Freak Marigold.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 December 1935, Page 6

Freak Marigold.

A strangely misshapen marigold flower is growing in a New Plymouth garden at present. An apparently normal bud has developed an ordinary gold-coloured flower, but from its circumference it has sent out eight "branched stems each with a perfect but rather small bud' at its end. ! Hawk Carries Off Quail. A farmer sitting quietly on a small hillock on the outskirts of New Plymouth was idly watching a hawk gliding overhead when it suddenly swooped to the ground and reappeared several feet above him carrying a loudly protesting quail. The same farmer said he knew of an instance when a hawk had carried off a young hare. Little Sunlight; Fewer Bathers. Does the beach crowd collect to sit in the sun or to swim? Despite the fact that the weather was extremely sultry over the week-end, there was a noticeable falling off in the number of bathers on New Plymouth beaches. The water was warm and there was little or no wind, but the sun came out on Saturday and yesterday only for short spells in the morning and afternoon. Oakura, despite its distance from New Plymouth, was probably as well patronised as any beach yesterday. There were a number of picnic and swimming parties and the motor parking area was well occupied. Hawera’s New Aerodrome in Use. Following the completion of the Ha; wera Aero Club’s hangar at the new aerodrome on Waihi Road after its transference from Dunlop Field, Mr. Brian Haybittie flew from New Plymouth to Hawera on Saturday in ZK-ABZ, which is now permanently housed again at Hawera. Although flights were made on Saturday by Mr. Haybittie and Mr. J. Reardon, no flying took place yesterday dwing to the difficulty in taxi-ing the plane from the hangar to the temporary landing area. The intervening ground is being drained but steps will be taken to-day to improve the surface of the 200 yards over which the plane has to be taken. Visit by Mr. W. M. O’Hara. Mr. W. M. O’Hara, the New Zealander who is now a successful Java rubber planter and who recently flew the Tasman Sea solo in his Klemm Eagle monoplane, will visit New Plymouth, arriving at the airport on Boxing Day. Mr. O’Hara has been “barnstorming” in New Zealand to assist the Returned Soldiers’ Association—either charging admission to inspect his Klemm Eagle machine (the only one of its type in New Zealand) or giving passenger flights on condition the passengers make a donation to the local branch of the association. The New Plymouth branch of the R.S.A., however, is unable to arrange anything of this nature but will entertain Mr. O’Hara, whose efforts to assist returned soldiers have been much appreciated in other centres. Old Debentures Destroyed. During the last two days the Christchurch city destructor has had to do an unusual job. In the treasury offices of the Christchurch City Council were stacked city debentures which were once worth more than £1,000,000. They were the old debentures cancelled through the operation of the council’s loan conversion scheme. The conversion regulations stipulated that the old cancelled debentures—now replaced by the new issue at the lower rate of interest—were to be destroyed to the satisfaction of the audit office and the council. So on Wednesday and Thursday these pieces of paper, once worth a fortune, were taken to the destructor and thrown into the flames in the presence of an audit department officer and a council representative. It was the last act in one of the biggest conversion schemes undertaken in the Dominion. Faulty Speedometers. Many motorists were being prosecuted for alleged dangerous driving at times when they were conscientiously endeavouring to keep within the limits of the law, said Mr. A. Grayson, president of the Automobile Association (Auckland). He said that the accuracy of a speedometer was often a vital factor in the success of a motor tour. As an instance he quoted the case of a local body which prosecuted in all cases where a speed of 30 miles an hour was exceeded through the suburban area. “The speedometer on the offending motorist’s car might be reading a little slow, and the needle of the instrument hovering on 29 miles an hour would give the driver a feeling of security, whereas if there were a slight error the speed of the car might easily be 31 or 32 miles an hour—the difference in the eyes of the law between ‘safe’ and ‘dangerous’ driving,” added Mr. Grayson.