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Otago Daily Times, Issue 22714, 29 October 1935, Page 8

Special Motoring Issue In to-morrow's issue of the Daily Times special pages will be devoted to articles and illustrations on subjects of interest to motorists'. There will be items of historical importance, and other articles will deal with progress in the designing and construction of motor cars, improvements in roads, and there will also be descriptions of some of the most attractive tripe in and around Dunedtn. The illustrations will include photographs of the earliest motor vehicles seen here, and there will also be scenic photographs depicting Otago's most attractive tourist resorts.

Chimney Fire A chimney fire in the building at the corner of Bond and Lower High streets caused the City Brigade to turn out at 7.7 p.m. yesterday. The blaze was extinguished before any damage was don.?. City Police Court In the City Police Court yesterday morning, before Mr J. J. Marlow, J.P., and Mr G. Stratton, J.P., a first offender for drunkenness was fined 10s, in default 24 hours' imprisonment. Another man, who pleaded not guilty, appeared on a similar charge, and, on the application of the police, the case was adjourned until this morning. Jubilee of Convent There was a representative gathering over the week-end at the golden jubilee celebrations of St. Mary's Convent, Hamilton, on Sunday. The Minister of Health, Sir Alexander Young, member for the district, described the convent as a monument to the faith and courage of the mission sisters, who arrived at Hamilton 50 years ago. New Auckland Flats The £IOO,OOO scheme announced last May for the development of the wellknown " Cintra " propel ty, Symonds street, Auckland, formerly the residence of Sir Arthur Myers, will be advanced a stage further shortly. The Fletcher Construction Company, Ltd., expects to make a start within a week on the building of the first of several blocks of modern flats on the property. It is anticipated that the block, comprising five flats, will be completed within three months. The managing director of the company, Mr James Fletcher, said that the property had now been roaded and subdivided. The block had been cut up into 17 sections, and Mr Horace L. Massey, architect, had prepared a comprehensive scheme for (he development of the whole of the block. His plans provided for the erection of about 75 flats.

Port Chalmers Court At a Bitting of the Port Chalmers Police Court yesterday morning, a statutory first offender, David Francis Bremner, was convicted and fined 10s on a charge of drunkenness. Mr N. Dodds, J.P., was on the Bench. Attention To the Blind A large number of people who attended the concert given by the band of blind musicians in the Concert Chamber of the Town Hall on Sunday evening were greatly impressed with the silent, yet efficient manner in which Mr G. W. Pilgrim, who is accompanying the band on its tour of the Dominion in an official capacity, carried out his duties. _ Mr Pilgrim's duties called for the strictest attention to the musicians during the performance. He was almost constantly on the move on the. stage, leading the soloists to the organ and piano, handing different instruments to some of the performers, and placing chairs in the exact position when this move was necessary. Mr Pilgrim is one of the staff of the New Zealand Institute for the Blind at Parnell, Auckland. An Ocean Visitor Exhausted by its struggle against southerly winds, an Eastern golden plover, which is one of those migratory birds that arrive in the Dominion annually this month from Siberia and Alaska, alighted on the deck of the Marama in the Tasman Sea on Saturday, when the vessel was about 500 miles from the New Zealand coast. The bird, which was accompanied by another of similar species, was first noticed by Captain Morgan when it was flying weakly about the ship. When it alighted Captain Morgan took possession of the bird. It was in an exhausted condition, and died 24 hours later despite attempts to revive it. The bird's companion did not settle on the vessel and was lost from sight. On the arrival of the Marama at Auckland yesterday, Captain [Morgan handed the dead bird over to -Mr R. A. Falla, ornithologist at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. Beef—or Bull? The famous roast beef of Old England is not always what history and the novelist claims for it, according to a Canterbury farmer, who has just returned to New Zealand, after an extended tour of the British Isles. He didn't get a "bit of decent beef " all the time he was away, he said, though he stayed at good hotels. And he saw something of the reason when he visited the markets in London, Dublin, and Glasgow. A large percentage of the beasts offered for sale were old bulls. The same farmer commented, too, that the farming methods of England are not up to the standards of this country, and the farms could be made considerably more productive. It was notable, too, that the best land was lying fallow in the privatelyowned parks and game reserves of the big estates. Unauthorised Promise

The statement reported recently that the Democrat Party was trying to catch the Maori vote by promising the Maori King an annuity of £ISOO for life was challenged by Mr J. Caughley during his address at Ruawai. The promise, Mr Caughley stated, was. made, not in. an official pamphlet of the Democrat Party to the Maoris, but in a subsequent one which was circulated entirely without the.authority of the party by,two Maoris who had ideas of standing as Democrat candidates. They had used the name of Mr Hislop, leader of the party, without his consent or knowledge. The whole thing was a fraud and the two Maoris concerned had been warned not to use the party's name. Seagulls Feed on Trout Officers of the North Canterbury Aclimatisation Society are concerned over the depredations of seagulls. Regularly they have brought to them the mauled bodies of trout plucked from the Avon by gulls and later dropped nearby. One day last week a badly-gashed fish was found near the Gloucester street bridge, and the frequent reports of such incidents suggest a very real danger that;the Avon may be depleted of fish. This is not nil the damage that seagulls are doing just now. Reports have been received at the office of the society from Waimakariri River Trust, workmen that gulls, in many hundreds, are feeding on young quinnat salmon in the reaches of the Waimakariri near Halkett. , ' '._ Raised from Harbour Bed When the tramp steamer Tekoa wis leaving the wharf at Fremantle for England on October 7, and the anchors were being pulled in, some difficulty was found in getting one clear of the bed of the harbour. When it rose clear of the water a fluke of the anchor was found firmly caught in the handles of a motor cycle. When the machine was recovered and taken ashore, it was found to be identical with a motor cycle stolen five years before. The enamelled portions were still good, and also the rubber in' the tyres, while the bulb horn still emitted a healthy toot. But the steel portions had rusted in flakes. When Skill is Needed Throwing heavy red-hot rivets a distance of about 15 feet is a job requiring skill and accuracy. There is a man Ja the Addingtqn Workshops who is an expert ■at it.' Members of the Railways Board on Saturday were fascinated (says the Press) by the nonchalant ease with which this man, with one swiug of his long tongs, tossed the rivets from the small furnace he tends to the spot where they are put into place. Regularly the rivois struck their mark—a board nailed on to a box—and fell at the feet of the men who required them. Mr D. Reese, whose cricketing intincts were apparently aroused, was particularly interested and watched the accurate flight of these redhot missiles for some moments. When the occasion demands the rivets are thrown over any intervening obstacle and caught on the other side by a man with a small funnel in his hands. A New Banana The banana is one of the few fruits to resist the onset of the canning industry —perhaps because it is so easy to eat out of its own skin. There is nothing hard in it to swallow by mistake or to stub one's tooth on. Living far from the ancestral home of the banana (says an English commentator), one is apt to forget that this convenient seedlessness is not altogether natural to it. In fact it has not been obtained without a certain sacrifice. ' Two Trinidad scientists at the Imperial Botanical Conference in London described experiments which had been carried on with a view to finding a possible substitute for the Gros Michel, which is the staple West Indian fruit. It is not that the Gros Michel was in danger of falling from popular favour. It has air the virtues that a banana can have, and only one failing—it is chronically susceptible to Panama disease. The Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture at Trinidad decided to see whether it would be possible to strengthen the Gros Michel against disease by introducing new blood. Strains of wild banana were crossed with it. The desired hardiness was attained, but at what a cost! For the new variety had pipo. Worse still, the pips were occasional. One could uot rely on their being there, like the stone of a cherry. They are described by the experimenters as " hard pebble-like structures on which the most avid banana consumer would not desire to engage his dentures more than once." This hybrid was therefore ruled out. Later experiments have produced a more promising variety, which shares the wild fruit's immunity from disease and the Gros Michel's Immunity from pips. It has only one fault; it is rather short. It is expected to grow up in time, and the experimenters hope that it will prove a worthy successor to the Gros Michel. See ea»y, see well, see Stunner and Watson. Opticians, 2 Octagon, Duuedin.— Advt. A. E. J. Blakeley and W. E. Bagley. dentists, Bank ot Australasia, corner ol Bond and Rattray streeta (next Telegraph Office). Telephone 12-359.—Advt.