LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18294, 10 January 1923, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

: 'A remarkable Escape. from serious injury,* if not from death, was experienced by a »,married man, Mr. John: O'Keefe, aged 34 years. ' He was working at a mill: at Riverhead when his „head was ; caught by a revolving belt. Fortunately, instead of : being dragged into the machinery, he was thrown clear, and escaped with a broken jaw, and slight injuries to one ear.- He was removed to the Auckland Hospital, where he is progressing favourably. . ' ~ : . ' .;, , .._

The largest bag of godwits reported to the Auckland • Acclimatisation Society as having been obtained' in the district this season is 140 for two hours' shooting for five guns. The birds are very plentiful this year, and probably reports' of larger bags .will be received later in the season.; All the birds shot are in splendid condition. Several sellers of % godwit licenses : : had sold out two days /before January 1. Interim licenses wore given pending the arrival of a further supply, and all demands have now been satisfied.

An expensive bathe was indulged in by three Civil servants, yesterday. During the luncheon hour they went for a swim at the Tepid, Baths, and on returning, to their dressing room they found that their pockets had been rifled. Fortunately, ; the pockets contained small cash only, but it is understood the three swimmers had to borrow money to pay their tram fares home. , ■

, In ; attempting to rescue a child from a horse and dray which had bolted, Charles Edwards, aged 45 years, a farmer at Hunua, was knocked- down yesterday morning by the wheel of the dray. He sustained a fractured leg and abrasions to the back, and was admitted i-toY-; the Auckland Hospital.

Regarding the Northern roads, Mr.; C. Barwell, of Panmure, who has just returned from a cycling trip ;to the Far North of Auckland, says the nearer to Auckland the further from grace. Near Auckland the settlers' motto seems to be, :■" We cannot afford good roads," but further north it changes to, " We cannot afford a bad road," with the result that the Far North has some excellent metalled roads, and more are being laid down as quickly as funds can be provided.

? The Christchurch tourist office returns for the quarter ended December 31 are much ahead of those for the corresponding period of 1921. The round trip from east to west, taking in Kaikoura, Blenheim, Nelson, and returning via the Buller and Otira Gorges, has been a very popular one this summer. Next in order'of popularity are the : Mount • Cook, Queenstown, and Milford Track tours.

A seaman on the steamer Arahura, Mr. James Fox, -was admitted to the hospital yesterday afternoon in an unconscious condition. It is stated that he was struck on the back of the neck by a piece of timber that was being lowered into the vessel's hold. .-";■' At a-, late hour last night lie had not regained consciousness. The past year was a good one for real estate. business, but not so good as 1921, which is now looked upon by land agents as the boom year, says a Wellington paper. During the past year ;. there was a very good demand for sites for the future erection of large business premises, and several such properties changed hands. There is a tendency also for some business firms to seek sites far out from the centre of the city in order to have more accommodation for stores, and sales have been made of blocks of land suitable for warehouses at Thorndon Quay and elswhere. Th» demand for building sections for residential ? purposes ;; has been good, and a considerable : amount of housebuilding ■ has been going on, but the demand 6r dwellings has" not yet been' met. , ;/ } ■"■';''

■v s Two calls of. fire were received -by; the Bevonport brigade yesterday, both from. Stanley Bay. . Owing to a mistake in the first call the : brigade: ; went to Yauxhall, and on arriving at. Stanley Bay a little later found that the fire, a gorse one, had been extinguished by some naval men.. A house ' that ;■ had".; ■!. been endangered ■ was saved by the sailors' prompt action. Five minutes after: the brigade had returned to ; the station the second ..call Was■■;;: received, also to .agorso ; fire, which was speedily extinguished. '■•'■'■ ~; Complaints as to several . • letters not having reached their "destinations - were made last evening by some of those present at the meeting ; held under the auspices of the Auckland; Advertising Club in connection with the forthcoming carnival week. "A member of the Bands Association c who was >'• present stated that letters said to have been posted to 'him and ito others in his association, asking for their co-operation in the movement, had never been received. The secretary of the club, Mr.'Herbert J. Bentley, said they had been posted. They had been sealed as ordinary letters with 2d stamps, and not sent as circulars. ; Others present complained of : similar experiences, ;: one stating ; that as the result of investigations it had been ascertained ' that letters which had been posted had ; not been' received, nbr returned to the senders, nor had they I. been traced in the post, office.; '

■ The Manurewa Town Board has ; decided to send a deputation to the. Minister for Railways requesting that v the train service to Manurewa . be increased. It was pointed out by! a resident,'' at a re- i cent meeting of the board ' that there is: no train from the suburb for workers desirous of arriving in Auckland at 7.15 a.m., nor is there a convenient one for those who; wish to arrive at 8.30 a.m> 'From 11.5 ' a.m. to: 1.44 ; p.m. also there I is no train leaving i Manurewa for Auck-' j land. - It was, urged that the service j from Papatoetoe might well be extended I ,to run from Manurewa.

; ''Last year stands among the driest experienced in South , Canterbury for 16 years. : No year has had such a low rainfall since' 1914 and 1915, which years suffered so badly: from lack of moisture. ..;":; The Ponsonby Boys' Brass Band, which is completing a tour of the New Zealand centres,-"" played in the Basin < Reserve, Wellington, on Sunday ■' to ah'appreciative crowd of over 3000 people. V A Wellington paper says ; the boys play with the precision and . expression of veterans, attacking forte and presto -work with remarkable unison, and producing fine tone from cornet, euphonium and trombone. In the evening about 'i 4000 people assembled at Oriental Bay to hear the band give a second programme. After the one o'clock «Woodville to Wellington express had left the former I station on a recent afternoon a shriek | was heard by the; passengers and a child was:'seen .to fall from one of the carriages. The train was smartly pulled up and a surfaceman in the vicinity, ; noting the incident, rushed to the locality. He picked up the child and, placing a jigger on the rails; set off after the train, and promptly ':■; returned the child to its relatives. It was discovered that the child, though suffering from shock ;;•■■ arid ; slight bruises, was none the worse for its very narrow escape 1 from death. It had -evidently fallen clear of t the train and ; the heavy ballast on the line; • Levi-! anglers report good : fishing •in tho Otaki River of late. Mr. H. George landed a 71b. trout recently among other ! good fish. Other anglers have been rewarded with satisfactory baskets V V '- What appears to be a daring case of sheep-stealing occurred at the Tinwald ..] Baleyards cne night last week. After the sale a local resident left three fat wethers j in a pen. : Next morning it was ; found that the largest of the three had been removed.; .'■.; ■:•;;. •'/'■ ;' •; " • ■ ; "- \.".-'■'■■-: :■'' .'.'"/■ 1., ; 0 '''■:'- :-' ',".:■.■■"•: