NEW ZEALAND NEWS

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 68, 25 March 1929, Page 5

NEW ZEALAND NEWS

NOTES FROM ALL PARTS. THE DOMINION. BAY BY DAY. SERB, THERE, AND EVERYWHERE SHOUTING OF CHAMOIS. Chamois which were presented to the New Zealand 'Government by the late Emperor of Austria and liberated near Mount Cook have multiplied so freely in their new habitat that an open shooting season for the animals has been gazetted under the control of the Waitaki Acclimatisation Society. In addition to chamois the holders of licenses will be entitled to thar, or mountain sheep, another acclimatised animal, which has flourished in a ne.w homo. AMERICAN YACHT. The American pleasure yacht Wanderlust, which arrived at Auckland on February 21 : in the course of an extensive tour of the Pacific, will leave in a day or two for the Ray of Islands, and then by devious ways will proceed to California, the home of its owner, Mr. H. S. Bissell. The Wanderlust has been thoroughly overhauled and minor repairs have been effected during the past two weeks. The keel has been enlarged, the valves on the engine have been ground, and a neyv mainsail and supplied. After the cruise in rae Bay of Islands, a course will be set for Fiji, Samoa, Tahiti, the Marquesas, Honolulu and then Los Angele.s.

WELLINGTON FIRMS 'SPOOFED.'

Inquiries are being made respecting the whereabouts of a man who perpetrated a remarkable* fraud in Wellington lasfc week, says the Dominion. Having sent out circular letters on printed stationary purporting to show that he represented a firm with offices in London, Manchester, and Wellington, he next visited eight house furnishers in the city and ordered from each shop fur" niture to the value of £7O to £BO, which he "paid" by means of cheques drawn from sums £lO in excess of the amount of the bill. Having received the £lO change in each case, he gave instructions for the furniture to be delivered to an address in Kelburn; where, he said he resided. It was only when the eight loads of furniture were being delivered that the fraud was realised, for the purchaser did not live in Kelburn and there was, apparently, no house in the street bearing the number he had given. -

MAORI CARVING. It is bo long since there has been scope for Wanganui Maoris doing practical work in the realm of carving that has come to be taken for granted that it is necessary to go to JRotorua to see what can be produced in this respect, says the Wanganui Herald. Although few and far between, there are still one. or'two of the elder men resident on the river who were put through thejr course of training in he old time Maori arts and craft apprenticeship, and if only given an. opportunity could demonstrate clearly that Wanganui has its own arts and crafts of Maoridom buried under a bushed. One or two of the. younger men also served an apprenticeship, and as a sample of what these can do there has been placed in exhibition in the local office of the Tourist Department a carved walking stick, the work of Mr. Herewini Mete Kingi. The stick is covered entirely with inscribed designs in Maori motif, and represents many hours of careful and skilful work. The exhibit is well worth seeing, and it is to be hoped that some encouragement may be, given to the local Maoris to do still more in this respect. EARTHQUAKE DAMAGE. The north arch of the Old Provincial Council Chambers, in . Chris fcchurh, which was damaged by the recent earthquake, though no "worse, still looks in a perilous condition (states te "Press"). The weight of the keystone is supported on a. heavy iron partition door yhich jammed with the dropping stone. Above the door there are various onimous cracks, though it is uncertain how many are. due to the earthquake and how many were before. Possibly the wall has skewed round a little as a result of the shaking. The oriel window also is twisted ana tfent. The Hon. J. Barr, a practical mason, as well as a, member of the Trust, made an inspection of the damage early last week, and said afterwards that there was no real danger of a collapse, though prompt measures would have to be taken. What strikes the visitor even more cracked masonary are the pillars aJid joists leading up to the gallery, which are riddled, with borer and look as if they would crumple immediately if another earthouake threw a severe strain on them. Some of the boarding of the stairway i s so rotten that it has had a hole kicked" through it. A meeting of the Trust is to be held when the question of the cracked masonry will , be discussed.