NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 140, 15 June 1936, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

East Coast Railway. Workmen on the East Coast railway have cleared the track to a point 3J miles past the Waipunga station, and about eighteen miles from Napier (states the "Hawke's Bay Herald"). The advance gang working on contract has been engaged for a fortnight clearing a cutting which was particularly badly blocked,, and progress up to the present time is regarded as very satisfactory. Rabbit Chases Do?. Although the dog is generally considered to be the natural enemy and potential exterminator of the rabbit, in actual fact this is not always so, as a recent visitor to Seatoun will bear witness. Glancing out of an upstairs window during the afternoon the visitor was surprised to notice two dogs—an Irish terrier and a sheep dog —and an Angora rabbit peacefully enjoying the winter sunshine together in a neighbouring backyard.. Suddenly the rabbit leaped up and made a dash at the terrier, which darted away in simulated terror, racing round and round the large yard. Then the dog tripped in the long grass . and rolled over, the rabbit jumping over the top of him. Positions were quickly reversed and the chase continued, the terrier pursuing -the rabbit with mock ferocity. For a while the sheep dog watched the game and then, the appeal of a little exercise becoming too , great, he too joined in the run. Finally, .as if by common consent, all three ceased racing and squatted down to recover breath—rabbit and dogs lying side by side. Evidence in Mareo Retrial. The evidence in the retrial ol! Eric Mareo, who is charged with murdering his wife, Thelma "Mareo, by administering to her an overdose of veronal, totalled 273 typewritten foolscap pages on Friday night (states the "New Zealand Herald"). It is expected that this number will be increased to almost 300 pages when the evidence for the defence is completed on Monday. In the first trial of Mareo the evidence of the Crown amounted to 197 pages. On that occasion no evidence was called for the defence. The Horse Described. Five letters from school children in the United States, who wish to correspond with children in Christchurch, have been received by the secretary of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce, Mr. J. Roy Smith. They were forwarded by Miss Ruth Brundage, a teacher in the Washington School, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, with a request that they be given to a fifth or sixth grade teacher in a Christchurch school. The letters are mostly descriptive of school life in Wauwatosa, but there is one dealing with farm life. It contains the amusing statement: "I know you do not have barns in New Zealand. A barn is the cows' and horses' house. (The horse, as you may know, is the beast of burden in America.)"

White Butterfly Parasite. The breeding of the parasite of the white butterfly continues to occupy the attention of the Auckland Young Farmers' Club, according to the report submitted to the fourth annual meeting, states the "New Zealand Herald." Many thousands of the parasite have been liberated in the Manukau district, while large numbers have also been forwarded to the pupils of primary schools around Auckland, which have co-operated in the work by supplying chrysalids. Forgeries for Philatelists.

Dishonest persons out to make money out of unsuspecting philatelists have been turning their attention to the Cook Islands Silver Jubilee stamps. Some of these stamps have been cancelled with what purports to be firstday date cancellations, but the forgeries, which are believed to have originated in London, are easily distinguishable from the genuine first-day cancellations. The date on the forgeries, for jnstance, is May 6, whereas no Jubilee stamps were cancelled at Rarotonga prior to May 7. On the forgeries, too, appear the letters N.Z., whereas such letters do not appear in the die of the Rarotonga date-stamp. There are other minor differences which distinguish .the forged cancellations against which the P. and T. Department warns philatelists. "Not Our Baby." A certain measure of indignation, coupled with a great deal of amusement, is felt by members of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce following a statement recently published that the chamber was responsible for a suggestion that oysters should be carried by air mail, states the "Christchurch Star-Sun." "We never made any such suggestion," said a member on Saturday morning. "It came before us as a suggestion made in casual conversation with one of our members by the Postmaster-General. We thought so little of the idea that we did not bother to discuss it seriously, and no motion was passed regarding it. Whosever baby it is, it certainly is not ours." Further investigation suggested that the idea emanated from Auckland fishmongers, and from them was passejl on to the Postmaster-General, but they, too, deny any responsibility. In another quarter it was suggested that the idea might be to carry the oysters opened. By this means the carriage oC oysters by air could be profitable. Whether this idea is practicable may be a matter of opinion, but the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce is not going to be saddled with responsibility for it, i