Ship becomes harbour wall

The hulk Te Anau has now been placed in her final position at the end of the basin wall (says our Wanganui correspondent).

The old vessel now lies on an even keel, with her nose pointing out to open sea over which she once proudly rode. One of the masts was left, and it is proposed to utilise the after deck as a coal store. It is rather interesting, as having some bearing on the durability of the vessel, to learn that when cutting a hole in her side the other day it was found that her plates consisted of three-quarters of an inch of steel, and they were not showing the slightest signs of deterioration. When the remaining work of driving in a number of piles to keep the hulk in her position and the filling up of the gap between her stern and the end of the stone work is finished, the basin will be completed. Now that the Te Anau is in position considerable improvements in the entrance to the channel are anticipated from the completed wall.

Foregoing snacks

A women’s walking party, in charge of Mrs Bulte, walked to Signal Hill last Saturday afternoon, and by refraining from having refreshments was able to contribute the sum of 10 shillings towards the Student Relief Fund.

Sneak thievery is a drag

A new method of sneak-thieving, the very simplicity of which is liable to catch the house-wife unawares, is at present being exploited in the southern portion of the city. It is worked by two persons, both of them men, although one wears feminine attire. The system employed is for one of the "partners" to knock at the front door of a house, and to engage the occupant in conversation while the other enters by the back door in search of any articles of value that may be lying about. The trick was discovered yesterday by a woman who asked the caller at the front to wait for a moment while she removed a pot from the kitchen fire.

What dangers lurk there

The grotesque hammer headed sharks are described by fishermen and sailors as the fiercest sharks of all, and most to be dreaded. They are a reddish-purple on top, and white, streaked with reddish below. Two large eyes are placed strangely at the ends of the hammer. The largest shark recorded in New Zealand was a basking shark, stranded at Devonport, Auckland, in 1889. It was 34 feet long. It is uncommon in New Zealand waters. These sharks have received their popular name on account of a practice of lying motionless in the sunshine on the surface of the water, as if they were basking. The white shark, another monster, is regarded as one of the most formidable fishes, but it seems to prefer the open sea to the neighbourhood of land. The thresher, or sea-fox, uncommon in New Zealand waters, is characterised by a long tail, longer than its body, with which it splashes the surface of the water, in order, it is believed, to frighten together small surface fishes on which it feeds. It is believed to be inoffensive to man. As far as colours are concerned, the most conspicuous New Zealand shark is the carpet shark, whose upper surface and sides are marked with the rich browns, reds and blacks of an expensive carpet. In length it equals an average dog-fish shark, about 3ft. Sharks teeth formerly worn as ear-ornaments by Maoris, in more recent years with broad black ribbons, to which they were attached by sealing wax, seem to have belonged to the blue-pointer shark, the mako, but the Maoris used that name for all large sharks.

— ODT, 26.8.1924  (Compiled by Peter Dowden)