NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 25, 29 July 1937, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Spots on the Sun,

The large group of spots now on the sun is at the present time centrally situated and very favourably placed for observation. In addition to _ a number of other spots of lesser size there is one huge fellow and this is visible to the naked eye, but naturally smoked glass or some other means must be used to protect the eye if observations are. being made. Photographs are to be taken of the group as seen through the telescope at the Dominion Observatory. Slip Across Railway Line. A small slip which came down from the Western Hutt Road work a short distance north of Haywards last evening blocked the railway line and made transfers of passengers necessary during clearing operations. Passengers'on the Wellington-Masterton evening rail-car continued their journey by train,' and suburban passengers were taken on to Upper Hutt by bus.. The work of clearing the track was commenced at once and this morning the line was in order again. Motor-car on Fire. At about 10.52 p.m. yesterday the Wellington Fire Brigade was called to Wellington Terrace where a tourer car had burst into flames. The fire was extinguished with chemicals, 'but not before considerable damage had been done to the bodywork and trimmings. The fire was apparently caused through back-firing of the carburettor. The owner of the car is Mr. A. C. Jacobsen, Main Road, Wadestown. Message in Bottle. Cast overboard by a member of the crew of the Union Company's liner Awatea just before last . Christmas, when she was approaching the North Cape, a bottle requesting the finders to send a message to an address in Ireland was picked up by some children on one of the Great Barrier Island beaches on April 3 and a message was sent (states the "New Zealand Herald"). The bottle was thrown overboard by-Mr. M. A. Comroy, whose message asked that the finder should get into touch with his mother in Galway, and on Tuesday he received a letter from his home, stating that the bottle had been found about four months after it had been thrown into the sea. , Warships' Arrival. When H.M.S. .Leander, the new cruiser which has been attached to the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy in succession to H.M.S. Dunedin, arrives at Auckland on August 27 to begin her New Zealand service, she will probably be escorted into the harbour by the flagship of the station, HM.S. Achilles (states the "New Zealand Herald"). The Leander left Plymouth for New Zealand, via the Panama Canal, on July 2, and on her leisurely cruise across the Pacific she will fall in with the Achilles if conditions are favourable and will accompany the flagship on the last stage of her voyage back to New Zealand from the Islands. The entrance of two cruisers of the same very up-to-date class into the harbour at the same time will be sufficiently unusual for New Zealand to increase greatly the effect of the arrival of the new cruiser. Question of the Driver. An interesting point regarding the responsibility of a driver came up.in the Petone Court yesterday, when Earl William Johnson was charged with exceeding 30 m.p.h. in r. car at Petone. There was no appearance of the defendant. Inspector G. A. Booth, of the Pelone borough staff, said that Johnson was a salesman and was responsible to his firm for the demonstration number plates. While the defendant was at Miramar another salesman took his number plates and affixed them to a car. The driver of this car could not be identified and none of the other salesmen admitted liability. Johnson accepted responsibility. Mr. H. P. Lawry, S.M., said that he could not convict Johnson and the charge would be dismissed. If the driver of the car were found he could be charged. New Zealand's Largest Nugget. There is an interesting story attached to New Zealand's largest gold nugget, discovered in Ross towards the close of the last century. At a recent lecture in Nelson Mr. H. Foston said that two prospectors found a narrow strip of land that had been left by prospectors. On either side, the ground had been thoroughly searched. One of the men casually poked at the narrow strip with a slick, and to his amazement, unearthed a 99-ounce nugget. As the two prospectors had not taken a mining licence, they hastily buried the nugget, and on becoming registered, returned to the spot. The nugget was sold to a Ross hotel-keeper for £400, who decided to use it as a door stop. New Zealand's largest nugget proved such an immense attraction that within a week the bar takings had paid for the nugget. The nugget was raffled in an art union to raise funds for the Ross Hospital, and finally sent to Queen yictoria, _

Maoris and Tourists. "The Maoris should definitely not be encouraged to make themselves a show lor tourists," sa'id Dr. I. L. G. Sutherland, of Christchurch, in a lecture on the position of the Maori race (reports the "Press"). "The effects of that situation are apparent enough in the case of one tribe, and no one with the welfare of the Maoris at heart could wish to see them permit themselves to be used in that way." The First Scientific Department. The first scientific department to be formed in New Zealand in the early days of the colony's history was the Geological Survey Department, remarked Professor H. B. Kirk last night during the course of a lecture on the history of the Wellington Philosophical Society. It was- under the charge of Dr. Hector, and its main object was to get as much gold as possible and then to find out where even more gold could be obtained. "In- fact," he said, "it was a gold-hunting Department, and the tendency was then, as it is now too often when any new undertaking in science or research is mooted, to gauge the value of such work by the £ s d that is to eventuate from it." Golden Totara. A very rare species of totara, which turns golden in the winter and resumes its green coat again in the spring, was discovered in the bush on his property at Aotearoa, 18 miles from Te Awamutu, by Mr. James Yates, states the "Auckland Star.' The specimen was taken from its native habitat and planted in a suitable spot about six years ago. It has now reached a height of 12ft,- and its bright golden appearance, in the winter period has excited much interest and admiration among lovers of New Zealand flora. Fears for Taxpayer. It would appear that the most that could be done towards securing to exporters of primary produce sufficient to cover costs of production within New Zealand, while at the same.time done for the dairy industry, that was, the pooling of the product for marketng purposes, and the fixing of a price toed on an average taken over a period of years of prices paid for the Particular product overseas, said the above that received overseas must be found by the general taxpayer. Lesson from Japan. If the wish of the Christchurch City pood to the City Council «■* Hi we availably in *M™s bicycles. The committee had also de cided to make further inquiries from overseas in. regard to these stands. Estimating Speed. "I would advise you to accept with the very greatest reserve estimates of spied iA anything-like miles an hour said Mr. Justice Callan when addressing a jury in a negligent driving case in the Auckland: Supreme Court on Tuesday (reports the "New Zealand Herald"). Emphasising the difficulty of making any such estimate his Honour suggested a possible test for the jury. If he invited them to stand by a public road and estimate the speed of passing vehicles he. would undertake, he said, that he would get 12 different estimates of speed more often than not. In such a test they would be prepared to exercise thenbest judgment, but witnesses in these cases had had their minds on something else altogether., The Wrong Man. "Why do you want to be a 'Smart Alec'? You could have advised the City Council that you were not the one concerned," said Mr. W. F. Stilwell, S.M.; in the Magistrate's Court today, when a man appeared before the Court in answer to a summons by the City Council for a breach of a traffic regulation. It was explained by Mr. A. B. Cooper, who appeared for the City Council, that the summons had been served on the wrong man. The council had not been informed of this fact until this morning, and the man now before the Court had insisted on appearing. When the charge had been dismissed the man claimed expenses for appearing. These, amountIng" to 4s, were granted. "You could have saved an appearance by explaining the position to the council," said the Magistrate. Name "Poverty Bay." "Concerted action is being taken by the northern chambers of commerce to make a change in the . name of the North Auckland district, and I think that the time is now opportune to make a move in connection with the Poverty Bay district," said Mr. C. W. Muir at a recent meeting of the Gisborne Chamber of Commerce. The suggestion found support among the members present, and it was decided to communicate with the local bodies concerned prior to asking the Mayor (Mr. D. W. Coleman, M.P.) to convene a public meeting to discuss the matter. The position of North Auckland was mentioned by Mr. Muir, who said it was possible that either Northland or Waitangi would be favoured by the residents of that district. He had been in conversation with another resident during the afternoon, and he, too, thought it would be fitting for the chamber to once more agitate for the alteration of the name "Poverty Bay" on the same lines as the northern province. The Mission of the Ladytiira. An incident of his boyhood days was recalled by Mr. C. H. Williams, president of the Poverty Bay Sheepowners' Union, during his introduction of Dr. David Miller to a large audience of farmers at.Gisborne. Mr. Williams referred to the science of entomology, of which Dr. Miller is a distinguished exponent, and stated that at the age of about ten years he was on holiday in Hawke's Bay, and there encountered Professor Koeble, a German scientist, who, with two colleagues, had been sent to Australia and New Zealand to find an insect capable of controlling the San Jose scale, which was ruining the citrus industry in California. It was in Hawke's Bay that Professor Koeble found the ladybird, which eventually proved the saving of California's great groves, and enabled the State to develop an industry which today is valued as one of its greatest assets. .