NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 3, 5 January 1944, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

WEATHER FORECAST

Fresh to strong north-westerly winds veering temporarily to moderate southeasterlies tomorrow morning. , Weather fair and warm at first, but some brief rain and cooler temperatures accompanying the wind change. The further outlook is for mainly fair weather.

The Moon.—Full moon, January 10. High Water.—Today, 12.40 p.m.; tomorrow, 1.6 a.m., 1.31 p.m.

Rush on Hats. "You can expect a good supply of hats in New Zealand shortly," said Brigadier L. M. Inglis, in an interview in Timaru. "When we arrived in Italy, we found that the Germans had taken everything except fountain pens and Borsalino hats. These hats could be bought for about five shillings each, and they were rushed by the troops, so some of them are sure to find their way back here." Food Poisoning. ' A married couple and two young children were admitted to the Auckland Hospital yesterday afternoon believed to be suffering from food poisoning after eating Spanish cream, states a correspondent. The 'persons affected are Mr. James Arthur Youens,' aged 23, of 20 Cleveland Avenue, Parnell, Mrs. Joan Audrey Youens, aged 26, and their two daughters, Marie, aged two, and Dorothy, aged three months. They became ill on Saturday after eating their evening meal, which consisted of meat, a vegetable salads and Spanish cream. Their condition became worse during the weekend, and yesterday they were taken to the <hos- | pital in two ambulances, suffering from gastro-enteritis. Their condition last night was • satisfactory. Canoe Dug Up. Dug from the sands within 50 yards of the Opononi wharf, a 22ft Maori canoe, apparently of the ocean-going type, has been retrieved by Mr. R. H. Goodson, headmaster of the Whirinaki Native School, in the grounds of which he intends to place it after restoration work is done to the gunwale, states the "Auckland Star." Only a small portion of the canoe bottom was showing from the sands when the discovery was made. The canoe was cleaned and floated on the next tide nearer the Opononi Hotel, from where it can be removed by lorry. Streamlined in design, the canoe is built of solid totara. Shaped by fire and adze from one log, it accommodates from four to six men. Danger on Mountain. Climbers on Mount Egmont are unable to reach the summit by the usual entrance to the crater because of the j menace of a large rock weighing four j to five tons which is at a precarious angle andi threatens to crash down | the mountain at any moment. The only other approach to the crater is one used only by experienced climbers. A warning has been given by the Taranaki Alpine Club to all climbers to I avoid going anywhere within range of the rock, and especially against using the Bell's Falls track, which is directly within the danger zone. No attempts at climbing must be made unless the climbers are accompanied by an experienced and authorised guide. All attempts to do otherwise will be stopped. The slightest vibration of the rock is likely to send it rolling down the mountain and catch some party of trampers unaware. There is also a possibility of its bringing an avalanche down with it. It is hoped by ihe club to remove the danger by blasting the rock away next weekend. Attempts were made by a party last weekend to remove the rock by means of ropes and wedges, but this was unsuccessful. Betting Increase. A sum of £1,780,950 was invested on the totalisator at racing and trotting meetings throughout the Dominion during the holiday period just ended. This total was £329,551 in excess of the investments during the same period a year ago. On both occasions there were 16 meetings covering from one to three days, although this season there was one more racing fixture and trotting meetings were reduced by one. Of the total investments racing contributed £1,225,568 and trotting £555,382. A sum of £845,389, or about 47.5 per cent, of the total, passed through the machines at Ellerslie and Epsom. The period was remarkable for the establishment of several betting records. Most notable was the New Zealand record for a single day'K racing established at Ellerslie on the opening day of the Auckland Eacing Club's Summer Meeting when £229,157 passed through the totalisator. The amount of £53,616 10s wagered on the Auckland Cup during the same day was a Dominion record investment for one race. Course betting records were established elsewhere, including Southland and Greymouth. Uneasy Conscience. Government Departments often acknowledge the receipt of * what is known as "conscience money," that is, money sent in payment of some tax or debt which had been evaded only at the cost of an uneasy conscience. People who make payments of this sort generally prefer to remain anonymous. A case of uneasy conscience which was off the usual run, surprised the manager of an Invercargill store the other day, states the "Southland News." A man came into the shop and handed the manager a small article worth a few shillings. The man explained that 15 years before, when he was quite a youth, he had stolen the article from the store at Christmas time. Ever since his conscience had troubled him and this Christmas he had definitely decided to return the article and confess his fault. The article appeared to be almost as good as new. Fire Brigade Kept Busy.

Thirteen calls in under twelve hours, an average of 54 minutes between calls, were answered yesterday by the Wellington Fire Brigade. They included two property fires, seven fires in gorse or trees, and four false alarms, two of which were malicious, and both at Brooklyn. The Central, South Wellington, Khandallah. Thorndon, and Brooklyn stations were in action. The property fires were at the warehouse of Turnbull and Jones, Ltd., Blair Street, and in the basement of Kelvin Chambers, where little damage was done. Gorse fires occurred in Waru Street, and near Trellick Crescent (Khandallah), Waikowhai Street (Ngaio), Central Park, Eden Street (Island Bay), and between Eden Street and Rhine Street, and there was an outbreak among pine trees at Hutchison Street, near the Winter Show Building. The two justifiable false alarms were to the National Art Gallery Building, Buckle Street, and Pallo Engineering., ..Ltd.^, §6 £ou£tenay,. Place.