LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17614, 29 October 1920, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

The following weather forecast was issued by Mr. Clement L. Wragge at half-past seven o'clock last eveining :—Although the barometer remains moderately high in the North this is regarded as a temporary feature only. The entire west coafet is under the influence of the disturbance Fethad, which looks particularly ominous over the ' eastern portion of the Tasman Sea. It can only be stated that very unsettled, squally, and rainy weather is likely generally with rough seas, especially south from New Plymouth. Winds from between north-north- north, and west-north-west, later shifting south-westerly. From Monday nest the status of the .Hamilton Post Office will he raised to that of a 'chief post office, and the new .money order and havings bank department will t*. opened. There will be many alterations in the. staff. Mr. E. G. Stapp, chief postmaster at Nelson, will replae Mr. W. T. Wylie. who goes to Nelson as chief postmaster. An additional staff of 22, of which 10 will operate the savings bank and money order office, will be transferred to Hamilton, and to make room for them many alterations are being made to the post office The telegraph engineer, Mr. W. Cowles, has left the main building. The new money order and savings bank building is 37ft wide by 55ft. deep.

A bequest to the city of the library of the late Rev. Alexander Mackenzie,' of Avondale, was notified, to the City Council last evening, in a letter from the Deputy Public Trustee. ■ The Mayor, Mr. J. H. Ov.nson,'stated that the library contained a number of valuable books. It was decided to send the trustees a letter expressin? appreciation of the bequest, and to refer the letter of the Public Trustee to the Library Committee.

The imperfections of the Auckland telephone service were brought strongly before the attention of the council of the Chamber of Commerce in a letter from a urominent business man, received at yesterday's meeting. "It is time some protest. was made in connection with the vn etched telephone exchange service at present provided," stated the writer. " Business is being most seriously handicapped through the time it takes to obtain connections and the constant cutting off of the same, during conversation. Matters have been going on for so long now that it is time the department did something to improve the position." Members of the council took an equally strong view of the matter, agreeing that the telephone service was now worse than it had ever been before. The secretary. Mr. Tews ley. stated that previous replies from the department had indicated that the trouble was due to the maintenance of the dual system of manual and automatic connections, and to the inexperience of some of the switchboard attendants, but this did not appear to satisfy members, who hinted that th 6 latter had now had plenty of time to become proficient. It was resolved that the matter be brought to the attention of the head of the Telegraph Department. A fire occurred yesterday afternoon in a"house in High Street, Otahuhu. owned and occupied by Mrs. Freeman. The cutbreak was confined to the kitchen, the damage being estimated at about £30. . A serious accident occurred on a farm at Aka Aka, in the "Waiuku district, yesterday. Robert Cowell, aged 12, having his ankle severely injured by the disc of a plough. He sustained a compound fracture of the ankle. He was conveyed to the Auckland Hospital, and an X-ray examination will be made to-day. A good roads campaign is in progress ,in Devonport, with the object of carrying, at a second poll, the Borough Council's roading scheme, involving a loan of £120,000, which was defeated when submitted with other issues recently. A Committees, independent of the council, has been formed, and an organiser has been appointed. A representative meeting, presided over by Mr. R. T.' Michael, -was held last evening in support of the movement, it being reported tha ( - the petition to the council, asking for a second poll, was being extensively s?gred. Support was promised by the V. aiteraata Chamber of Commerce and the Cheltenham and Vauxhall Ratepayers' Association, and a fighting fund was opened.

The number of divorce cases set down for hearing at the sessions commencing next Monday is 77, as compared with 88 for the sessions now concluding, and 81 for the previous sessions. Thirteen of the actions are defended. The City Council last evening decided to ask the Government to authorise the expenditure of an amount not exceeding £1500 for the erection of a monument in the soldiers' portion of tha Waikumete cemetery. This action was taken on the recommendation of the Public Services Committee.

A letter telegram service is to be instituted by the Telegraph Department on Monday. The rate is to be Is 6d for the first 36 words or fraction thereof, with a halfpenny additional for each word in excess of that number. Letter telegrams will be for transmission throughout the day up to within one hour of the time of closing of either the office of origin or destination, whichever is the earlier. Such messages will be delivered early next morning or placed in private letter-boxes. No code or cipher will be permissible, but trade terms will be allowed. Letter telegrams wilL not take precedence over ordinary telegrams.

The annual revenue derived by the City Council from advertising hoardings and spaces is £380 17s 6d. This information was furnished in a report to the council last evening by the city engineer in reply to a question by Mr. J.. A. Warnock. The report further stated that there were 188 advertising hoardings in the city area. Mr. Warnock said he had asked for the information with the object of drawing attention to the unsightly displays on the hoardings. He considered the council could afford to do without the revenue obtained in thif manneESs After a desultory discussion on the subject of advertising displays the subject was allowed to drop without definite action, being taken.

The Grammar School sports, which were to have been held yesterday, were postponed owing to the wet weather prevailing. They will probably be held one day next week.

A resolution supporting the amendment to the Marriage Act Amendment Bill, inserted by the Legislative Council, has been passed by the Auckland district committee of the Congregational Union of New Zealand. The resolution has been forwarded to the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. The shortage of scout officers was referred to by the Auckland provincial commissioner, Dr. J. A. Clinch, in some remarks made by him at the boy scout concert in the Town Hall last evening. He stated that a sufficient number of boys for the formation of new troops was available, but that a difficulty was created by the lack of suitable officers to take charge of additional troops. An effort is being made to secure a branch telephone exchange at Avondale. Such an exchange would serve the Avondale and New Lynn districts, many of the residents of which are now connected with the city exohange. Thl question of a refund by the Auckland Gas Company to the City Council for the period during which the street lamps were not' lighted on account of the recent coal shortage, came before the council last evening. Mr. T. Bloodworth, at a previous meeting, had requested that the _ city engineer should furnish information regarding the matter. A report by the city engineer stated that no payment had yet been m%ie to the Gas Company for the period mentioned. He estimated that "the cessation of street lighting for two weeks, from October 1, should decrease the council's liability by £358 for the city and £67 for Grey Lynn. He had communicated with the company with a yiew to a,n adjustment being made on the next quarter's account.