NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Issue 25, 30 January 1935, Page 10

NEWS OF THE DAY

Dearer Butter. In sympathy with the stronger tone of the London market, on which the New Zealand article is now quoted at 88s per cwt, the wholesale butter market in Wellington has recently become considerably firmer and .the price was raised today by Id per lb. Standard brands will now be sold retail at from Is Ojd to Is Id per pound. This is the highest price locally since October, 1933. Waipukurau Bridge. Work is progressing steadily on the Tuki Tuki bridge at Waipukurau. This handsome structure . will reach the three-quarter mark in a week or two, and when completed the .bridge will be a notable link in the main highways of Hawke's Bay, states the Napier "Daily! Telegraph.'^ Though hot notable for any. artistic beauty, the stone-crushing and. grading plant established in the riverbed adjacent to the new bridge does the work of providing the builders with the various sizes of shingle required for the concrete construction of the 'new bridge. This plant will also be used to supply the right size of metal for the Waipukurau Sanatorium portion of the 'main highway, the work oA which will commence at an early date. . , "<■.■ Frightening Jumping Hone*. . / Spectators enjoy seeing a horse jump. Does the horse always enjoy it t An Albury (N.S. W.) message to; A Sydney paper states:—"At the last Albury show, severe criticism was made of the punishment of horses in the high, jumps, with special reference to the manner in which the horses Were frightened by men standing in the wings to force the horses over the barriers. A show sub-committee has. now recommended that the use of whips should be stopped, and that attendants should be prohibited from standing in the wings. It was decided that,,where the judge and other officials considered that horses were being ill-treated, they should be permitted to take preventive action," Death In Scrub. Remains believed to be those of Bernard Griffiths, aged 42, single, formerly of Te 'Kuiti, were found last week about a chain from the Mairoa Road, about four miles from Piopio, and had evidently been there, for several months, states aTe Kuiti correspondent. It is thought that the deceased died in his sleep. On September 7 last; Griffiths left Te Kuiti, stating that he was going south looking.for work. On the way he intended to visit -a friend. When about half-way between Piopio and his friend's farm he apparently lay down for the night and died in his sleep. The police were able to identify the deceased by his personal effects. The remains were discovered by a Maori who was driving stock to a sale. A cow escaped into the scrub and when pursuing it the Maori .dame across the remains. The deceased wag well known/ in Te Kuiti, having been employed by the Eailway Department. Ho was a returned soldier. So far as is known he had no relatives in the Dominion.

Children and Hot Weather.. The opinion that a continuance of tho present excessively hot weather would make full-time attendance at schools by young children inadvisable was expressed by leading Auckland medical pract^ioners on Monday, states the "New Zealand Herald.". ..The first term of the year for the primary schools under the' Auckland Education Board will Commence a week from today, and it was pointed out that for several weeks children had been running more or less wild as far as clothing was concerned. The change to school conditions was one that would take some time to get used to. "An extension of the holidays would be beneficial to. the health of the children," said one doctor. "Hot weather, especially when coupled with high humidity, produces a condition- that is very exhausting, and the children soon get fagged out when called on to sit still and concentrate. During climatic conditions such as have been prevailing for some time children require much more rest than they do in the cooler months of the year. As there is. no question of the holidays being extended, it seems that half-days at first would enable children to break into their work quietly and so avoid undue strain."

White Hedgehog Found. Hedgehogs, though formerly seldom seen in. Taranaki, are now quite common, states the "Taranaki Daily News." White hedgehogs are, however, comparatively rare, and the discovery of such a specimen in a Westown garden* on: Sunday night aroused much interest. This is the second albino found by ■ this resident within a year. Both .had pure white spines and pink eyes. Cats and White Butterflies. There have been several cases lately of cats being poisoned, apparently from eating white butterflies, so a veterinary surgeon informed a "Post" reporter. This, he pointed . out, was rather curious, if true, since cats, as is well known, often, consume moths with impunity to their digestion. A diet of flies is popularly supposed to make cats and kittens thin, but does not kill them. What there was in a white butterfly's composition that caused feline fatality he did not know, but he advised owners of cats to discourage their pets from doing their, daily good turn in assisting to rid the Dominion of,the white butterfly pest. In Search of Bummer. , , Sir Eyre Huison, a former Governor of Fiji and High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, who, since his retirement five years ago, has been living, in England, arrived in. Sydney by K.M.S. Ormonde on January 17 to enjoy. the sunshine of Sydney. Looking out of the porthole of his cabin as the steamer came up the harbour in a thick'mist that blotted out the foreshores, he asked, "Where are the sun and your warm summerf I camo here for a holiday to escape the grey, cold winter in London, but ever since I reached tho Australian coast everyone has said the same—that Australia has had little or no summer yet." - . . > Swimmers in Training. ' Preparations are well in hand for the New Zealand surf championships which will be held a.%- Fitzroy, New Plymouth, this year, states the "Hawera Star." On Sunday teams were seen hard »t work on the principal Taranaki beaches, the members of the Oh'awe' Club concentrating at Ohawe on land drill and water practice. Large crowds at the Fitzroy and Strandon beaches,' New Plymouth, took a keen interest in the work of the Fitzroy and Old Boys' Clubs. After numerous "dry runs" the teams entered the water and those on the shore were given an excellent opportunity of watching the methods of rescue adopted by the principal teams of the Dominion. | A Disappearing-Island. ; v ' An island that appears and disappears at intervals is an intriguing feature on Lake Mangamabbe, the source of New Plymouth's water and power supply, states the "Taranaki Herald." During the last three years the island has disappeared completely from sight on half-a-dozen occasions. At present the island is a few inches above the water level. It is about ten feet long and several feet wide and is in water about 20 feet deep. On past occasions it has sunk completely out. of sight, so there is no question of a rise in. water level obscuring it. Though it has only a small area on top, the island slopes away at the sides like a cone, so that its base is Jarge. The explanation given is that the gas generated by rotting marsh plants on the bottom is trapped underneath the island, causing it to be thrust up. When the trapped gas escapes, the island again sinks. It haa now been above the water surface for about three months. "Oreen from End to End." New Zealand as a green country, where mountain,' bush, and river scenes are a continual delight to those accustomed to the unbroken stretches of dry land in some tropical countries, is the strongest impression of tho Dominion 1' gained so far by Dr. Ewart Duthie, of Johannesburg, South Africa, who arrived in Christchurch on Sunday, states the ''Press;'.? Dr. Duthie, who is accompanied by Mrs. Duthie, is on a health trip, and ha« already made an extensive tour of the North;lsland by car. Ha landed in the South Island at Picton, and has travelled over a great part of the West Coast, visiting Mur-chison,-the Buller Gorge, Hokitika, and the Fox Glacier. ;" I think New Zealand is an absolutely lovely country," Dr.: Duthie. told .a reporter, , ."and you should consider yourselves fvery fortunate to have such seas, rivers, forests, and gorges, practically /it your door. Ih! South Africa we .have; to travel 1000 miles : from Johannesburg to see the: beauties of Cape Town and 500 miles if we wish to see the sea. The country here is all green from end.to end, and the continuous green is a treat to us after the miles of dry veldt. New' Zealanders ought to be quite happy without ever going to any other country, except for curiosity;'?