LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17101, 5 March 1919, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

• Tho Newmarket brigade '. was 'called yesterday evening to Khyber Pass, where a)Bmoke-hotise, situated some.distance behind a fish' shop, had i caught fire. , The brigade extinguished the?; flames before ; much damage was done.' The Mount Albert fire brigade received a call at 5 p.m. yesterday to Parish Road, ; Edendale, whore a gorse fire was in danger of setting fire to two houses. -The brigade had to ■ use a considerable quantity of water before the fire was subdued. Two false alarms, were received. in Remuera yesterday evening. The first was at 8. p.m., from Arney Road, ,and the second at 9 p.m., from Victoria,: Avenue. In both cases the Paraell and Remuera brigades turned out.

The absence of a public park at Now Lynn has lately given the residents of that growing township some concern. Whilo in Wellington last week Mr. 0. J. Parr, M.P., at the instance of the New Lynn Town Board interviewed the Minis- j ter for Lands, with the object of inducing him to set aside an area of about five acres in a central position in the Hetana Hamlet as a park. Tho Minister said that when the hamlet was. subdivided into workers' homes several, years ago, the need for a park was overlooked, but he promised to favourably consider Mr. Parr's request, Mr. Guthrie added that. in. future similar subdivisions reservations for public purposes would bo made.

An, afternoon mail delivery 'will v be made in Onehunga daily in future. This decision of tho Postal Department follows on an interview with tho authorities by Sir Frederick Lang, M ; P.; for Manukau, in support of the request by »he Onehunga Chamber of Commerce for the reinstatement of the delivery. Residents of Onehunga furthor dosiro a mail to Auckland on Sunday, in time to catch the Main Trunk train. At present the last mail for this train closes at Onehunga on Saturday, at 5.30 p.m.

Tho members of tho Civic League unanimously, decided last evening, at a largely-attended- meeting, to form a deputation to wait upon tho Mayor, Mr. J. H. Gunson, and request him to accept nomination for anothor term of _ office nit the forthcoinW Mayoral elections. It was also decided to ask' the other women's organiwitions in Auckland to join the deputation, which , was fixed for to-morrow morning.; ~ :

A request for a Government subsidy of £800 toward the cost of metalling the , West Coast road, between ,' Waiatarua and . Karekare, was made to tho Minister for Public Works last week by Mr, C. J. Parr, M.P., as the-result of representations from the Waitemata County Council. Tho latter body has agreed to provide £600 of the" cmonnt required, and the Auckland City Council, which owns the water catchment area and the forest abutting on tho road, is willing to expend £1000 on the work. Sir William Fraser • remarked upon the fact that the local.bodies concerned were offering substantial contributions to the cost of the metalling, and agreed that the request for a Government subsidy, was a reasonable one'. He promised to obtain a report on Iho subject from the chief engineer. It is stated that a supply of metal can be obtained in the neighbourhood of the road.

The Question of settling returned sol- • I diers on the land is engaging the attention of»the New Zealand authorities, and in this connection a double-page of beautiful and characteristic views of the Urewera country, published in to-day's issue i of the Auckland \VBBKi,r News, is in'-, vested .-with particular interest, : for .this region, . consisting of some 2,000,000. acres,. is one of the greatest undeveloped, areas in the Dominion. page, of- snapshots i depicts ; the recent; arrival at Wellington of the first'batch of war brides.;to reach New Zealand. The "victory" motor run, organised by the Auckland Automobile Association, whereby 600 orphan children were entertained at Buckland's Beach last Saturday) is commemorated by a handsome illustrated ; page, * covering many phases' of- a most enjoyable outing. Some close finishes at the recent ' Dannevirke Autumn Meeting, a: recent boy scout encampment at Meanee, near Napier, ,the pleasures.of the dinghy, and many other subjects add variety and interest to this splendid publication.' '' ' . '""'-

, A resolution urging that Germany be made to pay. for the violation of, women in France arid Belgium during the war vwas carried last evening at a meeting of the Civic League. It'also expressed the strong conviction . that , a woman should sit at the peace table. It was decided to forward - the resolution to' the Auckland branch of the National Council of Women, with' the, request that' it be sent to the 1 Government, asking.that . its < . purport bo cabled to Mr. Massey and 1 Sir Joseph Ward at the Peace Conference. „ . .

A grey-coloured motor-car, which hid been standing in' a Gisborne street for about a fortnight, and bore evidence "of having been abandoned, at last found a friend— not its owner, relates;, a Gisborne paper. It was short of a back tyre, while the other tyres had gone down, but tho weather had not improved its general appearance. But little notice had been taken of the desolate vehicle till • last Tuesday morning, when the following notice was found to have been placed on the wind-screen This car being deserted is hereby sequestrated by the- undersigned. February '25, 4 a-m. Whether the "sequestrator" is in earnest or not remains to be seen, but the incident must be regarded as unique in the history ■ of, motor-car ownership,

- " As long as I am magistrate here I am determined W put down drunkenness in railway trains," declared Mr. F. V. Frazer, > at the Magistrate's Court, Wellington, in a case in which a man.was charged with having failed to pay his fare between Ngaio and Thornilon on January 31, and with having abus-id and obstructed Guard M. Lee in the execution of his duty. It was stated that defendant subsequently made good the amount of the fare.. Defendant admitted that he had been before the Court before for causing trouble on trains. Ho said that on the present occasion he had been provoked by an, objectionable remark made to him by another passenger. "There is nothing more objectionable in a railway carriage than a drunken man," said Mr. Frazer. " I shall inflict on you a fine that will remain in your memory, for a long time to come- If it were not for the fact 1 that you are a married man I would send I you to gaol." Defendant was fined £7, ! with costs £1 6s. \ .

Interesting reference was made by Mr. E. Parry, chief Government electrical engineer,, in an address at Piilmereton North to the fact that the discoverer of the possibilities of Mangahao as a source of hydroelectric supply was Mr. Jickel, borough engineer of Palmerston. Some years ago, Mr. Jickel had seized himself of the latent wealth of water-power that Mangahao contained while he was looking for a source of power to supply Palmerston North. Mr. Jickel's scheme was not quite the same as the Government's project, as he did not require for Palmerston toe same amount of power as ft was. now intended to develop.

" There is no sight more sad than a person who drifts through, life without a definite object, just the mere sport of chance; there is no obje'et in life more miserable than such' a-pers'oni" -said Dean Weeks, addressing a large" assemblage'of pupilfij ex-pupils, and friends of the Wanganui Girls' College at the annual prize- j giving ceremony. Dean Weeks urged upon! his hearers > to have a definite object in life, to have the highest, purpose. ...That, was the development ! of, life itself;in. an i»u-round development of i all that one could i possibly be;-that was higher than wealth,.' than learning, than fame, or even beauty, for all those passeed away, and personality! remained.'•'•■ ■'•""-'• •<-*•"'■'■- '■*>'* ~;