NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 14, 17 July 1934, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

Cheaper Butter. The wholesale price of butter in'tho "Wellington market was reduced by Id per pound today. The new rate is IOJd per pound, with a discount of one half-penny if payment is. made within the duo date. The Bight Spirit. Tho .largo number of applications by school committees for additions and alterations to school -buildings and grounds which came beforo the Nelson Education Board led Mr. W. Q." Baigent to point out the attitude of the Kiwaka committee which, instead of airplyiug for grants, rallied round and raised funds with entertainments. The boys had collected sacks of cockles oft" the beach and sold them for a handy sum. Winterless North. Nortli Auckland has lived up to its reputation of ' being "wintorlessy writes tho "Star's" Whangarei correspondent. Tho, weather has been extremely mild. Apart from the very early flowering of pohutukawas and other Nature oddities, evidence for the "winterless" is forthcoming from common pursuits. So warm was it that there was quite a party of bathers at Lang's Beach, who : enjoyed a swim in water which was not nearly as cold as was anticipated. . Petone Library. The report of the, librarian (Mrs. S. M. Shortt) to the Petono Borough Council last evening, stated that during tho quarter ended June 30, thirtyone new member^ -joined the library and eight subscribers left, making a total of 325 : members, as against 302 at the close of the last quarter. There •was an increase of 48 members upon tho corresponding period of last year. Eighty-nine new books were added to the library, and 21 new ■ books to the juvenile section, which how had a membership of 90 children, 45 having joined since the end of last quarter. Tho report was regarded by the councillors as very .satisfactory. Shags and Eels. ■ Shags have, through disuse, lost the uso of their nostrils, and have de.--developed a ■ wonderful system by which they are able to supply themselves V with air while under water, stated Mr. E. F. Stead in an address in Christehurch. Shags, he said, havo developed five pairs of air sacks, in their bodies, as well as lungs, and their wing bones, being hollow, also serve as air reservoirs. The birds thus are able to remain under water for as much as a minute at a time. Another interesting point about.the shag is that all its four toes are webbed, instead of only three as in other water birds. "It has been said that shags are enemies of the fisherman," Mr. Stead continued, "but they are more the enemies of tho enemies of the fisherman—eels. Shags, admittedly, take a few trout, but a big item in their diet is eel." Change in Ambulance Methods. The St. John Ambulance Association has agreedTto adopt throughout New Zealand the elementary certificate of tho_ Royal Life-saving Society in place of its own life-saving award for cadets. This is a great step forward on the part of both the St. John Ambulance Association and the society, for • not only does it open up a very wide field for the work of tho society, but it ensures those cadets of the St. John Ambulance Association who wish to make themselves proficient in the art of life-saving being taught the latest methods of life-saving and; resuscitation.; Instructional work of members of th.o St. .John Ambulance Association has already been started by members of the Island Bay Surf Club and the Maranui Surf and Lifesaving Club. It is noted from the annual report of the London headquarters of the society that a conference has been held in London with the St. John Ambulance Association, and that the latter body has decided to accept the Schaefer system of resuscitation in place of the system previously-used.' To Encourage Breaststrofce. ' . In order that a greater interest could be aroused in the primary school breast-, stroke certificate of the Royal Lifesaving Society, application was made by tho "Wellington head centre of file society to the Herbert Smith Trust for two shields, one for boys and one for girls, to be competed for annually by primary schools. The application was successful, and as a, result two very fine shields w«re obtained. Before the rules for competition for these trophies could be drawn up, the "Wellington Primary Schools' Headmasters' Association decided that in futuro no shields or trophies of any description would be accepted by primary school pupils, but that all sports would be entered into purely for the sake of winning. In view of the special nature of these trophies, and the object of the competition, the Education Board was approached to obtain permission" for schools to compete for the shields, and the representations of the society have been placed by the Education Board before the Headmasters': Association. The decision of the Headmasters' Association is not yet known, but it is hoped that it will be favourable, as otherwise the shields will have to be given to some other centre, and the original object of encouraging breaststroke swimming will not b,e attained. A Long- Voyage. The Blue Star lino freighter , Trojan Star arrived at London last Thursday after the longest voyage taken by a steamer between New Zealand and Great Britain this year.; The Trojan Star left Auckland on May 8 with a full cargo of Dominion produce for the English market. Several days out from Auckland it was discovered that the ship's heavy fuel-oil—carried in tho double bottom of tho vessel—had practically congealed and that it could not be fed to tho furnaces. She limped back on May 15 to Wellington, where attempts were made to reduce tho thickness of the fuel-oil. Some 1400 bales of wool were discharged from the ship and in its place, bunker coal was, loaded, it being intended to make use of the coal should the fuel-oil supply again fail to function. Tho Trojan Star left here on May 22, and after a passage of about 50 days she has arrived at London. • It is noteworthy that tho Sultan Star, another Blue Star Line steamer, made the fastest time this year between a Dominion and an English port. -Lust May she reached London after a passage of 20-2- days from Auckland, this being tho rctoid time for the trip.

Nelson Schools Closed. _^ After a discussion on school attendance figures yesterday the Nelson Education Board came to a decision to close tho city schools for the remainder of the week on account of influenza. Most of the members and tho senior inspector considered that the quickest : way to end the epidemic was to have tho children at home under control. New Mast for Byrd Ship. ' A Douglas fir log, 75ft in length and 9 tons in weightj, which will bo used to replace ono of the masts of the Byrd Expedition ship Bear of Oakland, now at Dunedin, was unloaded from the AVairuna at Auckland yesterday. Tho log, which was shipped at Vancouver, was lifted from tho deck of the vessel by a floating crane and placed in the water. It was towed by launch to Freeman's Bay, whore it will be squared at one of the mills under the supervision of a member of the expedition who has arrived from Dunedin. On Friday it will be shipped by the Waipiata to Dunodin, where it will be rounded and trimmed before beipg stepped in the vessel. Originally it was intended to square" the log at Dunedin, but this plan had to be abandoned when it was found there was no plant sufficiently large there to undertake the work. New Hamilton Bridge. A start has been made by the contractors with the assembling of the plant for the construction of the new bridgo across the Waikato River at Fairfield, Hamilton, states the "New Zealand Herald." Tho bridgo, which will bo built of ferro-concrete, will have an over-all length of 457 ft, and will comprise three bowstring arches and two land spans. A contract for the actual bridge approaches will be let independently of the bridge construction work. The provision of a bridge at Fairfield will give the settlers of Gordonton,,Kototunay\and Horsham Downs convenient access to tho town, and will shorten the journey to the Frankton saleyards by three miles. The present traffic bridgo will be closed for repairs as soon as the new bridge is completed. Death at 112 Years. A chief of the Ngatimahana tribe, Kauia, Tapuko, died at the Maungakaretu Pa, near Putaruru, on Saturday morning, states a Putaruru correspondent. A prominent figure known throughout South Auckland, Tapuke was reputedly 112.years of age. His long life was spent entirely within the Waikato district. Tapuke's sister, who died in 1921, was 103 years, old. A tangi will be held at the pa this week, when large numbers of Maoris from many- districts are expected to be present. Among the chief's many descendants is the present Maori "king." He is survived by three daughters and many grandchildren and great-grand-children. . . ■- Life-saving and the Police. During the year the Wellington head centre of the Royal Lifp-saving Society obtained the approval of the Commis-' sioner of Police for members of the Police Force to be given instruction in life-saving, and also for time off to be allowed to policemen on duty to attend classes. A list was circulated among tho policemen in. Wellington, and although tho number who were prepared to take the course was very small, a class was formed under the tuition of Mr. J. D. Hunter, who with the assist-, anee of members of the Island Bay Surf Club, spent a considerable amount oftiino in instruction. Tho interest of the class, however, was not maintained, and it is felt by the centre that progress in' this direction will not be made "unless life-saving is made a compulsory part of a policeman's training. To a very large extent the hours of duty of policemen make it impossible, in many cases for a man to be present at a class unless he is relieved on his beat. It is felt, however, that a step has been made in the right direction, and eventually, no doubt, the knowledge of life saving by policemen will be made compulsory. Cold in Otago. Not for many years has such, a snowfall as that which was"expeiienced in Otago last week been the cause of so much inconvenience, although in most ■of the towns in Central Otago the show was w-ell on the way to complete disappearance within a few days, states a Dunedin resident writing on Saturday. v This was not the. case, however, in Queenstown and in the mountainous country about Skippers \and Shotover. '■Following the snowfall there was a series of heavy frosts, and the snow became frozen. All the goldmining claims, many of which are in the middle of important development work -on the Shotover, had to suspend operations temporarily. In Queenstown men have been at work all the week endeavouring to chip.the ice off the footpaths. ■ The roads in tho town were padded down by motor-cars equipped -with chains and the surfaces became frozen masses of hard snow. Nothing can be done until a thaw sets in, and even this, seems unlikely, as frosts of over 20 degrees have been registered during the past few days. In the country at' the back of Queenstown the tem'nerature has gone below zero: Hotels and households have experienced frozen water pipes and taps, and many pipes have burst. Taps are left running in basins and baths, and ice forms on the sides. Where ' a tap is dripping thick icicles form, and milk freezes in the jugs. .In Queenstown Park the pond has frozen over completely and ice-skating is being enjoyed as well as tobogganing over" the snow-covered streets.