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Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 283, 30 November 1925, Page 6

Recently, when one of the oldest builders in Onehunga was discussing the question of house rents, he said that it was quite true that for fifty years rents were cheaper at Onehunga than any other part of Auckland, but that was not the case now, and people had to pay as much for houses there as anywhere eke in Auckland. He remembered the time, and as late as even 35 years ago, whn he took contracts to build six fiveroomed houses, labour only, for £30 a house, or f 180 for the lot. Those houses still stood, and there were no better houses in the district for their.age. He often pointed out to visitors a large house he built nearly 40 years ago with ten rooms in it, and included, in the contract wae the erection of up-to-date stables and carriage-house, and all he got for the job was £400—£390 contract price, and £10 in extras. A high wooden fence enclosed the large section, and that was where the extras came in. They worked long hours in those days, and timber was only 11/ per 100 ft. After he had finished at duck he used to go into his shed, and, by the light of a tallow candle, make all the window frames and door sashes.

New regulations for manual and technical instruction have been gazetted, and they will come into force on February 1 next. It is provided that handwork shall be regularly taught, in close correlation with other subjects and the syllabus, throughout the public schools of the Dominion, by the permanent pubiic school staffs, the necessary materials to be supplied by the Department to the several Education Boards for distribution to the schools. Conditions are laid down under which woodwork, metal work, cookery and housewifery are to be taught. No pupila are to be admitted who are doing work in other subjects lower than that of Standard V. The regulations prescribe the method for electing managers of technical schools, and stipulate that one-third of the members of every Technical School Board shall Tetire annually, but shall be eligible for re-election. Provision is made for the classification of teachers in technical schools. The regulations set out the annual increments payable to principals and teachers, ranging from £10 to £25 for men, and from £10 to £12 for women.

Very old though some of them are there are very few men at the Infirmary who do not smoke. Their pipe is their great consolation. Most of the men are keen judges of tobacco, and it is common knowledge—and the 'medical superintendent would be the first to acknowledge it—that there is more anxiety over the tobacco which is served out to the smokers than with anything else at an institution which is noted for the smooth •working of its administration. Fashions in tobaccos change, and half a century ago there was very little cut tobacco, and the cigarette tobacco of to-day was quite unknown. Old timers, as a rule, do not like cut tobacco, they much prefer the plug, and some who have followed the hard life of a sailor in the last century speak with glowing eyes of the fine flavour of the "bogie roll" and the "Irish -twist" which used to be sold at the ports where they called. Great was their satisfaction when it became known that the controlling body was most anxious to meet the wishes and to give them the kind of tobacco they liked best, and have decided that during- the Christmas season nothing but the best in "smokes" was good enough for those who knew how to smoke -wisely and well.

I am pleased to report that the street lighting of the Great South Road tramway route is now just about completed, and the lamps almost ready for tringinointo service. This section of the original cky programme has been delayed some time owing to the necessity of rebuilding the whole of this line in order to instal the particular fittings requested by the City Council, ,, stated the general manager in the course of his report to the Electric Power Board to-day. "We have now arrived at an arrangement which will be quite satisfactory, and has enabled the work to be completed without involving the board in the big cost originally anticipated."

A curious feature in connection with the filling up of the Stanley Bay Park by the Harbour Board's suction "dredge, is that the which have been known to exist in the deep water channel running through the park, have now made their way in to soft mud in Shoal Bay outside the park wall. In past years, these eels have grown to large sizes, and scores of them were noticed making their way through the outlet.

A system of savings bank letters of credit will come into operation on December 1. The system provides that a savings banks depositor in New Zealand requiring funds at any one or more of the principal places in New Zealand at which there are branches of the Post Office Savings Bank may purchase a letter of credit for a .sum not exceeding £50. The holder can present the letter of credit at any of the various offices and obtain such moneys as he may require within the limits authorised.

The premises in Durham Street now occupied by the Commercial Travellers' Association has been offered to the Auckland Electric Power Board for £13,000. The board has left the matter in the hands of the chairman (Mr. W. J. Holdsworth), with power to act, and Mr. C. F. Bennett is to be requested to submit a valuation of the property.

The annual meeting of the Auckland Auxiliary of the British and Foreign Bible Society will be held invthe Beresford Street Congregational Church tomorrow, Tuesday, evening, at 7.30 p.m. The Rev. Lionel Fletcher will preside, and the Rev. Evan R, Harries will deliver an address. The parent society in London has set apart December 1 as a special season of prayer, and has invited its supporters in all parts of the world to unite in intercession on this day.

The condition of Mr. J. Breen, who received serious injuries to his back through his yacht falling on him while he was engaged in painting it at Wellington, is unchanged.

The Auckland waterfront presented an usually busy appearance this morning, when twelve overseas steamers were engaged with cargo operations. The arrivals over the week-end included the Danish, steamer Sierra Nevada, from Pacific Coast ports, and the Shaw, Savill and Albion Line steamer Maimoa, from Liverpool. The latter vessel commenced her present voyage on August 1, but was delayed at Fremantle for 58 days owing to t'ne seamen's strike. She has SOOO bags of maize, SSO tons of salt, and about 00 casks of wine to unload at Auckland. This morning the liner Remuera arrived- from London with immigrants and general cargo, and berthed at the Queen's wharf, whilst the Union Company's steamer Tofua returned from Western Pacific Islands. Included in the cargo brought to Auckland by the latter vessel were 23,816 cases and 407 bunches of bananas, 2221 cases of pines, 541 cases of tomatoes, 78S loose watermelons, and 27 tons of copra. At the Western wharf the steamer Physa is discharging case oil from Singapore, and at the Prince's wharf the Sutton Hall is unloading New York cargo. The Maliana is still putting out Home cargo at the Queen's wharf, and the Otaki and Hororata are loading for overseas ports. The American cargo steamer West Islip is at the King's wharf. In addition to the steamers here mentioned, there are at present several intercolonial and coastal cargo vessels in port. ,-

A fault occurred on the Parnell feeder out from Newmarket sub-station on Saturday evening last, and on making tests on this cable the Power Board officials discovered many weak places, which showed clearly signs of electrolysis taking place on the lead covering. This appears to be precisely the same thing as happened with a section of the cable in the Remuera Road some time ago, and points clearly to the lead covering becoming alive by some means or another. The exact reason for this has not yet been accounted for, but the board's officials are making further tests with a view to ascertaining it.

In endeavouring to avoid another car which "cut in" on him in Symonds Street at about 10 o'clock on Saturday night, Mr. C. L. Clarke, of Mount Eden Road, swerved his car towards the footpath and crashed into a verandah post near the Lyric Theatre. Seated next the driver was Mr. Leslie McCarthy. The force of the impact sent him hurtling to the pavement. He was temporarily stunned, and was taken to the hospital, where he was treated in the casualty ward. A front mudguard and lamp on the car were damaged.

In one of Auckland's prominent schools last week, a teacher in setting his class a lesson in composition, suggested the pupils should write a story in which the central figure should be a boy of poor parents who had by sheer hard work and in the face of many hardships made a success of life, and become a wealthy man. All the pupils wrote a story, but one lad had a happy thought when he headed his contribution "The Luck of a Chow."

A carnival held at the Cornwall Park School on Saturday afternoon to secure funds for the purchase of additional ground to the school site for an infant school was very largely attended, and resulted in £170 raised. A sale of work, officially opened by Mr. J. S. Diekson, M.P., and a programme of sports for the children kept patrons pleasingly engaged all afternoon. A football match, Remuera v. Gornwall Park, ended in a draw; Newmarket beat Cornwall Park in a girls' basketball match, and a tug-of-war competition among five schools for the Smerdon Challenge Cup resulted in a win for the Cornwall Park School team.

The Auckland Electric Power Board has instructed its general manager to obtain all information regarding the cost of reticulation and the possible demand in East Tamaki, with a view to providing lighting for that area. Similar information is to be obtained regarding Wiri.