NEWS OF THE DAY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 167, 17 July 1942, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

The Wattle Season brightest sights of winter is the display of golden wattle in Auckland gardens at the present Although the wattle was affected like many other trees and flowering plants by the Jong dry spell which was unbroken until the end of June, the show of bloom is now fully equal to that of other years and given a fine, calm spell the trees » continue 3 mass of colour until August. The popularity of this variety of wattle, the Cootamundra, is annually increasing in Auckland and each winter hundreds of youne trees are planted.

Jury's Recommendation A jury which heard a charge of negligent driving causing death in the Supreme Court, Wellington, on Tuesday, added to its verdict of net ?. u y , following recommendaH. on: ;T" ls J ur y recommends that the Government bring down legislation making it compulsory for pedestrians to wear a white patch on their clothing, or to carry a white object juring the hours of darkness." The Chief Justice. Sir Michael Myers, said he would forward the recommendation to the Minister of Justice without comment, "and I make no comment now," he added. Dog's Homing Instinct An example of the homing instinct Possessed by dogs is related by a orakonui farmer. Old Toby, an allpurposes farm dog, was given to a Matamata man, who took him homo and kept,him tied up for a week. Last Saturday the man unchained the dog, and after walking a distance down the farm discovered that the animal had disappeared. For two days Toby's movements were known only to himself, but on the afternoon of the third day he trotted triumphantly up to the door'of his old home, little the worse for a 46-mile journey from Matamata — Incidentally, a Journey originally made at night. Even if canine intelligence is not always considered worthy of man's recognition, canine faithfulness certainly is, and Toby is to spend the remainder of his earthly days at Korakonuf.

Duty on Snuff fpw n r£; t « was sold by only a It . r ch tobacconists before iPl a S ed on the totally proregutation* in ,_ th ®. lm Port restriction SSTo,"^ in « ut y at the rate of 14/ ner less than 0 ?f r pw l^cent ff of 0n toba F°wn in New Zealand which may of cigar makera°Tn an Auckland firm weisrfn ThR, excess of 70001b wtinni. l rus action has been tjikon because the Minister of Customs con sulers tHnt the manufacture of cigars and snuff containing less than 75 per ccnt of New Zealand tobacco is detrimental to the public revenues a tobacconist said that 20 years aco snuff was sold by practically every tobacconist, but the trade gradually declined as the elderly purchasers died and the snuff-taking habit was It 2 ot ky a later generation. m bnuff, which was sold at 2/ an ounce ■ wa ?, " iadc of Powdered tobacco, to ■ which perfumes were added.

Important Omission For many months the members of an Auckland Home Guard unit had been looking forward to receiving them, and last night they were issued—nice, big, warm military greatcoats. Their texture was excellent their cut smart. Their sizes varied to suit the prospective wearers. In fact, they were very nice greatcoats indeed, and the boys were really bucked about them until they found they had no buttons. The Way with the Navy The sight of two naval ratings in the street carrying batons excited the curiosity of a dear old lady. "What do you use those for?" she asked of one of the sailors. "To knock a man down if he is troublesome, lady was the reply. "How often do you have to hit him?" was the next question. "Only once, lady," said the sailor. "But suppose the man won't fall down? queried the dear old soul once again. "Well, lady," said the sailor, "in that case we go round the back of him and see what's propping him up." Whitebait on Coast Several small shoals of whitebait have been observed making their way into the mouth of the Hokitika River, the small shoals hugging the sand bank on the north side of the river. It is not unusual to see small runs as early as July, and many years ago the sight was even more common. The season does not open until September 15, and all fishing is prohibited until then. So far it is hard to predict what the season will be like, although conditions during ihe spawning season were not wholly favourable. Hazards of Ploughing Ploughing is not usually regarded as a hazardous occupation. An unusual accident which occurred at Fairiight (Southland) recently shows that it may not always be unattended with danger. Mr. C. J. Adams was opening up a new paddock with a plough drawn by a team of horses, when a link in one of the plough chains broke, and a section of the link flew back with such force as to penetrate the thickest part of the calf of his leg, making a clean cut also through the clothing in its passage. Mr. Adams is now a patient in the Southland Hospital, where he is making satisfactory progress. Tratlic Problem A unique traffic problem had to be solved by tramway men about 11 o'clock last night at the intersection of Symonds Street, Mount Eden Road and New North Road. A tramcar bound for Three Kings negotiated the Mount Eden corner with its front bogie wheels only, the rear bogie wheels refusing to take the bend and continuing along the New North Road track. It was a puzzling situation, as both sets of wheels were facing different directions, the car coming to a stop in the middle of fa ' rw ay blocking traffic on all ThrL^ ?sengers to Mount Ede n and on one line, and to BalAv£nAau, Wairal L a ' Mount Albert and sSrtH&S were resumed. tcrsecuon