NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 60, 8 September 1938, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Legal Discipline.

x The maximum number of members , of the disciplinary committee under '" the Law Practitioners Act, 1931, is inLt creased from seven to eight by a secLt tion in the Statutes Amendment Bill, i- which was introduced in the House of s Representatives yesterday and read a ( first time. The committee is em- ' powered to sanction employment by a 0 solicitor of a person struck off the roll or suspended from practice. Any barrister or solicitor who acts without a certificate is liable to a fine not exceeding £50, and Ihe section defines what shall be sufficient evidence of such an offence. Beast Jumps oh Cycle. Two country residents had a narrow 3 escape from serious injury on Satur- - day when motor-cycling home . from a dance at New Plymouth, states the "Taranaki Herald." They were proceeding along Henwood Road when * a beast leaped down from a bank on , to the motor-cycle, throwing the rider 3 and his companion off. They fortu--1 nately escaped with bruises and cuts, ' but the motor-cycle was badly dam- ' aged. t Shortage of Specialists. '. New Zealand is experiencing a > shortage of. medical specialists, de- - clared Dr. D. G. McMillan, M.P. for I Dunedin West, during an'address at Whangarei, states the "Northern Advocate." Dr. McMillan drew attention to ' the fact that there was no specialist or f consultant north of Auckland, with the » exception of an eye specialist, who ' came to Whangarei once each month. . Lake Road to Queenstown. ; The opinion that the Kingston- ', Queenstown road would soon be' a ' road at which no motorist could cavil ! was expressed by Mr. D. J. Wesney ;at a meeting of the general com- . mittee of the Automobile Association > (Southland) on Monday night. Mr. Wesney said the Public Works Department was doing very good work 1 near the Lumber Box, and there was : a large staff of men on the job. The work should be completed in two or \ three months. . Value of Air Mail. The success of the new air-mail service in speeding up the interchange of communication between New Zealand and Great Britain is well illustrated in the recent experience of an Auckland , suburban resident, states the "New Zealand Herald." Taking advantage of the first "all-up" air mail, which left Auckland by the Mariposa on Friday, August 5, he wrote to a friend in Belfast, Northern Ireland. This letter was delivered in Belfast on August 19, and the friend replied on the same day. His answer was dei livered in Auckland on September 5, exactly one calendar month from the date on which the first letter left Auckland.' This contrasts with the . period of three months that has been allowed for a reply in the past. Peruvian Blackbird. '. Acquired during a recent visit of the ' vessel to Peru, a Peruvian blackbird is a pet of the second officer of the motor-ship Springbank, now at Auckland, states the "New Zealand Herald." ; The bird is distinct from the British ' blackbird in that it is a songster of some.range. While the British black- ' bird can chirp, the Peruvian bird has ; unusual cadences. The bird carried by ; the Springbank has attracted attention j by its song, heard on Auckland [ wharves above the clashing of grabs ■ discharging the ship's cargo of phosphate. Although only four months old, the blackbird has proved itself easily • trained, and already it can somersault 1 and perform other tricks. It is claimed ! that the Peruvian blackbird is unique < because of its entirely black colouring < from beak to claws. Loss in Value of Ambergris. ( No longer are' small fortunes to be ] picked up on beaches in the form of ; ambergris. According to Mr. A. W. B. j Powell, assistant director of the Auck- j land War Memorial Museum, amber- « gris has no longer any commercial i value, states the "New Zealand \ Herald." Nor have many persons any r idea of the appearance or form of ] ambergris. Almost every day speci- j mens of dried-up sponge are sent by ] persons to the museum under the be- < lief that they are ambergris. As a , matter of fact, ambergris, which resembles beeswax and melts under heat, has the odour of musk; It was the odour of musk which drew an expert's attention to the caulking used in a log hut on the Ninety Mile Beach many . years ago. He discovered the owner had used ambergris to fill in the spaces between the logs, but the owner was unaware that it was ambergris, which , at that time had a high value. Amber- ;. gris was used as a basis in scent,- Mr. \ Powell remarked, but it was no longer ( apparently in use for the purpose. ] Carelessness in Bush Areas. i Notwithstanding repeated appeals to 1 the public to exercise greater care in ! forest areas, fire hazards in the City « and Suburban Water Board's bush i lands were last year exceptionally 1 high, stated the forestry officer, Mr. A. s N. Perham, in his annual report to the £ board. However, largely through bet- '' ter-reasoned burning operations by adjoining settlers—generally the ' main source of danger—little damage oc- J curred on the reserves. One fire com- 5 mencing on the boundary between the I State forest and the water-collection l areas, on the top of Mt. Marchant— ( probably from a billy fire —destroyed about twenty-five acres.of bush in the Hutt block, and did further damage in 1 the adjoining State forest. Another fire at, the Hutt Forks, commencing in £ the same manner, was extinguished £ with a loss of about three acres. ( Keas Escape. \ By using their strong, sharp beaks to cut the wires of their cage in the Invercargill gardens alongside the Puni Creek, the two keas which have been in captivity for nearly two years enjoyed an hour or two of liberty in the sunshine, states the "Southland Daily News." A householder in Eye Street who went into the back garden to inspect the fowls found that one of the c keas had invaded the run, to the cluck- 1 ing amazement of the hens. The other t bird showed a fondness for perambu- \ lator tyres and glasshouses. A woman t who was wheeling a pram in a private i garden was surprised to find an escort i interested in the moving wheels, and r who by continual peckings threatened r to cut the rubber tyres to shreds, s After a feed of rubber and some soli- £ loquising at a distance, the bird made s off, and was later found admiring the - specimens in a glasshouse. i Poor Trapping Prospects. I Because prices for skins are low and r the animals are scarce, the forestry -] officer of the City and Suburban Water £ Supply Board, Mr. A. N. Perham ; has c strongly advised, in his annual report \ to the board, a close season for trap- c ping in the Wellington area. The average price tendered for blocks of the board's land last season was again c very low, and no tenders at all were r received for blocks known to produce •■ a preponderance of dark skins. "Catches were poor generally," stated t Mr. Perham, "and when it is remem- j bered that a large proportion of the j area has in the past been the best « trapping country in New Zealand, it c is evident that an extended close •■ period is urgently required. However, t (while the policy of continued open I seasons prevails, it is useless to con- \ sider closing the water-collection areas c to trapping, as with open areas all c round them control of poaching would c not be possible." ' c