NEWS IN BRIEF

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21537, 8 January 1932, Page 12

NEWS IN BRIEF

A good return of fat lambs is reported from the Wallacetown plain (relates the Southland Times). From 104 ewes put out with the rams 135 lambs were obtained, and of these 316 were sent to the Makarewa works fattened off their mothers. They averaged ,37.76.1 b and there, was only, one of second quality. While 'most people were relaxing from the cares of a world, a rag-and-bottle man in’Auckland displayed considerable business afcUmen in turning the New Year _ festival to good account. An old campaigner, grizzled and sunburned, he combed the east coast bays with a cart and horse. New Year revellers rewarded his enterprise with a bountiful harvest of “ empties.” Come and see our show to-night. Wo are open till-9 o’clock Friday nights.— Scoullar and Chisholm, Limited... With the present warm weather there has been a large number of grass fires throughout > Hawke’s Bay. Many have been seen from the railway during the last-fortnight (says the'Telegraph), and, ;in addition to the-fires which have ap-, parently started by themselves, a number of men have been engaged in burning off the long grass .in the vicinity of the railway line as a safeguard. A fire has been raging beneath the cold bleak hills of Spitsbergen Island for six years, and no one has yet been able to put it out. It is no volcano, but a coal mine that caught fire in 1925 after Sweden had worked the mine and conveyed its wealth to Sweden for 14 years. A harbour has been built, and houses for ■the workmen, with a, library to meet the needs of their leisure hours. Then the mine caught ; fire, and, do what they would, the management could not extinguish the furnace. The known outlets were blocked up, but that did not avail because there were inlets for air hidden Under masses of boulders on the hillside. There was no alternative but to abandon the effort. The derelict mine was sold to a private company, which hopes some day to work the rich layers in the parts of the mine that have escaped the fire. Grandism (1531): We are strongly impressed by the remarkable confidence shown in Grand Hotel wines and spirits as evidenced by the fine amount of business we do in our, home supply store.,. A wonderful journey of 400 miles across Greenland, has'been accomplished by Mr J. Rymill and Mr W. E. Hampton, two members of the British expedition which has been examining the possibilities of an air route round this part of the world. Nansen was the first explorer to cross the great ice cap covering the interior of this great island, and on his journey he found that the Divide attained a height of 10,000 feet above sea-level. The new, route, however, was 100 miles longer and about 200 miles nearer the North. Pole, practically following the line on the atlas named the Arctic Circle. This journey across an enormous icesheet, broken only by a few protruding mountains, will rank 'as one of the great adventures of the world, and their arrival at the South Strom Fiord, where they left their sledges to complete their journey by kayak to Holstenborg thrilled the two Englishmen as deeply as the eight of the sea thrilled Xenophon’s Greeks of bid. Interest in the new British 75,000-ton Cunard liner is so intense in the United States that the company proposes to build a model of the shell, exactly to scale, to show Americans what the vessel will look like. It will be big enough to accommodate a • crew of two* who will be hidden from view and will be in charge of it. The model will he shipped to the United States and then taken on the water up to Hudson River; down the Delaware to Philadelphia, and to the lakes for the benefit of Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit.

Timaru had 20 fewer dull days last! year than in 1930. The sun shone on all but 30 days in lp3l, and it ; has been an exceptionally dryyear. ~ The total hours,-; of sunshine were 2071.9, compared with 1871.8 in 1930. This is one of the sunniest years Timaru has ever known,, but South Canterbury people will be. more pleased next year,,if there are,more rainclouds and less sunshine. This, year, on its record so far, will certainly: not rival 1931 for sunshine. Out-of-season mushrooms have been available in Auckland shops for the past few days. Their growth was encouraged by the last fall of warm rain, following: ri-*. dry period. The first mushrooms offered in the Auckland city markets a few' days .ago realised up to 2s 6d per lb, but on Thursday they sold at from 8d to Is 9c. The season proper does not begin until-; about February or March, but if con-,., ditioris are favourable they are usually obtainable in varying small quantities at this time of the year. They are alsogrown under glass. . “ The ■ Domain, Milton, is a pleasant place to open the picnic baskets, and Gray’s Store a good place for supplies.'’ Owing, it is. stated, to the fine days, that have been experienced all over Ne.iV. - Zealand before the New Year, there has.-, been a shortage of tennis balls, _ tournament coriim-ittees having had difficulty in, making certain - that supplies will be hand on the correct dates. The Wang a-., nui Lawn Tennis Association had great-; difficulty (says the Dominion) in secur-, ing balls in time for the tournament, and the selected make had to be abandoned., at the last minute. • •

Street accidents in London are not , always reported in the newspapers (states Mr F. Thompson, general manager of the Christchurch tramways). He was told that they were not considered news. During April, May ’and June 43 people in London, were killed by omnibuses, against‘23, s in-the same period of the pre-. vious yeari; and deaths among people “ crossing without due care ” numbered’: ;• 112 (80). The total killed in street acci-V, dents numbered 345. (339). Nuias-hanis; finest quality; sugar-cured; lowest price for cash. We are now boobing orders, and would appreciate early inquiries.—Barton's. Manse street, Dunedin...

The first complete traverse of.- MountEgmont in a single day was made from the North Egmont house ' last week by’ Messrs R., Allen and P. Wildman, the; time taken, being a little less than 13i: hours. Making a start at 4.10 a.m., the ' men proceeded round the western slopes,;; They made good time to Kahui, but be-; tween there and, Dawson Falls they en-" countered a blizzard. Six hours were.; taken on this section of the journey. The' remainder of the trip was ’arilventful,, the trampers returning-to North Egmont. about 6.30 p.m. The sight of the Napier Fire’ Brigade engine hurtling through town shortly before 2 o’clock on New Year's morning' attracted the attention of dozens of motor ears which were returning from a New Wear’s Eve cabaret. These, without.ex-, ception, turned about and followed the fire engine in a long procession up Shake- , speare road and down towards Port Ahuriri. (the excitement,of the expected, conflagration was completely damped; when the fire engine completed a circuit ; and returned to , town, being, followed as before by a string of care, which main-., tained a constant hooting. The brigade was. summoned by. a false alarm., Why pay over £5 for your suits? See our special all-wool .worsteds for 59a fid. Thornproofs, all shades and sizes, at -79 s fid; extra heavy all-wool navy blue suits* now 97s fid, usually £6 Cs. No suit over £5. Patterns sent so you can compare our quality and prices.—-“ Ascot,” Princes street,-Dunedin*.. , - ; v

- Again this summer , many thousands of sheep will be sent from the Gisborne district to the Waikato. The northward trek commenced the-other day, and other mobs are being prepared . for the road later in the month.--. Over 20,000 sheep are being collected for the journey. Most of the sheep will be railed from Taneatua. to Waikato stations. The use of the rail? way considerably reduces the time taken in transit and this is no small factor in such a long journey. In addition to sheep many cattle will be sent 'to the Waikato. Two mobs are already well, on the road and should how be near Opotiki. The manager of an Invercargill drapery firm informed a Times reporter that this Christmas the business . transacted was larger in' volume than that for at least three or four years in the past. " It was, in fact, a record,” he said, “ and we are more than pleased at our figures. It is true that we have had to be satisfied with a lower margin of, profit than usual because our prices had to be brought down to meet the keener competition,, but nevertheless w.e. are highly gratified at .the ultimate results. Other clothing, drapery and mercery businesses also confirm the fact that trade was very ■ brisk and Tar more encouraging than was ever anticipated;” . t To-day, instead of depending on overseas supplies. New, Zealand Hosiery Mills,Turn out thousands'of dozens of Fully Fashioned Pure Silk Stockings in every new shade of Greys and Browns at 3s lid, 5s lid, :6s lid, 7s lid, 8s lid, and 9s lid pair.— At T. Ross, J3O Princes street...

■ -An amazing case of a family age record has just been brought to my notice (writes the London Diary conti’ibutor to the• Evening Standard). The other day a man of 92 years 'was cited as witness in the Berlin courts. Questioned about his family .he stated that fie had a brother, but that he ’had- been dead for a long time.- “When did he die?” asked the judge. “In 1793,” was the reply, r “ You mean. 1893,” said the judge. But the map stuck to his story, and with the aid of . documentary evidence was able to prove his case. Hia father, born in 1774, married when he was 19. His first sou was born in 1838.' When, therefore, he. appeared before the court his elder brother, had been dead .over 137 years. I think this record will take some beating. ’ We are now opening up all our Novelties. Call early while the assortment is good. All marked at new prices. Gifts for all at the Mosgiel Warehouse.— A. F. Cheyne and C 0... Visitors to the Serjeant Gallery, Wanganui, during 1931 who signed the visitors’ book numbered 6851. During last month 641 signed the book as compared with 750 for December, 1930. At least another 25 per cent, can be added to these totals, for it is estimated that that percentage of the people visiting the gallery does not -sign the book.: "It is reported .by Mr Newrick, the custodian, that, during the Christmas holidays there was a .falling off of visitors as compaed with other years. The, gallery has been-well patronised, however, and Mr Newrick states that overseas visitors in particular have been loud in their praise both of the gallery and the museum, and also of the gardens by which they are surrounded. The visitors stated that it reflected great credit on the city to find that its gardens were so well kept and cared for. A fragrant New Year gift! Send your friend a tin of Blue Mountain Jamaica, the world’s finest coffee. Only obtainable from A. Durie arid Co., coffee specialists, 32 Octagon, Dunedin... ‘ ; “ This man, 30 years ago. was among the leading criminal men in New ’ Zealand,” said Sub-inspector Lopdell in -the Wellington Police Court referring to Henry Edward ’ Jefferd, labourer, aged 62, who was charged with being idle and disorderly in that he had insufficient lawi ful means of support. “He was an expert then in explosives, and he’s put in a lot of his time in gaol,” the sub-inspector added. “He is a rather genial old man—not a drinker in the usual sense of the word—but he has come to that stage now when he needs to be brought in every now and then for a clean-up.” Jefferd was sentenced “in his own interest” to a month’s’ imprisonment. : 7> Declaring that he intended to swim to Wellington, Arthur Henry Clayton, who hails from the capital city, divested himself of coat and waistcoat and entered the water off the Napier Marine Parade at about 6 o’clock on New Year’s Eve. The strength of the waves was more than-a match for his powers, however, and after a severe buffeting in the breakers, during which his clothes as well as his hair became well filled- wjth shingle, he was dragged from the, briny and removed to the Napier- Police-Sta-tion. He appeared before Messrs-.A. E. Bedford and W. L. Prime, J.P.’s, at the Napier Police Court, when ho was charged with having been found • drank and-, with attempting to commit suicide. On the first charge he was convicted and discharged, a remand being granted on-tha more serious count. > j In the bosom of the hills . . '/• The town of Milton stands. It’s there where you can get your fill Of Hitchon’s famous ham.... ./