NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Issue 113, 10 November 1930, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Women and Swimming. The great progress made in. recent years by women in swimming was commented on by Mr. K. A. Wright, M.P., when speaking at the opening of the season of the Island Bay Life-saving and Surf Club on Saturday. When the Princess Alice was lost ill the Thames in 1878, out of 350 women on board only one knew how to swim. That was not the position to-day. At first "Mrs. GrUndy" had raised every possible objection. Since the loss of the Princess Alice, however, swimming for women had steadily gone ahead. A Nature Patrol. A Nature patrol, | believed to be one of the first of its kind established in New Zealand, has'been formed by the Kelburn Boy Scouts. Witfi a membership of nine,- it meets- every Friday evening in a small "den "near the scout-houW Around the walls of the "den" are pictures, of wild life,and other subjects of interest .to the lovfer of Nature, and there is a collection of moths and birds' eggs that the boys have made. Every boy takes a turn at -giving a lecture to the patrol on some phase of Nature-study. Captain E. V. Sanderson, hon. secretary of the New Zealand Native Bird Protection Society, has written to the patrol congratulating it on its efforts. Work for Goats. Where riverbed land has to be cleared of willows the Waimakariri Biyer Trust believes that intensive grazing with goats will do the work (states "The Press"). Reporting to the meeting of the Trust, the engineer (Mr. H. W. Harris) said that the closo stocking with goats of the willow-infested areas was proving very successful, and ■would, he thought, if continued, be the best means of dealing with them. Efforts were being made to obtain a hundred more to graze a thirty-acre area. Sixty had been moved over from Goat Island on to this portion. The island should be almost free of willows in another year. Mr. Harris explained to a reporter later that by constantly nibbling the green shoots the goats gradually killed the willows. Where ' the animals proved particularly useful was in the islands in the riverbed where the willows grew thick. \ When the Waimakariri was diverted it would be necessary for these islands to be gradually washed away, but this would not happen until the willows on them were killed. This was the work ths goats could do, , Truck Kills Peacock. The Magistrate's Court at Ngaruawahia was occupied for some time on Wednesday in hearing a case in which Te Puea Haerangi, trustee! owner of the Kimikimi Pa, sued Fred Davies, a fish hawker, for £ 5 damages for a peacock which had been run over and killed by the defendant's truck. Evidence showed that all motor traffic in the pa grounds had been prohibited by Te Puea, and that the defendant had been notified of the prohibition. JThe plaintiff gave evidence that the person who had given her two peacocks had sold other birds for £5 each. The Bench gave judgment for the amount claimed and costs, on the ground that, although not a useful bird, the peacock had a special value as an ornamental bird, specially in well-kept park-like . areas, such as the Kimikimi Pa. Living on Scholarships. An interesting fact in relation to the working of the scholarship system in England was related by Professor Blunt at Christchurch on Friday, states the "Press." In the course of his Tecent stay in England he had noticed a letter in "The Times," in which the writer had maintained that English secondary school boys were being over-encouraged, and had cited''tho case of one boy who had gone to Oxford and was receiving from scholarships an income of over £500 per year, so that he was keeping not only himself but his parents by that means. The professor pointed out. that the scholarships would not all be awarded by the college he was attending, for many outside institutions awarded scholarhips, and the college authorities had no means of knowing exactly what any student was receiving from scholarships. Records of Two Earthquakes. A slight earthquake shock was felt in Wellington yesterday, shortly after 6 p.m. Telegrams have been received by the Government Seismologist showing that it was plainly felt at Bainham, near Collingwood, Nelson, and that it was also felt at Takaka. It was felt in parts of Wellington as a feeble, prolonged tremor. The earthquake was registered on all the instruments at the Dominion Observatory; the records showed that tho distance from here to the seat of tho disturbance was 110 miles. Bainham reported several minor tremors during the night, which were also recorded on the Milne-Shaw instruments at the Observatory. Evidence of a severe distant earthquake was given by the Observatory instruments at about 7.30 a.m. to-day, the centre of origin being approximately 80 degrees away, possibly the East fndies.

Juryman Fined. Some fifty or more men were sworn in in the Supreme Court this morning for service on the common jury in cases coming before the Court this week. Only one man failed to answer when his name wns called by the Registrar. Ho was Wilfred John Gray, and Mr. Justice Kecd fined him £1 _ls, unless ho can show cause for failing to be present. After the Court had risen and tho other jurymen had been discharged until to-morrow morning. Gray appeared. The Judge had left the Bench, though, and Gray was advised to appear before the Judge to-morrow to "show cause." Auckland Harbour Bridge. ' Although the Auckland Harbour bridge project was declared recently to bo twenty years ahead of the times, it is interesting to learn that the idea had taken shape as long ago as 1884, states the "New Zealand Herald." In the official publication covering the proceedings of the Now Zealand Institute of that year there is included a plate of the Waitemata Harbour to illustrate defence works suggested by Sir W. F. D. Jervois, the Governor of the day, in his presidential address to tho institute. Although His Excellency did not mention the bridge scheme, the plate shows Stokes Head, Northcote, and the promontory in the vicinity of Point Erin Park connected by a "proposed bridge." As far as can bo ascertained from those connected with tho advocacy of the scheme in recent years there is nothing to show that the bridge project was regarded seriously in those days, when the population of Auckland and suburbs was under 50,000, or not a quarter of the present-day figure. Lifeboat for Island Bay. In a very short time he hoped something definite would be done towards the establishment of a lifeboat at Island Bay, said Mr. B. M'Keen, M.P., when speaking at tho opening ceremony of tho Island Bay Life-saving and Surf Club on Saturday. The matter had been taken up by Cabinet, and if tho Government would not go tho full way in providing a lifeboat, it was surely prepared to go some of the distance. With the co-operation of the local Batepayers' Association, the Fishermen's Association, and the Island Bay Surf Club, assisted by the City Council and. the Harbour Board, the remainder of'the money should be forthcoming. The president of the club, Mr. T. Bieketts, said that without a lifeboat at Island Bay lives were in danger every day. The club had held a carnival some time , ago, at which some money had been raised towards getting. a lifeboat. Mr. N. A. Ingram, secretary of the surf club, when speaking to a "Post" reporter, said that the type of lifeboat (they hoped to get would cost about £11,000. Such a one was in use at Yarmouth. It would be electrically driven, and .would be able to go out in the roughest seas. With its centre at Island Bay, it would be available for rescue work in the vicinity of the coast all around Wellington.