In the News

Southland Times, Issue 24548, 24 September 1941, Page 4

In the News

Good While It Lasted Among the souvenirs of the Battle of Crete brought back by a Christchurch soldier is a small bottle of stimulative pills that he took from the body of a dead German parachutist. At a gathering last week one of his friends insisted on taking a pill to try its effects. For the rest of the evening the experimenter was “the life of the party,” “a ball of muscle,” “a box of birds,” and everything else expressive of vim and energy. He himself declared that he felt absolutely reinvigorated and ready and able to fight Joe Louis with one hand tied behind his back. Next morning, however, he confessed to “the father of all hangovers,” and those who saw him before he got a dose of sal volatile declared that he looked like an exhumed corpse. Valuable Dog

To have recovered more than 4000 golf balls before reaching the age of two years is the unique record of a black spaniel owned by Mr A. C. Pass, of Matamata. Mr Pass paid £2 for the dog as a pup when he was employed at the Matamata Golf Club’s course at Okauia. He trained the animal to look for lost balls and in its first 10 months of work it retrieved more than 2000 balls. When Mr Pass went to a South Island club some months ago he took his dog with him and kept an accurate account of the balls found. They numbered 2153 in seven months. Their “found-ball” value was more than £9O. The dog, which will be two years old next December, works by scent and can “set” a golf ball 12 feet away. Asked if he were for sale Mr Pass said: “Yes, I’ll take £5O for him.” Anzac Background An illustrated article for the American publication, The National Geographic Magazine, on the background of the Anzacs is being prepared by a member of its staff, Mr H. Walker, who has arrived in Auckland. Mr Walker has spent the last four months in Australia and has travelled through every State. The purpose of the article, Mr Walker said, would be to show the everyday life in town and country of the people who produced the Anzacs. He plans to take photographs in all parts of the Dominion, but the length of his stay is indefinite. The Gap A deft touch of humour has been imparted to one pedestrian crossing in Dunedin. Either by accident or design, the yellow lines abruptly stop some eight feet from the footpath, and somebody, presumably a student, has answered the query which naturally presents itself by painting in bold letters, with what looks suspiciously like the same paint with which the lines were marked, the words “Now jump.” Artificial Geyser Gushing to a height of approximately 70ft., an artificial geyser resulting from boring near the Rotorua Town Hall gave a spectacular display last Friday. A 4in. bore was sunk to a depth of nearly 200 ft. to secure an adequate supply of hot mineral water for the central heating of the building, which includes a picture theatre, concert hall, library and museum, in addition to the administrative offices. The water struck had a temperature of 230 degrees. Nurses Who Smoke A plea for a room at the Wanganui Hospital where nurses may smoke was made by Mrs J. J. Scott at the monthly meeting of the board when reporting on an interview she had had with the matron, Miss M. J. Hunter, on the subject. Mrs Scott said she was a non-smoker, but believed that provision should be made for a room where nurses could smoke. The matron, however, objected to girls smoking. “I told the matron,” Mrs Scott added, “that it would be far better for the girls to smoke openly than do it behind her back and be deceitful.” The matron had also said there was no room which could be used for this purpose, but Mrs Scott suggested that it would be a good idea if one or two of the senior sisters could live out, and thus make more accommodation available. Fright for Maori Soldiers “The Maori prisoners got a rare fright one morning in Crete, when they were all brought out and told to stand close together and perfectly still with their backs against a wall,” writes a Raglan soldier, Private lan Thompson. “Shaking at the knees, for it seemed certain a firing party was about to arrive—and then good-bye Maori boys—to their intense relief, around the corner came a German officer with a nice big camera, and took several photographs of these wonderful fighters.” Not Good for Lawnmowers A story illustrative of the humour of the English was told by Mr O. N. Gillespie at a Wellington Rotary Club luncheon. It was about a notice exhibited on a golf course near Sunningdale, England, which read: “Will members please remove the shrapnel from the fairway; otherwise it might get into the lawn mower.” A Solicitor’s Hand “It looks as though a solicitor must have a hand in it; the letter says guineas instead of pounds,” said the chairman of the Christchurch Returned Soldiers’ Association (Mr D. W. Russell), when commenting on a gift of 25 guineas received from the New Brighton Trotting Club for the fund used for the entertainment of soldiers’ wives and mothers. The executive warmly thanked the club for its generous gift. British and Nazi Art “In art as in everything else you see the difference between the British and the Nazi ways of life,” said the High Commissioner for the United Kingdom (Sir Harry Batterbee), opening an exhibition in Christchurch of a collection of photographs of war paintings by British artists. In all British countries artists were allowed to express themselves in what way they pleased. In Nazi countries, they were permitted only to express what glorified Nazism. In the Nazi film of Dunkirk, destruction was glorified. In the collection of British art would be found nothing to glorify destruction, but, on the other hand, much to excite pity. They showed the picture of man rising triumphant above the forces of evil, and, as well, the good humour of the people, a characteristic which had always been their strength. N.Z. Radio Commentator The commentary which followed the 8.8. C. headline news broadcast at 1.15 pm. on Monday was given by a New Zealand journalist, Mr T. R. P. Hole. Mr Hole’s most notable newspaper assignment in New Zealand was carried out when he was on the staff of The New Zealand Herald, Auckland. On the afternoon of Saturday, July 14, 1928, the auxiliary schooner Isabella de Fraine capsized on the Hokianga bar, with the loss of all eight hands. Mr Hole was flown to the scene of the tragedy by Mr Douglas Mill in a Gipsy Moth aeroplane. He was probably the first reporter in New Zealand to be sent by air on an assignment. In spite of the discomforts of the journey Mr Hole furnished his paper with a detailed and excellently presented account of the tragedy. He was awarded the first prize in the annual Good Journalism Competition conducted by the New Zealand Journalists’ Association. From Auckland Mr Hole went to Australia, and then, representing Aus-, tralian newspapers, to England.