NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 5, 8 January 1944, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

WEATHER FORECAST North-westerly winds, fresh at times. Weather fair and mild. The further outlook is for a temporary southerly change with an isolated shower or two possible. The Moon. —Full moon, January 10. High Water.—Today, 3.9 p.m., tomorrow, 3.34 a.m., 4 p.m. Many Rabbits Trapped. After a month's trapping operations in the lower Wangaehu area, a rabbiter employed on contract by the Wanganui Rabbit Board has taken more than 2000 rabbits, states the "Wanganui Chronicle." The same rabbiter. over a period of five years in the Patea district, where he was previously employed, had • a tally of more than 200,000 rabbits. Dry Weather and fire Calls. The danger of grass or scrub fires, owing to the hot, dry season, is shown by a comparison between the calls received by the Lower Hutt Fire Brigade this season and in the similar period of last year. Last month the brigade was called out 38 times, of which 24 were to grass or gorse fires. In December, 1942—a wet season—there were only eight calls, of which only one was to a grass fire. During January, 1943, there were 19 calls, while for the first .six days of this year there have already been 15 calls, 14 of which were to grass or gorse fires. The 38 calls during December included five to property fires, one malicious false alarm, two justifiable false alarms, one chimney fire, and five miscellaneous, besides'the gorse and grass fires. Fijian Troubadour. Fiji has her South Sea cowboy troubadour. His name is Vattro, and he is only twelve years old, writes "1 he Post's" Fiji correspondent. To the delight of American troops stationed in the group, he can sigh over "Red River Valley" as mournfully as a barn dance headliner or Arkansas "ridge runner." His voice is of surprising volume and tone, and he is always sure of an appreciative audience. More sensational still, he can yodel. Asked how he learned to sing with such professional aplomb, Vattro confessed: "I watch the singers in the cowboy movies." Sharks at Croixelles. Some of the largest sharks yet seen in the Croixelles —14 miles to the north of Caluke—are reported by holidaymakers (states the Marlborough "Express"). This is confirmed by a Blenheim party which has just returned from the locality and which saw one shark, which they estimated to be between 10 and 12 feet in length, swimming very close to the shore* As might be supposed, bathers there are not over-venturesome, and several campers who went for a swim before they were aware of the presence of the unwelcome prowlers were chased from the water by one of them. This pai'ticular shark was stated to be "as thick through as a cow," and determined efforts were made to catch it. A stout line was fixed to an oil-drum, and left floating in the bay, and a large shark was actually hooked. Excitement reached a high pitch as the fish made frantic efforts to escape, and attempts were made to shoot it, but finally it swam at full speed into the drum and the blow tore the hook from its mouth. What the position is in regard to other seaside resorts is not known, but one explanation of the "epidemic" of sharks at the Croixelles is that the long period of hot weather is enticing them into the warmer water close to the beach. Stolen Cups. Caterers serving the Hill and Derby enclosures at the Ellerslie racecourse during the Christmas-New Year Meeting lost a total of 956 teacups, valued at about £70, states the "Auckland Star." In addition 271 soft-drink bottles were taken away by unauthorised persons—the loss to the caterers in this regard totalling « £27. Mr. Arthur Adams, of the firm of Adams and Sons, who have the catering licence for those enclosures, stated yesterday that the loss in cups is considerably more serious than is indicated by the actual money value. The difficulty was replacement in time to meet other catering needs. All the cups were new ones, of New Zealand manufacture, and the firm had gone to the trouble of marking the bottoms of each distinctively in red so that they could be recognised as their property. It was not possible, in dealing with a crowd of up to 20,000, as was the case on Boxing Day, to watch carefully what happened to each individual cup. Girl's Disappearance No trace was found today of Colleen Trott, the eight-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Trott, of Hawera, who disappeared while playing on Ohawe Beach at about 2 p.m. on Wednesday, states a New Plymouth corresEondent. The child was playing with er brother, Colin Trott, aged nine, and another companion, Mervyn Gates, also 'aged nine, near a recent fall of earth below the cliffs about 200 yards from the entrance of Ohawe Beach. The boys returned to their mothers at the beach, but when they were sent back to get the little girl she was nowhere to be seen. Throughout Wednesday afternoon and night a large party of holiday-makers had searched the clifftop, the nearby river, the swimming pool, and the beach. On Thursday police, campers, and residents patrolled the foreshore. A small fall of earth late on Wednesday night suggested that there i*»fght have been a similar fall near the base of the cliff where the child was playing and it was suggested that she might have been buried.