Lawrence sees a crowd of visitors

"A host of golden daffodils" once inspired a great poet to pen some lines of rare beauty, and his words have lived long after he has passed away. Wordsworth was an Englishman, but had he lived  in New Zealand, he would still have been able to say, "my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils," for just now the narcissus display on the property of Messrs Simpson and Hart, at Weatherstones, which with the surrounding district is really the home of the daffodil, can surely rival any English scene. The blooms are in thousands and cover an area of 10 acres, while the flowers themselves seem to have more lustre and more texture than the cultivated garden varieties. From now till about the middle of October the daffodils will be in their prime, and already many motor car parties have visited the locality for the sole purpose of seeing the host, or rather the legions, of golden blooms. It is now about 24 years since planting was first started by Mr H. Hart, and the  bulbs number now approximately 2,000,000. A correspondent suggests that some motor car owners should run excursions to Weatherstones during the next fortnight. The journey can be accomplished in two and a-half hours, and it would be necessary to spend at least four hours there as, in addition to the daffodils, what is claimed to be the finest show of veronica and celmisias in the world is established in the grounds. 

Olympians return

Two of New Zealand’s representatives at the Olympic Games, Miss Gwitha Shand and C. Purdy, returned by the Tahiti today. Porritt (the New Zealand sprinter) was now stationed at Home as a Rhodes scholar. The representatives had been very well received everywhere, and had been accorded some great receptions. The people who had given the representatives such fine receptions realised that Australians and New Zealanders had to travel a great distance and were in consequence at a great disadvantage compared with other nations. The training arrangements were all right, but as might be expected with 45 nations clamouring for quarters there were some disadvantages. The training was done at the Sporting Club in France. A great difficulty had been experienced in getting sparring partners for the boxers, and there had been a lot of dissatisfaction over the boxing decisions. It was very regrettable that Purdy (the New Zealand boxer) should have met an adverse decision as unbiased judges were of the opinion that Purdy had won without doubt all the way. Otherwise there was little cause for dissatisfaction. In the course of an interview, Purdy complained rather bitterly concerning the control of boxing at the Olympic Games. He said it would not have satisfied novices in other parts of the world. He had to train himself and even when working in the gymnasium in Paris he had no one to keep time for him. He expressed the opinion that he had won the contest with the Frenchman Thorley by a wide margin, but did not receive the decision. The American judge gave him nine out of 10 points, but the other two decided against him. 

Well-off but died as pauper

Some remarkable features are associated with the life of Patrick McCarthy, the old man who died at his home in Carroll street a few days ago. He lived under conditions of squalor and yet he was a man who owned considerable estate, being the possessor of about 17 houses in the city. The police, on searching his premises, found more than £1000 in notes hidden in all parts of the building, also in mattresses, and in the lining of the walls. The place in which McCarthy lived was in a most filthy condition, and a police officer described the work of searching it as the most disgusting job he had ever undertaken. The houses owned by McCarthy are not elaborate dwellings. They consist of what may be termed two-roomed "shacks," all situated in what is known as McCarthy’s right-of-way, off Carroll street, and let at a very small rental. So far as is at present known McCarthy has no relatives residing in New Zealand. — ODT, 30.9.1924

Compiled by Peter Dowden