NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 303, 22 December 1932, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

The Holidays. "The Auckland Star" will not be published next Monday, December 26, which will be observed as a holiday, in view of Christmas Day falling on a Sunday. The following week the New Year holiday will be observed on Monday, and there will again be no issue of the "Star." "L" of a Difference.

A letter received by a member of an Auckland suburban local body this week contained a humorous misspelling. The letter referred to tree planting and street beautification, and the mistake in spelling occurred over the word "plants." To the amusement of the councillor tlie writer of tlie letter—it was a lady who was guilty — made a reference to his beautiful "pants." Viaduct Bridge. Figures showing the extensive fise made by small craft of the opening in the western viaduct were placed before the Auckland Harbour Board at its meeting this week. The engineer reported that during the month of November the bridge had been opened 52!) times to allow 325 vessels to pass inwards and 400 vessels to pass outwards. On the third day of the month the bridge had been opened on no fewer than 31 occasions to allow the passage of 49 vessels. The bridge, said the engineer, had also been extensively used by locomotives drawing oil wagons. Entitled to Christmas Cheer. Christinas gifts distributed by tlie Mayoress to families of city relief workers have been restricted to men with four or more children, owing to the fact that it was not possible to make gifts to all men on the council's list. Among the applications made for inclusion in tlie scheme after the list had beeli finalised were some whioli were not in order, but one man established a particularly strong claim. A week ago, he said, he had been the father of a family of three, but since then liis wife had presented him with twins.

Birkenhead Water Bore. The Birkenhead waterworks engineer stated at the meeting of the Borough Council last evening that the bore, was 400 ft deep on the property near the local reservoir, where water had been •located by a diviner. The pump at 140 ft down encountered a continuous flow of approximately 125 gallons an hour. The Mayor, Mr. Geoige Mills, said he would like the bore extended to 50ft below sea level. The existence of a good supply would help in time of need in the event of anything happening to the present source of supply at Lake Pupuke. The council authorised! boring to a further depth of 50ft. ■ *\ ' Prompt Payment. An unusual position of particular interest at the present time was revealed in the report of Mr H. 'H. Watkinri, secretary and engineer to the Auckland and Suburban Drainage Board, presented at the board's meeting last evening. He reported that all assessments levied by the board for the current financial year, amounting to £41,094, had been paid by contributing authorities, the second half-yearly instalments, which became payable on December 1, having all been paid by December 8. The general fund No. 2 account now showed a credit balance of £9*092. "That's the best report for many years," remarked the Mayor, Mr. G. W. Hutchison.

Great South Road Speeding. Mention of the fact that motorists frequently travelled at an excessi7e speed on the Great South Koad, between the Harp of Erin and the overhead bridge at Penrose, • was made at last evening's meeting of the One Tree Hill Borough Council. It was also alleged that cars were frequently driven on the wrong side. The Mayor, Mr. L' J. Goldstine, said that speeding on that ■particular stretcli. of road constituted a real danger, as there were a number of intersections. It was decided to instruct the traffic, inspector to look into the matter. Later in the evening a complaint relating to all-night parking on the roads was voiced. This matter was also referred to the attention of the inspector. The Longest Day. Although it may appear a pity, seeing that summer seems to have only just begun, it is nevertheless an inexorable astronomical fact that to-day, December 22, is the longest day. Consolation, however, is to be derived from the fact that the best part of the summer is probably still yet to come, real summer weather often not starting until about or even after the longest day. The sun rose this morning (by almanac) in Auckland at 4.5S a.m., summer time, and sets at 7.40 p.m., being therefore above the horizon for the very respectable period of 14 hours 42 minutes. After to-day the sun will begin to rise a little later each morning, although there may be but few people abroad to observe the fact. But the end of the day, which matters most to the majority of people, still has some kick in it, for the sun sets later each day _until January 9. Therefore no one for a long while yet will be justified In making the usual trite observation that "the days are beginning to draw in." Proposed Tree Planting. Opinions concerning a proposal to establish an official tree planting or Arbor Day throughout the Auckland suburban district were asked for in a letter from the Auckland Suburban Local Bodies' Association, which came before the One Tree Hill Borough Council at its meeting last evening. The object of the proposal, advised the association, was to get trees planted in vacant spaces and reserves under the control of local bodies. The Mayor, Mr. I. J. Goldstine, explained that the suggestion had ' originated from the Birkenhead Borough Council. Mr. C. L. Sly field said that although there few spaces in the borough where tree planting was necessary he thought the idea was a good one and worthy of the support of the council. In seconding the motion, Mr. W. G. Mulholland mentioned that tree planting would be desirable when the H. B. Morton estate was roaded. Mr. Morton, he declared, had been one of the greatest tree lovers Auckland had ever known. The council decided to support the proposal.

Turkey's Suicidal Attempt. The Christmas atmosphere must have been too much for at least one of the birds in the poultry pens of the Auckland City yesterday morning. Its presentiment of mortality was evidently too strong for it not to seize the chance of sudden escape when a prospective buyer opened the pen door f.or the purpose of examining it. With a terrific beating of wings, it slipped from his hands and flew through, the mart out into the street, where, probably intent upon suicide to escape the ignominy of being served up at a Christmas dinner, it flew straight at the windscreen of a passing motor car. Glass was scattered in all directions, giving the driver the shock of his life. But the strange result was that the turkey's suicidal attempt was thwarted entirely. It did not suffer concussion, not even a scratch. It was captured and consigned to its pen again to stand its chance of being chosen for someone's Christmas dinner, but its protests were expressed in long and pitiful gobbles. A knotty point arose as to liability for the broken windscreen. The turkey was not the property of the mart, having been sent there entirely for the purpose of sale; 110 liability could possibly attach to the owner of the bird, as he knew absolutely nothing about the incident; and it would be also unreasonable to-attach blame to the man who let the bird escape from the pen entirely by accident, since the custom of allowing would-be bidders to handle birds before deciding to bid has always been sanctioned by the marts. And it was pointed out by a humorist that you could not hold the motorist liable himself for being in the road of the bird,-nor the turkey for wanting to commit'suicide. The auctioneer said to-day that the matter was still in abeyance, pending a reasonable suggestion by one of the parties involved. He added that out of good nature lie . ' x.-.- ;