LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18945, 17 February 1925, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Through falling from a joist on a house in course of erection in Golf Road, Epsom, yesterday morning, a carpenter, Mr. Malcolm Hamilton, aged 24, sustained injuries to his back. Mr. Hamilton, who resides at 54, Grafton Road, was admitted to the Auckland Hospital. His condition is riot serious. Scalds on the right arm and leg were sustained by Miss Ellen Fitzsimrnons, of 19, Newton Road, who upset a kettle of boiling water. She was admitted to the hospital. There was a continuation of wet weather in Auckland yesterday morning, when about .45in. of rain fell. This added to the fall which occurred on Sunday morning makes the total 1.65 in. for the two days. Yesterday the weather was very changeable. In the morning there was a moderate breeze from the north-east, and a heavy thunderstorm passed over the city. After mid-day the wind changed to the west, and fine weather prevailed for the remainder of the day. The barometer at mid-day yesterday had fallen to 29.75 in., but last night it rose t,029.85in. 'llmain power station of the Auckland Electric Power Board is now Hearing completion. At yesterday's meeting of the board, tho chairman. Mr. W. <J. Holdsworth. said the new 5000 kilowatt .set. would shortly be running, and he proposed that a sub-committee be set up to consider the question of an official opening ceremony. He was quite sure there was a number of business men who had not the slightest idea of the size of the board's undertakings, and \ an opening ceremony would be a splendid opportunity to see the plant. The motion was carried. A plucky rescue from drowning was made at Ramararaa. by a 13-year-old boy, Robert Harvey, and a man who was on a visit to the district from Wader,town. A lady was bathing in a deep creek near a waterfall, when she got into difficulties. The lad dived in from the bank and caught, hold of her, but he was obliged to release his grip. The man then dived in. frilly dressed and seized the distressed bather as she was sinking for the second time. With the boy's assistance he brought her ashoro. The, condition of the gunner, George Sen bourne, aged 18, who was admitted to the Auckland Hospital, with head injuries sustained through a fall, over a cliff at North Head, is reported to have improved. The accident is stated to have been in no way connected with the gunnery practice in progress, as he was outside the boundary of the fort when the mishap occurred. " Tou New Zealanders do not realise how prominent you arc in other countries through the enlightened manner in which you deal with sociological problems," said Dr. W. B. Reid, formerly Mayor of Rome, New York, in discussing his visit to the Dominion last evening. " New Zealand has always been looked up to by America in the light of a social laboratory. I mean, in the best sense of the term, that you are trying experiments that promise a better living to the average citizen." Dr. Reid mentioned specifically the Government railways, the Plunket Nurse system, with which he associated the name of Sir Truby King, and the Young Citizen's League, founded by Mr. E. C. Gut.ten, S.M. These, and other sociological matters for which New Zealand was noted, were proving of r.o small interest to sociologists in New York. "(/'rimes are committed to day not by criminals alone, but by foolish young people who have ;iot sufficient strength of character to stand up to tbeir difficulties," said Mr. E. C. Outten to members of the Rotary Club yesterday. '•They take the line of least resistance, and find themselves in Ccurt. Our Borstal Institutions, and even our gaols, have in them many foolish young people such as these. That means that far too great. a proportion of cur young folk are coming to grief. They behave excellently while at school under control, and have learned there wha! is right, but what they have learned is not built upon a solid foundation of understanding that 'the fear of the Lord is tho beginning of wisdom.' " The fusing of an electric wire in a lift, well in Colwill's Buildings, Swanson Street, shortly after noon yesterday set fire to the, insulation tape and resulted in the City Fire Brigade receiving a call. Tho flames were extinguished without difficulty before the brigade arrived. "This growth of the spirit of Rotary is doing a great deal to clear up old antagonisms and to foster a feeling of friendship between Auckland and Wellington," declared Mr. D. A. Ewen, president of the Wellington Rotary Club, in addressing Auckland Rotarians yesterday. "It is a great pleasure to be able to go to so many towns, and attend a luncheon gathering where one is in the midst of friends. It is a splendid tribute to the growth of the true spirit of Rotary. I hope that as many Aucklanders as can possibly manage to do so will attend the forthcoming Rotary conference in Wellington, which, without doubt, will mark a new era for Rotary in New Zealand." The secretary, Mr. A. J. Hutchinson, intimated that about 50 Auckland Rotarians and their wives had arranged to attend the conference. An interesting, but unwanted, catch was made by the trawler Gosford at Gisborne, when an old anchor, weighing over three tons, and with a bar nearly ten feet long, was caught in cno of the nets and brought to the surface. Jt was impossible for tho anchor to bo lifted on board, nor could the trawler enter the harbour. She remained outside for some hours until the harbour board's launch went alongside to give assistance. The anchor was salved. It is of a type not used by steamships and too i heavy to have been used by sailing ves- I sels trading to the port nowadays. A somewhat unusual accident befel a motorist while driving through from Palmorston North to Wellington. When about a mile past tho Levin railway station he pulled up on tho side of the road to allow a mob of bullocks to pass. Just then a train roared by and stampeded tho cattle, one of which jumped right on to the bonnet of the car, smashing the lamps, bonnet, and wind screen, and effectually putting the car out of action. Tho car, which was a fiveseater Standard, practically new, had to be towed back to Levin for repairs. There were two passengers in the vehicle besides the driver, but fortunately all escaped injury. \' • 0