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Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 123, 24 April 1936, Page 8

A net. profit of £770 was made by the New Zealand Hockey Association on the tour of the All-India hockey team last year, states the report to be presented at the annual meeting.

Summer-time officially ends on Sunday, when all clocks must be put back 30 minutes. Residents of New Zealand have ha.d the benefit of an extra halfhour’s daylight for seven months. Flowers will be placed on 1200 soldiers’ graves in the Karori Cemetery, Wellington, on Anzac Day.

Three thousand skins have been secured by the Government party who are exterminating deer in the Ashley Gorge, Canterbury. It is probable that delegates and their wives attending the Empire Chambers of Commerce Congress, to be held at Wellington on October 2, 5, 0 and 7, will number in the vicinity of 200.

That New Zealand flora is more popular overseas that may be generally' imagined is apparent from the fact that a New Plymouth firm has just exported to Russa a consignment of ten cases of New Zealand native trees.

At Harmer’s, Bond Street, a few days ago (a London correspondent wrote on March 28) a New Zealand stamp for Is, blue-green in colour and bearing the date 1856, realised £135. It was found in an early collection of stamps compiled for reference by a French Postmaster-General.

Seeking chamois and thar in the Hooker district, an Oamaru party had considerable success. They reported that the animals are increasing rapidly ; so fast, indeed, that practically all the flora in that area has been eaten, with the result that the chamois especially are in poor condition from lack of food.

The secretary, Mr G. N. Boulton, reported to the meeting of the Wanganui Education Board on Wednesday that 1130 five-year-old pupils had been admitted to schools in the board’s district during February and March. The chairman- commented that consequently at the present time there was a shortage of teachers. In a letter which relatives on the East Coast have received from Geoge Nepia, now resident in London, the famous ex-All Black footballer refers to his loneliness, which he feels most keenly. His life story has been written on a royalty basis, and he also receives a royalty for gramophone records which he makes.

An electric lamp shade showing five bullet holes was exhibited at the Waihi Police Court in connection with the appearance of Keith Atholston Plunket Ross, of Ngongotaha, who was charged with discharging a fiream in a public place, with procuring the rifle without a permit, and with wilfully damaging an electric street lamp.

It is not commonly known that the wallaby exists in New Zealand, but there is a large number of these marsupials in the back counrty near Waimate. The late Mr Studholine, of Studholme Junction, brought two wallabies from Australia 78 years ago, and after keeping them for -a short period, they escaped and took to the back country. “This man lost his temper when a friend he was waiting for did not come out of the building, so he kept on tooting the horn of his car,” said counsel appearing at Auckland for a motorist, who became abusive when asked to cease sounding the horn. “Oh, lie lost his temper, did lie?” said Mr F. K. Hunt, S.M. “Well, he has lost two or three pounds, too. Fined £3 and costs 165.”

Another good example of American ignorance of New Zealand has just come to light in a letter received by a Christchurch business man from a New York firm of forwarding and insurance agents. “We call your attention to the fact that delivery must be takpn 'at Port Lyttelton,” the letter reads. “There are no sailings to Christchurch direct at present, and we understand that your town is across the river.”

A whirlwind of fairly severe intensity was experienced at Tauranga this •week. One house had a narrow escape when a large branch was torn off a tree and carried 50ft across the lawn, to fall 2ft short of the house. Several other large branches were torn off trees on the same property and several sheets of iron were lifted from a shed nearby. Tiles on the roof of another house were lifted. The whirlwind, which lasted about a minute, was accompanied by a terrifying noise. In order to give the regular co-pilots experience of being in sole charge of the controls of the Union Airways airliners, the Kotuku was flying in the vicinity of the city this morning, and yesterday morning the Kororo was in the air. The co-pilot takes the machine up without assistance and flies for a period to give him a qualification of having been in charge of one of the liners for a certain number of hours. No particular trips are undertaken, the machine merely flying about in the environs of the city and the aerodrome.

A visiting ’plane at the Milson aerodrome yesterday was the Puss- Moth machine in which Mr F. C. Chichester and Mr F. D. Herrick are to fiv from Australia to England by way of the East and Russia. Mr Chichester was the pilot and Mr D. Herrick, of Herbertville Hawke’s Bay, accompanied him as passenger. They were on their way to Wellington from Dannevirke and remained at the aerodrome for about three-quarters of an hour. When interviewed at Wellington Mr Chichester expressed complete satisfaction with the performance of the machine in the gusty winds of yesterday.

A little Aucklander was the proud recipient by post last week of four pieces of Maundy money. These were sent from England by a relative, who had acquired them with a view to sending them for New Zealand children to see and to keep. The four pieces are of silver, and. are of the value of Id, 2d, 3d and 4d respectively, the 3d piece being of the size of an ordinary coin and the others in proportion" The smallest, the silver penny piece, is 7-16 in in diameter. The face of each coin bears the head of King George V. with the usual inscription, while the reverse has the figure denoting the value, with the date 1935, surmounted by a crown, and bordered with the usual wreath design. This year, it was be recollected, the Maundy coins were presented by King Edward VIII, but he gave one for the total of every year of his 'father’s life instead of the total of his own years.