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Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 15, 19 January 1926, Page 6

From to-morrow, the Court "will ohansre from full into half mourning for the late Queen Alexandra, in accordance with the commands of His Majesty the King. This means a relaxation of certain of the restrictions placed upon the official activities of Crown representatives and Court attaches. Army officers in uniform will discontinue -wear-

ing black sleeve-bands. The Court -will go out .of mourning on Saturday, February 20.

While travelling down Symonds St., shortly before midnight last night a flve-seater car struck a tramway centrepole at the 'Wakefield Street corner. The wheel and a mudguard were torn off, the windscreen was broken and the chassis was badly strained. The driver of the car, the only occupant, escaped unhurt.

A communication from the county engineer at yesterday's meeting of the Waitemata Power Board resulted in a definite policy being laid down in respect to the repair of streets in which poles were erected by the board's workmen. After reasonable censolidafcion of the earth around the poles has taken place the surplus spoil is to be removed at the expense of the board, ■which will also reinstate asphalt or other similar road surface disturbed. Wherever possible trees will be safeguarded from injury and destruction in streets and public places traversed by the board's lines. Insulation of the wire has been decided on to obviate damage to the pohutukawa tree in Saltburn Road, to which, attention was directed by the Takapuna Borough Council. It was, however, considered impossible to save the large macrocarpa at the corner of Onewa Road, Birkenhead, owing to the mandatory provision that the high tension line -which crosses here must be bare, insulation of the 11,000-volt line not being allowed.

The two canvassers of the Waitemata Power Board have been at work now for some eighteen weeks. The potential consumers total 2061 so far, including 44 dairy farmers. On the North Shore 1186 were pjcured, viz., Takapuna 543, Birkenhead 377, Northcote 249, and Waitemata County 17. The remainder (875) were in the town districts and county areas along the Kaipara railway line. At New Lynn 107 consumers are already receiving current, and the other townships from this point to Henderson are expected to be lighted up during the ensuing two months. It was stated at yesterday's meeting, by Mr. M. E Thompson, that the Auckland Gas Company had also put out two canvassers on the North Shore, and Mr. W. R. T Leighton supplemented this by stating that the Gas Company was also looking well after its own interests at New Lynn.

An unsigned letter, which evidentlyreferred to a notice received for the payment of overdue rates, was received by the Manukau County Council at its meeting to-day. The writer adopted a novel manner of objecting, and the letter, which is as follows, speaks for itself:—"Christian Scientists are able to persuade themselves on occasions that they are not sick, but only think they are. Unfortunately my powers of auto-suggestion are not sufficiently developed to persuade mc that I am not hungry or that I am respectably and sufficiently clothed in nothing. Consequently I have to spend money while successful in making sixpence do the full and uttermost work of sixpence. I have not solved the economic problem of making it do the work of a shilling. In plain language, while I should be only too pleased to pay off the arrears of rates referred to it is at present a financial impossibility. In reply to the above I would say: There was a faith healer of Deal, who said although pain isn't real, if I sit on a pin, and it punctures my skin, I dislike what I fancy I feel."

The possibility of Infection from books, or rather "danger," was the subject of a lecture to the Dominion Libraries' Conference by Dr. Burns. He did not consider the danger serious. He remarked that infection was everywhere in the air, the tramcars and streets, and on the covers of books, but it was purely a matter of susceptibility to attack. Anyone looking round the room and seeing the healthy-looking representatives to the conference would realise that they at least had not suffered in any way through handling books. He suggested, however, that a certain course of preventive measures might be adopted to do away with any possible causes of infection, although, as he had stated, there was no greater risk in handling books than from any other cause in the ordinary walks of life.

"A British soldier -was sniping it a German iif the front line, when he put down Jiis .rifle, unbuttoned his tunic and made search for a flea," said Bishop Taylor Smith, during his address in St.' Matthew's Church last night. "As be was bending over, a bullet x passed" through his helmet—a bullet that would have killed him had he been in his fori mer position. At that moment, the soldier grasped the flea, and said: 'Thou hast saved a valuable life! I was about to kill thee, but now I cannot. Would that I could reward thee with the Victoria Cross! What shall be thy reward? Ah —back to the rations!'" The Bishop suited the action to the word, thrust- ! ing his hand beneath his coat to scratch himself. Despite the fact that the story was told in a consecrated building, everyone laughed heartily.

As is well known to T>t>wlers, the Stanley bowling green is situated in a very sheltered position many feet down below the level of the roadway. Those passing along can look down and see all that is going on on the greensward below much better even than those who are sitting watching the play on the banks. A bowler's love of the game is proverbial, and it was particularly tantalising yesterday when two borough employees, who are noted Deyonport bowlers, were set a job just at the bend of the road which looks right down on to the green. It was particularly irritating, too, when they heard the players saying that one more player was needed to complete a rink, and sent out scouts to see if one could be hunted up, with no Tesults. Tempting offers were ttien made to the men on the road to come and have a game, but they simply shook their heads, but when some of the veteran players put in good shots against each other and there was much applause in consequence, the men could not refrain from resting on their shovels for a moment and taking the keenest interest in all that was going on, and sighing for the days when the~Y, too, might belong to the "idle rick."" A matter of principle cropped up when the Waitemata Power Board took over the electricity supply at Xew Lynn from the Auckland Board. There were about forty consumers then receiving current, and the Waitemata Board insisted on these signing a fresh application form, and paying the deposit of 10/ required from "new consumers." After some demur all but two complied. These contended that they -were taken over from Auckland as a going concern, and therefore could not be deemed to be new consumers. "On being notified by the Waitemata Board early in December that the power would be cut off failing compliance with the board's requirements within seven days, one of the dissenters recanted to the extent of paying the half sovereign under protest. Mr. C. F. Gardner, however, declined to pay. Consequently legal opinion was sought by the board before taking the drastic step of depriving itself of a customer. This advice, -which was read at the meeting of the board yesterday, was to the effect that consumers at Xew Lynn previously supplied by the Auckland Board could not be held to be "new consumers." Xo further action is to be taken in view of this advice. The whole question of existing consumers signing a fresh agreement and paying a deposit is involved should the 1600-odd Devonport consumers be transferred to the Waitemata Board. The matter will, therefore, be reviewed at a further meeting.

If "cheek"—no other -word is so applicable—makes for success, then there is at least in Auckland one land agent who is going to be in a big way later. This particular individual evidently has on his list of properties for sale a fiveroomed house in the Mount Eden district. A day or two ago he arrived at the house in -a motor car with a prospective client, but it so happened that the lady of the house had gone out to do a little shopping, and the agent's knock on the door failed to bring an answer. It was quite in order that he and his client should inspect the yard and outside of the house, but not content with this the agent endeavoured to prise the windows open, and also shook the doors till they threatened to fall from their hinges. Not being able to gain an entrance, the agent' finally asked the lady living next door if she could get into the house and show him through! Surely this is the limit.

"Tell him to come in if lie wants to see mc," said a New Plymouth hotelkeeper to a messenger who told him the other day that a person outside the building wanted to see him. The visitor came in—on the hack of a heavy horse he was riding. The stamping of hoofs echoed through the barroom, and did not die down until the lofty visitor, his business over, lowered his head to under the top of the door. It wR3 certainly a case of high Jinks, for the practical humorist was°a well-known character in the town.

The collection taken up on Friday last, •in conjunction with the "Ugly Man" competition amounted to £42 11/8. Of this amount £17 0/S (40 per cent of the total) has been handed to a small committee for distribution among the local orphanages.