LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17973, 24 December 1921, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

j Owing to tho Christmas, holidays there j will be no public&tion of the New i Zealand Herald on Monday. The Queen Street office will be closed on Sunday even--3 ing, but will be open ou Monday from 2.3 C I to 10 p.m. for receipt of advertisements , for Tuesday's Herald. A special Christ--3 maa supplement, containing seasonable articles, stories, and pictures, is circulated ' with to-day's issue of the Herald. U I * J There is a fair prospect of fine wea(hei . at Auckland during tho holidays, judging yby the indications yesUvday. The dull, ■ I showery weather experienced on ,ThursI day passed off later in the day, and was ' I followed by fine weather yesterday. The II wind, which was blowing strongly from i the south-west on Thursday, veered more ; to" the southward yesterday, blowing '■ lightly from tho latter direction. The ' I barometer, which had fa'len to 29.90 at 10 a.m. on Thursday, rose slowly suibseI quently, and last evening it registered i 3Q.2oin. I I A o'aim for a number of new hats is I likely to be made upon the Minister for ! Health, the Hon. C. J. Parr. When lie concluded his inspection of the city during a recent visit to Auckland, the Min- ' istcr remarked to those who accompaniod him that ho would give a new hat for every person convioted for failing to clean lip his premises. Ha w»& asked by one 1 of the inspectors present if that was a | bargain. Mr. Parr replied, " Oh, yes. I mean it, and I think it will be money well spent if we succeed in bringing the ' people to realise that ~ they must keep • their premises clean." On Thursday six . persons were fined £1 and costs in the , Police Court under the city sanitary by'l laws, and another was fined yesterday. '| It would appear, therefore, that the , | equivalent of the amount thus collected, | and possibly a little more, will be re- [! quired to meet the cost of tho hats which i may be claimed. 'I , '! Tho Waikato coalmines, which were ■ | idle on Thursday afternoon, wcro in operi ation agaiu yesterday, an ample supply | of trucks having been delivered by the | Railway Department on Thursday evening. The mines, however, closed down again ! for the Christmas holidays after the day'e i work yesterday, and tncy will not re- ; open until January 4. ' j " There are a number of undesirables I in the city just now," said Chief-Detec-j live Mcllvenoy last evening. " Visitors j living in hotels should be careful not to | leave any valuables in their rooms. Some | time between Thursday right and this I morning a young'man, who had come to | Auckland from the country, was relieved |of over £60. He had left the money in • the inside pocket of his coat while he went to the bathroom, and when lie returned it was gone." The Auckland Electric Power Board Act, which has just passed both Houses of Parliament, has become law practically in the form in which it was introduced. Tho board, consisting of 12 members, will be elected in February, and will come into offico in April. The franchise will be confined to ratepayers, and the district will comprise the city and 12 other local bodies having jurisdiction over territory on the Auckland isthmus, A meeting of representatives of tho various bodies affected will be convened by the Mayors of Auckland and OnehungdT in January when the arrangements for putting the Act into operation will be discussed. The promoters of the Bill express appreciation of tho good serviciy rendered by Mr. J. S. Dickson, M.P., and the Hon. G. J. Garland, M.L.C., who had charge of the measure in the House of Representatives and Legislative Council respectively. A revival in popularity of Christmas cards is reported in the book shops of Auckland. During the war, and for somo years prior thereto, sales of Christmas cards measurably diminished, until it would almost have been imagined that tho practice of sending cards to friends had fallen into disfavour as a convenient form of Yuletido greeting. This year, however, sales of Christmas carda and calendars have increased considerably, and there is every sign of those time-honoured emblems of goodwill finding as warm a place in the hearts of Christinas celebrators as in the good times of yore. A successful trial trip was made in tho harbour yesterday afternoon by the wellknown ferry paddle-steamer Britannia, which has been renovated by its new., owners, the Takapuna Tramways and Ferry Company. The Britannia was built in 1885, and is tho oldest ferry steamer in the port. In addition to a general overhauling of her engines, new v machinery has been installed.. Wheelhouses have been provided" for the master, and two side stairways have been substituted for tho former smqll central companionway to the smoking cabin. This giViw a largo and comfortable central deck space, which will be well suited for dancing on moonlight excursions. Water-tight compartments have been built up underneath tho lower deck, thus adding to tho buoyancy of the vessel. A false keel has been fitted in to remedy tho erratic or zig-zag course which the steamer used to take. It is not intended at present to place the vessel in the Bayswater service. It will be mainly used as a stand-' by at times when the company's regular steaiper, tho Pupuke, is laid up. It is oxpected, however, that the Britannia will run on excursions next week. The Albert Park retaining wall, whioh by reason of the niany holes, therein, caused by vegetation growing through, has provided rats with a safe harbour, is now being repaired in consequence. The holes are being cleaned out and filled with bricks and cement. This work is likely to take some time, as all the growth has to be taken out by the roots, and in some instances'this i 3 by no means an easy task. Two farmers of Tirau, Jack Phillips Alexander and Cyril Roy Newman, have been adjudged bankrupts by the Supreme Court, at Hamilton. The debtors were carrying on business in co-partnership. A. meeting of creditors will be held at Matamata on January 17. The new post/ telegraph, and money order office at Henderson, which was recently completed, is to be opened this afternoon by:tho Hon. C. J..Parr. For some time past the postal business has been carried on in temporary premises, and the new building, which has the postmaster's residence attached, should prove a' great boon to tho district. The Hon. G. J. Garla-id, M.L.C., and Mi\ W. Gee, chief postmaster at Auckland, are aocompanying the- Minister to Henderson, and tho former will take part in the opening ceremony. Particularly when the amount of unemployment and hardship prevalent at the present time Jb taken into consideration, the bookings at the local Tourist Office for the coming holiday season have been extraordinarily good, says a Dunedin paper. A great many of the holiday I trippers are going to the North Island, but the South Island seems to be getting a fair share of their patronage. Queenstown and - Stewart Island were fully booked up three weeks ago, .But there is still accommodation available on the Milford Track and also on the ManapouriDoubtful Sound track. A return laid on the table of the House of Representatives shows that the total amount advanced during the last financial year under, the Fishing ■ Industry Protection Act, 1919, was £1390, and that this is the total amount outstanding in respect of such advances. The Romney Marsh two-tooth shorn rams that were placed first, second, and third at the Dunedin Show, and also gained the judge's verdiot at Balclutha, were passed over the other day at the Southland Show, the judge there giving the-first prize to a , ram', from the same flock that-did not gam a place at Danedin.