LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18654, 10 March 1924, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Two Main Trunk expresses f were despatched for the South last evening. The usual train, which left at 7.10, included 10 passenger carriages and carried over 300 people. The second express, which left at 7.40, took about 350 passengers. Included in that number were many territorials travelling to the National Rifle Association's meeting at Trentham.

There was a sudden change in the weather at Auckland yesterday, when rain fell for about four hours. On Friday and Saturday the weather was fine, with a moderate beeze from the north-east, the temperature being noticeably warm. Yesterday morning the sky became dull and overcast and toward 3 p.m. rain began to fall and the wind changed to the north. The showers were not very heavy, but continued until evening. The conditions then improved, but the sky was dull and threatening up to a late hour. The barometer, which registered 30.00 in. on Friday night, has been steadily falling since and last night registered 29.55 in, the lowest reading for some time.

A minor outbreak of fire, caused by the contact of a lighted candle with a pair of window curtains, resulted in the City and Parnell Fire Brigades being called to No. 16, Henley Street, about 8.45 o'clock on Saturday evening. The fire was promptly suppressed, the damage being confined to the curtains.

The new Chevrolet car, which was reported missing from Albany Road, Heme Bay, on Friday night, had not been recovered yesterday. The car is the property of Mr. W. J. Hosking, and not Mr. "J. F. Hosking, his brother, as stated on Saturday.

An invitation is to be sent to the Governor-General, Lord Jellicoe, to unveil the Devonport War Memorial, on a date to be arranged about the middle of April. The Memorial Committee has approved of about 70 names to be included in the roll of honour, and has also decided on the inscription to be placed on the memorial.

A collision with a safely zone occurred in Karangahape Road, near the intersection of Queen Street, about nine o'clock on Saturday evening, when a motor-cycle and side-car, driven by Mr. E. Churches crashed into the concrete guard at the end of the zone. The front wheel of the cycle was damaged and the fork twisted, but the driver fortunately escaped with a few minor cuts and bruises.

An elderly man, Mr. Harry G. Partington, sustained an injury to his eye on Saturday, at Wellsford, through being kicked by a cow. He was brought to Auckland by motor-car and admitted to the Public Hospital. A broken leg was sustained on Saturday afternoon by Mr. William Reginald Bethune, aged 27, as the result of a fall at his home in Columbia Road, Mount Albert. The young man was admitted to the Auckland Hospital, and is reported to be progressing favourably.

The signature of the King has been attached to the exequatur empowering Dr. Hans Busing to act as German ConsulGeneral to the British possessions in the South Pacific, according to a notification published in the latest Gazette. Dr. Busing will have his headquarters at Melbourne, and his jurisdiction will extend to Australia and New Zealand and their dependencies, the islands under the High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, Tonga, New Guinea, and Nauru.

An interesting fact of Waikato history came to light, > says our Ngaruawhia correspondent. In the fifties "of last century the Waikato Maoris formed a plan for connecting the Waikato and Piako basins by a canal leading out from the Maungawara creek. This would have given direct canoe communication from Cambridge to Auckland. A fall in the price of wheat from 14s 6d to 4s 6d a bushel damped the ardour of the Maoris, and the Waikato wars finally disposed of the scheme.

Motor-cars and motorists were under discussion at the ChristcLurch Supreme Court last week. Mr. W. J. Sim was endeavouring to establish that the motor millennium had not yet arrived. "A lot of things may happen to a car?" he asked of an expert witness. Of course," interrupted Mr. Alpers. "It might be taken by the bailiff." Mr. Sim: "Well, we have not yet arrived at the stage of perfection where a motorist can assume that every other car on the road will behave itself perfectly." Mr. Justice MacGregor: "Or motorists." Mi*. Alpers: "Or motoresses:" Later the witness said it was claimed by some motorists that they could tell from the sound of a horn at what pace an oncoming car was travelling. His Honor: "There seems to be such a thing as motor sense as well as horse sense."

The curious ailment of cattle peculiar to certain psrts of New Zealand, known as " bush sickness," was reported upon to the Board of Agriculture at its last meeting. An outline of the progress made and of the work at present being carried on at the experimental farm at Mamaku was furnished. It was noted with satisfaction that the developments on the farm, both as regards the maintenance of live stock and the improvements made, were very satisfactory. Mr. Aston, who is dealing with the chemistry side of the investigation, in co-operation with the live-stock division, stated that the results which have been so far arrived at were gratifying, and the current work was holding out prospects of a still further advance in the knowledge possessed regarding bush sickness and the methods to be adopted in order to overcome it.

The constitution of the two divisions of the Court of Appeal is announced in the current Gazette. ' The first division is to consist of the Chief Justice, Sir Robert Stout, and Judges Sim, Stringer, Salmond, and Adams, and the second division will comprise the Chief Justice and Judges Sim, Herdman, Reed, and MacGregor.

Very little alteration in the state of the labour market in Auckland occurred last week. On Saturday 125 names were on the unemployment register at the Labour Department's bureau, compared with 124 on the previous Saturday, Among last week's unemployed, 88 were classed as fit. for heavy work and 37 for light work. There were 39 labourers, 17 horse and motor drivers, 7 engineers, fitters and turners, 11 hotel workers, and 14 clerks. The department found private employment for 25 men, including 20 labourers, and 14 men were placed in the service of the, Public Works Department.

The importation of oats,, barley, maize, hay, straw, and chaff from the United States of America and from Queensland and Western Australia has been absolutely prohibited, advice to this effect having been published in the Gazette. The consent of the Minister for Agriculture will be necessary if it is desired to import these products from the remaining States of the Commonwealth of Auatr&lk.