NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 1, 2 January 1937, Page 10

NEWS OF THE DAY

11 Value of a Watch Chain. The rise in the price of gold and y its effect on the value of personal n trinkets was amusingly introduced by an elderly witness in the Auckland Police Court on Wednesday (states Y the "New Zealand Herald.") He was '. asked what value he placed on a gold . watch chain, which had been stolen „ from him. "I bought it many years ' ago for £6 10s," he replied, "but gold e is more valuable today. I have been a told my Royal Albert is worth £10. c but if I deducted 5s from its original price'l think I would be stating a fair value, although I would not accept that for it." S Holiday Climbing. Ascents of several peaks in the 1 Mount Cook area have been made E recently by Miss Kate Gardiner, an i Ehglish climber, who is staying at . The Hermitage for the climbing season. In company with Guide P. Alack " and Guide V. Williams, Miss Gard--1 iner climbed the south peak of Mount 3 Cook, but an attempt on La Perouse => was unsuccessful, because of unfavi ourable weather. Miss Gardiner hopes later in the season to climb 1 Mount Aspiring, near Wanaka, and 3 Mount 'Tutoko, near Milford Sound. s Pending favourable weather for an attempt on Mount Cook, several ,' climbs have been made by Mr. H. K. Douglas, the Wellington mountaineer. f The mountains climbed were Mounts ) Erie de Beaumont, Walter, Green, and p the Minarets. - Power Line Struck. t A direct hit by lightning on the [ 11,000 volt power line feeding Ashhurst and the Pohangina valley caused a power interruption in that area yesterday afternoon when a thunder--5 storm of unusual severity passed over t the district, reports "The Post's" Falm- , erston North correspondent. A power ' pole at Ashhurst was skinned, the 5 whole of the outer covering being ret moved. There were six breaks in . three oX the wires at this point and , repair men had a busy time making ' good the damage. Transformer fuses ' all over the district were blown, en- ' tailing a considerable amount of . travelling to restore the service. An- . other source of interference was a motor-car which left the road on 1 Rangitikei line and crashed into a ■ pole, breaking five wires. ' Dry Queensland. Unwelcome though the present wet : weather is to New Zealand holiday- [ makers, a Brisbane man who arriv- ! Ed in Auckland this week finds it a pleasant change (states the "New Zealand Herald,") "When I left home," ', he said, "there was not a vestige of • any kind of growth on my lawn; it , was just bare earth. The drought was [ so bad that Queensland had not mere- ' ly stopped exporting butter, but was ; even importing it from New South Wales. That was not altogether a bad thing* because the Government takes all butter intended for local consumption and blends it in a State factory according to its own notions. I can tell you, the public do not like the stuff at all, and you New Zealanders would be even more annoyed if you had to eat it." Big Fish in the Ganges. To New Zealanders, who usually associate big fish with salt water, it might come as a surprise, to hear that it is possible to catch fish over 50lb in the River Ganges, and to learn also that these fish, called "mahseer," provide some of the finest angling sport in the world (states the "Auckland Star"). Brigadier-General G. S. Palmer, who, with his wife, returned to New Zealand by the Narbada on Wednesday, has had experience of them; in fact, he has just returned from a long fishing holiday, which included the pursuit of these fish. He was camped in the upper Ganges, near the city of Hardwar, near where the sacred river comes out of the Himalayas. There, in a deep pool in the river, he sought his quarry. He was fortunate enough to secure one weighing 541b, and it took 150 yards of line to do it. "They are fine fighters," he said, "some of the £est in the world." Boy Rescues Brother. Through the prompt and plucky action of his 13-year-old brother, Nor-

man Hurrell, aged 14 years, of 74 Hawke Street, Mew Brighton, was saved from drowning in the Avon River at New Brighton about 4 o'clock on Tuesday afternoon '(states the "Press"). In company with two other boys, Alec and Peter Walker, Norman Hurrell and his brother Colin had been playing with a 10ft home-made canvas canoe on the river opposite the New Brighton Power Boat Club's jetty. Norman Hurrell, who intended to have a ride, had just pushed the canoe from the mooring jetty on the New Brighton side of the river, when it capsized, throwing him into the water, which is particularly deep at that part of the river. He could not swim, and was hampered by a heavy suit and boots. Seeing his brother's plight, Colin, who holds a 50 yards learners' certificate for swimming, jumped from the jetty where he was standing, swam to his brother, who had already gone under once, and struggled with him to the jetty, where he was helped by the others. The tide was making at the time, and the elder boy had drifted slightly up-stream. The rescue was a particularly brave one, as Colin Hurrell is of small stature, and weighs two stone less than his brother, whose sodden clothes made him a very heavy weight for the younger boy to drag. Neither of the 4 boys was any the worse for the experience.