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Taranaki Daily News, 10 July 1929, Page 8

What would be the minimum number of passengers required for an excursion direct from New Plymouth to Sydney? That is a question to ’be asked the Union Steam Ship Company by the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce. At a meeting of the council last night Mr. P. E. Stainton said that the president (Mr. J. McLeod) had been sent all the information and would make investigations in S ’ney regarding the proposal to celebrate by such a trip the fiftieth anniversary of the inauguration of a direct shipping service.

“I hope the chamber will not relax in its representations, because I feel sure the time is near when we shall receive recognition of our claims,”' said Mr. S. Vickers last night when the council of the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce received a letter from the Minister of Public Works notifying that consideration was being given the suggestion that local bodies should receive subsidies on the tar-sealing work done by Taranaki before the Highways Board came into existence. Mr. Vickers recalled that an application for recognition of these claims had been made previously, but the matter had not been pursued. It was as a result of the Ta..naki Chamber’s efforts that the agitation had been revived. The subject was referred to the legislation committee.

A somewhat unusual consignment was handled by the parcels department at the Dunedin railway station last Thursd . Tliis was a ribbon fish which was being sent to the Otago Museum from Warrington, where it had been washed up on the beach. The fish, which belongs • the family known as Trachypteridae, is 14ft. 3in. long, about 9in. deep at the head, tapering to about 3in. at the tail, and is no more than 2in. thick at any nart. There is a continuous dorsal fin along the back and a complete absence of ecales, while the mouth is very protractile. It is silvery in colour. The ribbon fish usually lives in very deep water. Consequently, when it comes into shallow water the conditions have the effect of destroying its locomotive control and in this helpless state it is not unusual for the fish to be washed up. ■