came into the Avon on that occasion, and the lower portions of the town were flooded. Since then fences had grown up on the plains and improvements had been erected that would tu’-n any ordinary or extraordinary body of water. On the other hand, if the gorse and willows which were at present blocking the bed of the river were removed the danger of the river flooding would be considerably lessened.

Last week there was a very pretty sight on the beach at the mouth of the Opihi River, where a colony of tern bad made their home, and some hundreds of these interesting little birds were seen sitting, each on a single egg, in a little scooped out shingle nest, the’egg and the bird being only distinguishable from the shingle, on close inspection. One would have thought that such harmless and pretty creatures would have been left unmolested, but thev were not; nearly every nest was robbed and the birds scatterd (states the Timaru “Herald”).. The tern is a protected bird, and it is possible th(u those responsible (or this wanton act of cruelty may hear mere of it.