NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 65, 18 March 1930, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Lord Bledisloe and the Law. In his younger days the new GovernorGeneral (Lord Bledisloe) was a lawyer. He was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple in 1894, and for sixteen years he practised as a chancery barrister and conveyancer. But even when he was a busy lawyer he maintained iiis interest in farming, and took a pride in developing the family estates in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. Mrs. Cobbe Injured. The day before sailing from Apia the Hon. J. G. Cobbe and Mrs. Cobbe drove out from Apia to see a missionary friend. On the return journey when close to the town something went wrong with the steering gear and the car dashed into the drain alongside the road. Mrs. Cobbe was thrown heavily against the iron stanchions of the car and received severe bruises on the chin and cheek. She was still suffering rather severely from shock wlian the Tofua reached Suva. Air Mail Service? Commenting on the fine feat of Captain J. D. Hewett in making a non-stop aeroplana flight from Dunedin to Auckland the Mayor of Dunedin (Mr. R. S. Black) said he hoped it would not be long before there would be a regular air mail service between the various centres of New Zealand. Business letters for Dunedin firm? which were brought by boats calling first at Auckland or Wellington would then reach Dunedin in a much shorter time than at present, and this would bring Dunedin in close touch with the outside world. Shipping a Circus.

When the Ulimaroa leaves Auckland for Sydney on Friday she will be an extra full ship, in addition to ordinary passengers and cargo Wirth'e circus and menagerie will be on board. On Thursday night a start will be made by the circus hands with the packing and transferring of the gear from the old dock site to the wharf, and by eight o'clot : on Friday morning everything will be alongside the ship ready to- be loaded. The embarking of the large elephants will not be as difficult a job as would be imagined for they will simply walk aboard, over planks, when the ship's deck is level with the wharf —probably about five-thirty in the morning. The passenger accommodation will be heavily taxed', as about ninety people travel with the circus. When the Ulimaroa pulls out from the wharf there will not be a vacant berth aboard —not even a spare shakedown. Eyes on Orakei. It is understood that with the completion ot the new waterfront road across Hobson Bay for heavy traffic a large amount of building will be done in what has been termed the "garden suburb of Orakei." Two years have passed since the area was subdivided after purchase by the Government, and something like half of the available sections havo been offered at the three auction sales conducted by the North Auckland Land Board. While a large number were purchased, many were passed in and some have since been acquired at upset prices. Already the new suburb is assuming a certain orderliness with well-laid out streets, effective drainage, reticulated electric power and about a dozen new houses. When the problem of regular communication by means of buses is solved there is likely to be increased popular interest both in Orakei and in the other suburbs served by the new eastern roadway.

Fine Board Eoom. . Members of the Auckland Electric i'ower Board assembled in the new board room in the Queen Street premises for the first time yesterday, and were impressed with the arrangements made for their comfort. The ceiling is elaborately done in modelled plaster, '.Terns and Prince of Wales Feathers playing an important part in the scheme of decoration, while the walls are panelled in New Zealand woods. The eeating accommodation is arranged around a horse-shoe table made of woods fading from light to shade, mottled kauri being a feature of the design. The chairman (Mr. W. J- Holdsworth), in welcoming members to the new board room, said there had been some difficulty in having the officer) completed, but nothing had been lost by waiting, for the contractors had made an excellent job of their task. He trusted that the good feelings that had prevailed at other places of meeting would continue in the new and very line surroundings. Democracy's Origin. , "Through the influence of Christ there came to England' her idea of freedom and of spiritual equality," said the Veil. Archdeacon Mac Murray in the course of an address last evening as St. David's Hall. "Thus," he continued, "through Christ there came to modern civilisation as a living principal, pregnant with the destinies of all mankind, the idea of democracy. But, we must never forget that, while the idea of democratic civilisation came from Christ, from Him must also come the Spirit which will keep democracy sweet and safe." At a later stage the speaker remarked: "I know how difficult is the industrial problem when all the factors are considered. Until we have the wheels of democracy working smoothly by the Spirit of Christ in men's hearts, we shall have not only, democracy fa-.ling of high results, but also the world of industry falling far short of the ideal of the Kingdom of God." ■ Opening of Hunua. Hunua is a pretty peaceful spot, and its fine waterfall has been famous for years, but the awful road over the range of hills, and later the narrow gorge road, always militated against it. It, is some years since the old clay road' over the hills was abandoned and a road built alongside the creek, but it waa so narrow that for car drivers unaccustomed to such skimpy room, especially on the corners, the travellers were mostly people who lived in the. district, or people who were compelled to go there. The widening of the road is now progressing slowly, but surely, and it is a much less nerve-racking drive than formerly. When the work is finished many more people will motor to the falls, which are really well worth seeing. Even with the road in its unfinished state the cars are getting fairly numerous, and during the present week-end about forty visited the falls. If a round trip could be provided by opening up the road that runs down the Wairoa River, thus enabling people to drive from Papakura to Hunua, and then back via Clevedon, it would be a fine thing for motor people who are always glad of a new outing. Country Power Consumers. Every effort is being made by the Auckland Electric Power Board to cater for country consumers. This fact was stressed at yesterday's meeting of the board when the chairman (Mr. W. J. Hoidswoxth) replied to a charge made by a country consumer that provision was being made by the board' to meet the convenience oi city people, while insufficient attention was being paid to the establishment of offices in the outlying districts. "If the country consumer who complains had taken the trouble to ring up the general manager he could have been furnished with sufficient information to show that the board is not overlooking the country consumer,' said Mr." Holdsworth. "We have established offices at Onehunga and Otahuhu, completed plans for central offices at Papatoetoe, secured a section at Papakura suitable for the erection of a building, and made arrangements for consumers to pay their accounts at (.he door. Where we have no offices, accounts are collected at the offices of local'bodies. I think," he added, that we have made reasonable provision for our consumers. As we have looked after the country consumer in- the past so we will in the future attcDd to that asnect of the development of. our undertaking."