NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 10, 11 July 1941, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

Minor Wild-life Battle. The increasing number of people who put out food for birds see many interesting incidents. Miss Millxcent Jennings, of Governor's Bay, reports onei of these to the Forest and Bird Pro-j tection Society. "Have you ever seen; a field mouse stand up to a cock sparrow—charge him in fact?" she writes. "That's what happens here now. The feeding station is near a big windowlooking down the harbour. Over it and under it and up it twines a passionfruit vine, and up the vine every day climb two tiny fat field mice—so pretty with their big transparent ears and long tails. The wax-eyes gather on a nectarine tree alongside and first j watch them —not too sure 'of their ground, but the sparrows swoop down and start to nibble the fat and other tit-bits. Then the little mice rush at them. Sometimes the sparrow wins and sometimes the mouse." Severe Hailstorm. A hailstorm of exceptional severity swept Te Aroha about three o'clock on Wednesday afternoon. Workers where heavy machinery .was operating said that it was impossible to hear the machines running during the storm, of which Te Aroha seemed to be the centre. Hailstones up to one inch in diameter fell in some quarters. Flower gardens and some fruit trees received a severe battering. Even at eight o'clock on Wednesday night, five hours after the storm, downpipes were clustered with hail to a depth of six inches and over areas up to three square yards. The skylights of one building were cracked during the storm. Gift Pictures. It, was announced last night that £196 7s 6d was realised from the Wellington exhibition of the 138 pictures given to the National Patriotic Fund Board in aid of the patriotic funds by the New Zealand Society of Artists The amount was made up as follows:— Pictures sold, £154 2s 6d; catalogues sold, £10; art union tickets sold, £32 ss. Kirkcaldie and Stains, Ltd., granted the use of their lounge, free of charge, for the exhibition, which was opened on May 23 and continued till June 14. The catalogues and art union tickets were sold by a band of young women organised by Miss Moya Hempton, of the A.N.A. Club, and the supervision of the exhibition was carried out by the secretary of the New Zealand Society of Artists, Mr. W. Basil Honour. He also effected the sale of many pictures, and a good deal of the success of the exhibition is due to his efforts. The pictures will be exhibited in other centres, where it is hoped the 90 still unsold will be purchased. Flat Galvanised Sheets. In future, unless special permission is given, the" use of flat galvanised steel sheets is to be restricted to the manufacture of certain specified commodities. The Minister of Supply (Mr. Sullivan) stated last night that the purpose of the restriction was to ensure that the available supplies are used for essential purposes only and to ensure that maximum employment is maintained through making articles manufactured from galvanised sheets available for contracts which are now in hand. Commodities in the manufacture of which steel sheets may be used without permission are: Eaves cutters, rainwater downpipes, flashings, termite cappings, pumice concrete washing copper casings, hot water cylinder casings, tops and bottoms for tanks of 400-gallon capacity or more (for the purpose of the notice the term "flashing" includes steel sheets used to cover the joint between two external surfaces as protection against the weather). Tunnel Under City. A party of city councillors and officers of the1 council is making an inspection of the big sewerage tunnel under the city this afternoon. Probably it will be the last such inspection, for the work is well towards completion, only about 200 feet of lining remaining to be done. The tunnel, partly in large diameter concrete pipes, extends from Drummond Street, Newtown, to Sydney Street, Thorndon. and the greater length has been in com- J mission for some months now. Where it passes .mderneath the Art Gallery the tunnel is 130 feet below the surface. The work, which is one of the largest and the most important carried out by the City Engineer's Department for a good many years, has been given little thought by the public, for, except for w.orking shafts here and there along the line of work, there has been nothing to show for it above ground. ______________