LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18323, 13 February 1923, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

A heavy express carrying five sleeping carsand nine passenger coaches, left Auckland for. Wellington last evening. There were approximately 500 passengers on the train. v . * . . A Huntly resident, Mrs. A. Shead, has given birth to triplets. Two of the infants, are males. The female child was still-born. . , " Larrikans have been at work in th Napier Street and Beresford Stree schools. The contents of the headmaster* drawers were scattered about his room Papers on the walls were defaced, and the pictures in some rooms bore the appearance of having served as targets lor inkwells. The damage at Napier Street is estimated at about £10. The following mysterious message, printed in red chalk on a piece of foolscap, was left on the headmaster's door: —"Your doom is soon, —The Thief." Negotiations regarding the constructs of the Kingsland overbridge and the aj proaches thereto have been completec stated the Mayor of Mount Albert, Mr A. F. Bennett, yesterday. The sum o £10.000, the borough's contribution to ward the work, will now be required, an< the Borough Council intends asking th sanction.of the ratepayers by poll nex month for authority to raise a loan fo that amount. A reduction in the price of cement ir New Zealand is to take place as from March 1. The present price, £6 6s pei ton, will be lowered to £5 17s, a decrease of 9s. This will be the fifth reductior in price since the peak rates were charged, The highest price for cement,, ever reached in Auckland was £8 6s 6d. Considerable improvement to the New North Road in the vicinity of Oaklej Creek has just been completed, the carriage-way having been widened ant levelled and the footpath on( one side kerbed and channelled. The finances of the Garrison Artillery Band are in a serious condition owinf to the withdrawal of the usual Govern ment subsidy :of £120 a year. In viev of the fact that the band' is the oldesl one in Auckland, its formation having taken place in the days of tho Maor War, the Rotary Club yesterday under took to collect £100 to aid its funds The work of concreting the New North Road from Dominion Road to the Kingsland Post Office shows satisfactory progress. The portion as far as George Street, Rocky Nook, is already completed on one side of the roadway, while the construction' 1 work generally is well m hand. A statement of liabilities and assets has been filed by Thomas Victor Griffiths, builder, of Point Chevalier, who has been declared a bankrupt. The amount owing to unsecured creditors is £1271 Os lid, and other liabilities £50. There are secured debts to the amount of £2127 8s 4d, the value of the securities being given as £3402 10s. The available assets consist of stock-in-trade £187 ss, book debts £81, making, with the surplus of £1275 Is 8d from securities, a total of £1543 6s Bd. There is thus an estimated surplus of £222 5s 9d. A Palmerston North professional man was recently surprised on opening his small office safe, by a large rat jumping out and across his arm. From its almost blue-black colour, he is convinced than the animal is the native kiore, which was supposed to be extinct. ' Since 1863, when a plague of these racs infested the camps of; i the Imperial troops in Taxanaki and YVaikato, they have very seldom been seen. Numerous complaints have been made of late regarding furious riding of horse,* on the beach at Titahi Bay, Wellington. It is stated that the offenders ara two young women, and ' residents allege that the practice indulged in is a positive danger to other frequenters of the beach. Councillors remarked at a meeting of the Makara County Council that v warnings seemed to have no effect on the athletic young ladies, and it was decided to write to the alleged offenders' father stating that if the pract does not cease it ore drastic steps will be taken. The prosecution of drainage works in the Mount Albert Borough was stated by the Mayor, Mr. A. F. Bennett, yesterday to be well in hand. • " We have just completed two large contracts," said Mr. Bennett, "and two others are well under way. In addition, the Borough Council is engaged in a drainage scheme at the tram terminus, having the work done by day labour." A total of' 33 accidents occurred in connection with the Christchurch tramways during the month of December. Six of these were a result of people alighting from moving cars, and 21 were due to collisions with motor-cars and other vehicles. The remaining six accidents were due to various other causes. The chairman, Mr. D. Sykes, at last week's meeting of the Tramway Board, referred to the large number of collisions, and said that many of them were due to reckless driving on the part of motorists. A carnival is to be held at Onehunga if sufficient funds are forthcoming. This decision was arrived at by a meeting of business men which appointed Messrs. E. V. Sutherland, A. A. Creamer, and T. Ashe to canvass the borough and report to a meeting this week. Though the enrolments of new pupils at both the Otago Boys' and Girls' High Schools last week were slightly less than they were last, year, yet the total number enrolled in each case is a record in the 'history of the school. At the girls' school -165 new pupils have been enrolled, and the : total is 482. Last year 189 were enrolled,' and the total was 458. At the boys' school 230 new pupils have been enrolled, as against 234 last year, and the total now stands at 625, as compared with 590 last year. Last year's figures were records up till that time. An inmate of the gaol at Templeton was married in Christchurch last week to the lady of his choice. In order to enable the ceremony to take place the bridegroom was allowed his freedom for an hour. He proceeded straight to the home of Major R. Barnes, of the Salvation Army, where that officer performed the marriage ceremony. Afterwards Major Barnes provided a modest " wedding breakfast,", and the newly-made husband went back to his temporary abode at Templeton. "In the old days we used to get three moderate meals and drive to church on Sunday in the same old cart that took the milk away and the manure round the farm," remarked a farmer at Wanganui the/ other day. "To-day, nearly everybody has a .motor-car, but if the slump had lasted a little longer they would all have been back , to the old cart of 40 years agfc>." -■= . j ..... • > -j A curious position is reported in connection with the rates of the Masterton County Council. Last year at this time, though affairs were anything but good for the farmers generally, only £500 of rates was outstanding. To-day, with a very great improvement all round in the financial position of the ratepayers, there is £5000 outstanding. A lily carrying an extraordinary number of v flowers has been grown by Mr. Claude Barltrop, of Nelson. The bulb has at present five flowering stems, one of which is fasciated and bears 105 fullydeveloped flowers. Each of the other stems is also carrying a full head of large blooms. Altogether. - the lily presents a magnificent eight, . • ■N. - - : ' W