NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Issue 37, 13 August 1934, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

White Butterflies. Yesterday's warm spring suushino induced quite a number of white butlerllies to do a little prospecting in the Ilutt Valley gardens. It may bo presumed that they took stock of the various cabbago patches with a. view to futur.o operations. This is a much earlier appearance than usual, but tho Hutt Valley does not seem to bo unique in this respect, for reports from Auckland and the Waikato indicate that tho whito butterfly is already in evidence there, considerably earlier than usual. By killing tho butterflies as- soon as they make theil1 appearance and before they have timo to start laying eggs, something i.s done towards tho prevention of crop, ravages later in the season. . , Snake at Lyttelton. Tho discovery of ii dead snake among the cargo of timber on board the Abel Tasman at Lyttelton on Friday caused a good deal of excitement among tho watersiders discharging tho vessel, states the "Christchurch Times." The reptile, evidently a young one, was about fifteen inches long and about an inch thick. Katipos Bite Relief Workers. Roforenco to katipo spiders at Now jßrighton was made- at a meeting of Now Brighton relief workers when several men ' stated they had been bitten while planting marram grass. They decided to ask the Now Brighton Borough Council to ' supply them with gloves. Cows' Shadowgraphs. A farmer at Lcppcrton, Taranaki, witnessod a strange and fascinating phenomenon on a recent frosty morning shortly after sunrise. Tho cows had been brought to the milking shod and as they wore released they browsed in a paddock in which tho grass wns covered with a feathery rime from tho night's frost. As the sun roso th; frost was quickly dispersed, but some of the cattlo had stood still long enough for tho shadow they cast to prevent the thawing of tho frost, and outlined on tho grass wero tho shapes of several of tho cows as thoy had been feeding. Tho frosty shapes, of course, quickly disappeared as the cows moved away. Rail and Coastwise Freight. Tho Transport Co-ordination Board last week made an investigation of considerable importance to the transport industry of- New Zealand, nn inquiry into the position which has arisen through tho competition between the railways and coastal shipping in the carriago of freight. Shipowners and harbour boards alike have been concernod at tho diversion of freight from the coast to the railways, a result, thoy maintain, of reductions in railway rates, and discussions between tho Railways Board, tho Shipowners' Federation, and the Harbours Association have been taking place for some time, but without a solution being reached. A deputation waited upon the Prime Minister and the Minister of Transport in tho matter somo little timo ago, and the problem was referred to the Transport Co-ordination Board. Keprcscntations have been mado to tho board from the Railways Board, tho Shipowners' Federation, the Ilarbours Association, the Road Transport Alliance, and the Master Carriers' Federation, and the board is now considering the various contentions put before it. Basking Shark for Museum, Fishermen at PaTaparauiuu using a not captured a fine specimen of the basking shark, rather a rare species in New Zealand waters, and they have made possible tho first exhibition^ of a basking shark in any of the New' Zealand museums. The shark is 12ft 9in in length. A cast is being mado by Mr. C. Lindsay, taxidermist of the Dominion Museum. Among the largest members of the shark species, basking sharks have been known to Teach a length of 40 feet. One largo basking shark was caught in Wellington Harbour in February, 1932, but it was not preserved. Another, measuring 17ft 2in, was recently washed ashore at Makara. A party from tho Dominion Museum foiind it was too large to handle so it was not preserved. Basking sharks have the habit of lying-near the surface and basking in. the sun. The mouth is equipped with strainers which enable the sharks to retain their food in. the form of shrimps and minute life near the inrface. The teeth are small and the species is considered to be harmless to man.