NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 103, 4 May 1933, Page 10

NEWS OF THE DAY

it A Martial Insect. <3 "Tho 'Wota,'* .writes -ah opossum n trapper to the Wellington. AcclimatisaA tion Society, "kills every tree it feeds on." Shrubs and sapling's are killed :S in hundreds by the wota, which (ho 'I adds) has no natural enemy. Ho states ,s that "tho black borer" is as bad. In spots in the bush vetas are found in hundreds. A big wcta with his appends ages out-stretched can bo nine inches it long. After ninety years of white set[l tleinent wctas are still in Wellington .' suburbs. They seem to be able to live ' iii the earth as well as in bore-holes in y saplings. Nothing attacks a weta in if his lair. He is moro possessing than c prepossessing. f Find the Culprit! ■S It is not uncommon in tho bush to c follow a trail 'o.f freshly fallen green tl leaves (single leaf, then a cluster, perhaps a branchlot, and so on) and to c assume that tho trail is that of a deer. s But is this always so? Sometimes tho c opossum is blamed, and here again there is a doubt. But if you say "goat,"'no one questions it, as the goat has no deD fenders. All the same, the relativo'ro- £ sponsibilities for animal damage in •j forests need to be more carefully mc;isured than they have been hitherto. An opossum trapper writes to the. Wollings ton Acclimatisation Society: "I, have i watched parakeets and kakas stripping ! branches of trees of their leaves. With their sharp beaks they nip off the leaf close to the stem and eat only the joint t of the stom. They tear off bark- to get at grubs underneath it—and the , opossum gets tho blame." Opossum bites and scratches are "easily distinguishable." The- opossum- leaves t "two distinct teeth marks." A gont 1 "will bark a. tree, making a meal of , it-", ; " '

Appeal for Volunteers. An appeal to tho young men of Auck land to follow the lead of their fellows in the country and fill tho gaps it the ranks of the Territorial voluntcoi units, was made, by Colonel J. E. Dvi ga.n, oflicer commanding the Northcn Command, at a sports demonstration by the New Zealand Territorial Association at the Drill Hall, Rutland Street; states the "New Zealand Herald." We have located',in Auckland seven batteries oi artillery, one field company. of engineers, ono signal depot, ono and a hali battalions of infantry, a field ambulance, and a company of the, Army Service Corps,1 Colonel Duigan said. "There is a total shortage in these units 'of 508. The country units; three mounted regiments and three battalions, are all up to strength. What is tho matter with the young manhood oil Auckland? I appeal to them to fill the gaps. And Still His Whiskers Grew! In the courso of an address on tho French colonisation of Akaroa, delivered before the Canterbury College French Club on Tuesday evening, Mr. J. H. T. Curnow related an amusing story of an early arrival who, being disappointed with the Akaroa district, vowed tha.t he would not shave until be saw his native Prance again, states the "Christchurch Times."' He had perforce to settle in the country and briWg up his family. When ho departed from New Zealand shores? for Prance sixteen years later to arrange for the education of his daughters, his beard extended below his waist. Trampers* Hardships. ' The three members of tho Tarania tramping, party who returned to Pulmorston North—Miss Morva Williams, Dr. W. B: Sutch, and Mr. E. Hill—are rapidly recovering from tho effects of their experience, states a Palmerston North correspondent. - The twoi lastnamed are now almost back to normal conditions. Miss Williams is still feeling the effects of weakness caused through lack of food, but she expects to be recovered byithe end of the week. Sho will not, however, resume teaching at the' Wanganui Technical School this term, which ends in a day or two. Miss Williams is home science mistress at tho school. ' ' Flock House Training. Appreciation of the ■' farm training sons of New Zealand returned soldiers are receiving at Flock House was' expressed- by the executive of the Wellington Returned Soldiers' Association last night. Flock House has accommodation for 90 boys, and it was stated that by the end of this month 87 New Zealand soldiers' sons would have been admitted. ' To dato, 24 have been placed in employment under what were regarded as very, advantageous conditions. .No difficulty had been experienced in placing trainees with selected farmers. ' No Politics. . By unanimous vote it was decided by the ■ executive of the Wellington Returned Soldiers' Association last night, that it would be unwise for the association to become a political body. It was' pointed out that if the association did_ enter politics it would rend the organisation, and the returned men would be the • first to suffer. Further, it had been statod at a previous Dominion conference that "all Governments were made to bo shot, at" by the Returned Soldiers' Association as far as matters affecting their'members were concerned, and it was considered derivable that the association should reserve the right to criticise where it thought fit without besoming allied to any. political party. . Tho following motion was carried: "That tho executive of the Wellington Returned Soldiers' Association reaffirms the decision of the N.Z.8.5.A., to refrain from, any political action."