NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 45, 21 August 1930, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Visit of Lord Stonehaven. Advice has been received that the Governor-General of Australia, Lord Stonehaven, whose term of office will expire shortly, will spend a week or two in Neiv Zealand en route to England. He is due to arrive in Wellington on 6th October. Lord Stonehaven will be accompanied by his aide-de-camp, Lieut.-Commander Nicholl. Rare Shrimps. Some time ago four shrimps were obtained from the body of a groper caught off Kaikoura and as they could not be identified by" the late Dr. Charles Clinton they wero sent to an expert in South Australia. On his advice they were sent to Dr. M'Mann, of Holland, whose collection was handed ovor to the Amsterdam Museum. Professor. S. Speight, curator of the Canterbury Museum, has been advised by the museum that the shrimps are a very rare species. The museum authorities in Amsterdam, in a letter to Professor Speight, have requested that tho two museums should mako oxehanges of exhibits. Delay Over Sydney Street. "Citizen" asks why the connecting link between Bowen street and the new Sydney street, determined upon by the City Council as a relief work and described by the Mayor as particularly suitable as a relief work, as the greater part of the expenditure will be in wages, has not been commenced.- Ho asks, further, whether it is that certain private property owners aro trying to get Parliament to pass a private Bill, which, if it became low, would have the effect of giving their properties valuable additional frontages on to a new main thoroughfare without probably a penny of betterment cost to the owners. The Mayor (Mr. G. A. Troup) stated to-day that the delay was unavoidable as far as the council was concerned. Tho plans wore prepared, but no substantial start could be made until the formalities in connection with the taking of the properties required under the Public Works Act had been complied with. Before proclamations could be issued the approval of tho Survey Department had to be obtained to the plans. The plans have now been returned by tho Chief Surveyor. The Air Force. The strength of the Territorial Air Force will be increased shortly by tho formation of four squadrons in 'New Zealand' (states the "Christchurch Times") j At present the force consists of about sixty officers. Another score will bemadded from pilots who pass tho examination for entrance to the force next month. AVing-Com-mander S. Grant-Dalton, Director of Air Services, states that the squadrons will be drawn ;from the following provinces: No. 1 Squadron, Auckland and Hawkes Bay; No. 2, Wellington and Taranaki; No. 3, Nelson Marlborough, Canterbury, and Avestland; i No. 4, Otago and Southland. Instead of the refresher courses, there will be training all the year round. For Canterbury flights will be established at Christchurch and Timaru, though the exact location of the latter base has not been decided upon. The scheme will be similar to that for the Auxiliary Air Force in England. About twenty men will be in each squad. Atlantic Salmon. Ono of the best sporting fish in Europe is the Atlantic salmon, but the theory that they never leave landlocked waters for the open sea receives no support from the condition of tho few which have boen kept in one of the races of the Acclimatisation Society's hatchery (states the "Christchurch Press"). This species of salmon has been introduced quite successfully into Lake Te Anau and its outlet, t the AVaiau River, where they now provide good fishing, but an attempt made two or ' three seasons ago to acclimatise them to Lake Coleridge presumably failed, for of the thousands of fry obtained from the Government and liberated there, few, if any, reached maturity. Those in tlio hatchery are of the same stock. For two years they have been fed and cared for, but they have grown onjy to the size of small minnows—about three, inches in length and about two ounces in weight. Brown trout of the same age, which have lived in the same stream, are two pounders, and beside them tho salmon look very stunted creatures. But Atlantic salmon at two years aro not commonly thus, and tho poor condition of these particular fish seems to suggest that thoy have not boen allowed to follow their natural habits: that is that they havo been kept in landlocked water instead of being free to go down to the sea and ,to return to fresh water to spawn. AVhatevcr the reason the few in the Gardens aro puny specimens, and not at all what Atlantic salmon of two years should be even in their adopted country, New Zealand, for plump salmon landed from To Anau j have not been much moro than . two ] years of age. j

Aerial Surveys. Some slides were shown, at last night's meeting of the AVellington Philosophical Society of tho first attempts at aerial survey made in New Zealand. This was done recently in the King Country. The aerial photographs showed many details omitted from even the most recent maps, and,' when explaining tho slides, Mr. H. T. Ferrer, of tho Geological Survey Department, expressed tho opinion that our map making was about twenty years behind that of other countries at a similar stage of civilisation. The cost of aerial survey he estimated at about £8 per square _iile, as against a total cost of £25 by other methods. A Matter of Qualification. A contention that tho committal of a man to Roto Roa Island was irregular because he had not been previously convicted four times for drunkenness was raised during argument in the Supreme Court, states the "New Zealand Herald." Counsel on the other side replied that this reading of the law would prevent voluntary entrance to inebriate institutions. "A man who recognised Ihat he was an habitual drunkard but had not been before the Court would have to wait a short time until he qualified by getting his four convictions," the lawyer remarked. How It was Done. An illustration of how a little 'scientific knowledge can be used to bafflo those who possess even less was given by Professor F. P. Worley when lecturing under the auspices of the Ahickland Institute, states the "New Zealand Herald." Taking two empty glass containers, he placed a drop of ammonia in one and a drop of hydrochloric acid in the other, then placed them together, mouth to mouth. Dense white fumes immediately began to form and fill the vessels. The professor said that this was the basis of a trick which used to be popular with conjurers. A man at the back,of the hall would be told that if he smoked a cigar, the conjurer would catch the smoke on the stage. The fumes generated inside the glasses would pass as smoke. Nailed to His Door. How a summons was nailed to a man's front door was related in the Magistrate's Court at Blenheim recently in a case in which a ratepayer was sued for outstanding rates by the Blenheim Borough Council. Being unable to effect the service of the summons in the usual way, as the whereabouts of tho defendant could not be ascertained the borough officials nailed a copy of thedocument to the front door of his residence and also published a copy as" an advertisement in the local newspaper. Tho Magistrate accepted this- form of service and gave judgment for the borough by default for the amount claimed. Forest Vermin. Opossum trappers on the AVcst Coast of the South Island report that during tho season just closed th ore was a great increase in the quantity of vermin trapped—stoats, weasels, and rats. In one instance a stoat had a tui in its mouth, and on another occasion a small rainbow trout. One trapper reports that he caught over 60 stoats and weasels, the former being more numerous. In the upper reaches of the Hokitika River there are very large numbers of deer. There are at present more yellow and red-headed parrots to be seen in the bush than has been the case for many years, while kakas, which for some years have been an almost unknown quantity, are now present in considerable numbers. Governor-General's Medal. On the occasion of the visit of the Governor-General, Lord Bledisloo, to Lincoln College in July, His Excellency mado the offer of a gold medal to those ox-students of the College who, from time to timo, had appeared, in the opinion of the authorities, to have justified, tho education they had received at the college (states "The Press"). At Tuesday's meeting of tho Board of Governors of the college, appreciation of tho Governor-General's offer was expressed, and it was decided that His Excellency be written to thanking him for the offer, and asking him if ho would indicate any conditions which ho desired should govern the award.

A "Toothsome" Swim. Unexpected amusement was provided at the swimming events of tho training colleges tournament at the Tepid Baths to-day, when a fair barraeker put so much vim into her efforts that she dropped a dental plate from the spectators' gallery into six feet of water. Her inconvenience was noticed by a lady swimmer, who inspected the sunken treasure but did not attempt to recover it, and it was not till one of the male competitors gallantly and successfully dived for it that the lady's anxiety was relieved.