NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 33, 8 February 1935, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY

Stock Embargo. Opposition to the removal of the slock embargo was again voiced at the meeting of the Dominion Executive of the J^ew Zealand Farmers' Union yesterday afternoon. Emphasis was laid by a number of speakers on the risk of the introduction of foot-and-mouth disease if the' embargo were lifted. While the Cabbage Droops. Gardeners are much affected by the present water shortage. One came into "The Post" yesterday afternoon to point'out that the hose ran for three hours and a quarter on the Kelburn Park cricket pitch yesterday morning. "That water would have done my cabbages a lot of good," he said. Bull Incapacitated. A young bull owned by Mr. F. E. Martyn, Eangiora, contrived to get itself into an unusual tangle on Sunday, states the "Christchurch Times." A farm hand called Mr;.Martyn's attention to the fact that the bull's foot needed liberating from its horn. Investigating, he found that the animal had evidently been trying to scratch an itchy hind foot on a sharp curved horn. Drawing the foot back, it had pulled the horn right through the pad and out at the toe. The bull had been like this for some time, and was almost paralysed. It required three strong men to unhook the foot. ■ Kates Demand to be Fought. The Auckland Education Board has decided to contest the legality of the decision of the Auckland City Council to levy rates on school committees which had leased school tennis courts to tennis clubs, the '.'Herald" reports. In an effort to raise money for various matters connected with the welfare, of the school, some school committees had leased the courts, which are used after school hours. The chairman of the board, Mr. T. U. Wells, said that the executive had recommended taking the matter to the board's solicitors for a report. He added that the executive had good grounds for taking that step. "We cannot pay the rates unless we are liable, 15 commented the Hon. A. Burns, M.Ii.C. Cricketers Without Shirts. So oppressive was the heat on Anni-. versary Day (January 29) that the members of a team in the Auckland Cricket Association's senior competition, playing a match at the Auckland Grammar School ground in Mountain Hoad, discarded their shirts. The incident was mentioned at the last meeting of the association's management committee, when disapproval of the team's action was expressed. It was mentioned by one member of the committee that the association had sufficient trouble in endeavouring to persuade lower grade players to dress correctly without seniors sotting such a bad' example. Steer-riding Thrills. The steer-riding 'competition at the Upper Wairoa show held at Tangiteroria caused several thrills to the large attendance of spectators, says a northern exchange. One young man was thrown heavily by a steer within a few seconds of mounting. His head struck the hard ground with considerable force and he was knocked unconscious. First-aid was rendered by a medical student, and later the injured man was taken to his employer's farm, suffering from concussion, but his condition was :not' serious. Another man received a'severe cut to the nose. A fractious steer, after unseating its rider and breaking into the crowd, was skilfully thrown by one of the stewards. It was necessary to tie , the animal's leg before it could be removed. More Specialisation. .';•;■ New Zealand swimmers are advised by.Mr. H. T. Bretton to specialise more in their, swimming, on the lines the Japanese have been following; "One trouble with swimmers in New Zealand is that they want to be cock-of-th'&walk over as many distances as possible," he said.. "They might be able to do it locally j but they will be back markers in national fields." Mr. Bretton is a past president of the English Amateur Swimming Association and for several years has represented England, on the International Federation.' He also took the English swimming team to:the Amsterdam and Hamilton Games. ;An example of concentration.was given by the Japanese at the Los Angeles Olympic Games, where they met with great success. A man could not hope to excel over several distances. "You need some good coaches," was his advice. "Few of the clubs perhaps could afford a coach on their own account, but it could be done by the controlling association and the coach lent out to the clubs. TheH you would get some results," added Mr. Bretton.,

Historic Trout. "A three pound trout where I come from is historic," said Mr. Elmer R. Murphey, a business man with Canadian interests, who resides at Pasadena, California, when discussing at Christchurch a week's fishing at Lake Taupo. He and his wife landed nine rainbow trout in two and a half hours and thoroughly enjoyed it. The usual run of trout about Pasadena was one pound, he said. Loan Conversion at Christchurch. Such good progress is being made with the task of converting the Christchurch. City Council's loans to a lower rate of interest that the applications received froni debenture holders represent more than half the total sum to be converted, states the "Press." The applications already received during a period of three and a half weeks cover a total of £539,708, which is. a -good deal more than -half of the total of the loans to be converted—£l,olo,lls. The conversion is one of the biggest transactions of its nature undertaken in.New Zealand. Removal of Water Meters. "It should be known that the Legislature regards such offences * with gravity, and a penaltyof up to £20 is provided for," stated Mr. I. J. Goldstine, Mayor of One Tree Hill, when a case in which a water meter had been tampered with was reported to the borough council, the.: ■ "Herald" reports. It was stated that a plumber removed a meter from a ratepayer's property without authority for the purpose of having it tested. Mr. Goldstine said the man, who would be warned that he would-be prosecuted in the eveht; of another 1 offence, did not realise his breach. Were wholesale tampering-, with meters to occur, the difficulty which could arise might easily be imagined. ■ Money in Chancery. , There is a possibility that a resident of Sumner, Mr. J. Phillips, of Heberden Avenue, may participate in a fortune of about £250,000, which at present lies in Chancery in England, slates the "Christchurch Times." The original sum, which was the basis of the fortune, was left by Admiral Porter, of the British Navy, to a Cornishman, Richard; Mitchell. Mr. Mitchell refused to accept.the money sfod the estate fell into Chancery. Since then an effort has been made by a solicitor to recover the money, but a Colonel Mitchell, who was named as the heir, declared that he had no connection with the original Richard Mitchell. Mr. Phillips is the youngest grandson of Richard Mitchell, but the necessary documents proving his relationship are in the possession of a cousin in England and he has lost contact with this cousin. At the present time Mr. Phillips, who lost a leg at tho .Somme, is considering whether it would be worth the trouble to try legally to establish his relationship with his grandfather and thus secure some of the money. Butter in London. Writing to a friend whilst on a tour of England, a Dunedin man related an experience that surprised him,- telegraphs "The Post's" Dunedin correspondent. He found that in London the principal butter-selling shops were doing business mainly in English and Danish butter, the New Zealand product being quite a side-line. It was being asked for chiefly by the poorer classes* who bought it by the ounce. Prosecuting his search, the writer saw New Zealand butter featured in shops of the suburbs in which manual workers live, and from what he saw and was told these people appreciated its quality and cheapness, but it struck him that that was not the only class of buying that New Zealand dairymen were needing and expecting, and that some steps should be taken to combat what seemed to him to be nothing but conservative prejudice that had taken hold of the well-to-do thousands. Left to Burn. ' A six-roomed wooden two-storoy dwelling at Woolston was burned to the ground on Wednesday evening. The house, which was hot occupied at the time, caught fire about 9.30 and blazed fiercely.' .The - Christchurch Fire Brigade received a! catty says the "Star," but two engines which went but returned to the station when it was found that the house was outside the Fire Board's area. The house, which was forty years old, was recently sublet to a tenant who moved a good deal of his furniture in yesterday and proposed to take up his residence there shortly. When neighbours arrived on the scene the flames had obtained a strong hold on.the front portion of the building and quickly spread to the rear. A crowd quickly gathered, but there were no fire-fighting appliances available. ' The Heathcote River was close by but those present could do nothing except watch the sight of the flames roaring through the rooms. By 11 o'clock nothing was left of the dwelling but a mass of blazing wood and twisted iron on the ground. The chimney remained standing and for a long time a tank stand' reared out of the ruins, but as the supports burned through it became unstable enough to be pushed over by some of the spectators. The tenant lost over £100 worth of furniture and miscellaneous articles, some of them irreplaceable. "Salting" a Gold Mine. "Salting" a gold mine is an ancient practice.that gained:a certain amount of notoriety in Australia and New Zealand in the early days. In South Africa, too, it is not unknown, and in ■an interview with an "Otagp Daily Times" reporter, Mr. N. Malcolm a graduate of the Otago School of Mines, who is manager of the Rusteriburg Platinums in the Northern Transvaal, mentioned an instance of ."salting" that had been done in a skilful and ingenious manner. The miner struck a "duffer," but was determined to make a profit, so he "acquired" some specimens of reef from a neighbouring mine and carefully cemented them tp the walls of his drive, so that everywhere a test was taken, good values were shown. On another occasion Mr. Malcolm was sent to inspect a mine with a view to purchase. Reliable and independent information showed that the vender had been crushing for years and had sold a large quantity of gold, but when the samples were tested it was found that they were valueless. The gold, it was.discovered, had been "acquired" from a more successful mine, and the proprietor of the "duffer" no doubt believed- that he was satisfying all moral and legal demands by doing a certain amount of crushing before disposing of his purloined profits. ■