NEWS OF THE DAY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22340, 27 May 1947, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

Hot Stream Divined The claim that he has discovered a liberal flow of hot water in an underground stream of considerable width beneath Hamilton is made by a water diviner, Mr. C. W. Adams, Matamata. Mr. Adams has drawn the attention of the Hamilton City Council to his discovery. A good hot water swimming pool is envisaged in his statement. Trams Fay; Buses Lose A net surplus of £34,138 for the tramway working and a deficit of £14,977 in its bus services, giving a combined net profit of £19,261, was reported at the annual meeting of the Auckland Transport Board. Tramway revenue for the year ended on March 31 was £1,026,249, a reduction of £ 58,951, or 5.4 per cent, and the tramway working expenses fell by £18,706, or 2 per cent, compared with last year.—P.A. Harbour Rate At a special meeting of the Gisborne Harbour Board yesterday the r,ate for the current financial year was fixed at thirteen-sixteenths of Id in the £1 on the capital value of rateable property in the Gisborne, harbour district. The motion provided for a rebate of 5 per cent, on prompt payment of rates, and on the proposal of the chairman, Mr. A J. Nicol, it was decided also to make available one month’s grace to ratepayers whose properties were under revaluation. The board's estimate of receipts and expenditure for 1947-48 indicated that £41,363 would have to be raised by rate. Shortage of Medicine Bottles Unless there is a' sudden improvement in bottle supplies, Greymouth chemists fear that customers will have to produce their own bottles for prescriptions. Because of the shortage of an essential ingredient for the manufacture of glass, soda ash, which is imported from England, an Auckland manufacturing firm has been unable to fulfil orders for some time. The bottle shortage is also affecting the proprietary lines of medicines, and one whalesale supplying firm has had to delete a number of lines from its list, because it has not the glass containers for packing. The medicines are in good supply, but cannot be marketed without bottles. Army Boots To Be Sold Now in store at Aotea quay, 132,000 pairs of army boots, made in New Zealand to the order of the British Government, will shortly be placed on the New Zealand market. The boots are lined and of excellent quality and 'finish, and the price is expected to be most reasonable. They are in all sizes • from fours to thirteens. During the ■” war the British Government placed large orders for boots with New Zealand manufacturers, but when the war finished a large quantity awaited shipment. The War Assets' Realisation •'< Board, acting for the United Kingdom and Allied Governments, has arranged for their disposal through the chief footwear wholesalers. Eels Thwart Sportsmen ,

In earlier years a favourite breeding-m ground of the wild duck, Niagara lake on Avondale station at Hangaroa has suffered a decline this season owing to the depredations of huge eels which now infest the water. Young ducks have been lost in such numbers during -c the early season that wild-fowl now incline to give the lake a wide berth, and sportsmen have found this season that when birds are shot down on the lake they are seldom retrieved before the eels pull them under. Mr. John Harris, tired of competing for the birds, yesterday shot one large eel and later hooked another on a line. It weighed 281 b, measured 4ft. 6in. from snout to tail, and spanned 15in. at its greatest girth. A campaign to clear the lake of eels is now under consideration. Collection of Native Birds.

A native robin, now very rare on Banks Peninsula, and three partial albino starlings are among a collection of about 24 mounted birds made upwards of 40 years ago at Okains Bay by Mr. D. Cunningham, of St. Albans, Christchurch, who has now presented them to the Canterbury Museum. Dr. R A Falla, director of the museum, said that the starlings, one of which is almost all white, were interesting because they had been collected at intervals of some years. It was evident that the strain of albinism in the breeding stock had persisted over a number of generations. Albinism was more commonly reported in sparrows and blackbirds. Other specimens m the collection are a bellbird, a tui, both the native cuckoos (the long-tailed and the shining), a native tomtit, a kingfisher, a rifleman wren, and a morepork. “N.Z. Is Piano-Ridden” “Instrumentally we are a pianoridden country, about 90 per cent of competitors and examination candidates being pianists,” said the vocal and instrumental judge at the Hutt Valley competitions, Mr. Will Hutchens. “Where are our future violomsts, cellists oboists, clarionetists? The great majority of our students could not tell an oboe from a clarinet if they saw them both, much less if they heard them,” lie added. “Comparing the present festival with that of 1945 I am struck by the great development that ha", taken place.” That an improvement in musical taste was taking place, was indicated in the class of _ music being chosen by competitors in the “own selection” classes. Ihe study ol well-chosen test, pieces had introducec students to a good type of music, ol which they were becoming increasingly fond.