NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 168, 19 July 1933, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Mud In Referee's Whistle. An unexpected incident in a Eugby match at ratoa on Saturday provoked much merriment among spectators. Patea and Waimate weie playin- in the South Taranaki championship contest, and play stopped without the referees Whistle being heard. For a moment players were nonplused, but laughter from the stand and the look on the referee's face indicated that something was the matter with the whistle. Mud from the rain-soaked field had blocked the whistle. New Ambulance Branch. The Auckland centre of the St. John Ambulance Association has received word from Mr.. W. E n. Froggatt, district officer afGisborne, that a branch of the Auckland centre has been formed at Wairoa, Hawke's Bay. This is the . moet eastern part over which the Auckland district office has control. Mr. H. L. Harker, Mayor of Wairoa, was elected president, and Mr. F. J. Hale is to be the secretary of the branch. "Fowlds Park." As a mark of appreciation of the services of the Hon. Sir George Fowlds to tlio borough, the Mount Albert Borough Council decided last evening to rename the Morningside reserve Fowlds Park. The chairman of the parks and reserves committee, Mr. I'. Floyd, said that it was through the. a«*>istancc of Sir George Fowkle, who was then in the Ward Ministry, that the reserve was vested in the borough in 1006. Mount Albert Works. In the programme of works presented to the Mount Albert Borough Council hint evening by Mr. V. A. Coylc, chairman of the works committee, a total of £!)8(i:J was set down for capital expenditure dining the coming year. . Of this, i;2.")l!) i« to be spent on drainage, a;2!70 on footpaths, £51G5 on roadiiig, while £(iOOS wan scheduled for maintenance, including £1188 for footpaths, £Sl7 for carriageways and £4000 for reserves and general upkeep. A programme for two years' works was shown, tho*c to ho carried out this year being considered the most urgent. Unlighted Bicycles. The prevalence or unlimited bicycles and motor cycles, in the borough of Xorthcote was pointed out in a letter tabled at the Northcote Borough Council meeting last night from Mr. J. F. Jackson. The letter stated also that the machines iitsed the footpaths at night time. "This menace is a danger to life and limb, especially on the footpaths on the Lake Road. 2sight after nijrht unlighted bicycles use these narrow footpaths, and arc on top of pedestrians without any warning." The letter war; referred to the trailic inspector and to the police.

"The Usual Reply." Dissatisfaction was expressed with tho reply of (he Postmaster-General, the Hon. A. Hamilton, at the Nortlicote Borough Council Jast night, when the request for a slot telephone was refused. The telephone was to have been placed at the corner of Gladstone and Onewa Koads. "The Department is pursuing a short-sighted policy," *aid Mr. K. ('. Fowler. "This is just the usual Departmental reply. We should express our disappointment at the reply, and. our disapproval of the policy of the Department." The council did so, and a letter is also to be sent to the Minister ueking him to reconsider the matter. Risking Infection. The statement that visitors to the isolation wards at the Auckland Hospital had actually been found by the medical superintendent with their head and ehoulders through the windows of the ward was made at the meeting of the Hospital Board yesterday afternoon. The house committee reported that parents and friends of patients in tho infectious diseases ward frequently ignored warning notices and approached to the windows and doors of the building. It recommended that serious consideration be given to the erection of some system of barriers to prevent encroachment on the grounds. North Shore Water. A decision iw to the letting of the contract for the installation of purification pi-ant on tho shores of Lake Pupuke will be made at to-night'rs meeting of the Devonport Borough Council. Tenders for the undertaking, which consists in the erection at the site of the present pumping station of a settling tank, aeration and carbon filtration equipment, closed last week, and the council, it is understood, iis now ready to announce its acceptance of one of them. The cost of the work is estimated at £~>ooo. The object of the installation is to remove the trouble which so seriouely marred the Pupuke water eupply last summer. Drew Lots For Position. Two appointments were made at the meeting of the Auckland Hospital Board yesterday afternoon to vacancies on the honorary visiting staffs. Dr. G. J. S. Fisher was appointed from six applicants to the position of assistant surgeon. For the position of honorary visiting physician there were two applicants, and a ballot of members resulted in an even vote, each, of the two doctors receiving five votes. It was suggested that the chairman, Mr. W. Wallace, should give a casting vote, but it was finally decided that the appointment should bo made by tho drawing of lots. Both names were written on slips of paper and placed in a hat. The draw favoured Dr. E. J. Cronin, who was accordingly appointed. They Didn't Know. It is always considered tho first essential when parties go to Court to know the facts of one's case, and know them well. In the civil action heard yesterday, in which the pacing gelding Oliver Thorpe> figured, it "vras surprising that the parties, in evidence, consistently mentioned that it was the second race at the February meeting of the Auckland Trotting Club that Oliver Thorpe lad contested. Mr. McKean, S.M., who had been casually glancing through, the race book, remarked that ho could not find Oliver Thorpe's name among those listed, and it was not till he had glanced at the subsequent events that he found the horse had raced in the fourth event, and not the second. Thefts of Accessories. Thefts of spare wheels, spare tyree and accessories from motor cars parked about city streets at night still continue, in spite of the supervision of men appointed by the Automobile Association to watch cars belonging to members. A motorist who had his car parked near the Town Hall on Monday night found, when he wanted to go home, that hie tank had been drained. The car was parked in Wakeiicld Street, where there is usually supervision. Another motorist last night left his car in Elliott Street, and returned to find that his overcoat had been stolen. Before there was any supervision- by men appointed by the Automobile Association there was an epidemic of thieving from care, but this has been minimised. The men are not paid by the A.A., but rely on what the motorist is prepared to give them. Under Another Hag. With a new name and under another flag, the former Norwegian steamer Penybryn, which raced to the rescue of the Union Company's liner Tahiti when that vessel was foundering in the Pacific in August, 1930, is back at Auckland. The vessel, which is now the British steamer Fife, berthed at the King's wharf this morning to discharge a cargo of sulphur from Galveston, Texas. When the trade depression was at its worst, two years ago, the Penybryn was laid up for some time in a Norwegian port until she was acquired by B. J. Sutherland and Company, Ltd., of Newcastle-on-Tyne. At Sunderland approximately £5000 was spent in 'converting the freighter's engines to the superheating type, in order that she would be more economical to run. Another period of idleness followed until the ship was chartered for her present f voyage. After leaving England the Fife, which' now boasts a yellow funnel,,with a band of red and blue triangles and a. black top, experienced an uneventful voyage. "The only excitement that we have had was catching dolphins and tunny fish in the Pacific," said one of the officers this morning. "We trailed a piece of white rag over the stern, and the fish went for it in good style. And they are fine eating," he^aid,