In the Dominion

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 75, Issue 12, 15 January 1932, Page 6

In the Dominion

Dairying in Canterbury “Canterbury could be made a dairy* ing country,” said Mr. R. W. Winter, addressing 300 farmers at Waimati recently. “There are 600,000 cow& ia Auckland. If we put 100,000 into Canterbury the north would begin to regard us as a competitor in the trade, and they would let us grow our wheat as we wished. It would be a strong argument, and we would be making money at the same time.” Eels Eat Ducks There seems little doubt that eel® are responsible for the mortality of ducklings at Pukekura Park, says the News. A duck was recently sw’miiing wih a brood of six young. One of the ducklings disappeared ifter a slight commotion. After an interval another duckling disappeared under the water, much to the agitation of the mother. The black-feathered ied« beaked Muscovy duck was n<ora wary. With its one duckling it ha 1 perched on a willow stump in the lake, appar* ently for safety. Professional Photographer® Photographers awaiting “Wizard’’ Smith’s speed performances on the Ninety Mile Beach had to put business before the helping hand on Saturday when a motor-truck was caught oy the tide. A wave deluged the truck and stopped its engine. A number of photographers jumped from another vehicle to give assistance. The professional sense suddenly dominated some of those who were rushing to help. They topped and for a few seconds the rescut hung fire while shutters snapped. The truck was dragged to dry sand befcre any harm was done. A School Riot An occurrence that may sound im* possible in these days of tolerance was recalled by a speaker at the Rakaia School jubilee celebrations last week. This was a riot that arose abouc 1880 between some one hundred children at. the school over certain differences. The upshot of the disagreement was tha' the factions set to and attacked on< another lustily with bluegum slicki and other weapons, while the battlecries of the two sides soundog above the din of combat. The girl scholars became alarmed and sought the aid of the local constable. He was not a! home, but his wife, a hefty specimen of womanhood, filled the bream anti stopped the riot in a manner thai would have done credit to any man. Hope for Pumice Land “I am convinced that the oncadespised pumice country is about to come into its own,” said Sir Jarnea Parr, leader of the Legislative Council, on his return to Auckland from « tour of the Rotorua-Taupo district. “Last week I saw the soldiers’ settlement at Reporoa and the Broadlands estate, where a settler has proved whui can be done with what seemed 2d years ago to be a barren wilde: nes». but which to-day displays pastures equal to almost anything in the Wai* kato. The niison farm near Tokau u started by Mr. Justice Herdman when nc was Mjfljster of Justice, and developed later, when the same porLobo was in my bands, is growing root crops unsui])a.>.'td in New Zealand.” Auckland B.intiuptcy As a sequel to a slander action, in which £3OO damages were awarded against him, Wilfred E. Begbie, engineer to the Mount Albert Borough Coun cil, became bankrupt, and a meeting of his creditors was held at Auckland yesterday. The successful plaintiff in the action was the principal creditor in the bankruptcy. The assignee said it was fairly evident that Begbie should be able to make some offer to his creditors. He would leave the matter over for seven days so that bankrupt could get in touch with his solicitor and notify the assignee what he was pre pared to do. The meeting was adjourned sine die. Waste Land Cultivation Officers from the Native Lands Department recently visited Eoxton fo« ihe purpose of inspecting the progress made by the natives concerucd in bringing into cultivation the area of mod across the river, known as Mata karapa. Although, nothing much cae ue seen from the town side, says th* i'oxtun correspondent of the Standaru, a good deal of work has been carried out and it is hoped that in the near future the area, or a portion of it, wifi be slocked with dairy herd. A big bum of swamp rubbish was made oa Friday and cleared a considerable arcu The laud is particularly suitable for dairying and comprises high laud as well as swamp areas, which will winter a large number of stock. Patrol Fnces Petrol prices were again discussed »- the monthly meeting of ih», Egmout County Council on Tuesday. Apart from the question of the general high price, mention was made of the disparity of prices in different places. It was stated by one speaker that at one coastal township petrol could be obtained one penny cheaper than in New Plymouth or other coastal places, while another councillor had been told taat certain civil servants were able to secure benzine under a Government contract at Is 9d. Councillor Young considered that the general price level was far too high and, on his motion, it was decided to draw the attention of tie Government to the disparity in prices and to ask that more information be made available from the report of the Government committee which had gone into the matter of petrol prices. Bradman’s Caieer Speaking of a conversation he had with Don Bradman, the famous cricketer, at a luncheon given by the Melbourne Club, Mr. W. H. Winsor, secretary of the New Zealand Cricket Council, at Wellington yesterday, gave « few sidelights on Bradman’s crickol career. Bradman, he said, told him that he had never been coached at cricket; his success as a batsman lay in the fact that he just had a natural gift for the game. At one time he had given up> cricket for tennis ani | had become the champion player in his home town. At school he had made a great reputation at cricket, tennis and athletics, and he had been captain of the school Rugby fifteen, la school athletics he had never beet beaten over any distance up to 449 yards. “My impression of Bradmat was that he is perfectly fit and supremely confident, and therein, together with his natural gift for the game, lies the secret of his success at cricket,” Mr. Winsor said.