LATE LOCALS.

Hokitika Guardian, 27 January 1931, Page 5

LATE LOCALS.

A ‘-‘nest,” of six fish was found' tlw other day by Air P. Thomson, the Alayor of Stratford, in soft soil under a log on his farm. One of the tub was forwarded oy the Stratford Ax climatisaton Society to Mr A. E. Heflorct, chief inspector of fisheries, nho inderitified it ns a specimen of the New Zealand mud fish, Neochadda r.poda. The -fish, which inhabits swamp pools, burrows into the mud when the water dries up and lives comfortably i util the pool fills again. The mud fi -h is pugnacious, and the Maori names for the species, hauhau. and waikaka imply fierceness and water [. ai rot respectively.

Aliss Alercedes Gleitze, the English endurance swimmer, is not the oh.v one who has hopes of swimming Cook Strait. Air Ronald Webster, the 24-year-old Aucklander who has figured in a number of long distance swims, is confident that the task is not beyond him, and he is quietly training at Nelson. tVebster, it will be remembered, went South to make tli? attempt on the Strait last year, but when swimming Wellington Harbour he was taken ill with appendieis. ID has twice won the Anrtette KeHerman Cup, the Dominion championship ra :e over three miles, and he will be a competitor in the event' at Wanganui again this year. He has also won the Auckland Harbour race on one occasion and has returned fastest time in the event in two other years. longest swim to date is from A ride's Bay to Milford, (Auckland).