NEW ZEALAND NEWS ITEMS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 2, 4 January 1939, Page 6

NEW ZEALAND NEWS ITEMS

Pine Trees Dying. Pine trees in South Canterbury are bemg affected with a blight which, in the Mackenzie County especially, is gradually killing off whole plant iticns 12 years old and more. The infection has been investigated by officers of the Forestry Depar:men‘, and because the top shoot is the first affected, has been eaued ‘terminal hypertrophy,” and is said to fellow frost or other climatic damage. The leading shoot dies and th? disease slowly spreads through the whole tree. There are many hundreds of acres of pinus insignis trees in South Canterbury, and if the disease spreads it would be difficult to estimate the total loss. The Mackenzie County Council has large areas planted in pinus insignis, and the blight has made an appearance in the plantation at Burke’s Pass, 13 miles from Fairlie. Earthquake at Mountain. The earthquake which was felt at Wanganui at 2.21 p.m. on Friday was also felt on Mount Egmont, probably to a greater extent. The manager of the North Egmont Hostel, Mr. H. Wood, stated that the tremor shook people sitting in deck chairs ana caused the many cars parked near the hostel to shake appreciably. The tremor was not as long as the one about a fortnight ago and there was no jolting. New Zealand Names. New Zealand has borrowed a great many place names and street names from the older countries of the world. Now, it appears, the opposite process has taken place. Letters received by the lirbarian of the Canterbury Public Library, Mr. E. J. Bell, from the Channel Islands, show that the group of New Zealanders living there have brought the name “New Zealand’’ to that part of the world and have given Maori place-names to their houses. There is a “New Zealand Avene,’’ and in it are houses called “Papanu’,” “Otira Gorge” and “Wanganui.” New Plymouth Post Office. Alteration of the plans for the new post office for New Plymouth by the removal to a spearate building of the automatic telephone exchange is given as the explanation for the delay in calling for tenders for the new build,ing, which is to be erected at the site at the corner of Currie and Gill Streets. The land was recently cleared of the buildings which occupied the site, in preparation for the new post office building. The matter of proceeding witn the erection of the new building was taken up by Mr. F. L. Frost, M.P., who has received a letter from the Postmaster-General, the Hon. F. Jones, in explanation of the delay.- No indication is given of where the site for the automatic exchange will be, but there is a belief it may be on the site of the present post office building. Crushed Beneath Tractor. Crushed underneath a tractor when it overturned on a hill, Clifford John Utting, aged 31, contractor, of Wairoa Avenue, Birkenhead, suffered broken ribs and a fractured collarbone when working on a property at Birkdale. Auckland, on Friday. In order to remedy a fault which had developed in the machine, Utting was standing behind the tractor. With Utting under-, neath it rolled some distance down 1 the hillside before coming to rest' against several trees and a fence. The ' accident was not seen. Utti/ig staggered across the ' paddock for 200 yards and collapsed upon reaching the nearest house. He was taken to the Auckland Hospital, which reports that hi* condition is not regarded as seri-

Japanese Tree Tulip Flowers. A Japanese tree tulip in the gardes of Mr. D. J. Hughes, Normanby, Taranaki, has flowered after 40 years’ life. The flowers are pale green in colour and have six petals, each blotched with orange, and large yellow stamens. Because of the shape of the leaves the tree is sometimes known as the saddlecloth tree. Monarch Butterflies Appear. The beautiful monarch butterflies are now making their appearance in Auckland. A fine specimen was observed on Thursday over the scrub lands near Blockhouse Bay. It alighted on the roadway where it remained for a time, opening and closing its wings as though to emphasise the beauty of its colouring and markings, which were in perfection. Wake of the Storms. With Canterbury now under clear skies for the first time for nearly a week, it was possible to obtain some idea of the severity of the storms experienced throughout the province in the past few days. New snow thickly coated the Southern Alps and the foothills could be seen glistening in the early sunlight of the morning, the scene being more typical of winter than summer. Flooded rivers may be expected when the thaw sets in with the return of warmer temperatures. Long-tailed Cuckoo. A long-tailed cuckoo was found on the property of the Southland Racing Club on Thursday last. The bird, which was dead when found, did not appear to be injured in any way. The long-tailed cuckoo arrives in New Zealand early in October and leaves again in February and March. It is thought that the bird flies by way of Norfolk Island and the Kermadecs on its migration and winters in the islands of the Western Pacific. A bird of parasitical and predatory habits, the Jong-tailed cuckoo creates great commotio-n among smaller birds. Fishing Dispute. In an effort to end the present fishing hold-up in Southland waters, a conference is to be held this month between representatives of the Fishermen’s Union and the merchants. This announcement was made by the secretary of the Stewart Island branch of the Fishermen’s Union (Mr. W. Bailey, sen.) in an interview. Practically all the fishermen at the island were willing to resume fishing immediately, Mr. Bailey said, but they could not do so without the authority of the Seamen’s Union, to which the Fishermen’s Union is affiliated. However, because of the higher costs of fuel oil, petrol and other necessaries, it was quite impossible for the men to earn a reasonable living if they were to receive only 27s per 1001 b for their catches. In response to a request which he had made to the former Minister for Labour (the Hon. H. T. Armstrong), Mr. Bailey said, the Minister had agreed to extend the period in which the men could be engaged on public works until the end of January. Normally the scheme should have ended on December 24, but to enable fishermen to continue working until a settlement could be reached an extension of the period had been sought.