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Evening Star, Issue 19778, 31 January 1928, Page 6

Of the Manuka’s passengers who left Australia for the purpose of seeing Milford Sound, and had to be carried on to Bluff owing to the illness of a fireman, not many pursued their journey overland to the sound. Quite a number, however, arranged with the Tourist Department for the easier trip to the Franz Josef Glacier —it suited some who did not desire the long walk. Bookings at the Dunedin office are still well up to the average, and there are more overseas visitors than usual. Some activity is caused by the approaching trip of Rugby footballers to South Africa, there being inquiries at the Dunedin office of the Tourist Department as to route, accommodation, and cost, by persons who ' think of following the team round. To facilitate requirements in that way the manager hero has got into touch with the official South African manager of tourist travel, and can supply particulars as to preliminary steps. Wingatui, naturally a pretty racecourse, is at its very prettiest now. Mr J. Crawford takes a special delight in flowers and lawns, aud_ those in his charge are a picture. It is also satisfactory to learn that the tracks are in good order for training in preparation for the Cup Meeting. Most of the fast galloping is being done on the outer circle of the course proper, but the plough is also serviceable. The inner grass track is being reserved for use in the autumn. Wingatui has an advantage over most courses in that the grass has a firm hold and stands hot weather. Several persons have of late availed themselves of the arrangement initiated by the Dunedin Corporation in regard to the upkeep of graves. By paying £25 in one sura, any person who has taken on himself the duty of weeding and tidying have that work done for him in perpetuity by the cemetery staff. The scheme commends itself to persons win may be going away for good, also to those who are growing too feeble to look after the graves personally as a labor of love.

Nothing lias been published, nothing need be published, about the second cremation in Dunedin, two or three weeks ago, except the fact that everything was conducted to the complete satisfaction of those concerned.

The following is an extract from a letter received in Dunedin from Samoa, and written on January 11:—“Business is very slack here just now. The picture theatre has been closed down, too, by order of the Administration, so that the natives won’t meet together in large crowds. One night just v outside the picture theatre the band (it consists entirely of natives) was playing prior to the beginning _ of the picture programme, and the police arrested two members thereof, who were also members of the Man. When the Man Committee heard of this, they all went to the police station intending to burn up the whole building if the prisoners were not set free that night. When the crowd returned to their homes, some of them met a policeman on duty at the Customs. They attacked him and badly wounded him with a knife. A reward of £2O has been offered by the Police Department for information regarding his assailants. A reward also of £2O has been offered for information re the ‘ linking ’ of a Chinese coolie, and a reward of £IOO for information re the double murder has not yet been claimed. No clues have been given as yet in respect to these three crimes, so the position in Samoa is to be reckoned very serious.”

The IDs “into” is not uncommon, but the idea nf a Is totalisator would amuse most New Zealand racecourse patrons; yet such a machine does exist in Norfolk Island, according to Mr E. J. Forrest, who has returned to Gisborne from a visit to the island. A race meeting is held every Easter, when fortunes are won and lost on the shilling “tote.” About £2OO passes through the machine at each meeting.

A resident of Whakamarama, westward of Tauranga, reports that stoats arc increasing, and arc to be met with in any part of the hush. When cornered they will attack man or dog without hesitation, as the following incident will show (writes a local correspondent) • —Quito recently two youths put up a snout in fairly open country, and promptly sot a rough cattle dog at it. The dog would not bite the stoat. Finding it could not get away the stoat attacked the dog, getting a good hold under the throat. The dog howled and fought, but could not get rid of the stoat, so one of the lads seized a stick, and, at the second attempt, knocked it off, only to bo attacked in turn. Using his boots and the stick, he quickly finished og the stoat. There is no scarcity of fish in Christchurch at the present time. In fact, the markets report that they had been getting more supplies than they know how to' deal with, and, after meeting retailers’ requirements, they had been forced to dispose of quite a lot of their fish at give-away prices. The position is accentuated by the fact that the demand at this time of the year is more moderate than it is in the cooler months. The fishermen of Lyttelton have recently found themselves in a rather peculiar position, because of the supply of fish being more than equal to the demand, insomuch that it has become a glut on the market. The surplus may bo accounted for by the number of extra trawlers employed, the favorable weather of late for trawling, and also the fact that consignments of fish, especially groper, are occasionally sent down from Wellington. _ Recently the Lvttellon fishermen received notification from the Christchurch market to limit their catches of soles to five cases for each boat.—Christchurch correspondent. Strips of corrugated iron, six tiers high, are now being affixed to form the Cargill road wall of the Hillside Workshops new building. Residents are beginning to realise that when this iron front comes to the dimensions of a croquet lawn it will be atrociously ugly, even if kept plain, and a positive offence to the eye if disfigured with posters of mean design or tearable. This locality is already lacking in the picturesqueness that Dunedinites are so proud of in some other parts of the city, since ornamentation was forgotten when the original planning was in hand, so that to erect monster walls that are confessedly hard-visaged is the more to be regretted, as a wart would be on the homely face of a girl.

“ A glance at the list of books issued shows the interesting fact that the sex novel has lost its appeal, and that its ■place has been taken by the modern mystery story,” said Dr J. R. Elder, who presided over last night’s annual meeting of members of the Dunedin Athemeum and Mechanics’ Institute. The speaker stated that the books issued for the past year showed the remarkable increase of over 24,000. It was admitted that the members interested themselves chiefly in works of fiction, but since in this matter they followed the rest of the.world it did not seem that an apology was necessary. However, there were many who read constantly in the more serious branches of the library and who keenly appreciated the fact that so much attention was paid to the acquisition of the more informative types of literature.

The sub-committee of the Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Society that was appointed to think over the results of the Summer Show, the financial position of the society, and its future, is still considering before making its report. In the meantime it would value suggestions from breeders and exhibitors. So far it is practically decided to recommend that further efforts be made to obtain railway connection with the show grounds, and thus, by facilitating the handling of stock, invite breeders to enter more freely,, An important proposal that finds favor but is not yet finally resolved upon is to restrict the Summer Show to one day, and to arrange that each section and class should be revised with a view of being uniform with kindred associations. Other suggestions yet to be considered are to hold the ram and ewe fair at Tahuna, to change the date of the Summer Show to autumn, and to extend it to the evening. Whilst the society is financially sound, having ample assets, the serious losses occurring each year at the Summer Show are seriously affecting the society’s operations. To meet these losses, mainly caused by unfavorable weather, the sub-committee will recommend that a special appeal be made both to country and town members to increase the membership to 1,500. The revenue received from that source would fenablo the society to have sufficient funds to meet all liabilities, instead of depending solely on the gate receipts.

Under the authority of legislation passed last session, chemists in any district or city are entitled by requisition to close on Sunday. A requisition circulated among the chemists of Wellington has been largely signed, and the proposal to close on Sundays has been approved by an overwhelming majority. The matter is now in the hands of the Labor Department.—Press Association telegram. There was a clean sheet at the Police Court this morning.

Coming up for sentence at Christchurch on a charge of driving a horse and cart while intoxicated, Charles Nelson, an elderly man, was sentenced to gaol for throe months. It was his twelfth offence of the kind.—Press Association.

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