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Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 18, 21 July 1932, Page 10

Definition of "A Disaster." Some discussion took place at the meeting of the Council of the New Zealand Bed Cross Society yesterday as to the definition of tlie term *' disaster." The chairman (\the Hon. Dr. W. E. Collins, M.L.C.) said the importance of defining the word was in-order that the Red Cross Society could bo prepared to act at a moment's notice, and have funds immediately available. The meeting decided that a disaster was a sudden misfortune of such magnitude as to invoke a large section of the community of the' Dominion in severe suffering or distress, as, for example, an earthquake, a flood, a fire, a tornado, or a famine. "Satisfied With Owselyw.''' "I do not think lean say anything complimentary about tho youth of New Zealand at the present," remarked Mr. D.'-C. Davie, in the course of an address to Canterbury College students (states tho Christchurch "Press"). He said he felt that this country was lacking in tho youth movements that were affecting tho rest of the world. Tho obvious lack of ability to manage the country should haVe brought some protest from the youth of the universities. They had lapsed into a state of dull respectability and contentment. "I think myself that the worst thing that ever happened to this Dominion was the success of tho All Black football teams," he stated. "It made us satisfied with ourselves." Sagacity of Mollyhawks. In the opinion of a well-known Bluff resident the members of the albatross family known as mollyhawks display remarkable knowledge of the ways of fishermen in- the matter of rejecting certain kinds of unmarketable fish (states the "Southland Times"). On tho fishing grounds the actions of the birds are governed by the nature of the catch, and apparently they watch the pulling in 'of the lines with the eyes of eipe'rts. Cruising around, when groper or blue cod is on' the hooks they appear to be entirely indifferent to the fishermen's activities, .but if rod cod, "soldiers" or any other of the unsaleable varieties are pulled up they immediately evince a lively interest and flock around the boat,, knowing that these fish will be discarded by the fishermen and ' therefore become available to the b,irds themselves: T.he hooking of a shark has a noticeable effect on the feathered; foragers also. Betraying an instinctive dread, the mollyhawks sweep away into tho, distance and watch proceedings from a£ar when the head of the "sea tiger'? appears by the fishing craft. Por poipoises they show,no sign of fear whatever. , . , An Earthquake. An earthquake shock was felt shortly before half past 4 yesterday afternoon over a wide area of the. Dominion. The effects "seem to: have : been most severely felt on the Taranaki coast;, several chimneys in New Plymouth, Wanganui, and Patea being shaken down. No othor damage of consequence seems to-have been done, and no persona^ injuries have been reported. In Wellington, in tho quieter parts of the city and suburbs, a rumbling noise could be heard preceding the earthquake, and the ensuing jolt and swaying lasted for about- half a minute. Auckland seems to have' been the most northerly limit of the area, over which tho earthquake was felt, but only slight tremors were experienced there. The north-we_-tern portion of the South Island felt the earthquake fairiy severely. A preliminary examination of the records obtained ou the several instruments at the Dominion Observatory indicate that the origin of tho earthquake was somewhere about half-way between Farewell Spit and Hawora, somo eighty or ninety miles, at a rough estimato, from Wellington. Judging by-the wide area over which tho earthquake was felt it had a. very deep-seated origin. Linmrrta and Wax fiyes. A resident of'Poft Chalmers, whoso garden contains a fine selection of nativo shrubs, has devised a simple but effective means of feeding the green linnets and was eyes (states tho Dunedin "Star"). Usually tho spare scraps of bread thrown out to the birds in the morning aro devoured by tho sparrows, before the more dainty linnets obtain more than a very few pickings. Extra Scraps merely bring extra sparrows. The gardener referred to has solved the problem by. attaching a tin near the^ top of a stick to hold the fo'.od about" sft above the ground. The; materials he uses for the birds? feeding trough are specially, selected, but the following recipe will .fill the bjlh-r-Cut off a kerosene tin about an inch -...-above tho bottom* Then get a stick about 7ft l on g_amanuka stick is suitablo-^-and hail another piece of stick, 6in long, across it about sin or so from the end. Push" the end of thd stick "up through tho centre of the tin from, underneath until the bottom of tho tin rests against the cross stick. Tie a twig, about 12in long, across the top end of tlie stick • above the tin. That is tho porch. Then push the lower end of the stick in the , ground until the tin is a handy height for placing scraps of bread into it. The : sparrows will not go near it, but the linnets and wax eyes flock to it and feed, freely. A little honey on the bread is highly appreciated. Bird food is scarce these days, so scarce that tho 1 greon linnets aro grateful for a scrap of mutton suet for breakfast.