The coronation took place during the latter part of the evening, the earlier portion being devoted to a short concert programme, opened by the St Kilda Brass Band, which has established an enviable reputation for its playing. The performance of extracts from Balfe’s "Bohemian Girl" was admirable, and was warmly acknowledged. The St Vincent de Paul Orphanage choir, consisting of some 70 little girls, sang two selections very nicely. The preparations made for the crowning of Princess Philomena were of a most elaborate description, and great trouble and expense must have been gone to in order to produce the pageant presented. The costumes worn by the princesses were exceedingly handsome, and there was a rich and harmonious blending of colour. Whoever had the arranging of the spectacle certainly exhibited artistry and exquisite taste, and what was seen on the stage for the last hour of the evening could scarcely have been improved upon.
229mm rainfall recorded
The past month will be long memorable in the meteorological history of Dunedin as having provided by far the heaviest rainfall ever known here in one period of 24 hours. From 9am on Sunday, April 22, to 9am on the following day, a fall of 9.020 inches was recorded at the Musselburgh Pumping Station, and the resulting disastrous floods are fresh in the memory of everyone. Comparison with past figures gives a clear idea of the extraordinary nature of this fall: during the 18 years in which Mr Jacobsen has kept records at Musselburgh the daily rainfall has only on three occasions exceeded two inches.
Flood cleanup under way
Soaked bedding, dead cats and dead hens, and rubbish of diverse sorts are being collected by the corporation’s sanitary staff, carted to the foreshore and there burnt. The problem of burning collections of damp articles has been overcome by the use of low-grade kerosene. So far as sanitation is concerned, it should be mentioned that the city corporation’s inspectors and the inspectors of the Health Department are making a house-to-house inspection of the flooded areas. By 1 o’clock yesterday morning the water was again at full pressure in the city mains. During the day there was a much greater demand than is usual and over 200,000 gallons was being used every hour. There have been suggestions that clothing and eatables have been issued from the central depot to those not in need. When the authorities were seen by a reporter, it was stated that the rumours probably arose through bundles being seen on their way to the hill portions of the city. They, of course, were for the use of those billeted in those parts.
Gulls don't cross the Ditch
It is singular that none of New Zealand’s three species of gulls is found in Australia, and that none of our next door neighbour’s gulls are found here, while species of petrels, terns, and shore birds, as well as a few land birds, notably the pukeko, the pectoral rail and the white-eye, grace both countries as natives.
— ODT, 1.5.1923 (Compiled by Peter Dowden)
