LOCAL AND GENERAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22320, 18 January 1936, Page 12

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Fishing Gear Found Mr. W. Reddish, the fisherman who had the misfortune some days ago to lose his nets in the Firth of Thames, found most of his gear floating in the sea on Thursday, and he has recovered all of it except one anchor. Heavy Vegetable Supplies Although recent weather has damaged fruit, it has produced a glut of several varieties of vegetables. Marrows, cucumbers and swedes were particularly plentiful at the City Markets yesterday, and unless of excellent quality were quite unsalable. Potatoes, onions ami cabbages also were in oversupply and were selling below the cost of production. Thiel In Bedroom Several pieces of jewellery and other small articles were stolen by a thief who entered the bedroom of a young woman in a house in Upper Queen Street, City, between 8 and 10 o'clock last night. A window-box containing flowers was disturbed by the thief, who apparently climbed through a window to enter the room. Most of the articles stolen were taken from a dressing table.

Surprise for Theatre-goer There was an unexpected happening at a recent performance in the New Plymouth Opera House when a woman in the front seat of the gallery was so carried away by a humorous item that she lost her cloak. The garment, after fluttering down gracefully past the dress circle, landed on tho head of a surprised stall patron, whose view of the stage was temporarily obliterated.

Rowing Skifl Swamped While training on the Waikato Bivcr on Thursday evening, Hamilton Rowing Club's senior four had an unpleasant experience. The skiff they were rowing was swamped by the wash of a passing river steamer. To save the skiff, which is valued at £l2O, from damage, the crew and coxswain jumped into the water, and, by swimming alongside, managed to land a mile further downstream from the place where the mishap, occurred.

Bird Lite at Mlllord Work on the To Anau-Milford main highway has not had the effect of diminishing the bird life for which the district is noted. Mr. T. M. Ball, district Public Works engineer at Dunedin, who returned to Dunedin recently after paying a visit of inspection to the works, said large numbers cf paradise duck appeared to have migrated to other valleys, but, generally speaking, the bird life had not been disturbed. Raising Degree Standard

Dissatisfaction with the standard of the doctors' degrees of the University of New Zealand other than those in medicine and dentistry, is indicated in a notice of motion given to the University Senate by Professor H. G. Denham yesterday. The motion that Professor Denham proposes is that the Academic Board be asked to report upon the steps necessary for raising the standard of doctors' degrees other than those in medicine and dentistry. Wonder of Waltomo Speaking at a recent reception given him by the representatives of sport in Wellington, Mr. J. S. Edstrom. of Sweden, said he had seen stalacite caves in America and Europe, but never before had he seen such a wonderful sight as the glow-worm cave at Waitomo. It was one of the sights of the world. Another unique sight was the blow-hole near Wairakei. That this amazing outlet had been working, not for a month or a year, but possibly for hundreds of years, was, he said, an astounding thought. A Generous Donation

The generosity and sympathy of those who themselves know what it is to be in want has often been commented on, and an illustration of this is afforded by an incident in the campaign to raise funds for the endowment of the Wilson Homo for Crippled Children. An appeal on behalf of these children to the No. 1 branch of the Franklin Unemployed Workeis' Association has brought a contribution of £3, to which over 30 members of the association contributed. A number of these men have been on relief work for three or four years. False Alarms of Fire

A false alarm of fire was given with good intentions shortly before ten o'clock last night, when a cloud of smoke was observed in the vicinity of the back of the Civic Theatre in Fergusson Street, City. Two engines from the Central Fire Station were sent in response to the call, and a large crowd assembled in a few minutes. However, it was found that the smoke was issuing from a chimney near by, and the services of the firemen were not required. Smoke issuing from the overheated brake drums of a motor-truck at the bottom of Franklin Road about 8 o'clock last evening, led a passing motorist to believe that the vehicle was on fire, and he called tho Central Brigade. The truck was not damaged. Efficiency of Railways

The greater efficiency with which the railways, in common with other services in New Zealand, were being conducted at the present, compared with a decade or more ago, was commented upon by a railway official in Auckland yesterday. Formerly, especially at rush holiday periods, he said, it was the usual practice to accommodate increased passenger traffic in very large trains, which were difficult to operate and which could not possibly adhere to their time-tables. To-day, trains at holiday time were smaller and ran more frequently, and, as a result, delays and late arrivals were comparatively rare. The official added that on a trip to Wellington during the recent Christmas period he had passed five expresses, none of which was more than a few minijtes behind schedule.

Japan's Desire To Leara The phenomenal change that has taken place iri Japan during the past CO years has been made possible only by the desire and the ability of the Japanese people themselves to learn and follow the methods of Western civilisation. One of the essentials to learning is a knowledge of the various languages of the world. English being the principal spoken language, it has become the ambition of most Japanese to acquire at least a superficial knowledge of it. This week, two Japanese vessels, the Sydney Maru and the Manjti Mara, have arrived at Auckland and the crews of both have shown their pleasure when given the opportunity of conversing in English. Many have Japanese-English dictionaries, and are constantly in search of new English words to add to their vocabulary.