CITY AND SUBURBAN

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 53, 26 November 1929, Page 13

CITY AND SUBURBAN

HAPPENINGS IN AND ABOUT TOWN

Further contributions as follow' have been received in aid of the Victoria Hospital radio fund : Already acknowledged, £59/4/6: L.C.8., 2/6; Mr. and .Mrs. 11. E. Taino. £2/2/-; “Best Luck,” 10/-; total £6l/19/-.

The Wellington Technical High School will close far the summer holidays on December 19 and reopen on February 4. The breaking-up ceremony will take place in the Concert Chamber.

The massive iron gates at the entrance to the wharves between the Custom House and the Harbour Board X store were being moved yesterday to the street frontage between the two buildings. The board’s movable trolley cranes and mules were shifting the gates to their new position.

There was an attendance of about 80 players at the official opening on Satu/lay of the recently-formed Northland Catholic Tennis Club. Two hard courts have been laid on the club’s grounds.

A dj>?rsion was provided cricket enthusiasts at the Hutt Recreation Ground on Saturday afternoon. ' During the progress of the games a very small child pedalled its way on a tricycle the full length of the field, blissfully unconscious of the fact that in so doing it held up the play. There was a roar of laughter from both players and onlookers, but the child did not appreciate the joke.

A. Leahy, of 15 Taranaki Street, fell down a coal bunker on the overseas steamer Ruapehu, berthed at the King's Wharf, yesterday morning. He was smothered by coal and was extricated in an unconscious condition by the ship’s firemen at considerable risk to themselves. After receiving attention from the ship’s surgeon he was removed to the Public Hospital by the Free Ambulance.

A man whose egg bill is substantial owing to the demands of a growing family would like to know’ why eggs suddenly soar in price before and during the festive- season. “Surely the birds do not object to providing eggs during the holiday season,” be says, “or is it that opportunity is taken by the suppliers to make up for the lean seasons?” ’

The Disabled .Soldiers’ Rehabilitation Commission, Mr. J. S. Barton, S.M. (chairman), Sir John Luke, and Mr. S. J. Harrison (general secretary of the New Zealand Returned Soldiers’ Association), met in Wellington yesterday to confer on the evidence taken in Auckland and also to interview the heads of various Government Departments. The Commission left last night by the ferry steamdr for Christchurch, where it will sit and take evidence for approximately ten days, afterwards returning to Wellington to take evidence here.

At a meeting of . the Management Committee of the Maorilanders’ Association, last week, over which Mr. J. A. Shand presided, the secretary (Mr. T. Tester), reported that eight new members had joined since the last meeting, and that there were no liabilities. It was decided to appoint two more enrolment officers. -After a lengthy discussion the following resolution .was passed:—"That this association resents statements that are being made that New Zealand boys and girls have no desire to settle on the land, and contends that if given the opportunities that are now being given to boys and girls from overseas, native-born young people would prove to be more efficient than those that are now being imported, and, furthermore, this association is of the opinion that without delay a scheme for training New Zealand-born boys and girls on the land should be inaugurated.” Mr. V. S. Knight was appointed to fill the vacancy on the Management Committee.

Members of the Technical College Board generally expressed very high appreciation of the excellent work done by the students, as exhibited on parents’ and visitors' night last week, and the board further expressed its indebtedness for the splendid work of the principal (Mr. J. 11. Howell) and staff. Over 2000 people inspected the work. Mr. J. Read said he had gone to the cookery exhibition, and it had made his mouth water. Mr. C. H. Chapman: “It always appeals to the men.” Mr. J. J. Clark said the very pleasing odour emanating from the cookery room had drawn him to it. and he hud taken home some cakes. His son had had some of them, and said he was going to get a wife from the Technical College. He suggested that the Director might start a matrimonial class. Mr. Read also referred to the entertainment broadcast for the children’s hour bv students from the college .. few days ago: he had never heard anything better.

The Wellington College Old Boys’ Association has decided to postpone until next year the Old Boys’ day to have been held on Saturday, November 30.

A small residence in Townsend Road, -Miramar, caught fire at about 9 o’clock last night. The outbreak was suppressed by the Fire Brigade. ’ No particulars were procurable last night.

According to a statement made by the Mayor of Lower Hutt (Sir Alexander Roberts) last night, the ultimate population of the Lower Hutt Borough, as estimated by the Government Statistician, will be 47,000 inhabitants.

The state of the tramway tracks is causing motorists and cyclists considerable concern. There are many dangerous parts where motorists cut (heir tires badly and where cycle wheels get caught on the edge of the rails owing to the roadway having sunk. Depreciation to motor tires is extensive, the cause of which is not of the motorists’ own making.

Approaching Childer’s Terrace from the Lyall Bay end, where the bitumen starts, there is a deep rut. Every car strikes this with a terrific bump, and the result is' not hard to imagine. Cars will not improve with such heavy pounding, and a small load of filling would be appreciated, even if only as a temporary expedient.

A ratepayer asks.by whose authority a dwelling is being erected on the Kilbirnie reserve, and, further, why the council has permitted a disfigurement of the reserve and taken valuable space from the already fully occupied play area. “The population is rapidly increasing in the eastern suburbs, and reserves are more than ever necessary for the health of the people, especially young folk,” he writes. “It is presumed the new dwelling is being erected for the caretaker, but it should have been possible to acquire a suitable property within reasonable distance of the Kilbirnie reserve.”

Visitprs to Wadestown by car will need to keep a watchful eye on the main road, as various improvements are being made to this approach. The road is in a dangerous state, and at a point about halfway up a big drop on the side of the road is suddenly met by motorists. This is partly roped off at the close of each working day,' but not sufficient lights are visible for motorists approaching from the city end. The other day one motorist avoided a serious accident in the nick of time. It is considered that further lights are required immediately at this dangerous spot.

The question of water shortage at Petone was raised at last night’s meeting of the Borough Council. “Water pressure is very low,” said the Mayor (Mr. D. McKenzie) during a discussion ; “if a great Are were to break out we would be helpless.” It was up to the residents, he said, to take every care in their use of water. Mr. Gough, borough inspector, said that citizens should know that hosing of gardens at any time was forbidden by the bylaws unless the water went through a meter. He thought that if all hosing were done through meters there would be little fear of residents leaving the water running all night

Apparently some person (or persons) in the Moera settlement misinterprets the slogan “Citizens protect your own property,” and works on the assumption that “protect” means “take unto yourself.” This was brought to the notice of the Lower Hutt Borough Council last night in a report from the Parks Committee, which read: “The committee regrets to have to report that soil which was deposited on the Moera Reserve, south of the Community Hall, has been disappearing, as also have plants in the other reserve in Moera. The facts have been communicated to the police in the hojie that the offender may be brought to book.”

The evening school at the Technical College closed on November 15 ami will reopen on February 24. The Advisory Committee are now meeting to consider the results of the classes’ work. The Painters’ and Decorators’ Committee reports that the improvement in the attendance had not been as marked this year as they had hoped, but action had been taken in the Magistrate’s Court against several students whose attendance had been bad. On the part of the great majority the attendance and work had been thoroughly satisfactory. The rearrangement of the staffing would be to the benefit of the students, and the committee was pleased with what it had seen of the behaviour and keenness of the classes and with the reports of the instructor. It was hoped that next year the course of instruction would be properly systematised and uniformity observed in all technical schools throughout the Dominion. When that had been done college certificates of proficiency would be granted to the students who passed the tests laid down.