NEWS IN BRIEF

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 105, 27 January 1939, Page 11

NEWS IN BRIEF

Minor Earthquake

Many Wellington residents felt a slight earthquake ar. about. 10.35 last night. The shock took the form, of a short twisting jolt of sufficient intensity to attract attention, but not to alarm.

Hospital hnjwrts. The Wellington Hospital Board does not intend to try to obtain exemption from the import control regulations. At the meeting of the 'board last night it was stated that no difficulty was expected in obtaining vital supplies.

Friendliness in South Island. The view that the people in the South Island were more friendly than those in the North Island was expressed this week by a Scottish visitor to Christchurch,' Miss A. P. Gibson. She said she had no complaint about the friendliness of the North Island people, but there was ir warmer feeling among the South Islanders.

Scarcity Of Eggs. Because of the moulting season eggs are becoming scarce in Wellington and a further rise in prices of 2d. a dozen for all grades occurred this week. It was stated yesterday that a definite shortage is setting in, and that further increases in prices are likely during the next, few weeks. Specials are now retailed at 2/2 a dozen, A grade l/ll a

dozen, and B grade 1/8. "Eggs will become very dear,” said a retailer, "and the shortage will continue till the end of the moulting season.”

Link With Early Gold Mining Daj s. The Dunedin city authorities have received an old document and report on mining, recently unearthed oy a resident of .Fairlie. The writing, mildewed ami half obliterated with age, relates to the All Nations’ Gold Mining Company, Ltd., Macetown, in 1885. One is the mine manager’s report, setting forth his views on the possibilities of returns from the ore, and the other is a copy of a call on shareholders (the fifteenth) of one penny a share. The Dunedin City Council, complying with the request of the sender, will hand the documents on to the Dunedin Public Lobrary. Motorists And Waterloo Quay.

The re-paving of Waterloo Quay ar. present leaves only half the road for the use of two-way motor traffic and in places the width is further reduced by the removal of a foot of the roadway for the purpose of lowering the camber. To expedite the work and give the heavy machines freedom of operation, motorists are urged to use the Thorudon Quay route where possible. The road will dot be closed, but if motorists not transacting business in Waterloo Quay will use the other route there will be less risk and inconvenience from dust, and the paving will take less time.

England in the Crisis. “For 4S hours there was real alarm and the churches were full; everybody knew that he was looking into the abyss. Then came relief and great thanksgiving. Now. with dug-outs on every green and gas-masks in every house, they are unconcerned again,” said the Rev. Canon S. Parr, Christchurch, when discussing the crisis in England on bis return from abroad. He said the English were “as English as ever’; not till a day or two before the crisis could they be induced to take the gas-mask business seriously: and then they used them as sink strainers.

' Penguins Under a House Individual penguins not infrequently come ashore on the New Zealand coast, but it is rare to find them breeding in settled neighbourhoods. A family at Thorne’s Bay, Takapuna, was recently troubled bv noises under the bouse at night and attributed them to rats. One evening, however, the occupier. Mrs. E. M. Bosworth, was surprised to see a penguin disappearing under the building witli a fish iu its beak. Further investigation showed that a pair of birds had nested beneath the floor of a back bedroom and were rearing a small brood. The penguins belonged t 0 a small species, which is sometimes found on M est Coast beaches, but is rare on the East Coast. Maori Specialization of Labour. That some specialization of labour may have existed in Maori society is suggested by an exhibit in the Canterbury Museum, Christchurch. Nineteen adzes, roughly shaped and similarly unfinished, are to be seen in the recent acquisitions’ case in the ethnological room. Thev were found a§ part of a cache of 40 at Port Underwood, in the Marlborough Sounds; and have been placed on deposit in the museum. The find, said a museum official, suggested that the Maori observed a certain specialization of labour, because they bad obviously been made by the one man at the same time. The possibility was that this man was one of the adze-makers of the tribe. New “Black Maria.” Familiar in Wellington streets for many years, the old “Black Maria” has reached the end of its career and will shortly be replaced by a modern and faster police van. It is understood that the new vehicle will be painted a different colour from the sombre black which has been associated with the police van for many years. A light chassis has been chosen, and it should be ready for service next month. The old “Black Maria” has performed many duties in its day, principally transporting prisoners between Mount Crawford Jail and the courts. It has also been used in innumerable' opium and gam-ing-house raids, aud before the Wellington police were equipped with cars, it was used for transporting squads of detectives and constables in emergencies.