LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21247, 29 July 1932, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

Rocks From Antarctic A recent addition to the Dominion Museum in Wellington ia a collection of over 200 specimens of Antarctic rocks, •which belonged to the late Dr. H. T. Forrar, who was in the Antarctic with Scott in 1904. This collection, which has been presented to the museum by his widow, will form a valuable nucleus, as there were practically no specimens of the kind in the museum before. Money Found on Beach A number of silver and copper coins has been discovered in the sand on Milford Beach this week. Heavy seas washing in as the result of the storm during the last fow days have scoured the sand, revealing the coins, which have'been presumably lost by people visiting the beach. A considerable sum of money was found on the sands about two months ago on the occasion of the last north-east storm. Treo Planting Mistakes The mistakes made when some of the earlier plantations in Canterbury were started were commented on by Mr. R. Nairn at a meeting of tho Selwyn Plantations Board. "One of the mistakes wan to plant wattle," ho said. It has no worth at all; you will notice what a worthless tree it is in the plantations. Another mistake was to mix all sorts of trees in one plantation, not confining them to one stand of trees." Leaders in World Affairs "Our leaders do not so much lack understanding of the situation, but they lack tho courage to lead," Said Mr. W. T. G. Airey at a meeting of the Auckland branch of the League of Nations Union yesterday. Tho leaders tolerated the continuance of the pre war training and states of mind that impeded them from carrying out what they knew to be good, ho added. They needed tho courage to stake their political lives on the truth they knew. Property Values Change "If someone offered £IB,OOO for our property at Otahuhu, we should be quite glad to get rid of it," said Mr. J. Rowe, president of the Auckland Trotting Club, at the annual meeting. "The original price was £24,000, and £12,000 has been spent in improvements, but no one seems to be coming forward even at the reduced price." The property was acquired by the amalgamation of tho Otahuhu 'Trotting Club with tho Auckland Trotting Club. Norfolk Island Newspaper Although they have no printing press, the residents of Norfolk Island have managed to find equipment with which to print a weekly newspaper incorporating most of tho features of papers published under more favourable conditions. The Norfolk Island Weekly News has reached its ninth issue through the medium of a typewriter and a duplicator, and has even essayed with a good deal of success the art of picture and advertising display, the work, of course, being done by line. Little Work on Waterfront With the departure of the intercolonial steamer Maunganui for Sydney and the liner Tamaroa for Port Chalmers this afternoon, tho port of Auckland will be unusually quiet. Yesterday three large overseas vessels, the City of Canton, the Westmoreland and the Port Brisbane, sailed for tho South, and the steamer Waimarino for Wellington, leaving only the Afaunganui, Tamaroa and Rangitiki in port. The only large vessel to arrive to-day will be tho tanker Brunswick, which is to berth at Western Wharf. No Sand in Sugar The oft-repeated joke of the grocer who augmented his sugar supplies with a judicious admixture of sand was given a death blow by Mr. A. J. Parker in a lecture on adulterants in foods last evening. Tracing the steps that led to the framing of tho pure food laws in England, Mr. Parker said that of 100 samples of sugar that were then analysed, 96 wore fpund to be pure, the other four containing a little starch. "Many tales have been told of the presence of sand in sugar," Mr. Parker said, "but these were not substantiated by analyses." Oysters for England -- A trial shipment of Stewart Island oysters packed in ice was despatched by the Opawa from Bluff on June 21 to test the prospects of opening a market in London. Cable advice from Dakar (West Africa) within six days' steam of London roports that the oysters were sampled and found to be in very good condition. The high price of oyßters on the English market assures a lucrative trade provided transport proves successful, and the results of this trial shipment so far indicate that no difficulty will be experienced in landing consignments in good condition. Cable Steamer Recorder The cable steamer Recorder, which left Wellington on July 20 to undertake repair work occupying several days on the recently-joined cable between Auckland and Sydnoy, has returned to the vicinity of Titahi Bay, Wellington. There some of tho remaining portions of the old cable which are considered to be of further use have been picked up. The steamer will next be in the vicinity of Norfolk Island for about a month, carrying out repairs of a minor nature to the Norfolk IslandSydney cable. The steamer is afterward expected to return to Auckland. Injured Lighthouse-keeper In order to give medical attention to one of the lighthouse-keepers, Mr. W. J. Leighton, who had received injuries to the hand, the Government lighthouse steamer Matai, which had left Kaipara Harbour on Wednesday for Auckland, was instructed to return to Capo Maria Van Diemen. Mr. Leighton yras brought by the Matai to Onehunga yesterday morning, and was given attention at the Auckland Hospital, but it was not necessary to admit him. The injury had been received while Mr. Leighton was operating a winch in hauling up stores which tho Matai had left on its previous visit to tho Cape on Saturday. Canadian Animals at Zoo The varieties of Canadian animals at the Auckland Zoological Park were enumerated by tho curator, Mr. L. T. Griffin, at a meeting of tho Auckland Zoological Society last evening. At present there were specimons of black boar, coyote, raccoon, bison, Rocky Mountain bighorned sheep and the Canadian goose. In the past there had been beaver and Rocky Mountain goats, but theso had died, having arrived in poor condition following tho passage through the tropics. If tho regulations wero altered later, it was possible that tho zoo would acquire a Kadiak bear, beaver, elk, wapiti and Rocky Mountain goats..