NEAR AND FAR

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 75, 19 November 1931, Page 4

NEAR AND FAR

Death im Trout. Anglers are perturbed at the steady increase in the number of shags in various districts, as the birds are particularly voracious feeders on young trout. An instance ve'rifying this claim came to notice a few years ago, when the Hairini settler shot a shag that he had seen** frequenting the Mangahoe stream. As it appeared to have just finished a particularly big feed, dissection was decided upon to discover what its diet had been. Imagine the surprise of the shootist and his friends to find no less than 21 trout, averaging in length from three to four iriches, in the shag. If the trout to this number are a daily diet, it can well be realised that a heavy toll is taken of young fish by shags all over the district. Insect Pest. A small species of flying insect caused a great deal of annoyance in Gisborne this week, says the Poverty Bay Herald. In some areas people found themselves covered with the insects as they walked or cycled along the roads. , Memhers of the City Band, during a municipal concert in the Botanical Gardens, also suffered some inconvenience. Large nupabers of insects, no doubt drawn by the light, clustered on the music sheets, which were difficult to read as a result. The humid conditions were reSponsible for the appeayance of the insects in such large numbers. Largest Flower in the World. The largest flower in the world is claimed to be Rafflesia arnoldii: This is a native of Sumatra, and was discovered in 1818 by Sir Stamford Raffles and Dr. Arnold, after whom it was named. The plant bears a flower which when fully developed, is more than 3ft in diameter, and weighs abottt 221b. 'Each of the five petals is 1ft long and half an inch thick, and the flower is as deep as a gallpn jar. The plant is a parasite, and has no true stem or leaves, but brings forth its flowers when those of its host plant, the busses, rave withered. The Javanise say these extraordinary flowers have great styptic qualitieS. Crossing, the Channel. The English Channel was first erossed by balloon in 1785, by a swimmer in 1875, by aeroplane in 1909, by motor boat in 1929, by punt in 1930, and by glider this year. New Instrument. A new quintuple instrument has been invented. Professor Walther Nernst, of Berlin, winner of the 1920 Nobel Prize for chemistry, helped to design the instrument, which is a combination grand piano, wireless receiver, harmonium, spinet, and phonOgraph. All the sounds are produced electrically, the string vibfations being picked up and amplified through a loud speaker. Luther Memorial. The chapel of the Hartenfels Palace, at Torgau, Germany, which was built according to Martin Luther?s directions in 1545 as the first protestant church in Germany, and which was consecrated by him: personally, is being restored as a Luther memorial. Illumination, the organ, the painting, pews, and windows of the church will be restored as far as possible to their original eondition. Too Elevated. There was an amusing incident at the Palmerston North Magistrate's Court last week. During the proceedings the onlookers in the gallery attempted to improve their view of the proceedings by standing upon seats at the back pf the Court. They were sternly rebuked by a Court official, but one man appeared to be a persistent offender. Ultimately it was discovered that he was not standing on anything higher than the floor, but was 6ft 8in tall. Somewhat embarrassed under the circumstanceS, he endeavoured to meet the situatipn by doubling himself, up slightly.' The spectators in the gallery fujly appreciated the humour of the position.

i As Others See Them. "From Auckland, the city of white elephants in the shape of railway stations and post offices, a city that at one time was proud of Arapuni, and a city that is proposing to build a harbour bridge, £750,000 was herald'ed as the sum by which the education vote might be reduced," said Mr. 'S. R. Evison at a meeting of the Canterbury School Committees' Association, reports the Christchurch Press. "As might be expected," he continued, "the figure was not satisfying and in less than a week it was altered to £1,000,000. We have something to be thankful for in that the Hon. R. Masters, within fiye weeks of his appointment, saw fit to express doubt as to where the £1,000,000 was eoming from." Eig.hteen Pounder Landed. Many people, no doubt, have stood on a bridge at midnight, ' but none haye felt more triumphant than did a Southland ahgler, Mf . A. B. Moffett, as he erossed the bridge spanning the Makarewa belpw the Waitahora boat shed at midnight on TKursday. In his basket (says th'e Southland Times) was a brown trout weighing 181b, which he had jqst succeeded in taking out of the river on a 10ft. Hardy rod. At 11.40 p.m. he cast natural bait upon the water, aiid was rewarded with a mighty tug.*' The angler thought he had foul-hpoked a seven-pourider. ' For twenty minutes a battle waged between man and fish. The angler was amazed when he saw the size of his prize. All thought of further fishing vanished. His car was started up, and driven post haste to the house of a friend, Who he knew had scales. The friend, at first anything but pleased at being roused from his slumbers, thawed when he saw the magnificent ■'"fish. The scales were produced, 'the trout placed in one pan, a succession : df weights placed in the other unti! the maximum, 151b, was reached. Fortunately there were three pounds of butter in the house, and theSe were added to the weights unfil an exact balance was obtained. Tfie fish measured 33 h inches in length, aitd was 20 inches in girth. It is questipnT able if any other fish as Ia'rge has been taken from the Makarewa, nor have any been in better eondition.