ITEMS IN BRIEF

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 104, 26 January 1933, Page 11

ITEMS IN BRIEF

About People and Events MANY GORSE FIRES Seven, gorse and grass fires vvhieli broke out in the Hataitai and Melrose districts kept the city brigade busy from 945 a.m. until -1.30 p.m. yesterday. In no case was there any danger of damage to houses. Motor-ship Foxton Mishap. The Marine Department announced yesterday that as a result of the preliminary inquiry into the mishap to the coastal motor-ship Foxton, no further inquiry would be held. The loxton touched a rock off Karori Rock in the heavy fog on the night of January 15, while bound from Patea to Wellington. Peculiar Taste of Water. A peculiar taste has been noticeable in the drinking water during the past few days. The city engineer’s department states that this condition is not uncommon in water supply systems in the summer-time fed from bush-clad areas. The taste is due to microscopic vegetable organisms which develop In the water during hot, humid weather, such as has been experienced recently. Band Contest at Napier. “We had some fine music at the Napier contest,” said Mr. John G. Osborne, secretary o£ the New Zealand Brass Bands’ Association, who has returned from Hawke’s Bay. “There was a satisfactory entry, and the standard of playing was very satisfactory. One boys’ band was quite remarkable. This was the Palmerston North Juniors, whose efforts were well up to the B grade standard, and would not suffer in comparison with the boys’ band from Australia.” HALS. Dunedin in Dock. H.M.S. Dunedin has gone into dock at Devonport for cleaning and painting of the hull. The warship will come out of dock at two o’clock to-morrow afternoon and will go to an anchorage in the stream. She will remain at the anchorage until Monday when she will be the flagship at the anniversary regatta. On Tuesday she will proceed to the Haurakl Gulf to carry out gunnery exercises in company with H.M.S. Diomede. Both warships will then return to port and they are scheduled to leave Auckland on February 17 on a prolonged cruise to southern ports. Lost Examination Papers. One of the disadvantages of having university examination papers marked in England was mentioned by Professor J. Macmillan Brown in Christchurch, in discussing the recent decision of the New Zealand University Senate to inquire into the possibilities of marking degree exaniinirtions in the Dominion. That difficulty was the time and hazard involved in sending the papers overseas. There was one occasion when the Mataura was lost at the straits of Magellan, and all the papers with her. Third-stage students were passed or failed on the professors’ recommendations, but the honours students had to sit all over again, and their papers were marked by Australians.