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Taranaki Daily News, 16 January 1934, Page 6

A melancholy announcement is contained in the latest issue of the New Zealand Gazette. It is to the effect that in-come-tax for the current year is payable by February 8. The 10 per cent, penalty goes on if the tax is not paid on or before March 1 next.

“Most American tourists in New Zealand visit only one or two of your leading scenic resorts. They come to the country in a hurry, see- Rotorua or Waitomo, Mount Cook or the West Coast Sounds, and rush off with very sketchy ideas of the country. I have been here a month only, but that is about a month longer than the average American.”—Mr. Crombie Allen, of Los Angeles, California, in an interview at Christchurch.

An official inspection of the cereal crops in Mid- and North Canterbury damaged by the hail has begun by officers of the Department of Agriculture, Mr. R. McGillivray, Fields Superintendent, will inspect the Rangiora district, Mr. W. Manning the Darfield district, and Mr. J. W. Smith the Ashburton district. Mr. Smith will. be assisted by Mr. McGillivray in Ashburton, where most of the damage has been done, after Mr. McGillivray has finished in Rangiora. A report will be sent subsequently to the Director-Gen-eral of Agriculture (Dr. C. J. Reakes). Applications from farmers are stated to be coming in slowly.

The development of cheap and efficient air transport between South Africa and Great Britain was commented on by Mr. D. F. Duigan, a former Aucklander, now residing in Southern Rhodesia, who returned by the Monterey on Saturday on a holiday visit. There was a weekly air service, he said, which took 11 days between Cape Town and London and nine days between Salisbury, the capital of Southern Rhodesia, and London. The fares compared quite favourably with steamer fares. On his way to New Zealand, Mr. Duigan travelled from Salisbury to Cairo by air and then joined a liner for Australia.

A peculiar fish, which has not yet been identified, was caught off Coromandel last week by Mr. H. Hayward, in the launch Rose. The fish, which is 3ft long, has characteristics pertaining to a barracuda, dogfish, swordfish and stingray. The skin is like that of a barracuda and the’ lower part of the body like that of a shark or dogfish. Immediately behind the head there are two horizontal fins and a vertical fin, ending in a sting over a foot long. Further down the body there are a pair of horizontal fins and a pointed tail like that of ’ a swordfish. The snout protrudes from the head with a piece of flesh resembling a tongue facing toward the mouth, which is devoid of teeth. The bony nose has nostrils similar to those of an animal.

Taylor’s Mistake is a well-enough known name to most dwellers in Christchurch, but the sweep of Pegasus Bay from the Waipara River to Banks Peninsula was once named to commemorate a mistake of one of the most famous of navigators. When Captain Cook sailed down the coast in 1770 he thought the peninsula was an island, and accordingly named it Banks Island. The name continued in use for 30 years, until in 1809 Captain Chase, of the ship Pegasus, attempted to sail between the supposed island and the mainland, and discovered just in time to avoid disaster that the land was a peninsula. Cook’s error and Chase’s discovery are commemorated on some of the early maps, notably the one published for the Royal Geographical Society in 1832, by the name “Cook’s Mistake or Pegasus Bay.”

For over 20 years we have been Steam Dyeing and Dry Cleaning Suits, Costumes, Dresses, Coats, etc. We also clean and re-block Felt Hats. How about sending yours to J. K. Hawkins and Co., Devon Street, New Plymouth. ’Phone 685*