NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 35, 11 February 1931, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Child Identified. Yesterday "The Post" published a photograph of a girl about two years old who wandered into the Napier Post Office food depot after the earthquake. In the evening Station 2YA was infoiinod by Mrs. Callaghan, of Mill road, Brooklyn, that she had identified the child from the photograph as Betty; Gray, with whose parents sho had spent Christmas. ' 2YA'S message may assist in bringing the child and her parents together. The Mararoa's End. The old steamer Mararoa, which has been dismantled' at the Patent Slip Wharf, will bo taken out into Cook Strait towards the end of the week, possibly to-morrow morning, and scuttled. The fittings of the Maraioa were recently sold by auction, and she is now but the skeleton of the famous vessel that was once so well known in New Zealand, waters. Clearing Growth in Streets. An interesting experiment is at present being made by the Lower Hutt; Borough Council in the use of a machine for burning growth oft' the streets. The council has purchased two machines, and it is hoped that not only will the growth be burnt, but that the soil will be sterilised and seeds destroyed. > Discomfited. , Pitting the crew, numbering 125, against the passengers, totalling 135, Mr. Hugh. Ward, who has come from Australia to see- if he can lend an experienced hand in raising funds for earthquake relief, collected £70 for the funds on board the Marama on her trip from Sydney to Wellington. He began by approaching the crew. "I'm good for a fiver," cried a fireman, and the first donation was made. The steerage passengers included a Communisti-cally-inclined gentleman, who, in response to Mr. Ward's solicitations, commenced a tirade concerning "capitalists" and their ability to pay for the Napier disaster without help from anyone «lse. Mr.. Ward was equal to tbo occasion. "There is only one great pity abont you," he retorted witheringly, "and that is that you weren't in the earthquake.'? The jost of the steerage "laughed/their heads off," and to the collection which followed every person gave something. Good Fishing. An excellent catch was made ab the Bay of Islands fishing grounds on Friday by Mr. C. Stowart, of Singapore, according to a letter received by Mr. S. G. Borisor. Tlie. result o£ Mr. Stewart's day's fishing was one mako, of 5211b, a swordfish of 3731b, and two kingiish of 581b and 601b respectively —a total of 10121b. The catch was regarded as a wonderful one, and there was great rejoicing at Otehei Bay when Mr. Stewart returned. A Motorist's Troubles. Motorists who needed spare parts or benzine at Napier in order get out of the town had many unpleasant exporienees, especially if they wore of the tourist kind, or had merely gone up to "see the sights." Few, however, can have had a more difficult time than one who was on business at Port Ahul'iri. Stopped by the man he had' come out to see after a fruitless search for him, he made a grasp at his pocket for his wallet. It slipped cut of his fingers, and dropped into what in the Alps would be called a crevasse, one of the yawning chasms in the- road caused by the earthquake. What to do next was the problem, as he- had locked his car preparatory to accompanying, his a-cquaintanee to the store. A lounger told him the only thing to do was to get under the ■ car, arch his back like a cat, and get at the handles inside. This he did, but in the operation he signally damaged his ignition system. He got a tow back to the town by a lorry, but there his troubles really only commenced, because in all the garages the stock was burnt out. Experimenting with the ignition, he managed to make a contact with a steel screwdriver, and this burnt out his coil. After many fruitless visits' to gentlemen who the day before had owned garages, but now had nothing but heaps of ill-smelling refuse, he found an obliging mechanic who hunted over all the partly burnt cars until he discovered a -coil that looked lifelike. This was tied in place with adhesive tape, joined up, and, oh, joy! •'the engine •roared. With, this primitive fitting, ■and after some further adjustments, the' car ran to Wellington, once a tremendous heat in the coil had been discovered to be duo to lack of oarth wire, and this was remedied.