LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18077, 29 April 1922, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

To-day is the 41st anniversary of the ' nrcck of tho steamer Tararua, on a reef ff Waipapa Point, Foveaux Strait, while n her way from Dunedin to Bluff. This iisa-ster, which is ' :e most memorable rreck that has ton place on the coast i the South Island, was attended by the oss of 130 lives, 110 passengers and 20 acmbers of tho crow being drowned. Only ,0 lives were saved. A Government surveyor, Mr. Charles , )eihl, died suddenly at the People's ] 'alace, Upper Queen Street, at 2 p.m. . 'esterday. An inquest will be opened this i corning. i The Remuera Brigade was called out it 8.46 p.m. yesterday to Mr. O. Shakesiear's motor garage, situated at 110, Great touth Road, where somo accumulators on \ charging-board had fusod and set fire 0 the woodwork. No damage was done, several oars were in tho garage at the imp Of tho 200 immigrants who arrived in Auckland on Thursday from the Wainana, only two or three failed to find work waiting tor them when they re-ached , ;his city. Tho draft consisted mainly d{ ex-service men, their wives, and a lumber of domestic servants, all of whom :ia\o gono to nominated positions. The majority of the men have gone to work ,n thu country. The total draft for Auckland numbered 300, but of this number over 100 left tho express at Franktoo to take up work in the Thames and Waikato districts. A parade of territorials and senior cadets will be held on the King's Birthday, Juno 3, at the Domain cricket ground, Detailed orders and instructions will bo issued later. The fact that portion of the proceeds from tho sale of poppies on " Poppy Day " is to bo sent to France in payment for the flowers received from that country created considerable discussion at a meeting of the Soldiers' Mothers' League yesterday. A resolution was passed that the meeting wad strongly opposed u> the sale in A*ew /Ssaland of flowers made in any country outside tho British Empire in commemoration of dead soldiers. It was emphasised that the full results of such an effort as was made on Poppy Day should be expended in New Zealand for the benefit of New Zealand men, Tho two publications which the Oity Council authorised some time ago are provided for in this year's estimates. The —ayor, Mr. J. Ef. Gunson, stated yesterday that the first look, "Tho City of Auckland," has been well received, and a largo number of copies have been sent to leading personages and institutions abroad. Tho preparation of tho municipal and official handbook of the city is well advanced, and this volume should bo issued next month. It will embrace a carefully compiled collection of facta and figures in connection \uth the city, and an elaboration of its activities. Tnere will be several dozen photographs showing the progress of Auckland. For many years there has been a demand for this class o; information in a readily available form. Suppliers of milk to the East Tamaki Dairy Company's factory have decided that the company's operations ahould be extended to the manufacture of butter. A resolution was carried authorising the directors to build a butter factory and to treat home-separated cream. The meeting, by a unanimous vote endorsed the action of the Opotiki Dairy Association in opposing the New Zealand Co-operativo Dairy Company's butter price-cutting on the local market. The question of unemployment among returned men was discussed yesterday by the Soldiers' Mothers' League. It was stated that many mothers had suffered severely through the fact that their soldier sons, though discharged as " fit," had been incapacitated as far as manual labour was concerned. It was decided to forward a list of cases mentioned to the Prime Minister, with the request that the men be given suitable employment." "You ahould be robed in this Court," said Mr. Justice Reed to a youthful solicitor at a bankruptcy sitting in the Supreme Court yesterday. Hia Honor added that he could not hoar the solicitor Mless he was robed, and ordered the next cast to be called. Later, when anothor solicitor appeared unrobed, tho Judge said it always used to be the practice to robe in his time. It was stated that solicitors did not as a rule robe in Auckland, and His Honor decided to bear the two solicitors without robing, saying it was the only Court ho had known in which tbev appeared without gowns. The yacht Rona, which was 6unk in a race last Saturday, was successfully refloated yesterday. The salvage work was carried out by men and a diver from H.M.S. Chatham. The yacht was found to bo practically undamaged. She is now at her moorings in Freeman's Bay. A story that discloses Use resourcefulness of the young New Zealanders, besido emphasising a strong sense of duty, comes from Gisborne. Owing to unforeseen circumstances a country school within 50 miles of Gisborne had been suddenly left without a teacher. Tho children, however, had agreed to "carry on," and one of their number, a lad of about 12 or 13 years, had been selected by the scholars to carry out the duties of teacher. The school comprised 12 or 15 pupils, and when tho wife of a committee man visited the institution a few days ago tho acting-teacher was endeavouring ' to instruct a little toddler to count his coloured beads. The children, it is reported, wore observing admirable discipline and attendanco under the circumstances. I New Plymouth is losing a famous land ! mark through the destruction of the ' towering sugar-loaf rock Paritutu, which i stands amid a picturesque group of its 1 fellows near the breakwater. This great rock, which towers to a height of some j 600 ft. above Boa-level, has a very I romantic history, and its summit for many I generations has proved a sanctuary to the Maori tribes living in the vicinity. There they were wont to repair when hard pressed by their enemies, and many a 6tirrinc tale of attack and defenco has como down throngh tho years about old Paritutu. Tho stronghold was finally captured by strategy by a Waikato war party, who practically wiped out the deI fenders, ono of tho few survivors, a young woman, making a sensational escape by climbing down the sheer seaward face of the'rock and swimming off to a whaleship which happened to be in the vicinity. She accomplished this remarkable feat carrying an infant on her shoulders wrapped in a shawl. Paritutu is now doomed in order to provide material for tho New Plymouth harbour extension works, which, when completed, will afford a splendid deep-water port for the province. Deer are said to be remarkably plentiful in the Wairarapa, but the herds are deteriorating and good heads are very scarce. A Master ton sportsman who has just returned from a stalking expedition in the Maryborough district said that ono day his party counted 75 stags, but none were worth bringing dowi\ The party secured 14 heads of fair quality, one of them being tho progeny of an imported stag. Tho animal resembled a hind in colour and the head was lighter and finer than those of deer of the old stock. The petition now being circulated by the Dominion Sportsmen's Association, asking for a Parliamentary Commission to take evidence concerning tho gambling laws, has been approved by the Auckland Drivers' Union and the Waterside Work- ' era' Union. One resolution endorsed the effortß of the Sportsmen's Association "in their endeavours to have established the right of bookmakers to ply their calling under approved surveillance and license"; while the other declares that "the present gaming law is not only illogical and unpopular, but it has done nothing to minimise the betting evil."