NEWS OF THE DAY

New Zealand Times, Volume LII, Issue 12038, 16 January 1925, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

Oni Saturday afternoon, by the kind invitation of Colonel Pot-tmger, the boys of the Wellington Probation Home attended the “Romantic India” entertainment’, at .the Town Hall. Tho lads, one and 'all thoroughly appreciated the performance (reports Mr J. Shell, , the Juvenile 'Probation Officer). It is a. pity that the youngsters of this country cannot be given more frequent opportunities;' of witnessing performances of this kind. An unusual' incident, happened atTa circus in 'Napier -recently. .The football pony kicked the big ball -so that; it fell through the roofless cage of two lionesses. Like, a shot out of a' gun one of - the beasts - pounced on the sphere andl ; took it in her capacious mouth! -and retired*, to the further side of the big cage. The trainer’s promptitude in entering the enclosure ensured, the ball's recovery during-'a fewtense ■ ■ moments. 1 . >

Watching the trout in the\ Clinton river andl Lake Ada is always a fascinating source of interest to tourists on the Milford track (writes the correspondent of the “Southland News”). Strangely enough the trout are all large and it makes one wonder where (the small ones hide themselves. Lake Ada is alive with fine trout which no one seem 3 to fish. Just above theQuinton huts is a 'poql formed bv a small, waterfall , from Roaring. Meg, ■creek, below this is another waterfall,; yet . there are several trout in the pool between - the two* waterfalls. -This again proves that spawning trout will leap falls to ascend the rivers. \

A resident of Kaka Point states that during, the heavy weather preceding the hofiflhys, when high tides were the rUle, -he picked up on the. beach severap carcasses of fish which were unmistakably salmon (slays the Olutha “Free Press”,).. At first they were mistaken for large trout, but examination showed tpat the l markings.were entirely, different, and it' is believed, that they word ■ Atlantic,; Salmon, driven ashore toy the. heavyv seas. This fine sporting fish is now 'thoroughly aocliunatisea .in the Waian river in Southland, whichrruns out of -LakeiTe Anau; and it is ’quite.'likely; that specimens saojild have been, found l off the South Otago coast. '

Twenty-six. sulphur-laden trucks and an X wagon ran away from the Burnside; station. These trucks hadi 'ourived twenty-one hours previously, and were placed at the top of the railway yard, all brakes being on,, and there;they stood; all right for ,all that time,' and then suddenly started down tbs incline. -What caused them tf> move Is- not yet ascertained. They got up speed and. shot into the runaway siding which is provided as a safeguard in the event of such a happening,. with thia result that six of the, trucks were piled up and'badly damaged. The strange fact is that ten of. the twenty-six trucks had the brakes down when examined immediately.; ’

. A peculiar incident occurred during' the progress of a tennis match at Okato the other day. A budding to Tints champion, who had visited ,tne recent tournament in New Plymouth, essayed a new hit of the lob variety, but misjudged.it badly, with the result that ihe, ball went over some, high trees, apparently into .the next section. When ho went to retrieve the hall it was nowhere to be seen, but, a young bird was 'struggling ;op the ground. Following this clue,. the enthusiast climbed the tree and discovered the ball safely ensconced in a bird’s nest, into which it had landed in its fall, ling one of the rightful Occupants to the ground.

A gentleman who was ill' Raldutha recently, whose business necessitates motoring all over tho South- Island', tnformedl a “Free Press” representative that nowhere had; he found better roads than in Southland. The roads there were all made of gravel, and were superior even to the roads, once famous as motoring surfaces. The very worst road m the jSouth Island, he considered, was 'to be found just north of Dunedin in the country under the jurisdiction of the Waikouaiti, County Council., There one mian was employed in surfacing an extent of road that would require the services of half a, dozen workmen to keep,it,in anything like decent order. “If I had my way there .woufd not be a rabbit in Otago in five years' time,” said l Mr R. T. Sadd at a meeting of the Taieri River Trust. Mr Sadd explained that his plan would be to prohibit; the sale of carcases and the export of skins, thus making rabbits nothing more-, than a pest. In this way landbownersi would set about tho total extermination of the animals. In Conversation with a “Daily Times” reporter later, Mr Sadd stated that it had been estimated that three pairs of rabbits, with an average of six to the litter, would, in three years, produce 9,000,000 -of their kind; “Assuming that 10 rabbits eat as much as one sheep,” adkfed Mr Sadd, “what would you sooner have—the produce of 10,000,000 rabbits or 1,000,000 sheep?” There was only, One answer to this pointed question^

A great pet on the Sound, to tourists who . make the Milford trip is ,a little pigeon gull which comes to the launch as soon as it leaves the Sandfly huts for the cruise Tound the Sound. Visitors delight in holding up biscuits which the gull picks daintily out of their hands. Its usual resting place, is thp - Government mooring buoy in front of the late Mr Sutherland's accommodation house.

A rather fine feat was performed by a lad named James Page at Raglan. He swam from Cox’s Bay across the Raglan Harbour to the opposite shore, a distance of about If miles. He jwas followed by a boat, but he did noi) require assistance. Qn Sunday last the same lad swam ffiore than half-way across the harbour alone, and then turned and swam with the tide to the wharf, the total distance approaching two miles.

From inquiries made among persons who have recently returned to Hamilton from Raglan it would appear that the rumour that sharks are increasing in that vicinity to such an extent as to form a serious menace to bathers has po' foundation in fact. On the contrary several keen swimmers and frequenters of the Raglain beacn state that there appears to bo rather a diminishing tendency in the numbers, of sharks. , ~

The recent humidi conditions of the atmosphere is the ehiof cause of the potato: and tomato blight being so prevalent (says the Napier “Telegraph.”). All over the ‘district serious losses Have been reported. One grower estimates that Monday’s moist atmosphere cost him -between £SOO and £BOO. Up'tilL then his tomato patch was free of blight,' but in one night fhe. whole area -was ’blackened as though l by fire,. Many potato growers have been similarly affecte-cL ,

A universal superannuation scheme ‘for everybody in the Dominion will he introduced, by the Hon. G. J. Anderson, Minister of Pensions, during the, coming session of Parliament. The Minister, speaking at Thames, said he would he occupied during the next six months preparing i a soheme which would be the nature of compulsory old- 1 age superannuation. He wanted to relieve the mind of everyone from the Tear of want in their declining years. It was not a party matter.

Punitive methods adopted by Maoris for children showing reluctance to go to school were referred to by Mr W.Jj. Oouglilan, president of the Native School Teaohers’ Association, at the annual conference at Auckland. One bey he remembered being- brought to school running' behind la horse at the end of a rope for a distance of seven riiiles. The lad’s uncle, who had recently been elected to a school committee, was riding. Fortunately said Mr Cougflan, such methods were becoming a thing of the past.

Many inquiries are being made at present by farmers in' the Manawatn. district for'electric motors for milking machines,, remarked Mr W< -A. Waters, chief, engineer of- the Mananvatu-Oroua Bower Board! “We/are being kept busy with orders, and are supplying the motors as/fast as we can. The last few months have seen a * big demand - for >be,th motors and,'water Bears;’’ ~ Hje stated, that .most of the dairy factories in the district were now installing both. The most complete installation was at Awahuri Dairy Factory, where there were 13 motors, which was about a motor to every, separator. 1 -

■/-. ‘A Geelong nurse who established a hospital in Melbourne has had an extraordinary experience. A doctor friend, has been in'the habit of pending ‘hen patients,- so when a well-spoken man called and said Dr , who was about to take a few days’ holidays, had recommended her hospital; she took in the patient and provided him the rest the doctor said would be the best preliminary to diagnosis and treatment. The day the doctor was due back home the rest-seeking patient vanished. Ha g roved to. be a criminal in hiding. He now the doctor’s movements, and \choae the means mentioned to allowthe police chose to slacken; --./■■■

An offer to mediate in the Australian shipping, dispute,, which, however, does. not appear to have been taken seriously by either side (says an exchange), has been made by the Rev. Jasper Oalder, of Auckland. In offering his services, he..remarked: “It seems to me that politicians only make the position worse. I know nothing of your f clitics,, nothing of your conditions, ut am billing to hear both sides ,of the dispute. All men -are reasonable if handled properly, and I am sure that there is some, solution of the trouble. While lam not anxious to lose my holiday, I would willingly forego it '-if I thought that I could bring the present trouble to » happy conclusion.” . An amusing incident took place in lawyer’s office at Auckland when two men met to complete a property deal.' The'buyer had! just ■ signed his name,, and was about .to date the document when he. remembered it was the thirteenth, and he said he did not like to complete the puroliase on that; date as it had 1 always brought him ill luck. “All right-,’.’ said l the seller, who was losing heavily on the' sale, “I’ myself bought the blankety place oa tho thirteenth, and it brought me. no, luck;.l have no objections to leaving the sety tlement over till to-morrow,” and the laivycr under the circumstances had no objection either, ,so .the two men'picked up their hats . and walked out to meet again.

Somethin#: in the nature .of a ulatcue of caterpillars visited the Fordell district, near Wanganui, leaving in its wake considerable damage to an oatfield. When the; pest was noticed the farmers lost no time getting binders to work. The caterpillars climb the stalk and 1 nip .it- through, the seed por-tion-falling to the ground. It was also noticed that once - they have been through a crop, stock do not eat j>he straw (freely. It is some five years since there was an invasion of caterpillars rh the Fordell district. Oh that occasion a train was held up owing to myriads of the pests on %the railway track at Wangaehu making the line greasy.

A “Dunedin resident who spent his holidays in the North • Island this season. speaks enthusiastically about a motor tour from Gisborne to The Bay of Plenfy. The scenery, between Motu and Oipotilci is desonbed as magnificent. Many parties have this season made the trip iroin Napier to Rotorua via the Bay of Plenty, a run of about 300 miles that costs £8 for a single ticket. As the hotel accommodation on-/the route was rushed, and the charges are high, numbers of persons adopted the method of camping out, as has been done very largely. in Central Otago, this plan enabling men of moderate means to, take their, wives and families with them.

Arch me hoy; do. yer know ’ow a fellow can get'a blooming house with fifty quid? Easy chum; ycr know that fellow Leslie Jones that’s always skiting about cheap homes; well the missus and; me saw ’im one day and I’m blamed shure we got a swell ranch ’ for a wee Fifty Quidlets; bettor than! backing stiffs on the racecourse. Look, ’ere Barney, take my advioe, and ask Jones, 101, Willis street, how: ’ it’s done.'— AdvV ’