LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18949, 21 February 1925, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

The Maheno sailed from Sydney for Wellington at 11 p.m. yesterday, according to a Press Association cablegram. There were two cases of measles on the Hororata, which arrived in Auckland yesterday from Liverpool. The patients—a girl aged 15 and a child —were taken charge of by the Health Department and are in isolation. The wind was very boisterous in Auckland yesterday, with a strong breeze blowing from the west. The "evening was showery, but the wind- moderated, and at a late hour the weather improved. According to the barometer the weather is still unsettled and threatening. The glass fell yesterday to 29.60 in. It. rose slightly in the evening, and at midnight was 29.65 in. The new motor-car number plates required under the Motor Vehicles Act arrived in Wellington by the Maunganui from Han Francisco 011 Tuesday. They are not ready for distribution at present, as the work of compiling ths certificates of lie. en.se and registration is• not completed. The plates are of the same, design as those used in California, and will be sold for a shilling each. A dog tax collector received a, surprise in the suburbs recently. In the course of his rounds he inquired of two children, aged three and five years, if they kept, any dogs. They replied that they had two. The collector knocked at the door, but, was informed by the. children's mother that no dogs were kept. " But your children said they had two," he protested, The entry of the youngsters at the moment clutching two brightly hued wooden dogs in their arms and tearfully asking that their treasures be not taken awav, explained the situation. "I he residents will rise in protest as one man rather than allow the. school to be built further north than Belmont," said Mr. T. Lament, Mayor of Devonport, during a discussion regarding the site of the proposed North Whore Grammar School, at a meeting of tho Marine Boroughs' Association last evening. The question ol the position of Northcote and Birkenhead was then raised. A member remarked that, a dozen years ago there was one grammar school, at the top of Wellesley .Street, and now there were four. Probably in another dozen years there would be as many more. This suggestion .seemed to meet with the approval of the meeting, and the subject was then dropped. Paritutu and Moturoa Island, two historic land marks at the port, of New Plymouth, recently the subject of a Dominionwide controversy, are to escape demolition. Both carry extensive scars following exhaustive tests of the stone, but the Harbour Board has now definitely decided that both have fallen short, of expectations with regard to the. quality of the stone they have yielded, and neither will be further tampered with. Suitable, stone is available on the ranges bordering Mount Egmont, but as this is inaccessible it has been decided to further exploit an old quarry and to secure further supplies of stone from the beaches. An addition to the controversy regarding the first white child born in New Zealand comes from Uieymouth. '1 he files of the, evening paper there were searched, and as a result it is stated that the honour belongs to a son of Mr. and Mrs. .John King, of Rangihora, Bay of Islands. Tho boy was christened by the Nov. Samuel Marsden, on February 24, 1915. The first, white girl born was it daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Hall, born on May 28, 1815. The first European child born in the South Island was Captain John fluard, at lc Awaiti, Torv Channel, in 1830. A battle between two hawks and a squadron of seagulls, over Glazebrook's bond, on the Ngaruroro River, occupied the momentary attention of the passengers into Napier by a morning train recently. It was impossible accurately fo conjecture the causes of the disagreement, 1 but possibly the hereditary right of the gulls, which habitually make the rivetshingle banks their resting places, had ■ been molested. At any rate the hawks were routed, and brown feathers were slowly drifting eastward when the aerial battle ended, and the harriers fled. When remarking on the declining membership of the Wellington Returned Soldiers' Association, an officer of the association stated that this was not at trill utable to any decay of the spirit of camaraderie among the returned men, but to the diversity of interests that now occupied the. men's attention. "They are for the most part settled down in their civil vocations, and this has to a large extent estranged them from the association, he said. It is not an uncommon sight, to see a dog sitting calmly on the running board of a car* and recently it was reported that ;• parrot had excited comment by occupying the insecure position. However, mo prize was taken the other day. when a rooster was noticed serenely perched on the back axle of a Waimate ambulance car. Apparently we'll satisfied with its new perch, the bird remained there for a couple of trips, but. during the progress of the third journey he moved rather too close to the exhaust pipe, which at tiie time was a trifle, warm. '1 ho dream of a new home was shattered as the rooster, with a number of feathers singed, made a hurried departure. The effects upon trade of the appearance of infantile paralysis in the city have In en varied, says a (Tiristehurch paper. In some lines little or no effect can lie noticed, while in others a very noticeable drop in sales is reported. The. line which has been affected most by the epidemic is the boot, trade. When asked if trade had slackened off owing to the outbreak the manager of one of the largest retail establishments replied "Un-! doubtedly." He said that as a rule this time of the year sees the boot shops rushed all day, but at present stock is] moving and nothing more. The end of January and the beginning of February usually see a rush owing to the re opening of the schools. With the schools closed, however, any old boots are made to do lor children, and in many cases none are worn at all. It is unusual for a bull to gore a cow. On a farm at lhakara (Wellington), while the cows were in the yard, a bull charged one cow, knocked her over, and attacked her in a most ferocious manner. Attempts to drive the maddened beast away proved unsuccessful, and finally it had to be shot; The cow was very badly hurt, and was also destroyed.