In the News

Southland Times, Issue 24011, 29 December 1939, Page 6

In the News

No Paper On Monday

The Southland Times will not be published on Monday, New Year s Day.

Yacht’s Long Voyage

The yacht Gipsy, owned by Mr G. C. Dickson, of Invercargill, sailed from Bluff at 3 o’clock yesterday afternoon for Lyttelton via Dunedin. During the past few weeks she has been under overhaul at Bluff. On arrival at Lyttelton the Gipsy is to compete in a race from Lyttelton to Wellington. Health Camp to Begin

The first camp of the season conducted by the Southland Childrens Health Camp Association will begin today when, between 55 and 60 children will leave Invercargill for Omaui. At 11 a.m. two buses are scheduled to leave the Government Buildings with 26 girls and 30 or so boys, who will spend a month in fresh air and sunshine. Before they leave they will all be examined by Dr A. T. McCaw. Miss J. E. McLeod, president of the Invercargill Trained Nurses’ Association, will be in charge of the children. The next camp will begin in four weeks’ time. The association will be pleased to receive gifts of vegetables, honey, fruit and other commodities.

Rangatira’s Rough Trip Six hundred passengers in the interisland steamer, Rangatira, had a rough trip on Wednesday night, the vessel reaching Lyttelton two hours late. The vessel encountered a southerly storm in Cook Strait. All train services were delayed to enable passengers to make connections.—Press Association. State Of Bluff Read

The Bluff road, which has so long been a source of inconvenience to motorists, is again in a very bad state. The stretch of road between Clifton and the Woodend store is riddled with pot-holes and the same condition prevails half a mile from the new overhead bridge, on the city side. Only one-way traffic may proceed along a stretch of the road south of Awarua and the Automobile Association (Southland) has asked motorists to exercise care. Flag Flies Against Breeze

There is a flag at the Centennial Exhibition which flies back to front. When a northerly is blowing and all the other flags are stretched merrily out towards the south, this particular banner -obstinately flutters northwards. It is situated on the left side of Centennial Tower, and is to be seen as one enters the gate from Kingsford Smith street. By. some curious trick in the construction of the buildings in that vicinity the wind swirls back upon this particular flag, and makes it appear to fly against the breeze., Many visitors to the Exhibition have noticed and commented upon this phenomenon, some of them incorrectly believing that it has been purposely arranged. Interest in Polar Exploration The expeditions of Rear-Admiral Byrd to the Antarctic regions have stimulated wide interest in America in polar exploits in general, and one result of this was the formation in 1934 of the American Polar Society. This society, which issues twice yearly a journal called ? Polar Times, is on similar lines to the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, England, which also publishes a journal called The Polar Record. A copy of the ninth publication of the American magazine, which was issued in November, has just been received by Mr Arthur Paape, of Dunedin. Naturally, the topic of paramount interest was the third Antarctic expedition led by Rear-Admiral Byrd which was then almost on the eve of its departure, and about half of the contents consists of articles reprinted from the American Press on the subject. The other main subject is the Wilkes expedition, the centenary of which will be celebrated in February of next year. <* New Zealand Soldiers’ Christmas At the conclusion of the 9 p.m. Daventry news. broadcast on Wednesday night a relay was given by three New Zealand soldiers in camp . near Aidershot on their experiences at Christmas time. The three men were Gunners Clifton and Norris and Bombardier Weston, and the narration was of a highly informal character. The three men simply gathered round the microphone and chatted among themselves over various amusing incidents. It was evident from their remarks that camp discipline had been considerably relaxed for the occasion and that the men had made the most of the opportunities with the full co-operation of the residents of the adjacent villages and of friends in other parts of England who had contributed to their seasonal well-being.

Student With Byrd Expedition The youngest member of the Byrd Antarctic expedition, which is expected at Dunedin soon, is Harrison Holt Richardson, a 20-year-old student, son of a Pennsylvania lawyer. This lad, who hopes to begin his medical studies on his return from the south, has already had a taste of sea life, gaining his experience as a seaman on a freighter in the Baltic Sea. The youth met RearAdmiral Byrd in America about a year ago, and made an attempt then to join the expedition. The admiral would give him no definite reply, but later a hint was dropped that men were needed for the repair work on the Bear of Oakland. This was enough for Richardson, and for the summer months he has been busy as mechanic, seaman, and general handyman about the shipyard. Then one day the cook left without notice, and the lad stepped in to do the job in the emergency. His readiness attracted the admiral’s comment, and the next step was the receipt of his appointment to the expedition staff “on a volunteer basis for the sum of one dollar per annum.”