NEW ZEALAND NEWS ITEMS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 38, 15 February 1939, Page 6

NEW ZEALAND NEWS ITEMS

Italy’s Flag Half-Mast. Italy’s flag has been flying at halfmast over the Italian Consulate in Aitken Street, since the news of the death of His Holiness the Pope. The flag will remain at half-mast till after the solemn requiem mass on Thursday next. Electric Trains Held Up. The electric train service between Wellington and Johnsonville was disorganised on Monday night by points trouble at Ngaio. The interruption occurred at 10.10 p.m. and it was not till nearly an hour later that the schedule was resumed. While the trains were held up passengers were transported by bus between Wellington and the suburbs dependent on the service.' Godwit Season Cloaiug. For the next two months the godwits will gradually prepare for their annual flight back to Manchuria, which usually starts about the end of April. The shooting season for the birds closed yesterday. Good sport has been obtained both on the Manu-' kau Harbour and in North Auckland I since the season was opened at the . beginning of the month, and sports-1 men have expressed the opinion that 1 there has been no diminution in the ' number of birds, which have been in I flocks of 200 or 300. Apprentices’ Wage-. Chatting with friends at his 82nd. j birthday party at Papakura, Mr. W. Richardson recalled his apprenticeship j days. He mentioned that wnile he I was apprenticed to a baker in Deconshire he received 9d a week for the first year. Is 6d a week for the second, and the “large” sum of 2s 6d throughout his last year. He was not able to save much out of that, and to help things along when he was married and living in Parnell some years later, he used to make toys in a back room of his house. He also constructed ‘dairymaid’ stools that were very popular in the early days of Auckland. Women would buy themfor their drawing rooms, covering the stools with pretty colours. Shipment of Donkeys. A cargo of an unusual type even for the port of Auckland arrived there on Thursday evening when a shipment of 15 donkeys from Ponui Island was landed by the motor-vessel Baroona (states the Herald’. Numbers of donkeys abound in practically a wild state at Ponui, which is in the Taraki Strait, near Waiheke Island, but thexare only rarely sent to the mainland. Numbers from a consignment about a year ago went to the Auckland zoo as attractions for children. The task of catching the donkeys invariably results in exciting exhibitions of wrestling at Ponui Island as the animals, which become tame very quickly, are at first very restive. The 15 donkeys brought by the Baroona had quietened by the time the vessel was berthed, and were loaded into railway trucks for the journey to Woodville. It is expected that two or three cargoes of the animals will be brought from Ponui in the near future, the exports resulting in the bulk of'the donkeys being cleared from the island. Trained Men for Defence. The absorption of engineers and other technical men of the Public Works Department for work for defence requirements and similar urgent projec'ts was given as one of the reasons for the Main Highways Board’s inability to proceed as rapidly as might be desired with design work for highway structures. The explanation was made by the deputy-chair-man of the board (Mr. A. J. Baker) in discussing the delay in procedure with the proposed new bridge at Kaiapoi with representatives of the Kaiapoi Borough Council.

Wrestler Thrown in River. New stunts in wrestling such as a battle of brawn in mud pools have been developed by the stunt-loving Americans, but Hamiltn can claim something new in ths line. When a wrestler was thrown into the Waikato River during an exhibition bout at the Hamilton regatta the crowd was highly amused, but the incident was hardly unexpected as bouts were staged on a barge moored out from the bank. In an exhibition bout between A. Newton, professional welterweight champion, and F. Hubbard, amateur middle-weight champion, the end came abruptly when Newton was heaved over the ropes to flop with a splash into the river. He was none the worse for his “ducking.’’ but he lost the match. New Zeauand Newspapers. “I enjoy reading your newspapers; they are so clear and concise,” said Mr. A. C. Schueren, a machinery manufacturer of Chicago and an international sportsman, in an interview in Christchurch. “The news is not spoiled by imaginative effects, and it contains a lot more facts than some of the overseas papers.” Another American visitor, Mr. Harry P. Kuhn, Pittsburg, also spoke in admiration of the quality of the New Zealand newspapers. Laurel Leaves for Ballet Dancers. Bouquets for women principals of stage companies are usual, but laurel wreaths for the men are rare. At Auckland on Saturday night David Lichine, Anton Dolin and Paul Petro ft' were handed these tributes of appreciation at the final fall of the curtain, amid the enthusiastic applause of the audience. Dog Causes Fatality. An inquest into the death of James Rudolph Tynan, who was found at Houhoroa on January 9 with a gunshot wound in his neck, was held by the district coroner. Mr. L. A. MeinJosh. at Whangarei. The coroner’s verdict was that. Tynan died of a wound from a shotgun accidentally discharged. The position of the wound showed that Tynan could not have reached the trigger with his hand, and his foot could not have been inserted within the guard. There was no sign of the trigger having been worked by string, and it was considered that one of the dogs jumping round had touched it. £lOOO Damages Awarded Holding that a motor-car accident in which her husband, Ecu Brown, a Maori, was killed, arose out oi, and in the course of his employment, the Arbitration Court has given judgment in favour of the widow, Erena Brown, of Manutuke. Gisborne, against the New Zealand Workers’ Industrial Union of Workers, by which he was employed. She was awarded £lOOO compensation and £l7 funeral expenses, the Court pointing out that, although Mrs. Brown had been paid £l3OO in respect to two accident policies held by her husband, the amount 'could not he set off against the employer’s liability, if it existed.

Catfish Hooked The secretary of the Westland Acclimatisation Society, Mr. A. C. Armstrong, naci on view in his shop in Hokitika recently a live specimen of a catfish caught in Lake Mahinapua. The fish was about 14in. Jong ind weighed about IHb. The fish was taken on a hook baited with a common wood grub. When caught it emitted a noise very similar to the meow of a cat. Its eyes also shone like a cat’s at night when a light was directed on it. Catfish were introduced

into Lake Mapourika from the United States about 35 years ago, and veryfew have been caught, probably because the lake is unsuitable for fishing, as it is covered, to a large extent by the water hyacinth, introduced from America at the same time as the cattish.