NEAR AND FAR

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 84, 30 November 1931, Page 4

NEAR AND FAR

Large Salmon Fishing off . the Miramar Wharf, Wellington, Mj*. 'C. A, E. Malzard, of Miramar, caught what he considered to be a 121b. salnion. The fish measured 28iin. long and 8|in. at the broadest p-art. It. was sold: to an establishment in the city. Mr. Malzard has hauled up some interesting fish from time; to time. About a month ago, fishing at Karaka Bay with a companiori, he caught a species of shark measuring 5ft. 9in. which was understood to be of the harmless variety. At present it is considered that there is a seven-foot shark of the same variety frequenting the same neighbourhood. The 5ft 9in one was hauled up- after it had been played for two hours and a-half. Six Safety Years "The railways have now eompieted six successive years without one fatality among their 150 million passengers earried in that time." — "New Zealand Railways Magazine." Sunspots Two moderately large sunspots are now visible close to the eastern limb of the sun, according to a statement made by Mr. G. V. Hudson, of Karori recently. They are the largest spots which have appear ed on the sun's surface since the end of May. During the past six months sunspots have been few in number and relatively yery small in size, and many days have occurred when the solar disc has been free of spots altogether, , i Falling Star ' Before daylight on a recent morning a night worker at Wanganui was suprised to aee the road about him light up as if an overhead car light were directed at him. He looked up and was startled to see an exceptionally bright shooting star, very low in the sky, leaving a trail .of fire and smoke as it disappeared in the direction of the sea. The smoke hung about the sky for some time. The Crying Need "I am convinced that the crying need of our day is not for more politicians and economists — we have too many of the former already — but for more theologians, philosophers and poets who will get down to the basic ideas and so give us foundations on which to build a civilisation that will meet the need and answer the aspirations of the men of our twentieth century," said Dr. J. D. Salmond, when addressing the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce. Air Mail Stamps Stamp collectors state that the price of air mail stamps in Wanganui, for which the modest sum of 3 d to 54 was paid last week, has risen to 2s.. Keen interest is being shown in this issue, and philatelists are,confident that "very good value" will be returned for stamps in the near future.

How Many Dogs in N.Z.? How many dogs are there in New Zealand? Judging from a* visit paid to an Invercargill workshop, there must be hundreds of thousands, for a mountainous mass of dog collars was to be seen in the work room ready for dispatch to various county councils in the South Island. Last year the firm supplied 14,700 collars to local bodies. This year the total is expected to reach 25,000. Lost Art "Step-cutting with the aid of iceaxes is almost a lost art in the Southern Alps, especially in Canterbury," said Mr. L. Mahan, a well-known Timaru alpinist, in the course of a lecture at Christchurch on elimbing experiences and the technique of elimbing. "The use of crampons has almost done away with the need for cutting steps. Climbers on the West Coast still get plenty of practice on the glaeiers, but those on the Canterbury | side of the Alps hardly use their axes | at all," stated Mr. Mahan. i Splendid Sacrifice j . (."What a splendid sacrifice for the good of the community the piopeer i ipembers of the Church of England ; made for this provinee," said His ' Excellency the Governor-General, j Lord Bledisloe, -when addressing the 1 hoys of the Cathedral Grammar j School in Christchurch the other day. | "They laid the tenets of education according to the old English standi ards, and set up a great symbol of i their f aith in the Cathedral. When j I think of the huge sums of money ; fhat are spent nowadays on palaces [ of pleasure, instead of palaces of spiritual exercise, I realise how truly great they were." i & West Coast Gold Craze The gold craze is gradually getting worse ©very day in the Buller district, and since a big nuggef was found in Waimangaroa, prospectors can be noticed fossicking about everywhere, says the Westport News. Around Addison, several parties are at work, including several men who ■\yere formerly working on the Buller Gorge railway. The pakihis have been well gone over, and with the scrub dried up with the hot weather, the parties have done a lot of burning to clear prospective claims. Keeping Two Homes -A long explanation concerning the £1,00 bonus members voted themselves for 1929 was broken by an interruption which' convulsed the audience of Mr. G. C. Munns, the Coalit-jon-United candidate for Roskill, at a meeting recently. Mr. Munns had been referring to the expenses members had to face, and admitted, with a smile, that although his honararium was £8 a week he h^d been "hard.up" for instance, for at least six months ip. the year he had to keep two homes going. "Oh! you bad man," came a voice from the back of the hall. Roar upon roar of laughter gretted the sally, and the candidate joined in when he finally saw the joke. Th,e Correct Talk , ,1'Platforni talk!" sereamed a wotnqn interjecter at a meeting addressed by Mr. R. Darroch, ofiicial Coalifion candidate for "Wellington .Central. "Then what do you want— soapbox taik?" retorted the candidate.