NEWS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 15, 19 January 1939, Page 10

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Crmse Ships From Australia. Visits to New Zealand will be made by three cruise ships before the end of the gummer, The Orient liner Oronsay is due from Brisbane on February 3 with about 800 passengers, and will be followed by the P. and O. liners Stratheden and Strathallan, which will also bring a large number of tourists. Takapuna Building. Building figures described as being greatly in excess of any other period were established in the Takapuna borough during the period from December 9 to January 12. At the Borough Council meeting last evening it w»6 reported that permits had been issued for new buildings of a total value of £4978. Three were for dwellings. It was reported also that a contract had. been.let for the erection of 17 State houses, the value being approximately £20,000. Photo Print by Lightning. "Reading 'Lightning Tricks' in Tuesday's issue of the 'Star' takes me back to 20 years ago, when I was called home to the funeral of a school mate." writes a correspondent. "My friend was killed my lightning while he was sheltering under a pine tree. On arrival I was taken to see the body before burial, the shrouds were opened, and I was amazed to see the photograph pf a pine tree, upside down, right over the heart. The tree photo was complete, even to the roots." Cow Struck by Train. When the Taneatua-Auckland express hit a cow which had wandered on to the liye at a road crossing between Awakaponga and Matata yesterday, the two leading front wheels of the engine were derailed. The cow was severely injured by the impact and had to be destroyed. The train was delayed for about an hour while the engine was being lifted back on to the rails, and arrived in Auckland at approximately 7.15 in the evening instead of at 0.20 p.m. Packing Cases Ablaze. In response to loud and continuous blasts ! from the powerful siren at the Otahuhu rail- ' way workshojis about 4.30 yesterday afternoon, the Otaliuhu Fire Brigade was promptly on the scene of an ontbreak of fire among a heap of packing cases in the workshops yard. Fanned by a strong wind, the wooden material blazed fiercely, but the brigade's prompt work" prevented the flames from spreading. The outbreak was extinguished after two hours' fight. Damage was confined to two trucks, which were charred bv heat, and to the lumber which was destroyed. Local Bodies' Problem. Two local bodies in the city are faced with a problem owing to the operation of the legislation safeguarding tenants in occupation of houses. The Auckland City Council and the Auckland Fire Board are the ones affected, and in each case it is intended to demolish the houses. Three occupied houses, now owned by the City Council, bar the way to the extension of Nelson Street, making a new traffic route from the waterfront to the southern end of Ponsonby Boad. Seven houses on the area I taken over by the council have been vacated. I In regard to the other three the council has been advised that it is not entitled to turn the occupants out unless it makes provision for them elsewhere. Considerable work has still to be done on the area before the houses form a definite ohstacle, and it is likely that the matter will be dealt with at the first meeting of the council this year. In the ca.se of the Fire Board a somewhat similar position exists at the new station site in Pitt Street and Greys Avenue. It is stated that notice was given to the tenants of the site a year ago, and all had left with the exception 'of two. Most of the site ha» been cleared, but the layout of the buildings has not yet been approved by the Government and the City Council. Pats in State Houses. The rules that govern the actions of the tenants in State houses, provided some amusing moments in the official tour of State housing projects in and about Christchurch by the new Minister in of Housing, the Hon. H. T. Armstrong. Suspended from the top of one front porch was a cage containing a canary—and canaries are alleged to be among the list of prohibited pets. So far from trying to hide its presence from official eight, however, this canary sang lustily. When his attention Wftir drawn to it the Minister smiled. "That ghrM the'lie to the statement that you cannot keep canaries," said the Director of Housing Construction, Mr. A. Tyndall, amid laughter, aad the party moved on, still serenaded by 'Dw'canary. Further along in the same group of houses a potato patch in front of a house sown to prepare the soil for a lawn to come, was a playground for a small and very playful puppy—and dogs are also on the prohibited list. The official party smiled again and moved on. As they moved on there were wider smiles when it was seen that the puppy was being disclaimed. Someone was carefully/putting it over the next-door fence. The Minister made it fairly clear throughout the whole inspection that the punctilious observance of the rules was not a question of burning anxiety with him, and it was apparent that as long as the neighbours did not complain no serious official punishment was likely to be meted out for any minor breach of the regulations so carefully laid down.

Speedboat Interfered With. A 16ft speedboat which disappeared from its moorings near the Taupo wharf on the Waikato River on January 6 was discovered by Mr. D. Hunt, of Taupo, yesterday, about a quarter of a mile above the Aratiatia rapids. It was damaged beyond repair. It was remarkable that such a light craft could go over the Huka Falls without being completely broken up. . •••? - Destination of Converted Cars. Discussion on the problem of unlawful car conversion was proceeding at a meeting of the council of the. Automobile Association (Auckland) last evening, when one of the members asked what was the general direction followed by car thieves. "Do they," he asked, "tend to go north, or south—" "Oh," said the secretary, Mr. G. W. Hutchison, "they all go west." A.A. Members Thanked. Thanks to all members of the Automobile Association (Auckland) for the way in which they had conducted themselves over the holiday period, were expressed at a meeting of the council last evening by the president, Mr. F. G. Farrell. The association had, he thought, contributed, materially to good behaviour on the roads over Christmas and New Yeafc and, considering the amount of traffic on the roads, he believed that the proportion of accidents, particularly fatal accidents, was lower than previously. Tantalus the Eel. The cup of Tantalus might have learned something in the art of disappointing the human race from the behaviour of two large eels which engaged the earnest attention of two young fishermen who were trying their hick from the gap in the breakwater surrounding the St. Mary's Bay boat harbour. The tide was just on the turn shortly after midnight when the eels appeared. For two hours they swam leisurely near the surface of the water, now plainly visible, now out of sight in the darkness, but aTways out of reach. Thrte times they nibbled at the bait, only to sheer off- again. Circling the spot where the lines were out, nosing first towards one, then to the other, they kept the fishermen on tiptoe till the early hours of this morning, when the latter were forced to "return home—without a catch. Less Fiction Taken. Less fiction was lent by the Auckland Public Library and its branches, and by the Leys Institute, during 1938 than in previous years. This position is regarded as being due to the growth of private lending libraries. On the other hand the issues of general literature and travel books showed an increase that nearly counter-balanced the position. The total number of books lent during the year was 813,759, a decrease of 1669 on the previous year. Increases in circulation were shown by the Central, Grafton, Point Chevalier and Tamaki branches and by the schools' division. The change-over of the Point Chevalier library to larger premises had resulted in an increase in issue of 23J per cent. Decreases in circulation were shown at the Leys Institute, at Parnell and at Remuera. There was a decrease in the use of the reference department, and also in the number of visitors to the libraries and the Art Gallery. Trials of an Albatross. The albatross which landed at Hororata, Canterbury, last week made an unsuccessful attempt to fly away on Monday evening. After taking off from the lake in the domain, it flew towards the sea, but was carried down by the north-west gale while passing over the town and became entangled in a clothes line and a wire fence. The bird is not badly injured, and arrangements have now been made so that it can be sent to Akaroa, where the Borough Council has offered to help it to recover on salt water food. The bird could not possibly live long away from the sea, according to Mr. Kdgar F. Stead, the wellknown ornithologist, who suggested sending the albatross to Akaroa. On Monday afternoon the bird was seen to rise about. 3ft off the water of the lake in the Hororata Domain and then sink back. At 5 p.m., however, it rose with the help of the high north-west wind, cleared the trees, which are 20ft high, and set off across the town towards the sea. When it had only 200 yds to go to clear the township, the bird was apparently carried down by the wind, and it struck a clothes line in a back yard. Houses for Unemployed. "That shows the difference. In New Zealand we are going in for £.1150 and £1300 houses and that is how they are tackling it. . . ." This comment was called from Mr. J. Guiniven, Mayor of Takapuna, last evening when the Borough Council received' from the town clerk of the Newcastle Council, New South Wales, the plan for a house and details of a scheme in operation there to provide houses for unemployed. The plan was of a bach-type of house, with two rooms and kitchenette, and the letter from the town clerk described it as "a typical plan for a cottage that would conform to the minimum requirements of the ordinances operating in New South Wales. The Homes for Unemployed Trust makes available £15 worth of material to unemployed applicants and such material is used, together with any other second-hand or new material which may be available to the unemployed or relief workers to construct with their own labour a buildihg conforming to the sketch plan." That plan allowed for enlargement later, and the addition of a verandah. it was pointed out. "Several houseare being erected in accordance with the plan now forwarded with quite satisfactory results."