LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18601, 8 January 1924, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Business was resumed yesterday by many city firms, which had been closed since before Christmas. The Stock Exchange reopened yesterday, and legal offices will resume to-day.

The weather at Auckland yesterday was dull and overcast, but no rain had fallen up to a lata hour. There was a light breeze from the north-west. The barometer, which registered 30.10 in. on Sunday night, had fallen to 29.80 in. last night.

The Mount Albert Fire Brigade was called out to a fire in a house in Commercial Road, Kingsland, owned and occupied by Mrs. Mawiey, at 9.30 a.m. yesterday. The outbreak, which was caused by a lighted gas-ring coming in contact with inflammable material, was subdued, by means of a extinguisher, without much damage being done. The house is insured for £700 in the State Firo Office.

The Onehunga Borough Council last evening received advice from the local police officer, Sergeant Cruickshank, that the Council's share of the fines imposed for breaches of traffic by-laws amounted to £19 15s. The offences included riding bicycles and driving motors without lights, riding over footpaths, leaving motor-cars unattended, and driving at excessive speeds. A member of the council remarked that such fines would soon pay for the stop-watches that the police wanted, to enable them to check speeds. It was decided to procure them at once.

Yesterday a start was made in planting the area at the corner of Mountain Road and Khyber Pass. This spot has been an eyesore for years, but during the last few weeks the section has been put into neat order. Soil has been deposited and rockeries made, and yesterday workmen were engaged in planting a selection of flowers, so that for the future' this will be another beauty-spot. The comer has already been rounded off, making it safer for traffic, and the formation of a garden reserve will ensure an unobstructed view to traffic turning round what was formerly a dangerous bend. The newly-formed gardens at the corner of Boston Road and Khyber Pass, a few chains above Mountain Road, are already looking very well, as a result of the recent ram, and are quite an ornament to this busy thoroughfare.

A petition in bankruptcy was filed by Daniel Torpey, farmer of Taitimu, with the official assignee last Saturday.

Remuera is apparently not the only place where underground leakage of water is suspected. A letter was received, at the meeting of the Onehunga Borough Council last evening, from a disappointed ratepayer, who complained thaT his water account had risen from lis for one period of six months to £7 for the following six months. The engineer reported that he had placed a check meter on the premises, and it had registered within 6 per cent, of the tally of the previous meter. During the discussion that followed, the opinion was expressed that the council's responsibility ceased when they delivered the water into the ratepayer's meter, and the engineer offered to give a demonstration of the perfect accuracy of the check-meter which he TTad used. It was decided to take a reading of the meter at once to ascertain if the consumption was being continued at the same rate, and to inform the ratepayer that if he was satisfied that his pipes were all in order and that no leakage had occurred inside his premises, the council would institute a further check:

The ingrained habits of State officers persist, and regulations must be obeyed, whatever the circumstances. A nappy little social gathering was held at the Auckland police station when the Minister for Justico, on behalf of the members of the force, presented gold watches to three young men who had courageously assisted in the arrest of a dangerous man. The preliminary announcements were made by Inspector Eales, who said that, in addition, the State had granted monetary rewards for the same exploit. Two of the young men were present, but the third, who was out of town, was represented by his wife, and the inspector expressed regret that this third cheque could not be handed over, as he would have to take the recipient's receipt in accordance with Treasury regulations. Mrs. Parr's remark that there was too much, red-tape about the business not only created a laugh, but neatly expressed the outside view of what appeared to be a stupid system.

A letter was received by the Onehungfl Borough Council last evening, from the Ratepayers' and Citizens' Association, urcine that the contracts ■ under the £,75,000 loan recently raised should stipulate for preference to local men, and also preference to married men. One member of the council said that no contractor would bring workmen into the district if he could get them locally, and another questioned the wisdom of tying'down a contractor by any restrictions, as it might increase the cost of the tenders. The letter was received.

A nice fall of 70 points of rain on December 28, in addition to other small falls at Christmas time, had a very beneficial effect on crops in the Raglan district. The rain, however, came too late to benefit oats. The dry spell forced'' them to a head too soon and the straw therefore is short and the heads light. Millet that was sown in time on land previously covered with scrub looks well and may make up where there is a shortage of other feed.

Shipping offices and merchants are wondering whether the inquiries now being made in New Zealand by Mr. G. Van der Linde, managing director of the Royal Packet Navigation Company, will lead to this Dutch company opening up a service between the East and New Zealand. Mr. Van der Linde Was in Dunedin last week. He has made his investigations at Auckland and Wellington, and goes on to Christchurch. In the meantime he is not prepared to make any statement as to the prospects of establishing such a service. The headquarters of the company are at Amsterdam and Batavia. The company was founded in 1887, and owns -15 steamers that ply between Singapore and Java ajid the Netherlands. The importance of the investigations 13 increased by the hint that passenger as well as cargo vessels may be put on if the directors are pleased to embark on this extension.

A visitor to Mount Egmont, in speaking of the xn.tgfiificent view from the top, stated that with the naked eye he successfully pieced up Mount Edgecombe (about 3000 feet high) near Whakatane, in the Bay of Plenty. A reference to the map shows the distance in a direct line to be 180 miles.

On New Year's* Day the temperature in the sun in Napier was 140, six degrees hotter than the previous hottest day that can be remembered by old residents. At Hastings, on the first -day of the year, 98 degrees in the shade were recorded. Private records show that in the sun on that day the thermometer registered 137 degrees.

Inquiries are being received from all parts of New Zealand by the Consul for the Argentine, Senor Bidone, from intending exhibitors at the great show of dairy machinery and equipment and appliances connected with the manufacture of butter and cheese, to be opened in May, in Buenos Aires. The aim of the Argentine Government in this exhibition is to disseminate as widely as possible all knowledge relating to the manufacture of milk products in the interests of its growing dairying industry.