NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 108, 3 November 1933, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

Fireworks for the Fifth. Sundry poppings and bangings during the last few days and nights are indications that November 5 is not far off and also that a number of youngsters have been unable to restrain their pyrotechnictprodivities until the right date. Tomorrow night, since Guy Fawkes Day falls on Sunday, will probably be the chief night for firework displays, but few of these are likely to be on a big scale. . Not many people in these days have money'which they can afford to send up in smoke, and there are certain regulations about the sale of dangerous fireworks which are designed to curtail juvenile exuberance in this direction. The shops which are displaying the time-honoured means, for celebrating the misguided effort of Guy Fawkes to blow sky-high the-English Parliament report very little business, this year, the majority of sales being small and harmless, but frequently noisy, fireworks which change hands for a few pence. Pioneers of the Blenheim. The pioneers of the' ship Blenheim, which arrived at Wellington in 1840, wera a long-lived people. -So also were their descendants, one of whom points to the fact (states the "Wanganui "Herald") that three of them now living in the vicinity of Wanganui are over 90 years of age, in sound physical, and mental health—Mrs. E. Socket, Mr. Ewen Campbell, and Mr. Hugh' Fraser. Whose Jurisdiction? Speaking on the subject of Antarctica last evening, Mr. A. Leigh Hunt referred to' /the Ross Sea Dependency, an area of 1,700,000 square miles under New Zealand's jurisdiction. He had not been able, ho said, to find out how New Zealand had got it or by what right it held it, but it was significant that the last map issued by the National Geographic Society, based very largely on Byrd's data, did not show the Boss Sea Dependency as under New Zealand's jurisdiction.

Wanganui's New Engineer. About 60 applications were received for the position of city engineer at Wanganui, the vacancy having been caused by the death of Mr. J. S. Deem. It is reported that a number of very highly qualified men are among the applicants. Minor Power Breakdown. Upper Hutt and part of Lower Hutt were in darkness from 9.30 to 9,57 o'clock last evening because of a fracture which occurred in an underground cable tot-head at the corner of Epuni Street and King's Crescent, Lower Hutt. Lights iii the city flickered for some moments as a result of the breakdown. . ■.''.. A Busy Port. The coastal port of Patea has been busy of late with the export of dairy produce to Wellington. A new record for this year was established there to-, day when five coastal motor-ships were loading. They were the Inaha, Koutunui, Foxton, Hawera, and Kapuni, all of which are due here tomorrow to discharge. Last Wednesday there were four of these vessels in that port. Today is likely to be regarded as a red letter day as far as Patea is concerned, for it is rare indeed that so many vessels load there at one time. Cleanliness Next to Godliness. 1 "Although I have travelled all over" the world, it has remained for Wellington to be the first city to give me a practical demonstration of cleanliness being next to godliness," remarked an English visitor at present in Wellington to a "Post" representative. Scenting some eulogy of the Dominion's capital city, the "Post" man pressed for elucidationI.' "Well, it is like this," the visitor went on to say. "Yesterday I drove along the Hutt Road—incidentally surely one of the finest marine drives in the ■world—and amongst the many • advertisement hoardings which disfigure the. landscape—a thing which ought never to have been-tolerated—l noticed two in juxtaposition. One was a scriptural injunction about sin and salvation, and its neighbour called attention to someone's bag-wash. If that does not bear out my statement, I don't know what does!" '" . The Brown Owl. A few words in favour of the muchmaligned German, or brown, owl were uttered by Mr. C. Howes at a meeting of the Otago ■' Acclimatisation Society on Monday (states the "Otago Daily Times"). He had examined a number of these birds, he said, and the contents of their stomachs- did not disclose that they were destructive with respect to young birds. Instead, it would appear that they fed largely on mice, beetles, snails, and worms. No doubt they were responsible in few instances for the death of small birds, and evidence pointed to introduced birds falling a prey to the owl more than native birds, for the reason, no doubt,. thai the nativefbirds have been accustomed, over a long period, to, protect themselves against 'another enemy,.the morepork. The introduced birds did not pos*sess that instinct, though it would evolve in. time. Mr. Howes added that some of the birds sent to him had evidently been shot in the evening, befoTe they commenced to feed, and it would be preferable in order to determine their feeding habits to examine birds'shot about daylight or in-the moonlight. The brown owl, Mr. Howes isaid, is undoubtedly the farmer's friend, ridding the ground of many pests. Wild Figs Attack Lambs. : It ia stated that wild pigs are creating havoc among this season's lambs in the country at the back of Clinton. In the course of conversation with an "Otago Daily Times'' reporter,, Councillor A. T. Harris, a member of the Clutha County Council, stated that it was estimated that on some runs eight and nine lambs a night were'being killed by wild boars. On one run. 50 lambs had been killed, while in a corner of another practically every lamb born had been taken. Some idea of the size of the killers may be gained from the fact that one which was shot recently was 7ft l^in in length from snout to tail, and another a foot shorter. The blood-stained tusks of one of- these measured fully 4in in length. When it is stated that recently 19 boars and 10 sows had been shot in this area some idea may be gained of the menace which the wild pigs represented to farmers. Poison is said to be of little avail as a means of destruction, and the runholders are forced to Tely on their rifles, some of them remaining on the hills all night in order to get; a shot at the marauders in the early dawn. One particularly savage boar when attacked charged a . mounted man, but his rush down hill caused the horse to swerve' and the boar passed' right across, the front of the saddle, to be quickly despatched with a; well-aimed bullet. Many Competitors. There are many difficulties with which to contend in conducting sports meetings, bvA, these difficulties are accentuated when several hundred competitors are to be marshalled and controlled. During the past few weeks many schools and colleges in Wellington and the Hutt Valley have been holding their annual tournaments, in which- several thousand scholars have taken part. "Very, good organisation,is required to put through the programmes, which may run to about sixty events. The expeditious manner in which these sports may be conducted was shown at Wellington College today. ■ There are about' 680\boys at this college and a good percentage of them took part in the sports. Over seventy boys competed in the one mile walk, and the heats for sprints over lOO^yards and a furlong drew .about fifty contestants in each division. There were over forty officials at'work, and events were kept well up to schedule.