Overseas Mail

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23706, 13 January 1939, Page 6

Overseas Mail

The Port Campbell, which left Sydney on January 12, has 42 bags of mail for Dunedin, including the London letter mails of January 9, 10 and 11. The mails should come to hand on Monday next.

Protection of Native Birds An assurance that there need be no uneasiness that the policy of the Government for the protection of New Zealand’s native birds would be slackened in any circumstances was given by the Minister of Internal Affairs (Mr Parry) when he was invited to comment on the fears expressed by the president of the Forest and Bird Protection Society (Captain E. V. Sanderson) with regard to the coming visit to the Dominion of a party from the American Museum of Natural History. Captain Sanderson expressed the hope that the expedition would not be allowed any latitude in collecting native birds. Permits to take specimens of New Zealand birds were, the Minister said, frequently sought during the first two or three years of the Government’s regime, but the applications did not now come. “ I think it is well known here and overseas,” Mr Parry added, “ that New Zealand will countenance no interference with the protection placed on its native birds.”

Kaikorai Valley Roa<!

It is likely that the widening of the Kaikorai Valley road will be completed in the near future. The need for the widening and general improvement has been apparent for some considerable time past, and the Roslyn and Kaikorai Ratepayers’ Association, which has consistently advocated this improvement, has been advised that the conclusion of the work is in sight. In a letter which has been received by the secretary (Mr A. C. Laing), the town clerk (Mr R. A. Johnston) states that it is anticipated that the acquisition of the necessary land to complete the widening will be completed early in the new year.

The Albatross Colony The colony of royal albatross at Taiaroa Heads continues to grow, and the latest reports indicate the presence of about seven or eight of these birds in the vicinity. Four of the birds were nesting, but one egg was broken, another bird was “flooded out” during the heavy rains of last month, and a third bird left its nest, leaving only one albatross still sitting. The half dozen notices warning unauthorised persons to keep away from the sanctuary have apparently had effect, as no further cases of vandalism have been reported. “ Wonderful Scenery " Praise for New Zealand scenery and an inquiry for a pen friend were contained in a letter received by the Dunedin town clerk yesterday from a young woman living in Ontario. She had recently seen the Otago Witness and the Weekly News Christmas numbers. she Wrote, and was greatly impressed by the Dominion’s wonderful scenery. “I am a girl of 20 and live 20 miles from. Niagara Falls,” she wrote, and suggested that a Dunedin resident might become a pen friend. Dignity and Impudence Pride, it has often been said, comes before a fall, and a striking pictorial example of this old saying was to be seen on the Main North road yesterday. Around a corner came a vintage model “ baby ” car, noisily efficient. Close behind, and making no effort to overtake and pass the smaller car, came £IOOO worth of American luxury, a magnificent limousine, driven by a'n immaculate chauffeur resplendent in blue and gold livery. To any observer the juxtaposition may have appeared unusual, but when the cars came closer it could be seen that “the mighty had fallen,” and that they had a common bond —a tow-rope!

Fire Brigadesmen’s Dispute No , agreement was reached In Conciliation Council yesterday in the dispute between the Dunedin Fire Brigade Employees’ Industrial Union of Workers and the Dunedin Metropolitan Fire Board, and the negotiations were adjourned to this morning. The commissioner, Mr S. Ritchie,. presided. The assessors for the union were Messrs J. Robinson, H. Johnston, G. Goldsmith and R. Gorkin, and the employers were represented by Messrs W. W. Callender, John Wilson, N. D. Anderson and A. S. Cookson. An offer was made by the employers to accept portion of the union’s claims in return for the union’s acceptance of a clause giving the board the right to apply a platoon system in lieu of the continuous day duty system. That offer was to be considered by the union overnight. Eel in Fountain

To set out on a fishing expedition in the heart of Christchurch, and be successful, is a thing rarely, if ever before, done, but an interested crowd saw the operation accomplished on Tuesday afternoon, when an exceptionally large eel was removed from the pond around the Bowker fountain by waterworks employees. In the estimation of. Mr W, Ross, of the City Council waterworks staff, the eel, which was 4ft 2in long, weighed about 18 or 19 pounds, and had a girth of 19 inches. It was placed in the pond during the night. When the eel’s presence was known it was chased, gaffed, and finally popped in a bag and removed, the operation being watched by many spectators. Railway Finance

The recent failure of the Railways Department to meet its current expenditure out of the income for the same period suggested more vividly than is actually the case (says a Wellington correspondent) that railway finance has gone back seriously. The reverse will be demonstrated as successive four-weekly returns are published, and there is a confident feeling in administrative circles that the end of the financial year will demonstrate that the railways can pay the total interest for which the Minister of Finance budgeted at the commencement of the year, and with such a balance as will demonstrate that this was possible without making allowance for the increases in fares and freights. The revised tariff, however, was justfied in the light of rising costs, and is in line with experience of many railway administrations all over the world.

Car Overturned by Wind A motor car was overturned by a strong wind on the Pakowhai road, near Hastings, on Tuesday. A party of wool buyers were on their way from Wellington to Napier for the sale there to-morrow. The driver of the car, Mr Charles L. Hughes, of Saar street, Wellington, had an arm broken. The other three occupants were unhurt. Mr Hughes had pulled to the left to pass a sheep truck. As he steered back to his normal position on the road a gust of. wind caught the car and caused it to swerve more sharply to the right than was intended. Before the driver could regain control it lurched off its wheels and rolled sideways, coming to rest upturned on the road. The doors of the car were jammed, and the occupants were imprisoned for a few minutes until released by a lorry load of workmen, who stopped and righted the car. Mr Hughes was accompanied at the time of the accident by Mr C. McK. Darling and Mr L. C. Mayor, buyers for his firm, and a Japanese buyer. Dominion Character

An analysis of the New Zealand character was given by Mr J. W. Shaw in an address to teachers from all parts of New Zealand, who are assembled in the annual summer school. “ Hatred of affectations and dislike of people who ‘ throw their weight around ’ are among the characteristics of New Zealanders,” Mr Shaw said. “ They have initiative and ability, characteristics of a young country, distrust talk, and do not thrust themselves forward.” Mr Shaw said that art did not occupy a high place in the nation’s standard of values, because people concentrated their development along practical and materialistic lines. Discipline was distasteful to the average New Zealander, but he had proved that he could accept it as a means to an end.

Te Aroha Geyser Named Official approval has been given to the proposal that the name Mokena shall be given to the soda water geyser in the Te Aroha Domain. Six names were submitted. Plans for the concrete catchment basin and storage tank are with the Public Works Department, and the work should start in the near future. Mokena was the tribal chieftain, the hereditary head of the Te Aroha Maoris. He was noted for his uprightness of character, his warm friendship for the Europeans, and his generally. He presented numerous areas of land, including the domain, when the township of Te Aroha was being laid out. To him Te Aroha owes practically all its church sites.

Cases Damaged by Fir® ' A spark from a destructor caused an outbreak of fire in some packing cases at the premises of Dunedin Breweries, Ltd., yesterday afternoon, machines from the Central Station turning out at 3.26. About 20 cases were damaged. No South Island Visit

Returning to New Zealand by the Otranto, Mr E. Hay, of Pigeon Bay, Banks Peninsula, had as fellow passengers on the last stage of the trip some 800 Australian tourists who joined the ship at various Australian ports to make a holiday cruise to the Dominion. Not one of those 800 tourists came to the South Island, and Mr Hay said in an interview in Christchurch that, as a South Islander, he wished that when such tours were being arranged some attempt might be made to have the South Island included in the cruise itinerary. He had spoken to the captain of the vessel about the position, and had been told that the captain had some doubt whether he could get the Otranto into Lyttelton. If that were so, Mr Hay said, surely some attempt should be made to improve the port to divert to the South Island some of this valuable traffic. As it was, the tourists had only from the Friday to the Monday in New Zealand, and all they had a hurried chance to see were the bestknown places in the north.

“ God’s Own Country ” “I expected a great deal when I arrived in your country, but what I have already seen has surpassed all my anticipations.” This was how Dr F. Naegeli, the leader of a party of Australian tourists, expressed his admiration for the scenic beauties of Otago arid Southland, when speaking at a reception in the Tudor Hall of the Savoy last night. The country down south was beautiful for grazing, he said, while the profusion of flowers and trees and the mountains and streams truly earned for New Zealand the name of “God’s own Country.” Referring to the close kinship between Scbtsmen, Dr Naegeli said that he could not “put it over” in Invercargill. The people knew when he spoke that he was not Scottish, and he had to confess that he was born in Switzerland.

Stolen Mail The charred remains of a quantity of mail matter is taken as conclusive proof of the destruction of the mail bags which were taken from a van travelling between Napier and Gisborne on Saturday night. The discovery was made in the hills near Morere as the result of an intensive search of the district since the theft was committed. A police party on Tuesday, on the Gisborne side of the Morere Hill, found traces of an open fire, round .which were scattered the charred contents of one of the mail bags. Near the fire was found a halfburned letter, which is understood to be a portion of the registered mail which the bags contained. Metal rings and the remains of a mail bag were also found. Evidently all the letters in the mail bag were taken, and, having been opened and the valuables removed, were burned in the fire, ft is. not known whether any trace has been found of the other missing bags. Four or five mail bags were removed from the van somewhere between Wairoa and Gisborne, and their contents were registered letters and parcels from districts south of Napier. Inadequate Facilities

The lack of communication between Australia and the South Island due to the inadequate facilities for making contacts was mentioned by the Mayor (Mr A. H. Allen) when extending a welcome to a party of Australian tourists in the Tudor Lounge of the Savoy last night. In the days before tiie Great War, he said, it was customary to have four vessels running over what was known as the “Horseshoe Route,” but to-day only one vessel was used for the South Island, and then it was only during the summer months. “It is a pity we have not greater opportunities for intercourse with each other for I am quite satisfied that if we had anything like the old “ Horseshoe ” service more travelling would be done between the South Island and Australia.

Bottle’s Long Drift A bottle’s remarkably long drift across the southern Pacific Is revealed in information recently received by the Oceanic Steamship Company. The bottle was thrown overboard from the Matson liner Monterey on April 12, 1937, when the vessel was between Pago Pago and Suva. On September 9 last year it was picked up at the mouth of the Johnstone River, Queensland, 2180 miles away. In the 17 months’ immersion, the bottle had drifted an average of four miles and a-quarter a day.

Stove Explodes in Tent Extensive burns were suffered by Mr Clifford William Hampton, a road labourer, aged 34, married, of 16 Belmont terrace Remuera, when a benzine stove exploded in a camp near Maramarua, Hauraki Plains, on Tuesday evening. The accident occurred in a tent, which immediately caught fire, forcing the injured man and a companion- to scramble for-i safety through the back. Mr Hampton was preparing tea at th'e time. Dressed only in a pair of shorts, he ■ was sprayed with benzine over the chest, arms and legs, his face being untouched. His companion escaped injury. The tent caught alight-imme-diately after the explosion, and it was impossible for the men to escape through the doorway. With the flames quickly spreading, they had to force their way under the canvas at the rear. All their possessions in the tent were destroyed. j

Farming by the Stats A suggestion that the Molesworth and Tarndale runs, well-known Marlborough high-country properties, should be farmed by. the Crown as cattle runs is advanced by Mr E. P. Meachen, M.P., who recently, at the request of the Minister of Lands (Mr F~ Langstone) made close investigations into the general question of highcountry farming in the district. Mr Meachen will place the information gathered before the Minister when he visits Marlborbugh this month. Mr Meachen said the properties were first worked as cattle runs, and sheep were first introduced to Tarndale in 1868 and to Molesworth in 1871 or 1872. “Cattle farming, however, appears to carry many advantages as against sheep farming for high country like this,” he added, “and it would not affect the very necessary rehabilitation of the pastures. Cattle do not graze as close to the ground as sheep, and close grazing of sheep has been largely responsible for the erosion that has taken place. Another advantage is that cattle are much more mobile, and with the approach of snowstorms could be transferred considerable distances.”