NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 260, 3 November 1931, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Waterfront Road Lights,

"We received one or two complaints about the lighting of the waterfront road when the work was first started," said Mr. W. J. Holdsworth, chairman of the Auckland Electric Powei Board, at yesterday's jneeting, "but now it is apparently recognised that the lighting is effective and not dangerous." Satisfaction was ex pressed by other members of the board. » Guard's Van Derailed. On account of the guard's van being derailed at Papakura yesterday afternoon, the Rotorua ■2 express was delayed 25 minutes. Entering the station yard, the express had to cross a set ol points leading from the single to the double track, and the rear bogie of the van fouled the rails. Mails and luggage were transferred tc another van, and the express continued its jour ney to Auckland. Additional delay was caused by the dislocation of the automatic signalling apparatus. •5 Flood-lighting Museum. The work of flood-lighting the War Memorial Museum was well in hand, reported Mr. W. J. Holdsworth,. chairman of the Auckland Electric Power Board, at yesterday's meeting. It was hoped that arrangements would bo ready for a trial on. Armistice Night, November 11. Electrical equipment necessary for the work had arrived from England about ten days ago, and it was expected that the standards, which are being made locally, would be in place to-day. There will be a series of tests before the floodlighting is brought fully into use. Haunt of the Shag. The discovery of an extensive shag rookery lias been made on the shore of Lake Waikare, in the lower Waikato, the nests being high on the branches of a big clump of kaliikatea trees, in many instances at least 60ft above the ground. The rookery' is some distance back from the lake, where there is a jungle of undergrowth, many small lagoons and much swamp. It has been •ascertained that at feast three varieties of shag

haunt the rookery, the large black shag whicl: the Maoris call "kawau," the short-hilled sliag arid the little black shag. The different specie: live together on the friendliest terms, and liuni the waters of the lake together. Great Cricket Captain. "Tom Lowry, the lighting captain emerges as one of the great figures in the game of cricket in this country. He is among the best in the world to-day, and his performance has recalled the tactics and strategy of Noble, Trott and Maclarem" In these words did Mr. D. Reese, president of the New Zealand Cricket Council, pay a great tribute to the Dominion's cricket captain when speaking at the civic reception held in the Town Hall yesterday. At the luncheon held later M. L. Page, vice-captain of the team, said that Lowry had corrected faults in his men and done much to encourage them. P. F. Warner, he said, had made the statement that Lowry was the finest captain who had been to England since M. A. Noble in 1909, and no better tribute was required than that. Slip on Main Trunk. Main Trunk railway traffic was blocked for several hours last evening by a slip which occurred about a mile north of National Park station, in the King Country. The ordinary express from Wellington was held up for three hours, but the Limited from Wellington and the two expresses south passed the scene of the slip without difficulty. A goods train from Ohakune to Taumarunui, which left National Park at 8.50 p.m., ran into the slip, which at the time was not sufficient to obstruct the train. The engine and trucks passed through the loose earth covering the line without damage. A few minutes, after the train passed, however, a' second and larger slip fell,' completely blocking the line. Gangs of men were ordered from nearest stations, and the line was cleared about 1.15 this morning." Foreign Pencils. The use of copyihg pencils of Continental Manufacture by the Railways Department was mentioned at yesterday's meeting of the Auckland Manufacturers' Association. The Minister, of Industries, the Hon. R. Masters,"had explained that the Government Printing Department stocked two brands of pencils of English manufacture and. one brand of foreign origin. Officers of the Railway Department had advised that the Continental pencils, were superior in quality and more economical. Rbcently. however, an order for pencils had been placed with the special provision that Eng-lish-made articles were to be purchased if reasonable in price and of equal quality. An effort was being made to give preference to English goods in all instances where there was direct foreign competition. Railway Signals Fail. Tlie whole .of the automatic signalling'apparatus in the Auckland railway yard, and as far as Papakura, failed yesterday afternoon, and for four hours much inconvenience was caused to train running. Failure of the electric power supply caused the breakdown at the busiest time of the day. During the early part of the evening trains had to be hand-piloted over the points until power was restored in the southern section of the yard at 7.35 p.m. The departure of the Limited express for Wellington was only three minutes late, but further delays were encountered on the run to Frankton on account of crossing trains. The express arrived at the junction 23 minutes late. /The lights controlling the movement of outward trains were working in time for the departure of the ordinary express, which left the station at S p.m. —20 minutes late. On arrival at Frankton this train was only seven minutes behind time. A Sad Sea Change. Scarcely a breath of wind stirred on Sunday morning, and the yacht Nomad, with nearly a score oi youths and girls on boai'd, was idly drifting in the stream a short distance above Northcote. About half a dozen girls were grouped on the cabin top listening to the strains of a jazz liit, played by a portable gramophone set beside, them. Suddenly , the sea's glassy surface was ruffled by a gust of wind, and as the yacht heeled over, the gramophone, playing gaily the while, slid quietly off the cabin top into the water.. Making a frantic grab for the machine as it disappeared, one of the girls lost her bal- . ance, .and fell overboard. The attention of her companions- was now directed toward getting her aboard again, as the gramophone, now lying several fathoms deep, was beyond redemption. One ; of the young men dived overboard, another went ; to her rescue in a dinghy, and by their combined ' aid she was brought aboard, leaving a jjerfectly ; good "portable" at the bottom of the harbour. j 1 "Too Much Inspection." ' , Strong Opposition to the newly-gazetted ■ regulations for machinery inspection in factories < was voiced yesterday at a meeting of the council i of the Auckland Manufacturers' Association. It was decided to semi copies of the resolution of ( protest to the Chamber of Commerce, the New 1 Zealand Manufacturers' Federation, and also to Cabinet and the Minister concerned. Mr. S. i Takle, who presided, said the cost of inspections c would be doubled in many cases. This caused s Mr. H. Welsh, another member of the council, to 1 relate the story of a dual inspection of machinery. 1 at -the factory in which he is interested. "The } customary inspection had been made, and every- s thing appeared t.o be satisfactory," he said, c "Imagine my surprise a few days later when a f well-dressed young man from the Government department that controls the inspections paid us a an official call. He said he wanted certain f measurements taken. To this I replied that I <] could not stop the plant again, and, as a matter ,i of fact, the measurements he wanted had been v duly taken—and officially recorded—on the first a occasion by the first inspector. 'Well, we haven't 0 got it,' said the yourigv gentleman, so I- produced f a carbon copy of the measurements and gave it 0 to him. (Laughter.) It would appear that some- a times we have too much inspection."