NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 27, 1 February 1930, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Mount Albert's Need. Improved postal facilities for Mount Albert were the subject of a discussion between Mr. G. C. Munns, M.P. for Roskill, and tlie Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward, at Rotorua yesterday, and Mr. Munns has returned to Auckland confident that tenders for a new post office will be called in the near future. A sum of £2500 was placed on the Estimates last year. A Popular Appointment. The new city engineer, Mr. J. Tyler, was congratulated on his appointment at a meeting of the Auckland branch of the New Zealand Society of Civil Engineers last evening. The chairman. Mr. D. Holderness, said that in view of the fact that Auckland was the largest city in the Dominion the appointment to so responsible a post was a very great honour. It was one of the most important posts in New Zealand, and Mr. Tyler was to be congratulated on securing a position so greatly prized. Prime Minister's Health, The Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward, is becoming a familiar figure in the Sanatorium Grounds at Rotorua, and has been renewing numerous acquaintances in chats with visitors. Mr. G. C. Munns, M.P. for Roskill, said to-day he spent much time with the Prime Minister on Thursday and Friday, and was convinced of the benefit Sir Joseph had received from his treatment. He was in frequent communication with Wellington by telephone, and was giving full attention to the duties of his office. Newton Post Office. Additions to cost £3455 are being made to the Newton Post Office. When the present building was erected, it was considered to be absurdly large for the district. It was the late Hon. W. Swanson who, when M.P. for Newton, got the Government to erect the brick building for the post office. Prior to that, the post office for Ivarangahape Road was attached to a grocery business, and was first in charge of Mr. Patrick Brophy, and afterwards by Mr. J. B. Hoyes. Mr. Swanson also got a bridge built across Cox's Creek to connect Ponsonby with Richmond. That was looked upon as a waste of money at the time, but for many years now it has proved a boon to the district. The Cost of Living. The announcement that the Government Statistician is gathering and collating information as to the cost of living in the average New Zealand family recalls to a correspondent that a systematic attempt to obtain similar data was made under the auspices of the Labour party some years before the war. .He still possesses one ot the little red-backed notebooks in which the householder was requested to enter particulars of income and expenditure. The columns included those for rent, food (under classified headings), alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, tobacco, cigars and cigarettes, fuel and light, fares (railway, tram, bus, etc.), insurance, fees for education, medical attendance, medicine, etc., rates and taxes, sport, amusements, club fees, and sundry outgoings. It would be interesting to compare the total of "amusements, etc." of 1910 with that of the present day. Pride Had a Fall. At a Rotary luncheon in Hastings, Rotarian O'Meara related an amusing experience he had when his steamer cast anchor at Honolulu. The port doctor came aboard to give the passengers a clearance for health. Everyone assembled on deck for inspection with the exception of a haughty lady with the distinguishing prefix "honourable" to her name. She refused pointblank to come out of lier cabin. "Let him come down if he wants to see nie," she snapped. The medico furiously ordered the woman np, a command which she positively refused to obey. Here was a deadlock. At last the doctor did go down, and, as she still rode the high horse, he told her to stay in her cabin, and, locking the door, gave instructions that she must be kept there until the steamer sailed. . When the voyage was resumed, she was quite a subdued lady. Noisy Motorists. An utter disregard for the comfort of the sick is displayed by many motorists when approaching the corner of Park Road, opposite the main gateß of the Auckland Hospital. Long blasts on the horn, or a series of blasts, are heard not only during the day, when the street is one of the busiest in the city, but also late at night. Motor cyclists who tear past the hospital with open throttles are the worst oifenders. Traffic on Park Road never ceases. Even during the. small hours of the morning taxi-cabs and private cars pass with surprising frequency. From G a.m. till nearly midnight the traffic is practically continuous, with an average of three or four vehicles a minute. The sustained roar of traffic can be heard in the Outer Domain, about a quarter of a mile distant, .so it is little wonder the din penetrates the hospital wards. Watchers of the Night. Residents in the vicinity of the "Rise," Parnell, last night enjoyed a flutter of excitement in the brightness contributed by the underground cable blow-out in the footpath at the corner of Manukau Road and Garfield Street. An inspecting box fused about 10.30 within a few yards of a confectionery shop. The City and Parnell Fire Brigades could do nothing but stand by and protect the building until the Power Board workmen arrived. Meanwhile a considerable crowd had assembled. "Merriest little aifair for a long time up this way," said a lad who watched the blaze with evident delight. His comrades, with faces bathed in the glare, were equally happy. The talk of others soon turned from the waning fire to discussion about the Sanders Cup, to-day's races, and the English cricketers. By 11.30, with electric power cut off, the flame disappieared, by which time bed had become the absorbing topic. "Lost—a Case. Crossing Grafton Bridge yesterday, a big motor truck, with covered sides, dropped a small case. The driver was unaware of his loss, and the vehicle thundered off into the main traffic stream of Karangahape Road, leaving the box in the middle of the bridge. A man in a light car pulled up and lifted the case to one side, but a little later the driver of another motor truck hoisted it on to his vehicle and removed it to the hospital end of the bridge, where it was in no danger of causing an accident. No doubt a puzzled driver came back later in the day to retrieve the case. Occasionally large junks of rock bump off motor lorries on to the bridge, where they constitute a.grave danger. The other day two small boys dealt with one of these boulders by lifting'it from the. roadway and hurling it over the parapet, regardless; of. consequences to anyone who might happen to be below. "Community'-Spiders." j Among other objects of interest on Norfolk Island arie what are known locally as "community spiders." This is a rich, frog-green coloured spider, about the size of a shilling. Quite a number of them live together, and they spin a home ' ■ width' is "a - b'ehVtlful work of art. It is practically a box, 7ft? to Bft long, and about 2ft square. • Through- its walls the busy life of the community can ■fce clearly seen, and it is always a , .source .of much, interest. Such, a large web offers a considerable resistance to the wind,-and the guys and stays that fasten it'so beautifully and securely to the bushes are exceptionally strong. : Two or three, of them rolled' together have the tensile strength of quite a fairly thick string. ' A sma.ll bird accidentally flying against the side 1 of this great web is completely bail led, and even r the swift and heavy crimson parrot has been seen I to accidentally dash into the web and been com- , pelled to back off and fly around it. The spiders are quite harmless, in.d most settlers are pleased 1 to have such an interesting "exhibit" to show • tlicir visitors.