NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 186, 8 August 1930, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

A Horse's "Morning Tea." -An unexpected "morning tea"' came the -way of a liorse drawing a street sweeper's cart in Karangahape Eoad to-day. The sweeper halted his vehicle at the rear of a. Chinese market gardener's lorry, and the sight and smell of the vegetables was too great a temptation for the liorse. The greens were but a few inches in front of his nose, and he was successful in getting a couple of juicy mouthfuls before the street sweeper upset his party. City Council and Schools. The City Council had spent approximately £500 a year in providing school libraries for all schools subject to Government inspection within the city boundaries, stated the civic deputation which recently waited upon the Hon. H. Atmore. Minister of Education, in connection with the provision of the site for a fine arts building in Auckland. The deputation made its report to the City Council last evening, and said the Minister had also been informed that the council supplied water free of charge to all sucli schools up to a maximum of 500 gallons per child yearly, the value of the water supplied to 48 schools in 1928-29' being £332. The Earliest "Limited." Twenty-two years ago the first through train from Wellington arrived at Auckland on the ithen newly-completed North Island Main Trunk railway. The rails from the northern and southern ends of the line were joined on August 3, 190 S. at Manganui-o-te-ao, and four days later the first through train, consisting of 12 vehicles, left Wellington for Auckland with a party of Ministers, members of Parliament and others, the occasion being the welcome to the American fleet, which arrived at Auckland—the only port of call in the Dominion —on August 9. The train, which commenced its journey at 10 p.m. on August 7, reached Auckland at 0.30 p.m. on Saturday, August 8. The regular service between Auckland and Wellington was begun on February 14, 1909. Dangerous Footpaths. i Hardly a day passes without some unfortunate pedestrian toppling over on the greasy concrete footpaths in some quarter of the city, j The trouble in a great many cases is caused by the wearing of steel protectors, but when the weather is wet one has toi keep all one's wits about one to prevent losing one's balance on inclines that are laid down in flagstones. Only recently the danger that exists caused the City Council to chip the concrete blocks in Shortlaiul Street in order to give pedestrians a more secure foothold. Those who have had occasion to stroll in Wellesley Street recently 'note with satisfaction that the concrete pavements that have been laid down have not been finished off smoothly and there is more grip about them. Well Understood. Rather unexpected appreciation of the feelings of a man under the influence of liquor was expressed by a well-known counsel appearing for a prisoner in the Supreme Court at Wellington. Ho had asked a woman witness to explain to the Court the accused's condition when she saw him ncaring his home. "The accused was not staggering about," replied the witness, "but his condition seemed to be that of a man whose head feels several sizes bigger than~~it actually is. You know what I mean ?" "Yes, I know the feeling," said counsel quite seriously, no doubt thinking about the next question he proposed putting. Everybody in the Court enjoyed counsel's frank admission. Orakei Basin Eeserve. The agreement for the lease of the Orak*i Basin as a recreation reserve was further discussed by the City Council last evening. The decision of the council on June 5, that it was not prepared to sign the agreement unless the Railway Department, which had cut off the basin from the sea by an embankment and weir, would

indemnify it against any claim that might bi made' regarding the riparian rights of owner: abutting on the basin, wns referred to by tin town clerk, Mr. J. S. Brigham, who stated thai the Parks Committ.ee had since recommender that the matter be reconsidered with a view tc having the lease executed. The Finance Com mittee endorsed this recommendation, which wa: agreed to by the council. Te Aroha's Jubilee. The fiftieth anniversary of the opening oJ the Tc Aroha goldfields is to be celebrated this year by the issue of a souvenir booklet, whiel will deal not only with the township itself, bit! with the settlement and development of the Thames valley as a whole. Mr. A. T. Burton, the editor of the booklet and chairman of the publicity committee, will be glad to receive any documentary evidence or photographs dealing with the old pioneering days. One of several scientific articles to appear in the book will deal with the geology of the Thames valley, and the writer wishes to obtain "bore logs" from various parts of the area, especially those relating to deep bores. A bore log is a written record of the various strata passed through, with details of indications of water, oil, etc. The names and addresses of old Te Aroha pioneers are also desired. Secluded City Road. In some of the more secluded, or rather exclusive, parts of London one comes across a notice board of protest: "No hawkers and no music." In Auckland the nearest we can get to it is "No trades allowed." which the City Council -does not exactly stick up at the end of the thoroughfare, but enforces all the same. At last night's meeting of the council there was a protest from six residents of City Boad, off Symonds Street, against an application for permission to put up a garage. The city engineer reported that the street was only _20ft wide, which was too narrow for anything but a residential street, and the council adopted his recommendation that all applications for permission to erect business premises in the thoroughfare be declined. "House Full." Since Mr. J. E. Lundou has been enlivening the proceedings, the usually-deserted strangers' gallery at the City Council has been taxed and overtaxed. People were standing last night. Attention was callcd to the. fact that two ladies were among those who could not find a seat. The Deputy-Mayor (Mr. A, J. Entrican) gave instructions to send up two chairs for the ladies. A letter was received from H. A. Evens suggesting that a row of chairs should be placed on the floor of the chamber behind the circle of seats occupied by the councillors. Mr. Entrican moved that the council regret its inability to provide more accommodation than that provided in the gallery. Mr. J R. Lundon thought the public should be encouraged, and so did Mr. F. N. Bar* tram and Mr. T. Bloodworth, at which there was incipient applause from the gallery. Mr. Geo. W. Hutchison said that if the loan to erect new much-needed accommodation for the council and its officers had been carried, there would have been ample room for the public. Finally the letter was sent to the Finance Committee for a report. The gallery holds 40 ala sardine. Weasels. Members of the provincial executive of the Farmers' Union at a recent meeting were discussing the extermination of stoats and weasels. It is not generally known that to a Canterbury resident belongs the doubtful honour of having assisted in bringing into New Zealand the weasel and the stoat. Mr. Allbones hailed originally from the English countryside, and was well acquainted with the playful ways of the twin pests. He secured a contract with the Government for the delivery of a certain number of the animals, and a grateful country paid his fare to and from England in return for the labour involved in mothering a consignment of weasels and looking after them during the voyage. The first batch to be liberated spread rapidly as far as the Southern Lakes, feasting richly on native birds instead of on the rabbits they were intended to destroy. It was some time before the fact broke upon the consciousness of the authorities, and when it did Mr. Allbones' profitable little contract was terminated abrujitly^