LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18459, 24 July 1923, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Electric .; power failed in the Karangahape Road area at. noon yesterday. Explaining the matter to the Electrio Power 'Board, the manager-engineer, Mr. -A. Wy'Jie, said a short circuit was located in the box in Symonds Street, but further investigation showed that there was a short circuit •in Karangahape Road, although the exact point had : not then been located. A section was cut off, and the power restored by 2.15 p.m. The inquest into the circumstances connected with the deaths of the victims of the railway disaster at Ongarue on July 6 will be resumed at Taumarunui to-day, having been opened on July 7, before tho district coroner, Mr. A. S. Laird. Members of the Board of Inquiry, which heard evidence in Auckland yesterday regarding the circumstances of the disaster, will leave Auckland by the Main Trunk express this evening. . The excellent example set by Dunedin in regard to financial support for the Plunket Society was brought before members of the Rotary Club at their luncheon -yesterday by Mr, D. O. Theomin; a guest from the City of the South. In suuporting the remarks made by Mrs. W. H. Parkes as to the need for funds, Mr. Theomin stated that the expenditure in connection with the Dunedin branch last year totalled £6500, including_ £2697 for salaries, and £1064 for provisions. "If so large a sum of money can be found in Dunedin, which has a population of only about half that of Auckland, M : said Mr. Theomin, " surely you can do as well up here." I : When the Original Onehunga drainage ' scheme was installed the Te Papapa and Beresford Park areas were not included. These parts arc now being more closely settled, and a drainage system is desired ; also some arrangement by which the additional cost could be shared by the whole borough. The Borough Council last evening agreed to support a Bill which is to be submitted to Parliament, giving the council power tp levy a flat rate over the whole borough to pay for the extensions. The letter regarding the 'MUairo" queue, which was published yesterday, has drawn a letter from a correspondent, who states that he was the first man there, arriving at 3.15 p.m. on the day before the sale of tickets was opened, and remaining there until 8 a.m. He adds: "I booked 72 6eats, and got Is per- seat, making a total of £3 12s, out of which I had to pay for meals, etc. I cannot see why Mr. Maunsell wants to deprive me of this little earning. I am only trying to earn an honest living." The extraordinary traffic on some of the Devonport roads was referred to at tho annual meeting of the Waitemata. Chamber of Commerce last evening. It was stated that on certain roads ' motorlorries were carrying a load of 3000 bricks, the combined weight of vehicle and contents reaching from 13 to 15 tons. This, it was remarked, was a severe trial for roads that had only a clay foundation. A vigorous denunciation of the fallacy that the Plunket Society wastes its time trying to rear weaklings which the race would be better without was voiced by Mrs. W. H. Parkes in addressing members of the Rotary Club yesterday. "It is surely a pernicious doctrine which suggests that ignorance and disease should continue in order to eliminate the weaklings," declared the speaker. " Not one baby should be sacrificed to ignorance. It is not only the weaklings who die within a few months of birth, for many of the strong and healthy also Eiiccumb. Even in New Zealand, where the death rat© is exceptionally low, the outstanding fact remains that more than half the babies who die within the first year wero healthy at birth." ' • ' (, A youth, James R. George, who is employed as an apprentice by Mr. T. E. Short, builder, .of Otahuhu, • was admitted to the Auckland Hospital yesterday suffering from injuries to his chest. He was cutting timber with a circular saw when a splinter of wood was flung back from the. teeth of the saw.

The siding office at the Green Lane railway station was entered by a burglar on Sunday night, but nothing of value was removed, and no attempt was made to open the safe. This is the second occasion within the last six months upon which this office has been visited by intruders. ' The Northcote Post Office is to remain open continuously between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Previously the office was closed for the luncheon hour, between noon and 1 p.m. The new hours came into operation yesterday. , Under the now health regulations all persons who expose second-hand clothing for sale are required to have same inspected by the local health officer, and disinfected to his satisfaction. The regulation will apply to clothing disposed of at jumble sales. Fourteen Chinese were charged at the Wairoa Court last week with making false declarations in order to get on the Gi&borne electoral roll. All denied the statements of the officer who enrolled them that he had asked all the questions : pro: vided in the form. The magistrate discharged all the " accused except one, who acted as Chinese adviser, and he was fined £5 and costs. , Erosion is said to be steadily diminishing the area of the flats near the entrance of the Otago Harbour. . Every winter the south-west wind drives the waters of the harbour against the sandhill ; formation of the flats, and the sand washes back into the harbour, A resident of that locality estimates that this winter about an, acre has been washed away. During the' past 12 years erosion has accounted for the loss of five or six acres, and the tide at high water now washes across the roadline near the gum trees at the southern end of the flats. ; A George 111. penny, which, dated 1770, is still current coin of the Realm,, was given out as change on r. Dunedin tramcar . recently. The ■ coin, which is in excellent condition, is somewhat smaller than the present-day penny, and bears the figure of Britannia and the date very distinctly. On the reverse side is the King's head and the words Georgius ILL Rex. , 1 i . Three exceptionally : good deer heads one a sixteen-pointer,, one a thirteen, arid the other a twelveare on view at the Dunedin tourist office. They are the property of Mr. Andrew Scoular, of Omakau, who has lent them to the Tourist Department to go with the collection that is being made up for the New Zealand section of the British Empire Exhibition in London. Mr. Scoular, in his letter, states that these heads are from- his own shooting, and the best he has got in twelve years' : stalking. The prisoner, Frank Ballar, who escaped from Mount Eden Gaol early on Saturday morning, has hot yet been recaptured.. The council of the Canterbury Society of Arts has been informed by Mr. J. McDonald, chairman of the Central Committee, of the New Zealand Art Section of the British Empire Exhibition, that Canterbury would, be allowed 200 square feet of wall space in the Art Section of the Exhibtidn, and asked to make the selection of the works to be forwarded. It is requested that the pictures should: deal win' typical New Zealand subjects, and should be, preferably, by artists' still living- The council ' was also asked to make - a selection ot ancient i and modern pictures showing the historical "develop-- ' ment .of the Dominion, It. was ccfhsidered that this did not come within , the sphere of the county! and no' action was takyn. •'