NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 20, 24 July 1934, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Direction-finders on Liners. During the recent overhaul and survey of tho Union Company's H.lfeS. Maunganui a direction-finder was installed on her by tho company's electricians.' A similar apparatus has also been placed on tho Makura which recently underwent overhaul in Wellington. Both these ships are engaged in the San Francisco mail service. The Maunganui'' came out of tho floating dock this morning and is to leave hero on Thursday for Sydney. • Milk Distributing Scheme. "After discussion with the manager of tho milk depot our -homo science department is commencing a scheme of distribution of milk to those students who desire, it .and'to thosestudonts who need it. The schemo will bo practically self-supporting. It will assist materially in popularising tho consumption of milk and should beneficially affect thp health of those who require it," reported Mr. E. G. ' Ridling, director, at last night's meeting of the Wellington Technical College board of goveiv nors. More Technical Colleges. • . • A new technical college—perhaps two more—of advanced type was advocated by Mr. A. C. Blake at last night's meeting of the Wellington Technical Collego board of governors during discussion of a motion to adopt a recommendation of tho commercial advisory committee,' "that thq board obtain the opinion of tlio Manufacturers' Association as to the desirability of including a course for the training of 'managers' as part of technical training." "There is .room in Wellington for two technical colleges," declared Mr. Blake. "I havo thought that for a long time. It is growing and I do not know where it is going to stop. There is room for a.senior technical college and an advanced technical college as well." The chairman said that tho matter could be discussed further by members among themselves and with others possessing special knowledge and bo brought up again. . ' Eclipse of the Moon. , Next* Thursday evening tho astronomically inclined will bo provided- with an entertainment which, if watched in its entirety, will keep them out of bed until tho early hours of. IMday morning. This will be the not very unusual or exciting phenomenon of a partial eclipse of tho moon. On this occasion between six and seven-tenths of tho moon's surfaco will bo obscured by tho shadow of the earth as. the latter body passes direct between tho sun and the moon. Tho eclipse begins at 9.20 p.m. when the moon enters the penumbra. It enters the shadow proper, or umbra, at 10.24 p.m., .and the maximum obscuration, or middle of the ecilpse, takes place at 11.45 p.m. At, 1.6 a.m. on Friday morning tho moon quits tho umbra, and tho eclipse" terminates at 2.10 a.m. Calculating by Machine. A-step further towards mechanisation of mental arithmetic and computation was visualised when the commercial advisory committee of tho Wellington Technical College recommended to the Board of Governors of tlie college last night "that tho time has arrived when the teaching of the adding machine should be an essential part of the commercial course in tho •college. That tho the board purchase a second-hand adding machine for the purpose." The recommendation was adopted. Glass as Fire-raiser. An incipient fire at" the Royal Hotel, Tareo, New South Wales, was traced to a water-bottle acting as a burning glass.By chance a water-bottle on a table was placed in direct lino between the afternoon sun and a towel. Tho concentration of the sun's rays through the bottle eventually set alight to the towel. When tho firo was discovered eight holes had been burnt in the towel through various folds, each hole being about five inches in diameter. The table had also been set alight.. As an experiment, tho same water-bottlo was tested as a burning-glass next day, and on two successive occasions the towel started to,,burn within five minutes. Seabirds' Nesting Island. Tho Royal Zoological Society of New South. Wales ha,s decided to oppose the proposal to leaso Broughtpn Island' a3 a tourist resort. It is claimed that breeding places of seabirds wouia bo disturbed. The secretary of the society (Mr. A, Basset. Hull) says that tho society's council has decided to send a protest to tho 'Minister of Lands against tho leasing of tho island, and to urge upon the Chief Secretary the desirability of proclaiming the island a sanctuary for tho preservation of bird life. Ho says'there are'few islands on tho coast which are the haunts of seabirds, and as tho birds will not breed on the mainland it is desirable to preserve their breeding grounds.' Brakes and Lights. Every driver of a motor vehicle should pay particular attention to tho brakes and headlights beforo tho end of tho month. The Petone and Lower nutt Borough Councils are giving tiieir full support to the Dominion-wido drive starting on August 1 to reduce accident and ensure greater safety to users of thp road by checking tho brakes and lights of all .motor vehicles in their areas. To avoid the necessity of an actual test on the road motorists would bo well advised, to Have these items of equipment tested and adjusted 'at a reliable garage,or by an automobile association. A recent certificate to that effect will be accepted by the traffic inspector in lieu of an actual test. Bowlers on Tour. , Twelve Australian bowlers who are to compete in the annual bowling tournament at Suva are passing through Auckland by the Niagara, which arrived from Sydney yesterday morning. They come from New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania, Shore. excursions were arranged for the visitors by the Auckland Bowling' Centre, and they were to bo received by the Mayor, Mr. Q, W. Hutchison. '•'

A Large Cargo, The intercolonial steamer Marania, which arrived at Wellington-this morning from Sydney, brought a very large cargo. She was, in fact, almost a full ship, carrying over 1700 tons of cargo for discharge at Wellington, as well as further consignments for Auckland; The Marama also brought 160 passengers. Pronunciation of "Ski." Mr. K. Symo, captain of the Egraont Alpine Club, had interesting information for winter sportsmen at tlio Taranaki Club's reunion on Saturday night, i'ays tho "Taranaki Daily News." Ac-, cording to Mr. Syme, the Swiss are very, much out of order in claiming authority to fix the pronunciation of the controversial word "ski." While tho art of ski-running has been practised' in Scandinavian countries for many years,' it is a, comparatively recent, introduction to .Switzerland. "Ski-ing was prac-, tised in Australia," said Mr. Syme,, "no less than twenty-five years "before' it was seen in Switzerland"." . Yak for Auckland Zoo." What is believea to be the first yak : exhibited in /.New Zealand, and cer-1 tainly tho' first in Auckland, arrived by I the Niagara and was transferred to! its future homo in tho'Auckland Zoo. Another zoo acquisition brought by tho same vessel was a fcnialq, jaguar. Both animals were obtained from ' the Taronga Park Zoo, Sydney.. ;The yak is a very fine specimen of a young, male and stands about four feet high at.the shoulder. It belongs to the oxen group and might be described as a diminutive ox with a hump. It lias long, dark brown, glossy hair, and a bushy tail. The jaguar is about four years oia and is an excellent specimen. It will be a companion for tho male jaguar which has been at the zoo for some time. Kerguelen Petrels Astray.. ■ The report published iii" The Post" of the discovery of Kerguelen petrels being found in New Zealand, apparently storni-drivcu from their island home, hag prompted a Karbri resident, Mr. V. 1\ Guunion, to notify his discovery of a similar bird in Wellington during tho recent southerly storm, lie was driving home in the evening, the weather being very wet, and on 'emerging from tho Karori tunnel noticed a flutter of exceptionally large wings, in tho beam of the headlights, directly ahead and within a few feet. Being curious to know what this: unusual object might bo that he had knocked down, he stopped, and going back, recognised the bird as being of tho petrel family. He has had. the bird, which was' identified as a Kerguelen petrel, stuffed and mounted. Sydney Savagery. A Savage Club, .founded on the rules and constitution of the London Savage Club, has been formed in Sydney, and it is proposed to affiliate with t&c London, Melbourne, and New Zealand Savago Clubs. , Membership of the club is limited to men, and is open to Australians and New Zealandcrs. Colonel Loaph, secretary of tho Kindred Clubs Association of New Zealand, is visiting Sydney to present to the now club a gavel and block, to bo used at meetings by tho Chief Savage. The head of the gavel is made from tho tooth of a .whaje, and.the handle is from tho antler of a stag. A Maori inscription reading,'"For ever and ever be strong. IVoni New Zealand Kindred Clubs, June, 1934, Greetings," and a design of a Ichvi shaking hands with a kangaroo are engraved on the tooth. A' Black Albatross1. A black albatross, which is an unusual visitor to the north, was' found last Wednesday by the members of Mr. C. Jlolemby's family, at Ahipara,' which is, in the vicinity of the Ninety-Mile Beach, states a <Whailgarei correspondent. The bird was'fouud in'one of Mr. Holemby's paddocks in an exhausted condition. It gave the impression of having flown a long distance, and that it had landed to dio. It had a total wing span of six feet, with a. four-inch bill, .arid has the appearance of being a young bird. Mr. Holpmby is feeding tho bird for v few days, and when it has gained sufficient strength ho intends,to release it. Their Last Look. ' ' Hundreds of people saw tho Uanfurly Shield for the:first and last time at Lancaster Park on Saturday , afternoon, states the "Christchu'rch Times." Canterbury were trying hard to score when someone brought out the. famous "log of wood" and placed it on the grass just behind tho Hawke's Bay line, evidently with the idea of giving sorelynecded encouragement to the holders.of tho trophy. Numerous . small boys crowded round to admire :the shield, while part of the crowd; which had begun to drift towards the gates ten minutes before the end of the-game, also stopped to inspect the trophy which was about to return to the province which had held it for six years. Hawke's Bay scored another .try, and although Canterbury came within sight of. the shield again, it was the end as far as the crowd was concerned. "Goodbye the Shield," said someone sadly, and then added as a consolation, "But we'vo still got Lancaster Park."