NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 126, 30 May 1934, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Mount Albert Tram Terminus.

In response to considerable imitation for the extension of the present Mount Albert tram terminus to Richardson Road intersection, the Auckland Transport Board has notified the Mount Albert Borough Council that a tramway track "crossover" is to be installed at Richardson Road, and that certain trams will run to this 2 ,0 > n t- The council was asked to report at a future date on the acceptability or otherwise of this position. Ducks for Bradman and Co. A large case packed with duck, salmon trout and appropriate condiments is in the freezer of the Maimoa addressed to the Australian cricketers. It is the gift of a South Islander and will be discharged in London. The ironical comment of a ship's officer to-day was that he did not see the point of sending such edible,* all the way to England, apart from the generosity of the gesture. Moreover, Bradman already had received a bra-co of "ducks"! Signal First. The need for motorists to look carefully behind them immediately before "pulling out" from the kerb, and also clearly to signal their intentions, was stressed by Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M., when commenting on a traffic case before the Court last week. In the latest issue of the Automobile Association Bulletin it is stated that recent observations have shown that some drivers still neglect the necessary precaution of fully extending the right arm before leaving the kerb. "Neglect of this action is very fruitful of accident, and every motor driver in city and borough streets should observe this precaution at all times," says the bulletin. New Guinea Life. In a lecture to members of the Victoria League last evening the Kev. L. l'\ Cartridge gave a survey of the administration of New Guinea. He dealt with the method of government and various aspects of life .affecting the natives. The Chief Administrator, appointed By the Commonwealth Government, had an advisory council to assist him. The whole territory was divided into districts, each in charge "of three officers, ono of whom was a medical man. The chief district officers had to be men of many parts; they had to combine the discretion and sagacity of a judge with the knowledge of a bridge engineer.

Sheep Disappear. The value of two slieep which disappeared at Orakei on April 19 was claimed from the Auckland Harbour Board in a letter received at the board's meeting yesterday. The claimant stated that of 103 sheep landed from the motor vessel Motu at Orakei during the night of 19, two were missing when delivery was taken in the morning, and it was alleged that they had fallen through a hole in the wharf. On the recommendation of tho superintendent, who stated that the hole in tho wharf, 22in by lOin, did not seem largo enough to let through a full-grown sheep, the board declined liabiliiy. What Did the Judge Mean? A letter from Mr. Justice Fair, who is a member of the council of Victoria University College, thanking fellow members for their igood wishes on the occasion of his recent elevation to tho Supremo Court Bench, gave rise to humorous references at a meeting of the council. His Honor's letter included the words: "I hope I may eee more of members of the council." To which Professor \V. H. Gould replied: "I should like to know what lies behind those words. Do they mean that his Honor wishes to see some of us before liim in his new capacity?" His Honor, who was present, did not enlighten the professor, but only smiled. More Cargo Handled.

Cargo handled at Auckland during April showed an increase of 15.15 per cent, as compared with the figures for the same month of last year, according to tho report of the superintendent, received at yesterday's meeting of the Auckland Harboirr Board. The total cargo handled was 140,208 tone, of which imports amounted to 92,140 tons, transhipments 3069 tons, and exports 44,91)9 tone, all these amounts being greater than they were in April of last year. The Manukau Harbour report showed imports amounting to 1337 tons, an increase of 66.71 per cent over the figures for April of last year, and exports amounting to 4418 tons, an increase of 50.27 per cent.

Hamilton en Fete. In Hamilton yesterday was opened the 38th annual Waikato Winter Show, and the air of the whole town reflects the fact that it is ehow week. Auckland lacks this show atmosphere. Even when the Royal Show was here, nobody seemed stirred by :he fact. But in the Waikato everyone for miles round makes a point of coming into the town to go to the ehow. The streets were crowded, and the people were moving in a definite general direction. All roads led to Rome, it seemed. To mark the occasion, a tracery of electric lights had been woven above the main street, and placed across the traffic bridge. At night the effect was beautiful. The lights were of different colours, so that when one entered the town and looked down the main street," it seemed like another fairyland. The lights were reflected in the still river, a perfect rainbow arch. Workman's Narrow Escape. To glance up suddenly and see a 20ft kauri girder hurtling down from the top storey of the Capitol building was the alaiming experience of one of the workmen engaged in° erecting the scaffolding in front- of the building in Dunedin on Wednesday morning, states the "Otago Daily Times." The timber, which is Gin by 4in, was being hoisted by means of a rope on a pulley from the verandah to the top storey, about 50ft up, and one of the girders had just been raised and was being pulled on to the platform at the top when it slipped. At the same moment the man standing on the verandah below looked up and sprang to one side as the girder crashed, end on, just where ho had been standing. His escape from death was so narrow that the beam grazed his arm, removing some of the skin, as it landed. Fortunately it struck another girder lying on the verandah, making a heavy depression, in the wood, otherwise it would have cut through the verandah like a harpoon and possibly struck a pedestrian. Launch Registrations.

Reporting that a deputation representing the Auckland Yacht and Motor Boat Association had waited oh the.board in committee to discuss two recent by-laws of the board limiting the speed of launches and making silencers compulsory, the chairman of the Auckland Harbour, Board, Mr. T. B. Clay, said at the board's meeting yesterday that he had assured the deputation that the by-laws _in question were not intended to be taken literally, but had been framed to prevent nuisances being created by rowdy outboard motor boats or other launches. In future, owners of any such boats or launches which were likely to create nuisances through excessive noises from the engines would be called upon to silence their engines in an efficient manner. Nearly all the makers of outboard motors provided for the silencing of the engines in some manner or other, usually by linear-water exhausts, and this was all the board required. With regard to the speed limit cf five miles an hour within 440 yds of the foreshore, Mr. Clay pointed <>ut that the 440 yds were measured from highwater mark, and that hi the ease <>t •> of beaches the tide ran out quite that distance. The board decided to take no further , action.

Cheaper Money. "Money its banking up in this country and will become cheaper," said the president of the Wanganui Farmers' Conference. "When that stage is reached we will start to move ahearl. Wc are inclined to get our tails down too much and look upon the darker side. I feel confident that we will forge ahead, and the line we must take is to get a lot of small capitalists in this country." Maori Chief's Grave. The Waimate Borough Council (Canterbury) is considering the purchase of the land containing the grave of Huruhuru, the Maori chief, who welcomed the first white settler to the Waimate district. At the last meeting of the council % letter was received from the borougli solicitor stating that outstanding fees were due to the Native Land Court, and the cost to' the council would consequently be £*20. The Mayor, Mr. George Dash, said that if the council bought the land it would make a show-place of it. Jt was a disgrace to the Maori and white races alike that the grave should be in its present state. The matter was referred to the general committee. Rationing of Work. Tho Auckland Harbour Board decided yesterday afternoon to continue the present scheme of rationing the work of the staff, and to reconsider the question with the estimates for the next financial year. An amendment by Mr. J. Sayegh, that the economy committee. be instructed to bring down a scheme to cover the whole of tho staff, the present system having weighed unduly on the lower-paid men, lapsed for want of a seconder, members stating that tho rationing was not so much to save the paying of wages as to spread the available work amongst tho men, some of whom would otherwise have to be discharged because there would be nothing for them to do. Ex-Striker's Badges. "I am absolutly opposed to the wearing of any distinguishing marks. Whatever may be the opinion of individual tramway men regarding the strike or regarding their position on the staff, I do not think they have any right to wear such badges while in uniform and on duty," said tho chairman of the Tramway Board, the Rev. J. K. Archer, at Christchurch 011 Friday. He was inferring to the fact that many of the tramway workers who took part in the 1932 strike arc now wearing, pinned to their ties, badges consisting of small tram models engraved with the year 1932. It has been suggested that the volunteers who joined the service at the time of the strike should also wear a distinctive badge, but it is understood that the suggestion has met with small support, and that ic is not likely to be adopted. To Help Returned Soldiers. That waste timber, offered by the returned soldiers along the Otira line, should be carried by tho Railways Department at a reduced freight, so that it would be distributed to unemployed returned soldiers, was a request made to the District Traffic Manager, Mr. E. S. Brittenden, by the deputation from the Greymouth branch of the Returned Soldiers' Association, consisting of Messrs. A. H. McKane, president, and T. P. Ryan, secretary (states the Greymouth "Star"). It was explained that the returned soldici-s in the Lake Brunner district would load the timber on the railway trucks without cost, and a concession in railway freight would enable the association to give unemployed members free firewood during the winter. Mr. Brittenden promised to place the request beforo the General Manager of Railways, Mr. G. H. Mackley. Lion and Tiger Cubs. Chief interest at the Newtown Zoo, Wellington, centres at the moment on a female lion cub, a month old, which waddles about its cage, supporting a fat body or. unsteady legs, under the watchful eye of its mother. The cub itself has no objection to having its particularly soft and downy fur stroked by anyone privileged to do so. Tho mother, however, prevents overmuch familiarity by seizing the offspring in her mouth whenever it strays too close to the bars xnd transporting it back to the middle of the cage. The lion cub soon will not have all the limelight to itself. Hidden away in a den of an adjoining cage are two tiger cube, guarded by a tigress, who greets all attempts at approach with snarls. These are now two weeks old. It will be a while yet, however, before they are on view to the public. There was a third in the litter, but the mother rolled on it when it was two days old.

Old Coins on Great Barrier. Mr. C. N. Osborne, who lives at Rosalie Bay, Great Barrier, was recently sowing grass seed on a newly-burned bush clearing when he discovered the charred remains of a human skeleton with the skull in the centre, as though it had been placed thus. At a distance of Ices than one quarter of a''mile from the skeleton he found 16 coins with dates 1816-1817. There were five pennies, three shillings, seven sixpences and one threepeni.y piece; also a human tooth, the remains of an iron buckle and a small piece of brass. Some of the coins bear the head of George 111. The extent of clearing where the above coins were discovered was 68 acres, over which there were noted many signs of native occupation in the way of sea shellfish, etc. Mr. G. A. Blackwell, of Tryphena, while digging in his garden recently, unearthed a shilling dated 1834, and bearing the head of George IV. Bicycles by Post. Natives on the African Gold Coast have taken to bicycling with such a will that the ambition of everyone is to possess a "roundlegged donkey with one eye." To satisfy this desire the British Post Office and a firm of bicycle manufacturers have co-operated, so that all the native who desires to be in the fashion has to do is to post the money, and back comes a shining new bicycle delivered to his door by the postman. The British manufacturing firm hit upon the idea of selling its product abroad by posting bicycles in small parcels for assembly on delivery. To facilitate matters a "parcel post" bicycle was specially constructed, thus saving much expense, for postal charges are extremely low compared with steamer or rail transport. Now all that the energetic native has to do is to join five pieces together, a task that produces dozens of helpers, pump up the tyres, and ride off, the proud possessor of a new bicycle. Problem of Unemployed.

The necessity to get the unemployed back into the normal channels of industry was stressed by the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes, in opening the Waikato Winter Show in Hamilton yesterday. The Government, lie added, could be relied on to give that matter- its unremitting attention. In that connection he mentioned the development of the gold mining industry. Geophysical surveys were now being made, and much more definite information was available to investors. Science had made it possible for gold to be won oil a much more accurate and reliable basis than in the past. He was looking forward to the absorption of many thousands of men in the near future on our goklfields. Flax was another primary product which had suffered from the depression, and here again a stocktaking had been necessary. Recent investigations had been made at Masscy College, and it had been found that fibre second to none in the world could be produced. The Government had been advised that New Zealand flax rope was better for use in the Royal Navy than any other form of product. It was hoped to absorb more and more men in these industries, which had definitely bright prospecte.