NEWS OF THE DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27275, 29 December 1949, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

Baths Closed

The Dunedin Municipal Baths were closed all day yesterday because of a mechanical fault which developed in the water-pumping equipment. The baths will also be closed today. It seems that the electrical storm which swept the city on Monday was the cause of the fault developing, and yesterday morning, when the baths were to be opened, it was found that there was a considerable reduction in the amount of water in the pool. The authorities therefore decided to empty the baths completely and change the water. Normally, this work is only undertaken once in a season, but as the water throughout the period is continuously passing through filters it is kept in good condition. The baths should be open to the public again tomorrow. Water Power The taking of land for the development of water power for the Roxburgh power scheme is proclaimed in the New Zealand Gazette. The approximate area of the piece of land taken is 14 acres, being situated in block 1 of the Teviot survey district.

Not A National Supporter In a country town not far from Dunedin, a small boy, aged about six, was watching a borough employee clearing grass from the roadside. “ Cleaning up for Christmas,” remarked the boy conversationally. “ Yes, that’s right,” agreed the man. “Well,” continued the boy, “you want to be careful with that grass, now that we’ve lost Pete, you might soon be eating it.”

Opinion Disproved “ Before the New Zealand elections,” said Mr E. W. Scott, who returned to Auckland in the Akaroa recently, “ the accepted opinion in the United States and Latin-America seemed to be that New Zealand was being run by an organised minority which itself was controlled by an organised minority.” Recent events had disproved that New Zealand had lost its democratic outlook. Mr Scott is a former Wellington newspaperman, who left the Dominion 25 years ago. Holiday A-wheel

A 19-year-old Australian medical student, 'David Pennington, of Melbourne, arrived at New Plymouth in the Timaru Star last week to see as much as possible of New Zealand, by bicycle, before the end of January. He intends to cover about 2000 miles in all, and will spend the greater part of the holiday in the South Island. The Southern Alps, glaciers, and Milford Sound will be his objectives after a short tour covering Auckland, Rotorua and Wellington.

Railway Time Tables Although the work of printing railway time tables has been proceeding for many months, it will not be completed this year, states a letter received by the Oamaru Chamber of Commerce from the Associated Chambers. The Railways Department had advised the chamber, the letter added, that the importance of reissuing a time table of the department’s services was fully realised, and present indications were that the time tables, one book for each island, would be ready shortly after Easter. Milkman’s Harvest

A milk roundsman in Wellington, Mr Frank Harrington, who has been delivering milk for 51 of his 60 years, had a successful Christmas Day. He received from his customers £25 in cash, five dozen bottles of beer, sherry and the like, at least 100 packets of cigarettes, and “ as many drinks as I cared to accept.” Many of the gifts were accompanied by notes of appreciation such as this one: “Please accept this small token (a £1 note) of our heartfelt gratitude and deep appreciation for your loyal service, kindness and courtesy.” White Rabbit

A pure white rabbit trapped on the property of Mi; G. Shine, at Tutira, is believed to be the first of this colour to be . caught in Hawke’s Bay for many years. The colour is attributed to a throwback in breeding. The Northern Hawke’s Bay Rabbit Board's overseer. Mr G. Wilhelmsen. said that white rabbits were seen occasionally in the South Island, but rarely in the North Island. Mr Wilhelmsen added that fawn rabbits, which were fairly numerous in parts of the South Island, were also rare in Hawke’s Bay. Giant Pea-picke*

A massive machine, moving ponderously on 12 large wheels through a field of pea vines, attracted much attention in the Hastings district last week. The contrivance, standing some 12 feet high and drawn by a powerful tractor, rolled slowly through the crop. Devised ®nd adapted by Mr T. Ryan, Hastings, the machine is a mobile pea-viner, an ingenious affair which in one operation picks up the vines, shells the peas, and deposits them in a capacious hopper at one side ready for running into boxes to be loaded on trucks and taken to the. canneries.

Demonetised Stamps From time to time, the Post Office demonetises obsolete stamps, this meaning, in effect, that the stamps may no longer be used for postal purposes. From January 1, a series ot stamps will be demonetised. These include the 1935 pictorial series, the three air-mail stamps of 1935, the health stamps from 1937 to 1945. the Coronation issue of 1937, the centennials of 1940, and other issues. It is interesting to note that the health stamps affected could have been bought for 2s lljd and are now worth about £2, while the thirteen centennial stamps, which once sold for 5s 4£ the set. now command over £2.

Experience In Marriage “Just because a ’person has been married before, it does not necessarily mean that the second marriage will be a success. You would be surprised at the number of marriage certificates which come before me in divorce proceedings in which one of the parties had already been married once,” said Mr Justice Northcroft in the Supreme Court at Christchurch. "On the law of averages, the person should stand a better chance in a second marriage.” submitted Mr E. M. Hay, one of the counsel engaged in the hearing. “The person will have gained experience which will stand him in good stead," he added, with a smile. “ You are entitled to say, perhaps, that, in the balance, a person stands a better chance in a second marriage, said his Honor

New Spectrometer A start is being made in the- Dominion Physical Laboratory, Lower Hutt. with the construction of equipment for the atomic research wing of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. The apparatus is a mass spectrometer, and it will take some months to build. It is used for measuring stable isotopes, tools of trade of the atomic research worker. The mass spectrometer measures electric currents as faint as .00000000000001 of an ampere, and requires a vacuum of only one ten-thousandeth-millionth of atmospheric pressure. At that pressure there is so little air that a molecule would travel a mile before encountering another molecule. In ordinary circumstances, 10,000 million molecules can be contained in the one-hundredth part of a pin’s head.