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Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 249, 20 October 1924, Page 4

-;— | I Cycling on the wharves is a precarious | j pastime in the opiniou of at last one I j Auckland hoy. John Jones, aged 13, 1 1 was riding along the Prince's wharf at ' about 4 p.m. yesterday, when he lost control of his machine. There was a splaah a second or two later, and members of the r-rcw of the Mahana looked over the side of their ship to see tbe J buy in that portion of the harbour ' that lay between the wharf and the \ ship's bow. The bicycle was lower • down, resting on the harbour mud. J Voting Jones could dog-paddle, and did ' so, until rescued by a life-belt thrown from the boat. Tlie machine was sub- ' sequently fished out by a sailor with some grappling hooks. Damage to some luggage and a por- '. tion of a room resulted from a lire t which broke out in a trunk-room at the . Esplanade Hotel. Devonport, at 4 a.m. r yesterday. The flames were put out by i means of extinguishing appliances, with . the result thai, when the Devonport j I-'ire Brigade arrived, its services were ! unnecessary. The City and Parnell 1 brgades also received a call yesterday afternoon to a six-roomed house at 5, Stratford .Street, Parnell, where a defective hearth was responsible for a small amount of damage being done to some woodwork. Included in the cargo of the New Zealand Shipping Company's steamer Turakina. which 'arrived at Auckland from London on Saturday morning last were about fifteen mTes of deep sea cable consigned to the Pacific Cable Board, to l»e used in connection with the relaying of the line between Fiji and Fanning Island. This particular portion of the cable will be installed at the Suva end by the steamer Iris, wlvch is expected t.i> leave Auckland towards the end of the present month. At the conclusion of the League football match at Carlaw Park on Saturday, when City defeated Ponsonby in the final of the Roope Rooster competition, one supporter of the City team struck a very happy way of signalling the win. As soon as the match had ended he produced a very fine black Orpington rooster decorated with several pieces of red ribbon (City's colours are red and black), and this he presented to the captain of the team, UNI. Wcthcrill. The Wanganui Automobile Association wrote the Education Board suggesting instructions in schools in regard to reckless walking in the streets. Mr. Durward (a member) said that when a man spent £000 on a car it was a pity to spoil his pleasure. He ' suggested that pedestrians should not be allowed to use the roads In ei'n sunrise and sunset. A member it -.narked that evidently Mr. Durward did not own a car. "I do,"' replied Mr. Durward. Discussing the prospects of large loans about to be raised at 5J per cent by the Wellington City Council, the "Dominion" .says: "The money market at the present time is on the hard side, though it i 3 believed that the offer of another half per cent would induce a lot of people to loosen up. The first mortgage rate on residential property in the city is at present 7 per cent, and it will have to come down to a general level of t>z\ per edit before there will be much money for city loans at 5A per cent. - ' "Once again we wish to record oiir protest against the universal condemnation of the New Zealand beef industry," states "Meat and Wool," the journal of the New Zealand meat trade. "Following a long list of public men, the Primp .Minister at Carterton last month added his quota—the beef bus'ness is finished, as Argentine has beaten us! Apart from export, good beef beasts are going to be very valuable in New Zealand in a couple of years, partly due to advice Ike the above, and partly due to the big slaughter of calves In the North Island. Good steak is going, to be a couple of shillings a lb in the retail shops, and prime bullocks worth twice what they are now. The local market will be under-supplied, and those far- ; mers who have to keep beef cattle and have the foresight to keep good ones j v 11 reap the benefit." "I think thnt the maximum penalty |in such cases should be increased,'' said -Mr. Page iv the ilagistrate's Court at Wellington, in reference to Sunday trading, "for here is an offender who has been fined £40 for Sunday trading, but I am allowed to fine him £1 only on this charge. It is the maximum penalty." The plaintiff in an action before the Supreme Court at Christchurch, claimed damages for injury to his right ami. Owing to an accident, it was said, he was unable to lift his arm above the shoulder. Counsel for the defence asked if it true that plaintiff had been seen to take his hat off with one hand and scratch his head with the other. "1 would do it any time in front of anyone,'' plaintiff said in explaining that he could use his arm from the elbow. An eel, five feet in length and , thirty-nine pounds in weight, is at present wallowing in one of the ponds usually reserved for goldfish at the Acclimatisation Society's gardens at 1 Christchurch. He was brought in from ; the country, and he looked rather seedy , before Mr. ID. Hope placed him in the water. The "back to nature" treat- ' uient worked wonders, and after his 1 huge head had been gently, massaged, i he began to wallow round the pond in . the approved manner. A plaster cast of the monster, whicii has an immense girth, will probably be made for the '- museum. ■ A meeting of guarantors of the scullf ing race for the Australasian championship, to be rowed at Hamilton next ' Saturday, decided thnt 60 per cent of the stake and proceeds go to the winner I and 40 per cent to the loser.