Overseas Mail

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22068, 26 September 1933, Page 6

Overseas Mail

The Canadian Leader left Melbourne on Friday for Dunedin with six parcel receptacles for New Zealand. The vessel is expected at Dunedin next Thursday. Display of Narcissi Lovers of flowers are given the oppor- ' tunity of viewing at Mr Oswald E. i Reilly's auction rooms a splendid exhibit of narcissi. { There are 44 varieties on the stand, all grown by Mr Reilly, who will also have an exhibit at the Dunedin Horticultural Society's show, to be held in the Pioneer Hall on October 4 and 5. The collection of narcissi enables growers of these flowers an excellent opportunity of making comparisons. Included in the striking display are Brightling, Scarlet Queen, Seeda, with its beautiful, primrose cup; Pictorial, an exquisite Barri; Mandalay, Mitylene, Silver Vase, and Delicata, and there are also some other splendid examples of narcissi. » Birds Protected The Department of Internal Affairs has written to Mr R. Hanning, secretary of the Otago Acclimatisation Society, enclosing a Government notification that the following birds are absolutely protected: Eastern golden plover, knot, and turnstone. Another World Cruise Another world cruise has been planned by e the Cunard Company. It will be undertaken by the liner Franconia, which is scheduled to sail from'New York at midnight on Tuesday, January 9. The vessel will pass . through the Panama canal on January 16, and will proceed to San Pedro, Hilo, Honolulu, Papeete, Averna (Rarotonga), Apia, Suva, Auckland, Wellington, and Sydney. The Franconia will , arrive at Auckland on the morning of February 21, sail on the.evening of February 24, arrive at Wellington on the morning of February 26, and sail the same day for Sydney. The stay of three days at Auckland will give the passengers ample time to visit the thermal district and other North Island tourist resorts. The ship will leave Sydney on March 4, and will proceed to the East. She will call at almost every eastern port, and will then steam to Madras, Colombo, Port Victoria (Seychelles Islands), Mombasa, Zanzibar. Diego, Suarez (Madagascar), Durban, Port Elizabeth, Capetown, Montevideo, Rio de Janiero, and Barbados, The cruise will occupy 142 days and the Franconia will call at 38 ports and steam 37,555 miles. She is. scheduled to return to New York on May''3l. For Convenience of Anglers By arrangement with the city electrical engineer, the Otago Acclimatisation Society has had placed in position round both shores of Lake a number of fire pots for the convenience of anglers and others going to the lake: In view of the serious fire that took place last year, this is a concession which iB much appreciated. Persons using these fire pots are asked to take extra precautions against, fire, and they will be doing good work if they will extend the area of ground already dug up round the pots so as to minimise the risk of anything happening. Projected Tasman Flight Advice has be™ received by Mr B. Shiel, of W e ll m gton, aviation officer of the Vacuum Oil Company, from, Mr Wilfred Smith, brother of. Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, that the monoplane which Squadron-leader T. W. White, chief pilot of New Zealand Airways, will fly across the Tasman in December in company with the Southern Cross, is almost completed. The. monoplane, which (says our special correspondent) will be a six-passenger twin-engined machine, is in the course of construction at Cockatoo Island. Two Napier-Javelin engines, each developing 175 horse-power, will be fitted to the machine shortly. The engines are at present on their way to Australia from England. The Legislative Council Replying to a question yesterday afternoon the Prime Minister (Mr G. W. Forbes) said (reports a Press Association "telegram from Wellington) no decision had yet been reached on the question of increasing the size of the Legislative Council. The Love of Horses One has a recollection of having read poetry about the Arab and his steed, but the New South Wales Minister of Transport, Mr M. F. Bruxner, quotes wartime experience for the assertion that Australians are the best horse-masters in the world, and the Arabs are the worst. Addressing jockey apprentices at Randwick, he said on September 11 that no fewer than-480,000 horses that left, Australia were doomed never to return. They were shot when the war was over, and he had seen soldiers with tears in their eyes as though they had shot,their best friends. "And," added Mr Bruxner, "so they had." Referring to the picture of a thoroughbred that went right through the campaign in Palestine, he said: "Look at that head —there isn't anything better looking, even man or woman, anywhere. And note the intelligence." Dominion's New Coinage • According to the latest information (says a Press Association telegram from Wellington) arrangements for the minting of the Dominion's new coinage are proceeding satisfactorily, and the arrival of the first shipment is not far distant. There will be no change in the actual denominations, but the designs in each case will, of course, be different and distinctive. Some designs have already been approved, and the final decisions respecting the balance will be made shortly. Badminton Fashions Wimbledon's style of lawn tennis dress appears to have reached New Zealand, for at the Dominion Badminton tournament at the Town Hall in Wellington on Friday night two of the women competitors appeared-on the courts in "shorts." This type of sports wear is very popular with women in England and on the Con tinent, for, in addition to being light and cool, it affords greater leg action in tennis and similar sports. The two competitors attracted as much attention as if they had been men wearing skirts. Not Water-tight They were fixing up the home brew (says the Christchurch Times), having got to that interesting stage, just before one drinks it, when it is put into bottles. Carefully the beer from the barrel on the shelf had been syphoned and filtered into the barrel on the floor, and the moment had come to lift the lower one up to the shelf. They took the strain, when there wag a rending of timbers, a box on which one of the workers was standing collapsed, and 20 gallons of good beer splashed over the floor. For a moment there was an awful, solemn silence, which was only broken by the lapping of the waves of beer against the walls. Then a voice, which was more usually noted for the directness of its. speech than its politeness, said: "0 law! i My shoes aren't watertight." |

The Milford Road Advice that the Covernment intended to persevere with the construction of the road from Te Anau to Milford Sound was conveyed to members of the Southland Anglers' Club by Mr James Hargest, M.P., on Saturday evening. "I can tell you that the road is going right through to Milford," Mr Hargest remarked. "Next week the number of men working on the road will be doubled and a.survey party will be sent around to Milford by sea to work on that end."—(Applause.)

Business Trip by Air Having travelled approximately 1300 miles in a total of 18J hours' flying, and making 11 halts in a circuit of the main centres of the North Island, covered in a week, Mr H. Worrall and. Mr J. C. Mercer, in one of the Canterbury Aero Club's Moths, arrived back in Christchurch on Sunday afternoon. The completion of this business trip (says the Press) made almost throughout under adverse weather conditions and with only one minor delay, provided an outstanding example of the value of aviation to business in enabling long distances to be covered speedily and in comfort. By other means of travel this particular chain of business engagements would probably have had to occupy a fortnight.

On the Upward Grade According. to Mr P. Robinson, of the firm of Messrs Murray, Roberts, and Co., who returned to the Dominion by the lonic on Saturday from London, the woollen trade generally is showing a decided improvement. Prices at the London sale at the end of June and early July advanced' considerably more .than was anticipated, he said. This had the effect of curtailing sales so far as spinners were concerned. The wool trade was definitely on the upward grade and prices were being maintained, as was shown by rates ruling at the opening of the present sales. With merino wool rising to such high prices, it was expected that New Zealand halfbred wool, particularly 50'i and upwards, would be in greater demand. There were still big stocks of crossbred wool in England which were not going into consumption nearly as quickly as the finer wools, and while the crossbred wool had shown a good rise in price, it was doubtful whether the lower grade would yield a return to the grower as satisfactory as that in the case of the finer grade. Victimisation Alleged . .

An allegation of political victimisation was contained in the petition of Harold Barnes, of Mount Albert, Auckland, presented to Parliament by Mr A. S. Richards (Labour member for Roskill). The petition stated that from January, 1925, till August, 1932, the petitioner was employed as. a draftsman by the Lands and Survey Department. On August 8, 1932, he was summarily dismissed from the department's service. The petition stated that statutory provision had been made protecting the rights of public servants, and those statutory provisions giverning the rights of the servant were ignored. The reason for the peti t: ~ner's dismissal— ! his political activities in support of the Labour Party—was officially deliberately concealed. Arising from his allegedly wrongful dismissal, the petitioner had suffered great economic loss, and he., asked that he unconditionally reinstated in the department.