NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 241, 12 October 1927, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Highway Funds Transfer. Answering the member for Avon, the Minister of Public Works (Hon. K. S. Williams) stated in the House that there will be a clause in the finance Bill authorising the re-transfer from the construction fund to the revenue fund of the Main Highways Board of £350,000. The repayment would be made in such sums and at such dates as will be required by the revenue fund.

A Quick Eeply. "Good going," said an Auckland business man this morning, when commenting upon the fact that yesterday morning at 10.45 he sent a cable to a Sydney firm, and a reply was back in his office two hours later. He mentioned it as an instance of quick service in the handling of ordinary commercial cables between Auckland and Sydney. Onehunga Transport.

The fact that the bus service to Onehunga is not well patronised, and that there is the possibility of the Auckland City Council abandoning the service, was discussed at a meeting of the Onehunga Borough Council last evening, when it was decided to give publicity to the fact that the bus fares and tram fares were identical. The Borough Council approved of the scale of fares submitted by the Auckland City Council for a service between the city and Te Papapa, subject to the charge being sixpence from the city to Green's store. Whitebait Plentiful

A Wanganui man who made a large catch of whitebait sold it to passing motorists and went home with £5 10/ in his pockets as a result of the day's business. Whitebait has been more plentiful in Wanganui than for many years past, and fish dealers recently were giving only 3d per pint for the delicacy. The retail price in Wanganui at present is 3/ per pint. Several people have reported excellent catches, and to fill a kerosene tin with whitebait has been a fairly common occurrence during the last few daysAn ex-resident of the West Coast of the South Island said that in his boyhood days whitebait was go plentiful in the Grey River that people could ndt use it all, and buried it in their gardens as manure. Those were the days before whitebait was canned for export. "Cloak of Heaven." "Cloak of Heaven" is the meaning of Rangitopuni, the name of both the valley and stream on the headwaters of the Waitemata, which has been regarded as a possible source for a water supply to serve the North Shore boroughs. The Rangitopuni is a wide valley, and extremely picturesque, and the measured flow of the stream, which was gauged at the end of an ordinary summer, disclosed a flow of 2,000,000 gallons daily. The extensive watershed of 12,000 acres is fairly well settled, and, as the land lends itself to more intense settlement, reservation of the area for water conservation does not find a great measure of support, particularly in view of the fact that a more favoured scheme is the linking of the northern shore suburbs with the city water supply at Waitakere.

Bridging a Gap. One of the obvious advantages of radio telephony is that it enables communication to be carried on between points which cannot easily be connected by wires. A notable case in which ready communication is very desirable, but would be, if wired telephones were used, prohibitively costly, is on the section of the famous Milford Track, between Glade House and the Lake Te Anau Accommodation House. The Tourist Department has ordered a 200-watt radiophone equipment for use on this section, which is traversed by steamer. It is imponrble to lay a telephone line round the almost inaccessible, forest-clad shore of the lake, and the absence of means of communication has long been very inconvenient. The rest of the track is covered by line telephones.

Cornwallis Wharf. "There was I, nearly up to my neck in water taking measurements, and then had to get into a leaky dinghy to complete the job," said Mr. A. M. Laing in the course of a moving story to the Auckland Harbour Board about his trials in checking some measurements for the proposed lengthening of the Cornwallis wharf in order that launches can use it at all stages of the tide. Mr. Laing wig pleading for the board to find twothirds of the £670 required for the work, instead of the half suggested by the Manukau Harbour Committee. He explained that the Waitemata County Council would find £100, but not more. Some of the members thought the Onehunga people should find some of the cost, as the wharf was used entirely by people on pleasure bent. The board decided to limit its own share of the work to tie half suggested by the committee.

Same Question—Same Answer. "Quite Asquithian," was the comment of Mr. W. J. Jordan (Manukau) in the House last night when the Prime Minister, for the third time within a week, parried a question as to when the Licensing Bill is to appear before Parliament. The questioner, Mr. Wilford, realising that he was on delicate ground, assured Mr. Coatee that he would "ask nicely," and when he put the question it was greeted with general laughter. "I might myself rise and put the point of order asking if this is not tedious repetition," replied . the Prime Minister. "It was asked by the member for Lyttelton, and a few days before it was also asked by the member for Eden. Having been again asked the question, I can answer in the same terms, that as soon as the Government makes satisfactory progress with its own business the questioner may expect to eee the Licensing Bill before Parliament." (Laughter.)

Westfleld Odours. Once upon a time there were little sandy beaches from Westfield along the Manukau waterfront, where juvenile Otahuhu used to bathe in shallow but clean water. To-day they would have to-wade through smelling black mud over the ankles, and even then would not get clean water. The Health Department has for years been worrying the Harbour Board, which is supposed to have control of these beaches, to prevent the pollution by the discharge of drainage in the vicinity. At yesterday's meeting of the board it was decided: "That a copy of the Health Department's letter be sent to the firms at Westfield, and that they be notified that the board is disappointed at the delay in formulating a comprehensive scheme for drainage, and that it requires an assurance that the matter be prosecuted with expedition, and that the scheme be submitted to the board within two months frem date."

The Whan Bridge. "What has become of the Wliau Bridge Commission?" asked a member of the New Lynn Town Board at last night's meeting. The town clerk replied that the board was still in communication with the Main Highways Board on the subject, and that finality was likely to be reached in the course of a few days. It transpired during a subsequent discussion that, on Avondale joining up with the city, the arrangement entered into between the Avondale and New Lynn authorities for traffic control on the bridge on alternate Sunday afternoons had not been continued by the city authorities. Last Sunday at one time in the afternoon there were 30 motor vehicles on one side of the bridge and 40 on the other wailing to get across. The town clerk stated that he was in communication with the city traffic department in respect to the matter. The condition of the bridge was again referred to, and the board decided, on the advice of its solicitors, to frame a by-law fixing the maximum load to be carried over the bridge at six tons. Many loads carried over the bridge at the present time are said to be in the vicinity of twelve tons. It is the intention of the board to pot this by-law in operation at the earliest possible moment.