General News

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 77, Issue 82, 7 April 1934, Page 8

General News

Strange Habit of the Tul, i That tuis had been known to their nest and its contents because at heavy rain was one remark made by Mi ) E. F. Stead, when speaking on New Zealand bird life at the meeting of tba ■ Philosophical Institute of Canterbury. : He added that it was a very peculiai characteristic of New Zealand birdi ■ generally that they would desert then ; nests because of rain—peculiar becauw New Zealand was subject to heavy ' rains in spring and other seasons. Bird< in most other countries did not show . any such characteristic. Japanese Crew for Tofua. The Japanese crew for tho steamer Tofua will arrive from Japan oa Monday by tho steamer Beiyomaru, which also has a cargo of sulphur from Japan for discharge at Auckland, Lyttelton and Castlecliff, says the New Zealand Herald. Since tho Tofua wai sold bv the Union Company to Japanese shipbreakers she has been refitting at the Western Viaduet preparatory to sailing for Japan, where she will bo converted into scrap. She it expected to sail from Auckland next week. Arctic Scenery. "Under the ice in the Arctic art probably the weirdest and yet most < wonderful and beautiful scenes it it vA, possible to see,” remarked Sir Huber l Wilkins, the famous polar explorer, ii an interview with a Waikato Times reporter. Sir Hubert referred to an incident during tho Nautilus expedition in 1930-31, when the bottom dropped out of a harbour, taking one of his boats with it. This phenomenon v.-as due to a volcanic upheaval, and all the boats were nearly swamped by the subsequent tidal wave. After ’the subsidence it was found that a crater 15 miles long and seven miles wide, with lips 5000 ft, high had been formed. Bowlers Wanted in Cabinet. Presenting the prizes won at th< Easter bowling tournament at the Calo donian green. Dunedin, the president oi the Dunedin Centre (Mr. E. Falconer) stated that the numbers of entries al the last two Easter tournaments had broken the previous records. This he attributed to the fact that entry feet had been reduced. When arrangementi for the tournament last year had heee under consideration, he added, the general financial conditions had beel taken into consideration, and it bed been decided that bowlers should b< assisted by a reduction in the entry fees. . The result of the decision had been increased entries and an enhanced financial return to the centre. On ths other hand tho Government had songhl ' X increased revenue by advancing the price of long distance telegrams bv 23 per cent. He thought that if there were fewer farmers and more howlers in Cabinet the country would be in a better position. Disconcerting. Knitting at public meetings is a fre quent distraction to lecturers, who d< not approve of the habit (observes th< Christchurch Press). One Christchurci man who is occasionally called on te give a public lecture remarked recently that nothing annoyed him more than to observe women in the audience knitting while he was speaking. Their monotonous activity was visually distracting, and sometimes even from the platform he had been able to hear the clicking of noodles. At one mcetinj he addressed recently he had seen one woman mending socks, while otherc were not only knitting, but were constantly referring to knitting books while they did so. His main objections to the habit were that it was not a compliment to the lecturer, aud that it tended to destroy his confidence by giving the impression that ho had failed to interest his audience. Producto.n of Binder-Twine. The general adoption of header harvesters in Canterbury has meant a severe loss to the manufacturers of the twine which was previously used to bind the sheaves. A rope-maker in Christchurch estimates that since there are now about 150 header harvesters in use in the province, there is a decrease of 100 tons in the weight of binder-twine used. New Zealand makers produce practically all the twine used in harvesting’ in the Dominion. The new type of harvester must have also involved the farmer in some perplexity, for it was the usual practice to estimate the crop bv the number of rolls of twine used in the harvest. Conditions in France. The great trouble in France waa that there were too manv parties in the Government, said M. P. Pellier a French business man resident ’in Sydney, when interviewed in Wellington this week. The newlv-formed Government would not be in power very long, and there would eventually have to be an election. This could lake place if the President, on the advice of his Ministers, decided to dissolve the assembly. The Fascist movement was not gaining ground it France, he said. France was not a country that would tolerate rule bv Fascists and in this respect it was more like England. Generally the situation in France was very bad. Cost -j of living was very high—much higher than in Australia, and her adherence to the gold standard was losing her much export trade. However, the Government was determined to keep to gold as long as possible, and it wax difficult to see the outcome. Stay Too Short. A high opinion of New Zealand Is held by Dr. A. M. Koltzach. German Consul attached to the Consul-General for Australia and New Zealand, Sydney, states the Christchurch Tinies. He passed through Christchurch on Thursday after visiting the Frani Josef Glacier, in continuation of a tout of the Dominion. He has alrcadj visted the Waitomo Caves, Rotorua, Wairakei. tho Chateau. Pipiriki, Wanganui and Nelson, and leaves shortly on his return to Sydney. "I would like to be able to stay longer.” he stated. "I have seen a lot of interesting spots, and am only sorry that time doos not allow me to visit more of them. ’ ’ Played a Marlin 12 Hours. Two marathon struggles with big fist were experienced by Dr. G. B. Picrc* of New York, when fishing from ttu launch Rosemary from Otehi Bay Russell. He hooked a very largo blsci marlin about nrid-day, and he played tho fish for 121 hours in a very rough sea. Finally the line parted soon after midnight, after having taken Dr. Pierce’s launch 15 miles out to sea. The tollowing day he hooked a very large thresher shark which he played 1 for 71 hours. This fish eventually went I'-glit in and grazed itself against the rocks, where the doctor lost it. Dr. Pierce finished fishing on Tuesday after a most successful season In 44 fishing days he landed 48 big game fish, with a total weight of 11.6671 b.. and nn av«r lire weight of 2431 b.