NEWS OF THE DAY

New Zealand Times, Volume L, Issue 11409, 4 January 1923, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

Hotel thieves are apparently active in Auckland at present. In one hotel the rooms of at least three visitors were entered and about £6O was .stolen. One man' was deprived of £43 in banknotes, another £l4, and a third about £3. In each instance the bedroom door had been left unlocked, and when the guests awoke in. the morning the money, which-had been placed in the pockets of suits, had disappeared. In the course of his address to the C.E.M.H. at Christchurch, Mir W. Nash outlined the work being done by Mr R. Semple and his co-operative workers in putting through the Orongorongo tunnel for the extension, of Wellington’s water supply system. These men, said Mr Nash, had beaten all previous world-tunnelling records, and not one of them had left his employment during the lengthy period they had been engaged upon: the work. All their wages were equal, even from the man who fed the horses to Mr Semple himself.

An anecdote relating to the ear*} history of the Presbyterian Church in Auckland was related by the Prime Minister when laying the foundation Btona of St John’s Presbyterian Church, Papatoetoe. He said that before St. Andrew’s Church, the first Presbyterian Church in Auckland, was built, the Presbyterians had great difficulty in. finding a place for worship, but obtained, perhaps by political influence which was not unknown even in those days, the use of the Supreme Court for services, , It was not; the present building, but the old one in Queen street. It was customary in Presbyterian Churches for the elders to have a pew to themselves. The accommodation -in the Court was limited, but the elders had their pew—in this ease the dock. Naturally, they were the targets of many jokes and gibes.

It would appear that bee-farming is becoming over more papular in Southland, and that those who have been engiaged in the industry for some time are bent 1 upon increasing the volume of their produce. Chatting to a ‘‘Daily Times” reporter a prominent producer mentioned that he jbad doubledi. the number of his hives during the past 12 months, and that he hoped, withm the next period, to quadruple them. This, he said, waa fairly typical of the development of the industry ui Southland. He added that he was surprised at the manner in which bee-cul-tune had spread in Inveroargill itself, where practically all the food consisted of that grown in the household gardens, the main feed for bees in most places coming from clover. It is interesting to note that Southland holds i;.e record for honey production per hive—a record not broken since 1914, v hen Mr Robert Gibb, Menzies Ferry, took close on 20 tons. '

Heavy rain at Hamilton seriously hampered harvesting operations which were in full swing. The moisture, however, had a beneficial effect upon the pastures in the district. The vital statistics for the Dunedin district for the past year show that there has been a slight falling-off in the total number of births, a slight increase in the deaths, and a marked decline in the number of marriages. The athletic classes of the Y.M.C.A. at Palmerston North, to the number of about fifty boys, will shortly take a walk of 20 miles to the banks of the pohangina river, where they will have a ten. days’ camp. There were only 55 competitors at the Auckland Rifle Association meeting held at the Penrose range. The falling off in numbers is considered to be due to the increased cost of shooting. A small school of kingfish ran into one of the temporary enclosures on the waterfront of Tauranga. A resident waded into three feet of water, and, with a shovel, killed eight fish. The largest kingfish was Estimated to be over 801 b in weight. It is surprising that the fine crops of cocksfoot on the roadsides in the Wairarapa are allowed to go to waste (says the “Age”). If they were in Otago or Canterbury school children would soon find them . out and turn them into money. There are some tidy holiday _ cheques to- he made by harvesting the cocksfoot, which is now ripe. The special board which is inquiring into the hardship under which soldiers' who took up settlement land, or went on farms under the provisions of the Discharged Soldiers’ Settlement Act are labouring has adjourned till the Bth inst. The board has. not vet completed its investigations in : liorth Canterbury q.nd-it is estimated that it has at least two months’ work ahead of it. A Palmerston North police officer says the rapid extension of tarred road surface in that town has appreciably speeded up motor travel. It has aliso robbed the police of the first means by which they may detect the- signs pf excessive speed. Generally speaking, the cloud of dust raised by a oar is in strict accordance with the rate, of speed > at which the car is being driven. I , A young man, an employee of the “New Zealand Herald,” was assaulted i and robbed while returning home from | work about 2.30 a.m. in the morning. | Two men. jpame up to him and asked I for a match. Suddenly he was seized by one from behind, and the other struck him a blow under the jaw, rendering him practically unoonscious. His assailants then robbed him of a pocket wallet containing £l, and decamped. He' was not severely in- > - ' Four stowaways were discovered aboard the steamer Gtarama which arrived at Auckland from Liverpool. They were all boys about 19 years old, and, being unable to obtain work in England; bad decided to try their fortunes in a new country. They worked excellently on the voyage, two serving in. the stokehold, and jthe others as stewards. In . view of- their conduct on board the ship's authorities decided to take no action against them. ;/ 1 A good story is told of the late; Riohard Barton, .father of Mr John , Barton, who died at Trentham. Mr 1 Barton and the late Rev. J. C. Antdrew (of “lea”) were conversing tofther in Mr Barton’s house /at Trenam when a violent earthquake Occurred. Mr Andrew, fearing that the ] chimney would' fall, jumped up and made towards the door. . Mr Barton reassured him. “Don’t run,” ho said. “I built that chimney myself. It will fall outwards.” And sure enough it did. The Manawatu “Times” remarks that in the early days along the coast the venomous "little Katipo spider, easily distinguished, by the red spot on its hack, -was all too familiar to both the Maori' and the infrequent white visitor to the seaside. Many nasty bites were. recorded, and specimens were easily oaptured in bottle®. Among the many thousands who now visit or live on the - seashore, no recent ca-ea have occurred, in fact no instances ct anyone having seen a Katipo are recorded'. - Reports from the country districts indicate that animals had a premonition of an earthquake pn Christmas Bay (says the “Lyttelton Times’’). Ono farmer states tjiat nearly half a minute before the snook occurred,, he noticed, two cows rushing about the paddocks in a frantio condition; bellowing loudly. Another saw bus horses careering across the fields. Even smaller animals, such as oats,- appeared to apprehend danger, for one resident’s domestic feline was seen clutching the earth some seconds before the oscillation commenced. The other day a King Country news; paper mixed a society item with a farm note, with the following result (says an oxchange):—“The. Red Cross concert given last night by sixteen of our young ladies was highly appreciated. They sang in a charming manner, winning the plaudits of the audience, who pronounced them" the finest group of shorthorns in the country. A few ofthem were rich brown in colour, hut the majority were spotted red and white.” The editor immediately went on a prolonged holiday to Auckland, while the proof-reader and the foreman went out on the beer. West Coasters have adopted with enthusiasm ■ a proposal to hold a British and International Exhibition at Hokitika at the end of the present year, to commemorate the completion of the Arthur’s Pass Tunnel, and -: to celebrate tho diamond jubilee Of the Province of Westland. An influential committee and a Bttong executive of leading publio men and citizens has been formed to carry through the project, and ' the advice of SB T. 1 W. Woodroffe, supervisor of thePtpw Zealand Industrial Exhibition 4n Christchurch, has been sought and readily obtained. It is estimated that the Exhibition buildings will give not less than 70,000 feet of space, and the best position in Hokitika will he chosen for the site. , Auckland race-goers will have cause to remember the summer carnival of 1922-23, by reason of their having to take a portion of their outing in weather savouring of winter rather than of summer (states the “Herald”). When the torrential downpour made its unwelcome appearance, the great body of those present at Alexandra Park were caught quite unprepared, and many a dainty costume and specimen of millinery art were completely spoiled. With, rain clouds hovering about, those who set out for Ellerslie to attend the Auckland .Racing Club’s meeting took precautions, and overcoats and umbrellas were a feature of the scene on the course. In some portions of the enclosure the storm water failed to get away, and tliiß caused some discomfort. It may interest our Auckland friends | to know that the weather in Welling- ! ton during the holidays was —just peri feet!

The Waipoua river, which runs through Maaterton, overflowed on Monday and covered the road at one point. There was heavy rain on the hills.

A party of 10 students from the conference at Solwav left yesterday to tramp over Mount Hector to Otaki. A Wanganui resident, well conversant with the track, is acting a 3 guide.

At the time when the late Mr W. J. Welch, who died recently at Masterton, entered the Wairarapa North County Council the county included Akitio, Alfredton, Eketahuna, Pahiatua, MauriceviUe, and Castlepoint. There was a host of road hoards within its borders.

“I left Vancouver on November 24th last, and it is a significant fact,” said Dr. Oliver, of America, when interviewed at Hamilton, “that a week before 1 left, a cable was received reporting that the Sanhedrim had been called to meet in solemn assembly in Jerusalem for the first time for nearly 2000 years.

It was thought that the hoodlutt* brigade was extinct so far as Gore is concerned, remarks the “Mataura Ensign.” This, is evidently not so, unfortunately. Complaint was made to the police that a young man was peering through the windows at the High School, tho Ladies’ Bible Class, camp, but on being informed that the police would he approached the delinquent scaled the fence and made off.