NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Issue 87, 9 October 1936, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Deer at Wainul.

Driving along the bush road to the Orongorongo tunnel from the Morton dam at Wainui-o-mata yesterday, the first car,of the party of visiting city councillors disturbed two deer feeding beside the track. These deer have been greatly thinned out. At one time they were very numerous in the area, but now they are shot on sight, and dragged below the water reserve for the farmers, who usually boil them down for the pigs. The caretaker receives 500 cartridges a year for their destruction. Waiwetu Golf Club. Information that the Waiwetu Golf Club was going to relinquish its links at Hutt Park was received at the meeting of the Hutt Park Committee last evening. The golf club stated that it had purchased the Whakatiki golf links, and conditional on making satisfactory arrangements with the committee, the next season would be opened on the new links. The lease expired in 1938, but as it was understood that the committee intended to run a golf links, "the club considered it would be greatly to the advantage of the committee to have the opportunity of taking over the links one year earlier. The club requested compensation and asked if an arrangement could be, reached for the purchase of a certain amount of equipment. A sub-committee was set up to confer with the golf club on these matters. The Latest Endurance Feat. Like so many other countries, India in recent years has periodically, suffered from the mania for endurance, records, and swimming and cycling have usually been the outlet there: for this form of exuberance. The latest exploit is that of a Calcutta student named P. K. Ghosh, who claims to have set up a new record by swimming continuously for: 72 hours .with his hands manacled, says the "New Zealand Herald." The. thousands who watched him displayed their enthusiasm when he beat the previous record by firing bombs. As the task of manacling was performed by a civic dignitary, the chief officer, of the corporation, and the swim was strictly supervised, anew world record will doubtless be proclaimed. Ghosh easily beat the previous record of-63 hours for a similar feat, set up by another noted Bengali swimmer, R. Chatterji, recently in Lahore. '.'.•'-■ The Passing of the Horse. "The old law allowed me six feet of the roadway, and six feet. of the best of it at that," protested Benjamin Jones, a horse driver, in the* Magistrate's Court yesterday when charged with driving a horse-drawn four-wheel lorry on the bitumen of the Hutt Road. "How am I to drive on the macadam when it isn't wide enough at several places on the Hutt Road," said the defendant. Mr. A. R. Cooper, who prosecuted, said that when the defendant saw the traffic inspector approaching Qn his motor-cycle, he drew his horse lorry off the bitumen. He had stated that he had been' on the bitumen for only a short distance, but the inspector could find no marks of the lorry on the bitumen.. The defendant was convicted and fined 5s and costs, .

Chinese to Celebrate. Tomorrow is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of the Chinese Eepublic, and Chinese residents of Wellington will celebrate the occasion in a fitting manner. As in past years, a meeting will be held in the St. John Ambulance Association Hall in Vivian Street. All Chinese shops will be closed at 1 p.m. tomorrow. ■ Hutt Park Bates. The following amounts are being paid towards the upkeep of Hutt Park by local bodies: —Lower Hutt Borough ' Council, £85 6s 3d; Petone Borough j Council, £58 13s 2d; Eastbourne Boy- j ough Council, £10 13s 3d. The Eastbourne Borough Council expressed the opinion that in future years the committee should make provision for these rates to be met out ofrevenue. A New Star. A cable received from Melbourne by the Dominion Observatory—the original source of the message being the International Astronomical Union at Copenhagen—gives details of the discovery on October 6 of a new star. This nova, which has just swum into ken, is in the Milky Way region, in the constellation of Sagittarius, and at present it is of the sixth magnitude—about the limit of naked eye visibility. Its position at 0 hours G.M.T. has been given as Eight Ascension 18 hours 4.5 minutes, Declination 34 degrees 21 minutes south." Whether the new star is getting brighter or fainter is not known yet, cloudy skies last evening preventing any observations being made locally. Long Lane That Has No Turning. The great length of some of the straight stretches of country roads in Queensland was noticed by Mr. G. McCullough;. a prominent South Canterbury farmer, who has just returned from a four months' holiday in Australia. One of these roads, which crossed the Cecil Plains in that State, was more than 50 miles long without a single bend, and was flat all the way; The condition of the road 3, however, was not nearly as good as those in country districts in New Zealand, and after; a rain it was impossible to negotiate many of the roads, as they were not metalled. Defence League and Fascism. "It is the duty of the Government to look after defence in New Zealand," said Mr. H. W. Lamb at Wednesday evening's meeting of the Birkenhead Borough Council, in opposing a motion that the council accede to a request by the New Zealand Defence League that a deputation be received (states the "Auckland Star"). "We do not know the aims and objects of this league; it seems there is to be a privately-controlled army. We should not commit ourselves." Mr. Lamb.referred to Fascist organisations in other/ countries and to the trouble in Spain, and said the same thing might start in New Zealand. "We must keep clear of it, as it is the duty of the Government to maintain law and order," he added. The Mayor, Mr. G. Mills, said he did not think defence was a matter for local bodies to deal with. The council decided to advise the league it would receive a deputation at a future date. Support For Mr.' Hislop. Mr. T. C. A. Hislop's now famous dictum about the culinary capabilities of New Zealand women finds support in Australia. "Only one. girl in ten can peel potatoes," says Mr. Justice Brennan, of Bockhampton, Queensland, where- a newspaper correspondence on the subject of "Wives Who Cannot Boil Water" has recently been carried on. The majority of modern girls, said the Judge, did not get' enough sleep to enable them adequately to carry out household duties or other callings, he maintained. The luncheon which some girls took to work would be a sufficient meal for a, bandicoot (an Australian insectivorous marsupial). "When she comes home," Judge Brennan added, "she delves a knife into a pot of jam, puts the same knife into the butter, pours out a gup of cold tea, and is out again to catch the next train. Then the world wonders why she looks anaemic. There is. little, if any, home life, no regular life, no regular meals, and no tables set." Hutt Park Committee. The resignation of the chairman (Mr. R. W. Toomath) was received at the meeting of the Hutt Park Committee last evening. Mr. Toomath, who has recently resigned from the Petone Borough Council, stated that of all the committees he had been associated with during the past nine years he had received more pleasure and interest on'the Hutt Park Committee than on any other. He and Mr. Hogg were the oldest members of the committee. Nine years ago the Park was mostly rushes, but a great deal of practical work had been done since then. The committee had not been able to borrow money but had to do the work out of revenue. Mr. E. T. E. Hogg was elected chairman for the remainder of the term. He said that no chairman he had known had been more enthusiastic and constructive than Mr. Toomath. Mr. W. H. Wilson said that the additions to the camping ground would be a monument to Mr. Toomath. Other speakers, also paid tributes. Mr. J. C. Burns, who replaces Mr. Toomath, was welcomed to the board. Rotorua Development. Considerable public works" activity is taking place in the Rotdrua district, the number ,of men employed' being about '300 (states a Rotorua correspondent). Good progress is being made with the widening of the Rotorua-Wai-karemoana road, where the men are working in treacherous country with the possibility of slips ' adding to the difficulties of the work. The levelling of about 9Q acres hear Whakarewarewa, to provide an aerodrome, has been completed, and 70 acres of this has been sown in grass. In order to provide a length of runway suitable for the largest type of aeroplane,' it is now proposed to level further portions of land adjoining the main area, and totalling about 20 acres. A deviation of the main Rotorua-Cambridge highway near Tarukenga, to provide .for an overbridge to eliminate the present dangerous level crossing is well advanced, and tenders have been called for the construction of the bridge. It is not likely, however, that the.-new route will be open for traffic before Christmas. Two Museums. "After visiting the Auckland "War Memorial Museum-many times it gives one a rather odd feeling to go into the new National Museum," said an Aucklander lately returned from Wellington. "The two buildings • are so much alike—on the ground floor, at any rate—and yet so different. Each is on a hill looking north oyer .the harbour. One has the cenotaph in front of it, the other has the tall carillon tower; each has a fine portico with tall pillars and a central hall full of Maori houses and canoes arranged in the same way. In fact, the Wellington museum is the Auckland one altered as familiar things are altered in dreams. One difference is the amount of colour used in the interior decoration. This hardly seemed to be an improvement. The exhibits provide plenty of colour, and the light grey and white of the Auckland building give a feeling of spaciousness that is lacking in Wellington. The art gallery upstairs is excellent, and if some of the rooms are'rather dimly lit one is at least saved the usual annoying reflections from,,the picture glasses."