NEAR AND FAR

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 136, 1 February 1932, Page 2

NEAR AND FAR

Deer on Foothills. One result of the dry summer has been to, drive the deer out of the ranges behind the town of Thames into the more open country -of the foothills. One settler, with a back-coun-try run near Puriri, saw four hinds and a stag the other morning grazing in his paddock close t£ the bush. Alarmed by the presence of a dog he had with him, the deer cleared the fence and dashed back into the bush. Cuckoo's Foster Parents. _ A party of Wanganui Technical College boys camping up the Wanga-" nui River were highly amusqd to see two littie grey warblers feeding their foster-child, a young shining cuckoo. The warblers were busily engaged snapping up flies in the willow trees, and at the end of two hours were still busily endeavounring to satisfy the healthy appetite of the bahy cuckoo, which was about the size of a thrush. The warbler is the smallest bird in the New Zealand bush. An Obitnary. The editor of a small country paper was temporarily obliterated, and the office boj'-, who took prizes at school in composition, took a hand at filling the paper. "A man dropped dead jn the street on Monday, and failed to recover. A post-mortem revealed that life was extinct. The unfortunate was a charcoal burner of precarious habits, and leaves an old horse and two dogs. So f ar as is known, there are no other relatives. The funeral was conducted by our respected townsman, Mr. Gloom, who was the only mourner. The sad case reminds us that we are here to-day and gone tomorrow." Harbour Conference. A conference of American harbour authorities is to be held at Los Angeles in June next, and an invitatidn to be represented has been forwarded to the Wellington Harbour Board. In mentioning the matter at the board's meeting, the chairman (Mr. C. J. B. Norwood) said that it was possible that some member would be travelling about the time of the conference, and if so arrangements could be made for him to represent the board. Mr. G. A. Troup asked if the conference was in connection with harbour control or shipping generally. He had been told that at the last shipping conference held in America the whole ohject had been to devise the best means of collaring the shipping of the world. The chairman assured Mr. Troup that the June conference related to harbour matters, and might have a decided educative value. The question of representation is to remain open in the meantime. Albatross at New Ply mouth. A huge albatross squatting on the beach above highwater mark made a peculiar study near New Plymouth for dozens of people who never had seen such a huge bird before. Its beak was eight inches long and two inches wide, while its wing span was over eight feet. Somebody had tied a fathom of rope to its legs with a heavy piece of wood to prevent it from flying any distance into the air. Most people were afraid to venture nearer than five yards owing to the hostile antics of the bird, so it remained fettered. Hen Buried Alive. Though buried under a heap of garden and path-cleanings for twenty- . four days, a Black Orpington hen has survived. The bird was missed by its owner, a Palmerston North resident, on Deeember 27 last. His neighbour, says the Standard, heard the eackling of a fowl on the night of January 19, and an investigation was made in the morning, when the missing hen was discovered under the rubbish where it had apparently nested. The bird was in a weak and emaciated condition, but is now recovering from its strange experience. Music Paper's Future. "When a girls' school can produce and finance a magazine, surely the music teachers of New Zealand can do the same," remarked a delegate at the conference of the Music Teachers' Association of New Zealand when the future of the paper, "Music in New Zealand," was under discussion. She added: "We ought to be ashamed to allow the only musical paper New Zealand has ever had to fall through." The conference endorsed the xecommendation of a special sub-committee that the paper should be taken over by the association and become its official journal. Tentative details of finance are to be submitted to the various branches for their approval. Saving the Bees.

So poor has been the yield of honey this season that beekeepers will probably he put to some expense to keep their colonies alive through the winter (says the Christchurch Sun). One producer in the vicinity of Christchurch has announced that he will have to feed a ton and a half of sugar to save his bees. Usually, of course, sufficient honey is left to supply the needs of the hives. It is felt in some quarters that even at this late stage, a few days of steady rain might produce an autumn flow of honey that would go a long way towards saving the situation. 'Quake Memorial Not Wanted. "Who in the world wan'ts a memorial for February?" exelaimed His Worship, Mr. A. W. Mowlem, at the Hastings Magistrate's Court last week, when the Clerk of the Court (Mr. W. M. Hill) questioned the setting down of a case for hearing on February 3, which is a usual court day, on the grounds of there being held a memorial service on that *date. One counsel said that a service was being held in Napier. "That may be so," replied His Worship. "I don't want a memorial, and certainly would not go to one. I hope they get some people to go. If they do they will be stranger people than I. I have had enough — more than enough — and I suggest that you gentlemen have too. I think we can safely risk a repetition. If any of you gentlemen desire to go to the memorial service you will have to make arrangements for some else to take your cases, as the court will sit as usual."