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Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 75, 28 March 1924, Page 4

There was a "zoo" atmosphere about the mail steamer Makura this morning, which arrived from Vancouver via the Islands. Mr. Carter the noted magician, who was among the passengers who got off at Auckland, had with him his lion. Five "through passengers" were five performing seals from the American Pacific Coast, which are going to a circus in Sydney. "The I.W.W. is a dead issue in Canada," declared Mr. A. MeEvoy, a Vancouver citizen now on his way to Australia via the Makura, which arrived nt Auckland to-day. Mr. MeEvoy said that one of the factors which demonstrated the failure of the I.W.W. was the enthusiastic way the Canadians turned out in their thousands to greet the Prince of Wales,

i Mr. William Wallace, chairman of the ' ; Hospital BoaTd, paid a surprise visit to ' the Franklin Memorial Hospital this week, and was very pleased with the way he found things were conducted there. While the hospital takes in all classes of patients, the maternity side i of nursing was fully provided for when the building was erected. The hospital I was full on the occasion of the chairman's visit, and he found six healthy | babies in the maternity ward with their , happy mothers, who, on being ques- , tioned, said that they could not be better attended to, and that the staffing of the place was all that could be ;' I desired. Mr, Wallace said the Franklin ' iCounty had every reason to be proud of , j their hospital. Dr. Frengley, of the ' ! Health Department, who had lately ( j visited the hospital, said that it was; I the best Equipped hospital of its size in ] 1 the Dominion, and was a credit to the ■ .'board, because of the foresight shown ■ I during its erection in only having the Jvery latest in small hospital equipment, j I The people of Franklin had reape'l the ! I benefit of this, and tlio institution would ' I servo the needs of the people for a long iime to come, which was very praise- j worthy considering the motives which j prompted in the first instance the hos- j pita] to be erected. j j The weekly bacteriological examina- ' tion of Auckland's water supply from the Waitakcres uhows that it. remains satisfactory and free from any dangerous im- ! [purities. Dr. Gilmour's latest report states that "the quality of the water is of the beet." The Mayor, in discussing the position, declared that the unfortunate experience at Mount Albert had, J been due to purely local conditions, and* I not in any tense to anj-thing remiss cither in the city service or in the qual- : ity of its water supply. There was no' doubt whatever about the purity of the !water, aud since the cleaning up at the' j new dam works at Xihotupu discolouraI tion and other small defects had disap-j jpeaied. Preliminary work on the dnpli-. cate pipe line from Titirsingi to the city' is well advanced, and the steel pipes for the line will be delivered in August. The completion of the work for service ' early next summer is almost insured, and with this duplication an available supply of 16,000,000 gallons daily will meet all ] requirements for some time to come. The : Works Committee yesterday instructed j the waterworks engineer, Mr. J. Carlaw, j to complete the preliminary plans for the i additional 500,000,000-gallon reservoir to: be built in the Huio. Valley, at an estimated cost of £150,000, so that they may be submitted to the council and an early start made with work at the Huia. { Mr. C. S. Thomas has given notice to itho Christchurch City Council that he 'intends to commence an action to recover the sum of £1000 on behalf of Dorothy May Ritchie, who was injured by coming in contact with the council's j grass-cutter on the footpath on Novem- i ber 2, 1923. Mr. Thomas has also forwarded a claim for £2191 i 14/6 on behalf of Eric Walter Edward Segue for injuries received by him in colliding with a barrier across the Baroadoes . Street bridge on September 14, 1923, it ', being alleged that the barrier was not I sufficiently lighted. The by-laws com- j mittee reported to the council that it I had informed Mr. Thomas that the ■ council did not admit liability in either ; case, and had referred the claims to the i city solicitor with instructions to defend ■ the actions. < J "If parsons came up to what people said about them at farewell and welcome . socials, what perfect men they would be," said the Rev. E. R. Harris, when j being welcomed at SI. James' Hall last night. If they even tried to live up to the high standard expressed of them, what piebald creatures they would be." The Rev. Grant Cowan said that when the time came for the new minister to leave St. James, and he hoped it would be a long distance off, ho hoped that he would not have the experience he had when he left a parish in England, for the people there gave him a clock inscribed: "To the Rev. Grant Cowan as a token of esteem on his leaving the parish." The clock stood in his study and he looked daily at the inscription, and he did not know if he had really yet fathomed its meaning. An inquest into the circumstances surrounding the death of John, Darrogh, of Birkenliead, was conducted yesterday by the coroner, Mr. E. C. Cutten. S.M. Evidence was given that deceased was struck on the head by a falling tree near his home, causing death from shock and fracture of the skull. At the time of the accident he was helping to cut and wedge the tree by which he was struck, in order to pull it over. He was not in good health and failed to run clear before it fell. A verdict was returned in accordance with the medical evidence. The ftinoral of Seymour Elrasley Gordon, the victim of the motor accident at Arch Hill, Auckland, last Sunday, took place at Hamilton West cemetery yesterday afternoon. The cortege was a large one, consisting of 40 motor cars containing relatives and friends of deceased and his parents, who are exceedingly well known in the district. The! pall bearers were six of deceased's close personal friends, the service being conducted D 3' the Rev. G. Macky, Presbyterian minister. The tongues of some of the members of the Waimairi Council are liable to slip, as was shown recently. When tlio chairman was talking of main highways money, he said that -'local! bodies from end to end and from east to west are waiting for this money at the doors of the public-house—l mean public works." When a sub-committee was, being formed one member objected to being placed on it. "I'm too full," Its J said, and another raised a laugh by saying "I'm full, too."—"Lyttelton Times." | The first boat to arrive back from the ] mutton bird inlands brought good news j to those who have yet to sail for the annual catch (states a southern exchange). The report stated that the birds were plentiful, and in excellent condit: I the dry season being to their liking. The Maoris expect to reap a good harvest this year, and those who j have not yet sailed are making extensive I preparations. | A section of the public were greatly ! amused at the railway station last evening says the Wanganui "Herald" of j Tuesday, for as the Garrison Band struck up "See the Conquering Hero j Comes," a well known local undertaker stepped off the platform of one of the ' carriages. ! The Poetmaeter-Gencral has prohibited the issue of money orders or the registration of postal matter in connection with the limbless and maimed soldiers' "Great Austral" Art Union, promoted in Sydney. ; A regulation just issued for the prevention of the introduction into New Zealand of diseases affecting dogs, prescribes six months as the period of luarantine for doge arriving from the T'nited Kingdom. The period is to include the time occupied by the passage.

! An important and far-reaching P' 0 ' I gramme of railway electrification is.i being carried out on the Imperial j Japanese Government railways. This includes both main line and semisuburban conversion. In the first place, ; the present electric service worked by j passenger motor coaches between Tokyo j and Yokohama, a distance of 19 miles,} is being extended to Odawara and Yoko- ; biika. This latter is a naval base town j ' situated on a branch which leaves the j ' main line at Ofuna, about ten miles j from Yokohama. Odawara is 33 miles [ . from Yokohama, and Yokosuka is 23 j miles. Tlio main line proper, which is , ; known as the Tokaido line, and which | runs in a, south-westerly direction froni | I Tokyo, through Yokohama, Nagoyft, j I Koyto and Osaka to Kobe, is also being i electrified. This line has a total length ;of some 37u miles. At Kozu the original i main Hue makes a wide detour north- . ward to climb the lower slopes of Mount I Fuji. A new mail , line already con- ! structed from Kozu to Odawara will run 1 through a long tunnel to rejoin the old main line at Mishima. and will shorten I the journey to Osaka and Kobe by about ; seven miles, besides avoiding the present ! j heavy gradients. ; ! Wllen the Mayor of Auckland was j ■ speaking at St. James' Hall last night j at the welcome to the Rev. K. R. Harris, j late of Wanganui, who had been called | !to St. James', he sai<l that just when he came into tlio building lie had hear* the minister of the denomination to which he belonged deploring the fact that there was *uch a great amount of ..Sabbath desecration in Auckland, and that tin; Sunday was by many turned into a general holiday. "The complaint ,is more apparent than real.' , said Mr. Ouneou. "I believe the world is getting J , better, and there is room for a genera! spirit of optimism with regard to the. i religious life of the community. It wae i sometimes well to look at things from : the other person's point of view, and there was room for a general broadening of our views on such matters. ; Underneath an apparent indifference there was in these days a deep-rooted reverence for the things of God, and j ■ while there were many people who j spent tlieir Sabbaths differently from , what they themselves did, the general j conscience of the people rang true to j the Christian principles by which they attained their truest freedom and from I whence they got all the good things of I their citizenship and national life." "The members of the Hospital Board are to have an all-day inspection one [day next month of all the city institutes under their control," said Mr. \V. Wallace yesterday, when discussing the problems which the board has to face in connection with its many activities. I "We must get a laundry erected at the I public hospital," he continued, "'because, las lias already been stated in the '"Star," we are not able with our present equipment to deal with our own ■ laundry work, and a good deal of it has to be sent out. Xow a new difH- ■ culty has arisen; tne shipping from ! overseas is increasing at a great rate, land often when a few big boats come Jin they simply swamp the laundries iwith tho clothes they want washed, and ■ tlio result is that at such times the , hospital does not get its clean clothes I'back as soon as it would under other ( condition*. The only way to do is to j erect the most up-to-date and modern j laundry we can on our own grounds, so : that we will be independent of outside help, for it will not only lead to ■economy, but efficiency as well, and jthat is a thing the members always have to keep before them." Probably the most consistent and unsuccessful aspirant for local body honours in New Zealand is Mr. W. J. Humphries, of Blenheim (says the "Christchurch Star's" correspondent). In the past eight or nine years he has offered himself for every vacancy which has occurred on the borough council, hospital board and other bodies, whether at general election or by-elections. He has been to the poll perhaps a score of times, but has never once been successful. Even on the committee he met with his usual fate. On Monday, in a by-election on the borough council, he polled 157 votes against Mr. William Carr's 275. Only 435 electors out of over 2000 voted. Mr. Humphries, came up smiling as usual, and says he will be a candidate'again at the next opportunity. The deepest hole in the earth, according to the "Scientific American," is a gold mine in the State of Minas Gera.es, in Brazil. The mine is now 0720 feet below the surface at the top of the shaft through which it is entered. But the Tamarack No. 5 copper mine, iv tile Lake Superior region of the United States, goes nearest to the centre of the earth. This is bceauec the Tamarack mine starts in a country whose level is not far above the sea, while the Brazilian mine is in a mountainous region nearly 3000 feet above sea level. Direct wireless communication between France and Indo-China has been inaugurated. The new station will communicate with the wireless station of BorI deaux, a distance of 10,000 kilometres (U250 miles 1, passing over the Himalayas. It is not only to be used for communication with France, but is to become the centre of a network of stations on French as well as foreign territory. While it, will be worked on a commercial basis, it will, says the '•Temps," assure a propaganda service which will contribute to the strengtheni ing mid extension of French influence in the Far East. The annual meeting of the Ancient Order of Foresters was resumed and i concluded in Auckland last evening, j The following officers were elected:— ! District Chief Ranger, Bro. W. A. Knaggs; District Sub-Chief Ranger, I Bro. J. P. McPhail; District Senior I Beadle, Bro. C. A. Watts; District ! Junior Woodman, Bro. Joel Trebilcock. I Assistance was voted in several cases of I distress. It was decided to hold the next meeting at Whangarei. The story is told to-day of the Prince of Wales and a newspaper reporter who determined to obtain an interview with him. He boldly approached the Prince I' and said: "Sir, you can do mc a great service. Just speak a sentence and I can i make it an interview." The Prince J replied: "I place my honour in your hands." The interviewer blushed and i retired. His story was never written. j Katber an unusual accident took place !at the Hibernian Society's sports at Wairoa (H. 8.), in the 220 yards handi- , capy. B. Dinnan was leading by two or i three yards a short distance from the tape, when he fell and dislocated his hip. He was immediately taken to tbe hospital. At the Napier Police Court, John Wj'iine was charged with disorderly behaviour while drunk in Hastings Street, in Napier. Sergeant McLean sad it was a bad case, the accused , _be : ng an old offender. Accused had stripped himself to the waist, and tried to sail his singlet to passers-by. A fine of £1 and costs was imposed, or, in default, 48 hours' imprisonment.