NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 282, 29 November 1927, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Devonport Council Vacancy.

Only 502 ratepayers out of a total of 3000 voted at a poll held at Devonport yesterday to elect a member of the Borough Council in place of Mr. P. J. Sheehan, who resigned. Mr. T. Walsh was elected, the details of the voting being:—T. Walsh, 260; F. J. D. Langley, 126; F. A. Thompson, 93; H. Barnhill, 79. Inspection of Roads. Complaints concerning the maintenance of the main road between Auckland and Helensville caused Mr. A. Tyndall, engineer of the Main Highways Board, to inspect the road yesterday. To-day Mr. Tyndall and Mr. L. B. Campbell, Public Works engineer for the Auckland district, left to visit the Kainiai Hills and other roads in the No. 2 Highways District. Telegraphic Troubles. For several hours last evening telegraphic and telephonic communication between Auckland and Wellington was interrupted in consequence of the storm experienced at the southern end of the island. Reception began to fade early in the evening, and as a remedy messages were relayed via Napier. Later this connection also failed, and the telephone service was then used. At a late hour the telegraphic services were partially resumed, and this morning the position was practically normal. New Perry Berth. The ferries have started berthing at the new portion of the Devonport wharf. Within the last few months the captains of the vessels have had to be very careful bringing their boats in, as the latter had only to drift about 20yds too far, and they would have crashed into solid concrete. Stragglers have a little further to walk before they reach the gangway (which they seldom use), but the use of the new part of the wharf, which is just outside of the automatic lift put in for the vehicular ferries, is appreciated by the skippers. Friendly Challenge. "We have a challenge from the gasworks, not as to the cost of power, but to a game of bowls." This announcement, which was made at yesterday's meeting of the Auckland Electric Power Board by the chairman (Mr. W. J. Holdsworth), gave rise to a good deal of good-natured banter. "Electric hares would be more in our line," jocularly remarked a member, while another suggested that they had to get the hares first. It was decided to leave the matter of arranging the friendly contest for Thursday week in the hands of the deputy-chairman (Mr. S. J. Harbutt). "Unfashionable." The balance-sheet of the Auckland Electric Power Board has been returned after submission to the Audit Department, minus a "tag" of any description. At yesterday's meeting of the board gratification was expressed concerning the way the financial statement had been received by the Department. The chairman (Mr. W. J. Holdsworth) said that, considering the terrific amount of business the board put through, it was no mean thing to get the balance-sheet through without a "tag." A member: "I think we are out of the fashion. They are quite fashionable these days." Power Board's New Offices. An immediate start is to be made with the erection of modern office accommodation for the Auckland Electric Power Board in Queen Street, Onehunga. At yesterday's meeting of the board 19 tenders were received for the erection of the building, and that of Mr. William Curtis, of £3616, was accepted. The tenders ranged from £3548 to £5059, but the lowest tender proved to be informal. The new premises, which will be two-storeyed, will enhance the appearance of the architecture at Onehunga, for they will be erected in brick, and provide offices for the board's requirements, showrooms, and two shops suitable for letting. Not on Exhibition. "Have we any V' asked the Mayor (Mr. E. 11. Potter) at a meeting of the Mount Eden Borough Council last evening, when a letter was received from the War Museum Committee stating that the war trophies available had been exhausted, and as further applications 'fiad been received the committee asked if the council had any trophies that were not being used. "Two machine guns," replied the town clerk. "Let us donate them," said one of the councillors. The town clerk said that they would be glad to get rid of them; they were at present "tucked away under the stairs." The matter was lvtVrrcd to the Works Committee. Busy Burglars. The need of more adequate police protection was urged in a communication which the Mount Eden Borough Council received last evening, a Mount Eden Road terminus shdpkeeper stating that his place had been attacked five times by burglars, and that a chemist's shop was visited for the second time last week. He said that a request for a night patrol had been refused on the ground of expense. The Mayor (Mr. E. H. Potter) said that the matter would be represented to the police authorities. The population of Mount Eden and the immediate districts was now about 30,000, and it was necessary to have more police supervision. Times Have Changed. Some of the changes which have come about in the mode of behaviour of young people in recent years were given prominence in the Magistrate's Court yesterday afternoon. A young man explained the circumstances leading to his acquaintance with a young lady by saying: "I met her at a dance, but I was not introduced. You do not wait for introductions at dances nowadays." The counsel who was crossexamining remarked: "Times have changed considerably since I was young. In my day we never asked a young lady for a dance until we were introduced." The witness perhaps enlightened the learned counsel by saying: "You would not get any dances now!" Cost of Bnnning Buses. Compared with the City Council's operating costs of 16.90 d per bus mile, including 13.99 d for actual running expenses, and 2.19 d for depreciation, capital and other charges, the chairman of the New Lynn Town Board (Mr. W. L. Titchener) said at a public meeting last evening that there were private companies operating on some of the longer routes which had running costs in the vicinity of lOd, and were making a profit on their'undertakings. He said that men, working double time on the old G.O.C. buses, got £7 10/ a week, and the City Council was paying £11 for the same conditions. Under the city time-table, 183 minutes were lost daily by each of six buses on the Henderson run in waiting time, and, with the high rate of wages paid, he considered this excessive. "Many a Mickle " People did not realise, said Mr. T. Bloodworth in the course of his address to the Economic Society last evening on the question of industrial, arbitration, the difference which an increase or a decrease of - a half-penny •an hour to the working community really meant. Taking as a basis a 44-hour week, with 50 weeks to the working year, the increase of a half-penny an hour to 10,000 workers meant a total of £45,832 for the year. There were considerably more than 10,000 workers in New Zealand. The employers, however, were not called upon to pay this in a lump sum. Really, the money was merely loaned to the workmen, as the extra 1/10 which each received every week went straight back mto the purses of the traders. There was a smile on the speaker's face as he made this latter statement, and there were smiles on the faces of those present when he had finished.