AROUND THE DOMINION

Stratford Evening Post, Volume II, Issue 88, 7 November 1932, Page 8

AROUND THE DOMINION

I Grains of Gold i A prospector working ai a bend in ; (lie o])ihi River, at which a groyne is i in course of erection, unearthed a ! number of grains of gold, writes the j Tcmuka correspondent of the Press, j The gold was found among Hie sand • washed down by the river, and as | the Opihi has its source in the ! ranges it lias been considered by loj cal authorities that the particles of I gold became detached from a reef which has long been known to exist. ! The sample was inspected by persons ! well acquainted with gold mining, and their opinion was that the grains ! were those of pure gold, j * * « \ l<T*'ng machines invented by man ! roeuircd to be well oiled to give effi- '• cier.t service. Not so a thrush (says i'he Southland Times), The other day ! otto of these birds had the misfortune when perched on the of a i petrol fin to overbalance and fall into ja, mass of discarded engine oil. Atj traded by the queer noise coming j from (lie tin, a gardener working nearby went to investigate and discovered i the thrush making frantic efforts to I get out. Fortunately for the thrush, j the man was a bird lover. He lifted the bird out and placed it on the grass, only to realise that, in its oily state it. was quite unable to fly. He thereupon sot to work with an old tooth brush and did his best to remove all fhe oil. When the laborious operation was over the thrash tried out it:; wings and flew to the ; branch of a l.r:"\ whom i ( preened its ' plumage for the rest, of the afterI noon.

An Earthquake Lesson

A lesson learned in Napier from the earthquake is being put into effect, by the sinking of Abyssinian wells, the purpose of which is to provide a water supply in the event of fire when the ordinary mains fail as they did on the occasion of the earthquake last year. It -is proposed to sink about eight of these wells ifi various parts of the (own area, open spaces being chosen for their sites, such as al the intersection 06 streets and Olive Square, where they are not likely to become inaccessible through nearby buildings falling en them or through excessive heat from burning buildings in their neighbourhood. r rhey are to be driven down to a depth of approximately 7ft. below mean sea level, so that seepage will supply nYeonslanl flow of sea water which will always be available to Ore-fighting apparatus in the case of extreme emergency.

j N.2. Writer? J New Zealand men and .women who ! are trying to make their name in (he 1 literary world in London have onpor- ] funities equal to those of anybody I else, in flie opinion of Miss Ngaio i Marsh, who lias returned to Christj church after five years in London and j elsewhere. In fact, if one was known as a New Zealander, publishers and literary agents were inclined to give one all the assistance possible, as they understood the isolation and loneliness of one's position. Miss Marsh herself has a novel in the hands of a publisher and she said that she was treated very fairly and with the utmost consideration. The im--1 pression that- graduates from Oxford I and Cambridge commanded more atj tention than others on the literary J market was merely colonial prejudice.

Hulk's Last Resting Place The old hulk Felicitas, which was built at Quebec in 1874, made her first appearance at Port Chalmers on December 3L 1005, made her last voyage on Friday, when she was towed from the Export wharf to what will be her last resting place in Mussel Bay. A good tide enabled a tug and launches to manoeuvre the Felicitas to a position about 100 yards from the sand wall which encloses the reclamation area. The hulk was taken (dose inshore, her bow resting •on the rocks. She is being held in an upright, position, and will serve as portion of a retaining wall in connection with the Mussel Bay reclamation scheme. The hulk was taken over by the Harbour Board last April, and relief workers have been engaged for some weeks in removing her decks, topsides, and interior plankins. The old ship docs not make an attractive picture in her skeleton form, but she will, 210 doubt, serve a useful purpose.

j Novelties from Wood 1 During the past three days (writes I ! a London correspondent on Septem- I | her ."!(») an exhibit in the window of i : the High Commissioner's Office, of ;irj tides made from New Zealand timber ■ has attracted considerable attention. '; The articles have been sent from I the Mount Eden Turnery with the oh- I j jeet of attracting buyers in England. ! j They comprise .such thiugs as'cigar-■ | et.te cases, pin trays, jewel cases, | paper knives, napkin rings, cake ', stands, and trays and are made of ! suVn decorative woods as mottled , kauri and rewa rewa. There is also I a collection of small articles made j from limber taken from the submergj ed forest uncovered in the bed of the j diverted Waikato River. The High j Commissioner has had letters sent, to j firms that are likely to be interested I in the work including the Army and Navy Stores, Messrs. Selfridges, Barkj ers Civil Service Stores, and these j firms have promised to send represen- { latives to inspect, the collection. Al- | though the work has been on show for only three days quite a number of I people have made inquiries, and have jdesired. to make purchases. A French ; lady was so insistent that she was j allowed to buy a small paper knife j made of rewa. rewa.