NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Issue 11, 13 July 1936, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Trust the Small Boy. The first boat in Wellington to enter the Harbour's Board's floating dock was a precarious craft of corrugated iron and bits of timber which was paddled through by a small boy as the dock was submerged here for the first time, said Mr. A. G. Barnett, manager of the Harbour Board, at. the annual prize-giving function of the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club on Saturday night. Queen Mary Could Berth Here. The Queen Mary, the world's largest ship, could easily be accommodated by Wellington Harbour and wharves, said Mr. A. G. Barnett, general manager of the Wellington Harbour Board, at the annual prize-giving Junction of the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club on Saturday night. An Auckland newspaper, he said, had published the statement that the Queen Mary could not come into any harbour south of the Line. The Wellington Harbour Board's officers had looked- into the matter and as far as they could gather the Queen Mary could enter r Port Nicholson and lie very • easily at the Pipitea Wharf. At Aotea Quay, where there was 36 feet of water, there was nearly 2000 feet of space, which could take almost two Queen Marys. Southampton had only 35 feef of water. Captain P. S. Petersen, the harbourmaster, had brought the Kosmos in to Wellington drawing 36 feet, and as there was a 46ft. depth at the Pipitea Wharf there would be plenty of room for the Queen Mary. Coal and Timber. Slight decreases are shown in the exports of coal and timber from the porKof Greyniouth during the past six months, as compared with the .first Six-monthly period of 1935. An increase in recent months has, however, been rioted, reports the "Grey River Argus." A decrease of nearly 3,000,000 feet in overseas timber exports has been balanced by an increase in exports to other parts of New Zealand. Timber exports for the period ending June 30, with comparisons in the corresponding six months of 1935 shown in parentheses, were:—Coastal 4,543,692 supercial feet (1,758,162); overseas 10,827,951 s.f. (13,985,356); total 15,371,643 s.f. (15,743,518). The decrease in, the coal exports was almost three thousand tons for the six months, the respective totals being:—Coastal, 73,956 tons 12 cwt'(75,651 tons 15 cwt); overseas, 2326 tons 19 cwt (3399 tons 4 cwt); total, 76,283 tons 11 cwt (79,050 tons 19 cwt). Auctioning: of Wool. Criticism of the method of auctioning wool in New Zealand, was expressed at a meeting of the executive .of the North Canterbury district, New Zealand Farmers' Union, by Mr. W. W. Mulholland, states an exchange. "We have the spectacle of a horde of buyers arriving with their shirts off, diving into the wool from midnight to midnight and then bidding for it," he said. "It is as much as a buyer's life is worth to make a mistake on the right side, so any mistakes are on the wrong side." Mr. Mulholland contended that it was much better, from the points of view of the buyers^ brokers, and growers/ to put up a limited quantity of wool each day—a quantity that the buyers could handle. Harbour Board and Yacht Club. The affinity between the Wellington Harbour Board and the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club is a frequent topic at gatherings of the latter body, which incidentally is only three years younger than the Harbour Board. At the annual presentation of prizes of the yacht club on Saturday night Mr. W. T. Barton, a vice-president of the club, expressed its appreciation of the board, its management, and what had been done by those responsible for making Port Nicholson one of the most up to date in the world. In all his journeyings round the world, he said, he- had never seen better berthing accommodation for ships. The harbour had a depth of water for the largest vessels, and in it there were 20,000 acres of water, ideally land-locked. Proof of the foresight of the Harbour Board was afforded by the provision out of revenue of the floating dock. Already the job had been proved-a necessity. "We yachtsmen are not unmindful," he said, "of the invaluable assistance the Harbour Board has rendered us. Although perhaps there are some further improvements we look forward to, we are aware that Rome was not built in a day." In reply to the toast of the Harbour Board which Mr. Barton proposed, Mr. A. G. Barnett, the board's general manager, expressed on behalf of the board its appreciation of the yacht club's compliments. Biros' Nests Cause Fire. Birds' nests in the chimney of a classroom stove at Glen Eden primary school caused an outbreak of fire shortly after 10 o'clock on Friday morning, states "The Press." The damage was confined to a small section of the roof, the outbreak being suppressed by an engine from the Avondale station. The outbreak was discovered by a teacher of Standard I, Mr. W. H. Vaughan, who observed smoke coming through the ceiling of the" room where the metal chimney passed through to the roof. Under the direction of the headmaster, Mr. F. C. Day, the scholars were quietly marched from the classrooms and marshalled in the playground. The staff and several of the senior boys organised a bucket brigade until the arrival of firemen, who had difficulty in suppressing the flames. The chimney was fitted with a metal cowl, and the aperture had previously been covered with a piece of wire-net-ting to prevent birds from nesting in the chimney. The birds had forced an opening, and on subsequent examination it was found that old nests extended for nearly 18 inches ins'de the chimney. 'It is thought that jhe smouldering straw and material had overheated the metal chimney and ignited the roof.

Rail-car's Speed. An indication of the speed of the Maahanui, the Railway Department's new rail-car, especially _as compared with that of the steam trains,, was to be had when the car was en route to Wellington from the north with the Minister of Railways (the Hon. D. G. Sullivan) and the General Manager (Mr. G. H. Mackley) on board. The Maahanui ascended the spiral, from I Raurimu to National Park, a distance of seven miles, in 12 minutes. The spiral has a grade of 1 in 50 (reports the 'Wanganui "Chronicle"), and the | climb is rarely accomplished by the Limited, New Zealand's fastest train, in less than -25 minutes. Elusive Money. "Please try to catch some of the money Mr. Savage is blowing round," was the introduction of an unsigned I letter received by the Rangiora County | Council at its meeting on Friday (reports the Christchurch "Press"). The writer suggested that this money could be used to build a traffic bridge over Forest ford, on the north branch of the Waimakariri River, "for the convenience of residents of Eyrelon junction and neighbouring districts, motorists, and sheep and cattle drovers." It was said that the footbridge was no longer suited for requirements, and no other improvement was more urgently needed. Historic Willow. It is a far cry from the lonely island of St. Helena, off the west coast of Africa, the first resting place of Napoleon, to Timaru, but with the planting recently of two weeping willow cuttings at the mineral spring on the Scenic Reserve, the town will have tangible, but indirect link with the grave of the greatest of all French military leaders, states the "Timaru Herald." The circumstances under which the slips of willow growing over Napoleon's grave came to New Zealand date back to '49, when Mr. Filleul, one of the earliest runholders at Papakaro, in North' Otago, was travelling to the Dominion.. The boat called at St. Helena and while ashore he took some cuttings from the weeping willow tree growing over the Corsican's grave, and on arrival in the Dominion planted them. The cuttings sprouted and developed into big trees from which Mr. H. J. Mathers, a member of the Timaru Borough Council obtained cuttings 26 years ago. Last week he topped some branches off the trees which had grown from cuttings in his garden, and handed them to the borough curator for planting at the mineral spring on the Scenic Reserve. New Disease in Wheat. A new disease in wheat, about which research experts have so far been able to find out nothing, was mentioned by ™ F: £• Hilgend°rt. director of the Wheat Research Institute, in an address which he gave to farmers at the Timaru Winter Show, states "The Herald." The disease is called "footrot" as it affects the wheat just above the ground and when the crop is about three inches high, the roots and portion under the ground withering away. Dr. Hilgendorf said he knew of no cure yet, but he was interested to discover whether the disease had been experienced in South Canterbury.