NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 15, 19 January 1933, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Electoral Roll. r . The> Wellington district electors' iolt for use in tie 1933 municipal elections closes on the .last day of this month. It therefor© Behoves all Wellingtonians who are not under\2l years of age and who have been, resident in the Dominion for twelve months and in "Wellington for three months to see that their names are on it; otherwise they may find that, although entitled to a vote, they have no offeetive voice in the choice of those who are to guide the city's destinies. , Ambulance Service. The report of the superintendent (Mr. •F. Boffe), presented at to-day's meeting of the Free Ambulance Board, showed' that during December, 1932, the service attended to 540 cases —86 accidents, 448"transports," 5 slight, and 1 serious office cases. The1 cars travelled 5341 miles during the month. During 1932 the service attended to 6407 eases, and the cars travailed 63.402 miles. The total eases attended now number 34,775, and 346,300 miles have been travelled by the cars.. . A Botanist's Paradise. "The.native Bush is regarded by expert' botanists as being the most attractive and botanically interesting inthe whole, of the world,"- said the Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe, at the opening of the A. G..Simpson Domain, Kaiharangi (reports the "Bangitikei Advocate'?). ■. "Something like 85 per cent, of the whole of the native bush plants are to be found only in New Zealand and in the islands adjacent to her coast. They are exceedingly beautiful as compared with the native bush of other countries. New Zealand is ,a botanist's paradise, but it will not enjoy that reputation unless the bush is preserved." Misplaced Humour. A practical joker made his way quietly into the ground floor of the Blenheim Fire Brigade station just after midnight a few nights ago and indulged in a little manipulation of the electric generators which ring alarm bells in the homes of non-resident members of the brigade, says the "Marlborough Express." As a result some 16 firemen came hurrying from all quarters of the town, only to find that they had been hoaxed, but there was no one to vent their wrath upon, for the intruder, with nice discretion, had vanished,, as silently as he had come,' even before the sleeping men upstairs could reach the ground floor. Dentists and Christmas. According- to the "Wapganui Chronicle," a local dentist always associates Christmas with plenty of toothache. His rooms were unusually full this year, and a feature was the number of people who wanted aching* teeth attended to. Aaked for an explanation of the prevalence, ho saia excitement was one, of the causes. Even people who did not touch sweets were not immune from the torments of a bad tooth. The '' festive season,'' with its excitement and general indulgence in good things, caused an increase in blood pressure, and that had an effect on the teeth. The dentist said he had an abnormal number of extractions to make this Christmas. Deep-sea Pishing. The secretary of the Wellington Acclimatisation Society, Mr. Wiffen, who is visiting Mr. Zane Grey's fishing camp at Whitianga, is of the opinion that the streams of that district are eminently suitable for trout-fishing (states the "Now Zealand Herald"). He recommends stocking them to enable biggame fishermen to indulge in fly-fishing when the weather is unsuitable ■ for deep-sea fishing. Mr. Zane Grey's last catch was a mako shark weighing well over 5001b. It, was landed after an hour's fight, providing a spectacular sight, the infuriated fish, which was doublo-hooked, jumping repeatedly with tho line wound round its tap.

Matriculation Results. The results of the Matriculation, or University Entrance, examination should be available early next week. Candidates sat for the examination in December, and the University of New Zealand hopes to have the details ready for publication almost immediately. Weight of the Name. One of the steers exhibited at the Christmas Show of the Royal Agricultural Society, in sLondon, was named after the Anglesey village with the longest place-name in the world: fairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllgerllandisiliogogogoeh"! Rather than weigh the catalogue down on one side, the printer abbreviated the name to "Llanfair and the public appreciated the "P.G." more/ than anything else. | Mad Dog in Street. \ A cattle dog, which had evidently been maddened by poison, ran amuck in Empire street, JTrankton Junction, on Monday afternoon (states the "New Zealand Herald"). The dog ran into a steam laundry and caused a good deal of- excitement among the employees. It went out again at a furious pace and entered the front door of a neighbouring house. A second house was visited by the animal in its mad career and the inmates locked themselves in a bedroom. A police con-, stable was called upon to deal with the animal. He ran the dog into a shed and threw buckets of water over it. He thus succeeded in quietening it. The animal was later t :destroyed. Fortunately no one was bitten by the dog. "Whistling for Fanners. The task of marshalling the seventyseven tourists who comprise the Victorian farmers' party visiting New Zealand is no light, oriel To assist him the secretary, Mr., E. G. Ham, carries a shrill whistle, which he blows when an assembly is called for, such as when the melnbers have been sightseeing and the conveyances are about to depart (states the "New Zealand Herald"). After the Mariposa had berthed and preparations for disembarking were being made, the whistle could be heard shrilling up and down the ship, while men and women wearing the large. metal anil enamel badge of the party wended their way along the decks and up and down companionways in answer to the call. Trade With India. I have it from.. every Anglo-Indian I have met that there is a definite market for New Zealand butter, meat, and honey in-India (writes a correspondent who recently travelled to England by way of India). Good reports as to New Zealand produce from their folks in the Old Country .have made them interested, also the fact that Australian butter costs them from 2s lOd to 3s a pound. They seek butter at one rupee a pound all the year round, regular supplies, no high exchange antics, and a better demand from New Zealand for their- t6as. As So transport they believe if there was trade offering one of tho companies could be persuaded to divert' one. steamer a, month to-Wel-lington! instead of Brisbane. _ That is their point of view; if the business is worth anything to New Zealand it may be advisable to send a good shipment of produce to Ceylon and India as a test. The Anglo-Indians are ready to trade and are interested in New Zealand as a country. They have their own troubles these days and are anxious for co-operation for mutual benefit. Library Vandals. ' 'Book-destroyers are still at work in the public library at Christchurch; A "Press" reporter wanted to consult the Encyclopaedia Britanniea on a certain subject and took the volume from the shelves, only to find that .the subject,he wanted to read about had been neatly sliced from the book. He drew the -. attention of the librarian to, the fact, and was told that, such destruction was becoming only too frequent. Nflt eontent> apparently, with the facilities offered by the reading room of the public library, many earnest students seem to find it; necessary to take their literature home with them, regardless of the fact that it is not'their property. Mount Sefton Climbed. Mount Sefton was climbed recently by two parties, Messrs. E. 6. Kerr ([Timaru) and C. Hilgendorf (Lincoln), and Messrs. Don and D. L. Poster (Wellington), states the Christchurch "Press." The parties crossed the Copland Pass from, the Hermitage and on the next day established a ;high bivouac up the Scott Eiver. The route was then across a pass in the Sierras into the head of the Douglas Glacier. This was found to be fairly, clear of bad ; crevasses, and the. last thousand feet of the. western lidge was also in good condition. ■ . • . Spurious Coins. s A number of Hastings shopkeepers were victimised during the holidays by the passing of spurious coins, which were passed on. in good faith to the banks before detection. The majority were shillings, but there were also florins and half-crowns, -Borne of which were made of such poor 'material that they broke to pieces in the hand. A number of half-crowns with large pieces cut from them were also tendered for payment of goods, and, concealed among other coins of a similar denomination, escaped notice until the cash was being checked. Most Boys Could Do It. Although the average boy probably goes to a job for the first time with a certain amount of misgiving, it is thought -that a boy who ,was selected by the Dunedin Vocational Guidance Committee for a position on a farm, wont to his 'job with confidence. In his application the farmer asked for a boy "who can eat a good meal,-and, if possible, whistle at his work."