LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18722, 30 May 1924, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

! ; An outbreak of fire in*'a motor-car resulted in the Western District Tire Brigade receiving a call at 6.30 p.m. yesterday to. a motor garage, owned by Mr. M. Jeffries, in Great North' Road; ,:• The fire wiis . caused by the, fusing-of an electric wire in' the car and slight, damage was done to. the engine and dashboard before it was quelled. . . .. 'An experiment in lighting the safety zone at the corner of Victoria Street West and Queen Street was tried' last . night. A substantial pillar, about sft. high, carried at the top a red flashing light. The pillar - was painted - white 'with th<? words '"Slow, keep left," painted in black let-, ters on each f. of "* four * sides. •• . The j flashing red light aroused ' the . curiosity of passers-by,> and there were many, apt • references to "the lighthouse." -. i.V ".n ''• ' - ' • : ' , ' The rates struck by this Waitemata County; Council for the current year aro the same as . those of last year, except in the case of Titirangi " Riding, where an increase of £d in' the £ was decided-upon, and Kumeu i Riding, where ' the general rate was reduced by id in the £, but the special loan rate increased by a like amount. v ■ .>!

• The new ornamental iron and concrete fence that is being erected on - the Park Road and Carlton Gore Road frontage of the Domain Cricket Ground is rapidly nearing completion. The fence replaces the unsightly corrugated iron fence, upon which it is a ' decided 9 improvement. A main iron gateway,'. with massive grey stone pillars, has been 1 erected on the corner :of the two roads while two smaller entrances will &pen from the Park Road frontage. The* concreting of Park Road, which is being carried out by the Newmarket Borough Council in conjunction with the City Council's improvements to the Domain ;- boundaries, has / been completed with the exception of ; about '20 yards. outside; the hospital main -gateway." This stretch; which is 'on the side of the road from;- Grafton Bridge, has been laid in concrete and should be ready for traffic in. the course;- of the next few days. •' ;

,A pony of note which had held the championship at the Auckland Show during the past six years has just died at , Mareretu as the result of a chill. . The • little black mare w?is of the Musket breed, and was foaled in the Waikato about 10 years ago. Quite recently her owner, Mr. T. V. aNutsford, refused a big price for the, ex-champion.. ; : .

. "Is there any objection to introducing bats' into Canterbury to destroy the bronze beetle or grass-grub wrote Mr. R. Brown, of Denbrae, Waiau, .to the council of the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society the other day. In the discussion which followed, it was suggested that the night-jar, probably, would jbe more effective than bats. A member pointed ' out that the Australian magpie and the starling took very large numbers/of grass-grubs. Professor T. G. R. Blunt said it might be desirable to I suggest the introduction of the nightjar, which was a useful bird, but Mr. o.' R. Clark said the nightjar might be very useful where ; it was, but it was difficult J to say how it would behave in New Zealand. Another memlar thought some disadvantage might arise 1 from the introduction of bats. " j - .

•. A Wanganui parent who takes - strong exception to • children being ? taught '• to print instead of . .write cites , the case of a girl, eight years' of age, who, until a iew days .ago,.. was .unable; to write her' own name Desiring to open a post office savings bank 4 account for; the child, the mother ; took her to the office of the bank for that; purpose. , The;, girl was. proceedl.ing to endorse the form with , her signature in the style of printing she - was 1 being taught .• at 1 school, and when the officec3jj|nformed her he could not accept a printed signature,, and- it was necessary that she - should write It in the ordinary way, the child confessed her inability to comply with his request. t .'.'And,'' added | the informant,' "it -. required ' a ." weefi's I spare time tuition at 'home before the girl —quite a normally intelligent girl—was able to write an acceptable signature."

The idea of attaching tag:i to : trout before they are liberated, in< order the better to study their habits, has- commended itself to the Ashburton : Acclima'tisation Society. Several members of that, body carried out recently in ; the Ashburton Domain pond the operation of fixing little metal tags to the young trout. 1 ;; It is hoped to liberate between 500 and 600. This is the first time the idea has been tried at • Ashburton, • although; the Canterbury society " has "practised 1 it for ' some years. Catches of this ; society's, trout have been reported from as far. afield as Akaroa Harbour and the Waitaki River.

In an; address to the justices of the peace ' at " Wanganui,;. on the subject of prison reform, Mr. J. S. Barton, : S.M., made informative. reference to the "honour system,'.' which has been adopted in New Zealand' prison administration. ; ; Mr. Barton said that on' farms, road works,' drainage ) works, bush work, ", etc., S individual "prisoners and even parties of , prisoners were constantly working quite beyond sight and • hearing ,of any warders and guards. ■- !

A story concerning the visit of the Hood is told by a Gore resident. A cap-' tain : from ' the vessel . visited Invercargill to see some friends. : He was taken on a run into the country to see some friends of, his friends, and was struck with the name of, the people .he was going to visit. He informed his host that as- a matter of fact he was intending to. look up some people of the same i name . when Sin New Zealand. At the country -' homestead a photograph; of v the owner's • father struck the . eye of the' traveller, , and upon making inquiries it' was ascertained that the man who was entertaining - him was . his cousin. - ,The . apparent richness; in minerals of the / mountain ' ranges . adjacent to New Plymouth ■; has .v often - been - written •; and spoken of, 1 but nothing ; effective has been done toy turn to man's use any wealth that-may ' lie there, ' says the Taranaki Herald. At present; however, a private company is testing'the commercial possibilities of deposits of.what' is known' as sienna, which lie at the eastward foot of the Kaitbke Ranges. Hopes are . entertained that the usefulness of the ; sienna as ; a pigment for use in paints , and the extent of . the deposits will before long, be definitely, proved to be satisfactory. '.

Dr. Galway, one of. the Dunedin dele-; gates to the Dominion Conference "' of Professional Music Teachers in Wellington, in an' interview on his return,^said: "The view of some . of ' the teachers is that in time the council of ; organisation may deem it wise to take steps appointing ; its own examiners, thereby saving £4000 to £5000 a year;. and setting free that; not ; inconsiderable ; sum ' for the direct ' benefit -. of ' music - by . ' endowing scholarships or helping to found a national; orchestra, >or in ; some other -: way. ;' y But the time for' such ; a change - has riot " yet arrived." ' - .... v 1 ■ -:J