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Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 115, 16 May 1924, Page 4

On account of the heavy motor traffic expected op the Titirangi Park Road on Sunday, when the (iovernor-General opens the memorial church at the Park, the "Waitemata County Council will restrict all vehicular traffic that day to one way between certain hours—only inwards between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.." and only outwards between 3.15 p.m. and 5 p.m. The famous McEwan's culvert at Silverdale, which was one of the biggest structures swept away by the recent Hood in the. north, has become the scene of a miniature strike. The council member, Mr. Poynton, of Dairy Plat, was having a temporary wooden bridge erected, two chains "long, estimated to last five years, or more. Mr. Fox, a White Hills settler, collected a party of workers numbering about four, and, under the county assistant engineer, the wrrk was .proceeding on wages. The work wag important and urgent, a. it linked tbe Albany and Helensville roods to Silverdale. It had reached the stage when one hours work would have made it available for precarious foot and pony traffic and enabled the cream supplies to Silverdale cream depot to cross, when the men "downed tools." It is officially stated that the trouble was due to non-arrival of wages from the council. Owing to the council's system of issuing cheques fortnightly, ami unavoidable delay involved hy sending in the pay-sheets, it is stated that several weeks' pay were overdue. Mr. Fox warned the council by 'phone, and the county treasurer made a special effort to find two councillors in Auckland to sign an urgent cheque. He could find only one. The men say all the Silverdale stores demand cash, and they must have cash for their work. The bridge is now being finished by Messrs. Bowden Bros., of Albany. The Auckland Horticultural Society has decided to get together and issue for the benefit, of amateurs and novices a- series of lists of experienced local growers of roses, dahlias and crysanthemums from whom seeds and cuttings can be obtained of strong, vigorous and free-growing plants and varieties. The idea is to save novices in horticulture the disappointments so often experienced when dabbling in varieties which are not fully fixed, or not of free growth, by directing them to places where they will get not only guaranteed goods, but also knowledge which will encourage them to go on with horticulture. Much praise has been given the little souvenir booklet that the Auckland City Council issued for presentation to the officers and men of the Fleet. The booklet, which was prepared by Mr. R. Hill, gives an admirable idea of Auckland, both in the letterpress and the wellselected photographs.

1 Traffic at the Prince's wharf gates was well controlled this morning, when i only school children and their guardians were admitted on bnnrd the Ilo.d. A large number of children and their j escorts went aboard, but the police t ok | particular care to see that no wouid-'je guardians or ''children from the of IS up to about. 50 crept in. By'll , o'clock a very small crowd—in fact, a! , mere sprinkling of people—were standing at the gates, and there were no less . than six policemen "rcgulatm?" the crowd—a somewhat different ft.ate of, affairs than existed on Sunday Ust. ; Tt is always interesting _o note how ' the backing of first favourites pans out at a race meeting, since many of the , investors, being without inside infor'mstion. and either unable or unwilling to ask for such as a guide, work on the simple |metbod of following the money. The old dodge for having a bit of sport combined with an assur- ' | ance egainst heavy loss is to put £\ ' ion each fir=t favourite and give up all i expectation of "striking it rich." A | person who adopted that plan at the | Formiry trotting races last week, says ! I the '"Duiieciin Ftar," would have profited iti/fi the first day and come out exactly ' square on the second. First favourites won three races each day. i Some amusement was occasioned in the ! Wellington Supreme Court by the replies lof a witness to remarks from the Bench Iby the Chief .fustice (Sir Robert Stout). "Don't you know the. difference between ! an old and a new suit of clothes?" asked his Honor. Witness: "No, Mr. Stout, i they are ah the same to mc; I have never | been used to good suits, but I can tell j when (hey are absolutely ragged." "Didn't you have a watch?" was another question put by his Honor later, when an hotel scene was being described. Witness: "No, sir. I can't afford a watch." His Honor: "If you can afford liquor you j should be able to afford a watch." Witiness: "Tastes differ." His Honor: "Ap- | partntly; how did you know the time, • i then?" Witness: : 'I knew very well! j thai the clock in the bar was ten minutes ' fast." (Laughter.) j The attempt to heat the Hobson Street I Baths hy using one of the boilers in the I Hobson Street Power House has proved a I failure. This was announced by the j Mayor (Mr. ■!. H. Gunsoni at last even- j ing's council meeting. The Mayor said i that on trial the method proved* insufficient and futile. However, the city engineer, nnd tramways engineer were now working on an alternative scheme, which it was felt would satisfactorily overcome the difficulty. A proposal to instal Turkish baths at the Hobson Street Baths was recently brought forward hy Councillor Tom Bloodworth. The city engineer reported that such an in- ; j Btallation would mean the entire reI modelling and rebuilding of the front of the baths. His opinion was that the •site was inadequate for Turkish baths in conjunction with the ordinary provision of swimming baths for both sexes. On the motion of Councillor Bloodworth the whole matter was referred back to tho ; Parks Committee. The Prime Minister, speaking at j Auckland on Saturday, remarked that I the Dominion's expenditure on defence ! would soon be £1.000,000 a year, but there is an impression abroad that when j making this statement Mr. Massey was j referring to naval defence alone. In , the course of an interview at Wellington-1 [yesterday Mr. Massey made it clear that ! his remarks had reference to both naval and land defence. "Some people thought wljen I mentioned the cost ; that I wa. speaking of naval defence," : said Mr. Massey. "I was speaking of j the total cost of defence, both naval and military, and I said that in all I probability "it would reach £1,000,000 j within a year or two, and was not very | I far short'of £1,000,000 now. A million. for the size of a population like Xew Zealand is not at all a bad contribution." The cost of the maintenance of H.M.s. Dunedin, which was about to j become the flag-hip of the Xew Zealand Division, Mr. Massey proceeded, would |be between £'2_e,000 and £300.C00 per [annum. Much amusement was caused at the final meeting of the Devonport War Memorial Committee meeting last, night when one speaker in referring to tha. various members of the committee said j that some of them were so full ol j energy that they were capable of j accomplishing almost anything, and he' felt sure that the member of tho I Hospital Board, Mr. Howitt, would never j be satisfied till he got an old men's i home established at Stanley Ray. This i reference to this classical suburb i stopped the speaker from making any further remarks for a minute or two, | .but he capped it by saying he was in deadly earnest. ; A deputation from the Mangere residents round the head of Mangere bridge waited on the Power Board yesterday afternoon to urge the running of a line across the bridge from One.iunga, and promised that there, would-be a profitable demand for current. The board received the request sympathetically, and will make a personal visit, to the locality to inquire into the matter. "Why did you say it was dangerous to have revolvers in a public bar?" | asked counsel in a Supreme Court case 'at Christchuroh. Witness (the hotel I proprietor) replied that when there were guns in a bar he liked to have them lon his side. Counsel suggested that they were unloaded. "They can very , easily be loaded." replied witness. I There have been several interruptions jof late in the alternating current areas lof the Auckland Electric Power Board, ;and, reporting on the matter to the board j yesterday, the engineer (Mr. A. Wyllie) • 6aid the trouble had arisen through the i i very unsatisfactory character of the high j i tension transformer fuses that, had been supplied to the board. The contractors j had now landed an. improved type, and if ■ iit appeared satisfactory the defective i ones would be at once replaced. l I Final negotiations in connection with 'the introduction of electric lighting and I power into Waihi _.re now taking place between Thames Valley Electric Power Board and the hydro-electric committee iof the Waihi Borough Council. It is j hoped that reticulation will be taken in hand at an early date, and it is anticipated that once the service is available it will rapidly extend. j Owing to a breakdown of the lower ! elevator drum at the Waitemata County! stone-crusher at Oakley en April 20, the ' output for 00 working days in the past couple of months was cut down to 22 days' crushing. The production was 707 j cubic yards of metal at a cost of 10/6 I ' per yard, which the county engineer considered satisfactory in the circumstances. , In replying to words of praise given to him for his work as treasurer of the Devonport War Memorial Fund, Mr. J. Kew Harty sajd last night in humorous vein that if they would only make him Mayor of Devonport he would consolidate the funds of the borough and convert them into four and a-half per cent, then he would have about £.150,000 at his command and he would show them l how to run a borough. j