NEWS & NOTES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 5 April 1938, Page 7

NEWS & NOTES

VARIOUS ITEMS OF INTEREST. The One Exception. The amazing complaint “that he had no one to play with,” voiced by one of the many small boys who recently attended the Rangiora Health Camp near Christchurch, astounded the staff when they heard it, but an official at the camp, which closed last week, explained that this lad was very much the exception. With 55 other youngsters of the same age in the camp at the time, no lad could possibly feel lonely, and everything was done to maintain a friendly and homely atmosphere, he added. During their first few days in the camp, most of the boys had been listless and quiet, but it did not take long to brighten them up, and after four weeks’ stay in the country, the children were full of good spirits. This position was very much in evidence when the boys bade affectionate farewell to the camp matron and staff, before leaving for their homes.

A New Aeroplane. Believed to be the first of its kind to be brough south, a Lockheed 14H aeroplane for the New Guinea service is carried on the deck of the steamer Romney, which arrived at Auckland the othe c«iy from Los Angeles. The craft is the latest type constructed in the Lockheed range and is a highspeed 12-passenger machine. It will be landed at Meloourne. Apprenticeship Agreement. An agreement of apprenticeship drawn up more than 40 years ago is one of the most valued possessions of a Christchurch citizen, Mr. F. H. Walton, of Moa place. Engrossed in legscript on parchment, with some of the conditions of indenture underlined for additional importance, the articles constitute an impressive document. It was drawn up by Mr. C. J. Parr, now Sir James Parr. . The articles of indenture contain a great many conditions, binding on both parties, and demand a standard of conduct and propriety on the part of the apprentice that would probably not be insisted on in 1938. Mr. Walton states that the certificate of fulfilment of the contract, which is attached to the agreement, was in itself a testimonial which would obtain an employee work at his trade all over the Empire —a result not achieved, he considered, by the more modern and much less formal method of binding apprentices.

A Novel Scheme. On the Wanganui River rowers meet with various forms of setbacks at times, but of late two small boys have hit upon a scheme that is as novel as it is effective. Apparently a pair-oar crew of a club has been training each evening at approximately the same time over the identical course, and these two lads wait on the footway of the Aramoho bridge suitably prepared. At the right moment they pelt the rowers below with stones of varying sizes. The other evening the boys were seen intently watching their “prey" coming downstream. and after their "ammunition” had been launched at the crucial moment. followed their assault with derisive remarks that resulted in a stream of invective floating up from the anfioycd oarsmen below. The verbal barrage between straining

rowers and small boys perched on railings continued until intervening distance rendered conversation impossible. Vandalism.

An act of vandalism was discovered at the Auckland municipal transport terminus late on Thursday night, two handbasins having been torn from the tiled walls, the water and waste pipes twisted, and other furnishings smashed. It was evidently the work of vandals or drunken revellers. The discovery was made by the caretaker on his inspection rounds at 11.45. Passes for Rugby Secretaries. The good work performed in the interests of the game of Rugby football by club secretaries and coaches was referred to by members of the Southland Rugby Union when the issuing of free passes was being discussed. It was decided to include club secretaries in the list of those to be issued with passes. Club coaches will again receive passes. “The amount of work done by the coaches is not generally known,” said a member, who declared that, apart from their work in the training sheds, coaches of the .junior teams braved the elements year in and year out “travelling around the reserves, often through mud and slush, with their teams.” Fish With Three Eyes. Fishing from the Greymouth wharf last week, Mr. J. Stubbs landed a herring, about four inches long, with three perfectly formed eyes. Two were in the normal position but the third was situated on the top of the fish’s head between the other two. It pointed directly upward. Whether the fish could use this third eye is problematical, but it appeared to be perfectly normal. The fish has been preserved by the Grey District Acclimatisation Society.

The Ideal and the Real. The wise man was he who could combine qualities of both the realist and the idealist, said the Foreign. Secretary, Lord Halifax, speaking in the House of Lords. Those two attitudes were not by any means incompatible, and it would be a great misfortune for human life if they were, because most of human life for most of them consisted in a reconciliation of New Year resolutions with New Year deeds. The whole of human life would stop unless it were possible for all, in their respective ways, to make some effective reconciliation between realities, often ugly, and ideals which, as had been said, were the foundation on which all progress depended.

Seagull’s Misfortune. A morsel of fish on ahook attached to a fishing line which had been left lying on the Napier Breakwater on Sunday brought misfortune to a seagull which had alighted nearby. Consuming the fish, the seagull also swallowed the hook, and then attempted to take to the air. only to find that it could not lift the line and its sinker. . His attention attracted by the bird's cries, the fisherman went to its assistance and. after careful manipulation of the line, succeeded in withdrawing the hook. The seagull appeared to suffer no injury as the result of its experience.