NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 145, 22 June 1938, Page 10

NEWS OF THE DAY

Island Bay Post Office. The need of increased accommodation for postal purposes at Island Bay has been forcibly presented to the Department but without result, states a report of the District Association. The association contends that lack of the least privacy at the public counter induces residents who would otherwise use the office to pass it by and transact.their money-order, banking, and other business of a private nature where papers cannot be overlooked, or questions and answers heard. The association considers thai* more floor and counter space .;isph one-person divisions on.the counter are required. While it ,f is'recognised by the aasociation-rthat -'a'"new; building be obtainable, it is felt .that; present - conditions are a bar to increase of business. Rugby for Charity. The combined Police-Post and Telegraph Departments were granted permission by the management committee of the Wellington Bugby Union last night to play their annual match at Athletic Park on Wednesday, August 24, under the same conditions as in previous years. Accompanying the application was a statement to the effect that the proceeds from the match would be divided between the Free Ambulance, the Home of Compassion, the Feilden Taylor Mission, and the Otaki Health Camp.

Expenses Extraordinary. | Expenses of the Wellington Rugby Union during a season are usually of a wide and varied nature, but it is rare for the union to be called upon to pay the cost of restoring window panes in private houses. At a meeting of the management committee of the union last night a letter was received from a woman resident of Salisbury Avenue stating that, a football from Prince of Wales Park had smashed one of the windows in her house and that one of the players had told her the Wellington Union would pay the cost. She stated that during her years of residence in that area her property had suffered damage and she had been inconvenienced by the playing of cricket and football on the park. The committee agreed to pay the cost of a new window.

The Scow Echo Aground. | The well-known scow Echo, 133 ( tons, which trades between Welling-j ton and Blenheim has been hard aground on the Wairau Bar since last Thursday and it was hoped to float her clear today. She has not been in grave danger, but until today efforts to shift her have bften futile, and it was expected that her cargo would be unloaded on to a tender in order to lighten her. It was reported in Wellington this mroning that the Echo was half off the bar and would probably be right off by 2 p.m. The Echo left Wellington for Blenheim last Wednesday afternoon and arrived off the bar early next morning. It was then seen by those aboard that the formation of the bar had been changed by the heavy swell and the fresh in the river and that there now appeared to be three channels instead of one. The Echo lay off for some time but, with the full tide, attempted to reach the river by one of the channels. Although she draws only a few feet of water she went -aground.

Infantile Fedestrianship. When the law gets down to fine points merely ordinary understanding is confounded. A' recent decision of an English Magistrate on the subject of pedestrian crossings is a case in point. It was ruled that though an invalid in a wheeled chair is a pedestrian and is entitled to the right of way, an infant in a perambulator or push-cart is not, but it is far more complicated than that. The infant in a push-cart is not a pedestrian only so long as the pushcart starts to cross the road solo, without the mother; but once the mother starts to cross behind the push-cart and the infant then all is changed and all traffic must stop dead. It souftds fantastic, but in law it was held to be in order. The case arose in this way: a mother commenced to push her infant from the footpath and a motor bus did not stop. The police (who there have a lively interest in pedestrian safety) took that bus driver's number and he appeared in Court. He pleaded that only the push-cart was off the footpath and on the crossing—that the mother had not stepped off, that the infant did not begin to be a pedestrian, so why should he stop? In many words and phrases the Magistrate said that he was right. The driver asked for costs against the police, but the Magistrate said, in legal technicalities, that the joke had gone far enough, and though he had escaped a fine, to ask for costs was just too much. Still, the point is established, a yelling infant in a run-away push-cart is not a pedestrian, but if so much as a finger of the pusher is on the handle and one foot on the roadway then .the right of way is theirs. ' ' ,

Large Cargo of Mails. With a large cargo of mails the Federal Company's motor-ship Essex is due at Auckland at midnight tonight from Liverpool. The Essex brings over 1000 bags of mail.for New Zealand, of which about 300 are for Auckland. Often a speedy cargo ship is given a consignment of mail in preference to a passenger liner. The Essex left Liverpool on May 21, and so is making the voyage to New Zealand in just over a month. Wairangi's Fast Trip. A fast trip of 16 days to Panama Canal has been made by the Shaw, Savill, and Albion Company's motorship Wairangi which left Wellington on June 4 for England. The usual time for the run is about 17 days, and if the Wairangi maintains her speed it is thought that she will be at London inside 28 days' travelling. The Wairangi and her sister ship the Waiwera have been responsible for some speedy runs. Work on the Waterfront. "Many men are anxious to join the Waterside Workers' Union," said a union official when giving evidence during the hearing of a civil claim in the Auckland Supreme Court on Monday, reports the "New Zealand Herald." Witness said that on a recent occasion, when the union was admitting 100 new members, 1250 applications were received. The last admission of new members had taken place last April, when about 1200 persons applied and 150 were admitted.

Botanical Gardens. No sooner is one season finished than preparations must be made for the next, and the life of the horticulturist leaves but little time for rumination. That is quite evident in the Botanical Gardens. Autumn flowers are all over and the leaves are off the deciduous trees. During the last few weeks there has been a grand clean-up, and beds have already been prepared for blazes of colour in the spring. In many cases seedlings of hardy annuals are already planted out and these, although apparently not making much visible growth, will shoot ahead as soon as the weather gets a little warmer. Although dry, it has been a good autumn for work in the Botanical Gardens. There is naturally a relative scarcity of colour in them at present, but there is already promise of a feast to come. Sand and Gravel Removal. A good deal of regret has been expressed at recent meetings of the Island Bay Municipal Association concerning the removal of gravel by private firms from the foreshore between the "run-around" and the Red Rocks. A fine road has been formed from Happy Valley Beach to the "runaround." At one time, there it ended; and access beyond was only to be had -at low or half-tide. Now, a big retaining wall is there and filling in from the cliff has been the means of making the point accessible at all tides. This road continued past Red rocks and Sinclair Head would be the first half of a magnificent scenic drive ■which could easily be contmued through the country to Karori, making a fine afternoon's car outing,.but between the "run-around" and Red , Rocks, the gravel is being' removed to, such an extent as to preclude hope of such a work ever being carried out. Sand is also being removed from Princess Bay, east of Houghton Bay.