DOMINION NEWS.

Hokitika Guardian, 8 December 1927, Page 4

DOMINION NEWS.

(By Telegraph—Per Press Association.) Met AMERY'S HOLIDAY. HAD WEATHER PREVENTS ASCENT OF MT. COOK. THE lIKRMITACE. Dec. 0. Mr Aniery and party left the Ball hut on Monday morning at b o'clock, and went to the hut on the Haast Ridge at 7(100 feet. This hut was erected to the memory of Mr King and On ides Thompson and Richmond, who were killed by an avalanche in Hill. Instead ot the slopes being I ret* of snow, the party found considerable snow to negotiate, and the hut was under snow to the roof. While the billy boiled. Mr Aniery, Mr Harper. .Miss Harper, and Peter Crabnm ascended the olacier Dome. feet over which the route of Ml. Cook generally goes. From here the view of Cook, Tasman, and other great peaks is very line, and Mr Aniery said !■■ could not retail anything so impressive in either Switzerland or Canada. The party stayed on the summit for only a brief time, as a very high wind was blowing.

Mr Aniery is most anxious to ascend Alt. Cook, and had the weather held, the peak would have been climbed today. The weather, however, suddenly changed, and by sunset a furious nor'wester. rain, and bail, necessitated a return to the Bull hut. This was done in very stormy weather, making the descent to the glacier quite* an undertaking. The party at present is at. the Ball but waiting for the weather to clear. This storm will probably put climbing Alt. Cook out of the question.

EMINENT SURCEON. TO VISIT NEW ZEALAND. WELLINGTON. Dec. (i. Mr Victor Bouncy is recognised as the leading authority in Great Britain on the subject of gymeeology and obstretics, and it has now been arranged that he will visit New Zealand in February next, and that while here ho will attend the eonterence ot the New Zealand brunch of the British Medical Association as the specially appointed representative of the. parent association in Great, Britain.

Writing to the local branch, the London secretary says: “ The Council of this Association has heard with great pleasure that Mr Victor Bouncy has been invited to visit New Zealand in connexion with your annual conference at Hamilton. I am sure that Mr Bouncy will receive a hearty welcome. This would he due to his great surgical reputation, but we feel sure that he will he no less welcome as the official representative from the Home Country. and the hearer of our best wishes.”

After cabling his acceptance of the invitation. Mr Bouncy wrote: ” Quito apart from the enjoyment 1 anticipate in seeing your beautjlul country, and meeting many New Zealanders, whom I have known In London, 1 loci Hint your invitation has a big significance as emphasising the brotherhood which exists between all doctors in the British Empire, whether they are practising in the Homeland or in the Dominions abroad, and it gives me great pleasure to know that my confreres in New Zealand think I can assist in the campaign to improve obstetrics and gymeeology in their country.” Mr Victor Bouncy is the author of *• Difficulties and Emergencies In Obstetric Practice,” and other recognised authoritative works on gytue(ology and obstetrics.

THE ACL BLACKS. NOMINATIONS FOR AIANAGER. AVELLINGTON. Hoc. (i. Nominations for llie position ol manager of tin- All Black team for South Africa have now closed, and il is expected that a special meeting of the New Zealand Rugby Union will be held on Wednesday in order to make the appointment. Nominations by the major unions include .Mr H. frost (Auckland), .Mr W. Hornig (Wellington), Air K. McLeod (Taranaki), Mr E. McKenzie ( Wairarapa), and Dr Lawrence (Waikato and Thames Valley). Otago is supporting the nomination ol Mr McLeod. Although no official statement is forthcoming, it is understood that no nominations have been received from Hawke’s Hay or Canterbury. Mr T. A. Fletcher, nresident ot Wellington Referees’ Association, and member of the executive of the New Zealand Rugby Union, has withdrawn his (andidate owing to illness in.'his familv.

EXCITING CHASE. UK JUT WHALE CaI'GHT. WELLINGTON, Doc. G. A party of whalers in Tory Channel had i|iiiio a stilling time on Tuesday of last week, when Arthur fle'.ertv, the uell-knowii wlutler, chased a right whale in the Channel for well over an hour before he managed to harpoon it. It is reported that the whale showed great fight and after being harpooned charged the launch, the Orea. and only skilful seamanship saved serious eonsequences. The whale was actually under the launch when finally bombed. It took two and a half-hours’ chasing and killing. The right whale is valuable, not only tor its oil, hut for the whalebone or sieve-like teeth. It is estimated that the whale caught will produco about nine tons of oil and about four hundredweight of hone and should he worth approximately £3040. This is said to be the first time in about twenty years that a right whale has been caught in the Channel, and it is only very occasionally now that one is securi.l in the Strait. The species usually caught is the humpback. a different type altogether. Tt lias been reported that a sperm whale was seen recently off the Knikouras. The intensity of the slaughter of sperm and right whales in the period I round about 1830 almost made both these species extinct.