NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 152, 30 June 1927, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Hardy Footballers. Apparently many trials and tribulations beset some of Auckland's hardy footballers when they play in the outer suburbs. It is said that a city team last Saturday reached their rendezvous, hung their clothes 011 gorse bushes, waded several streams, side-stepped at a distance a Jersey bull of docile appearance, and then found the football ground in full possession of a herd of cows. It was then decided that football was oil for the day. Unsightly Poles. The Fost and Telegraph Department in Auckland is making an earnest endeavour to get the telephone wires underground. While they are succeeding in this respect to a large measure in Queen Street, and have already removed a number of telegraph poles from the vicinity of the main Post Oilice, the city seems destined to continue to be disfigured by unsightly poles of a smaller variety, required for the purpose of carrying electric light wires. City Bus Fleet. In the Auckland City Council's lleet of ninety motor buses, twelve different makes are represented as the result of the purchase of sixty buses under the provisions of the Motor Omnibus Traffic Act. It has created an acute problem in the matter of standardisation, and at the moment 47 units of the fleet are in use. The council's original fleet consisted of thirty motor buses, three different makes being represented. One Playing Area Less. The section of Parnell Park which slopes to the west on the remnant of Campbell's Point has been in use as a football ground by the. Auckland Rugby League. It is 011 the line of a new roadway planned in the locality to connect with the waterfront, and, as excavation work has commenced, there is one sports area less in the city. Although not an ideal playground on account of the steepness of the slope, the Parnell youth has had a lot of recreative enjoyment in the locality, and the passing of the Parnell football ground has occasioned general regret.

Fires at Avondale. Two small outbreaks of lire occurred at Avondale early last evening. The first alarm was given at half-past seven, when it was found that a small building at the rear of Hook's grocery story was alight. The volunteer lire brigade suppressed the outbreak before any great damage was done. The firemen were putting the gear away at u-quarter past eight when they received the second call. This was to the joinery works of Mr. A. Firth, ill' the Great North Road. The lire was confined to two wooden case', containing glass, in the basement of the building.

Sun Gazers. "Xever look at an eclipse of the sun unless through smoke gla=ses. If you do, it is possible you may injure your eyes," said Mr. E. G. Jones during his lecture 011 solar eclipses at the Leys Institute last evening. At Trentham a man had hurt his eyes by neglecting to use smoke glasses when watching an eclipse, with the result that in order to see anyone now he had to look slightly to the side. Mr. Jones told the story of the man with crossed eyes who collided with another man in the street. In reply to the crossed-eyed mail's "Why don't you look where you are going?" the other replied, "Why don't you go where you're looking?" Hockey Carnival. Well may the spacious hockey grounds at Romuera be regarded as the Mecca of the knights and ladies of the bent stick. Every year teams come from near and far to do battle, the ladies for the Ladies' Provincial Cup, and the men for the White Horse Cup. This year's competitions will start on Monday next, play commencing in the morning. For the ladies' cup, at present held by Rotorua, fourteen teams have entered, while the White Horse Cup, won last year by Waipa, will be contested by eight elevens. For this season's tourney teams are coming from as far north as Whangarei, and as far south as Tatimariinui. It is anticipated that public interest in the matches will be as keen as in previous years. Toto Planning Conference. A conference of local authorities 011 the subject of town planning is to be held in the Town Hall 011 Monday, July 11. A cordial invitation is extended to representatives of both city and suburban areas. There was an interesting discussion on the possible results of the conference at last night's meeting of the Xewniarket Borough Council. It was pointed out that the recommendations of regional committees could be adopted by the higher authority, and it was also stated that precautions are being taken to safeguard the rights of local bodies, to ensure that due weight shall be given to their recommendations and claims. Taniwha's Community Effort. Where there's a will there's a way. Taniwha, the little soldier settlement sixty miles south of Auckland, and to the cast of Te Kauwhata. has been without a church. It was decided to erect a building of undenominational character. A site was donated by one resident, and the necessary timber was cut in the bush by voluntary i labour. The timber was carted and milled free ! of cost, and then delivered 011 the site by volun- . tary labour. The building is to be j erected i largely by free labour, as only a couplei of earI. penters will be employed. 111 addition, the I Taniwha residents have collected over £500. ! Modern Explorers. j' 0110 would think that the city of Auckland ! had been well explored, and that anything in the j nature of the discovery of new land would be !an impossibility. Yet the unexpected happened | yesterday, when representatives of the Auckland i sports bodies, under the guidance of Mr. F. W. | Brinsden, chairman of the Reserves Committee ! of the Auckland City Council, made an extensive | tour of the city reserves to ascertain what areas j could be developed as future play places to cater [ for athletic Auckland. Tucked away amid picturesque surroundings in o:ie portion of suburban Remuera a very nice play area was located. True, it is well known to the civic authorities and the adjoining residents, yet apparently it was unknown to the Auckland sporting bodies, as tip to now not a single application has been lodged for the use of it. A hockey man in the party surveyed the green turf with sparkling eyes, a Rugby mail took a mental survey and wondered if two Rugby games could be accommodated there, while a lady member of the party grew most enthusias- j tic, and said it was a really nice place for ladies' hockey. One gathered that there will be several applications sent in to the City Council for the j use of the ground. A Borough "Mass Attack." 11l their report of borough inspection, the Devonport Council's committee last night recommended that a trial be given of what might be termed "a mass attack" on any particular job. The present system involves the employment of the bulk of the borough staff of fifty on a series of routine tasks, which are practically continuous throughout the year, leaving now only about ten men for outside work. It was suggested that some jobs could be economically handled by concentrated effort under constant supervision, and that the routine tasks would not suffer appreciably. Messrs. Ellisdon and Hislop considered that it was not the council's duty to dictate a policy to the staff in the manner of handling work." The Mayor, however, on the contrary, considered that it was the council' 3 function to supervise all borough work down to the last detail in the interests of general efficiency, and this he hoped would be the policy of the council. The present suggestion would operate in the nature of an experiment, and they were assured of the co-operation of their engineer and foreman of works. With one dissentient vote the proposal was adopted by the council, and it was left to the officials to denote some particular work upon which the mass method could be profitably employed..