LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19056, 29 June 1925, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Ten locomotives for the New Zealand Railways were brought to Auckland from Scotland by ,thc New Zealand Shipping Company's steamer Tekoa, now discharging at the Queen's Wharf. The locomotives are class AB, and are similar to those used for tho limited and ordinary express services. They were built at the North British Locomotive Works, Glasgow, from drawings sent from tho chief mechanical engineer's office, Wellington. Tho locomotives are specially designed for colonial requirements, and they are to be used in tho Auckland district. They will be assembled at the Newmarket workshops. Applications for employment at the Auckland office of the Labour Department last week totalled 206, an increase of seven over the previous week's figures. Of tho total 175 wero classed as fit for heavy work. Labourers headed tho list with 70 applications. Next in point of number wero motor drivers 16, cooks and hotel workers 13 and storemcn and packers 10. During tho week 28 men, including 23 labourers, wero placed in private employment. Authority to pay interest at a rate not exceeding 6 per cent, in respect of loans already authorised is given to a number of local authorities'by an Order-in-Council published in the current Gazette. Included in the loans affected are four to bo raised by tho Mount Albert Borough Council. These are £20,000 for i*oad works and purchase of plant, £12,000 for extension of water supply, £BOOO for stormwater drainage, and £7OOO for a fire station. Northcote has a loan of £SOOO for drainage, and Whangarei Borough Council one of £2575 for streets improvements besides others of £520, £2OO and £IOO. i Through being thrown from his motorcycle as the result of a collision with a motor-car at the corner of Momona Avenue and tho Great South Road yesterday afternoon, Mr. Raymond Hickey, aged 21, sustained a fractured right leg. The injured man, who resides at Hill Street, Newmarket, was taken to the Auckland Hospital in the St. John Ambulance. The commission on university education will open its Auckland sittings at the Auckland Education Board's offices this afternoon. The members of the commission, Sir Harry R.' Reichel and Mr. F. Tait, are expected to reach Auckland by the limited express this morning. They will be accompanied by Professor T. A. Hunter, who will represent tho University Senate at the sittings of the commission during its tour. Professor Hunter will give his evidence when the commission returns to Wellington. The speed of fire engines was referred to at the annual social of the Onehunga Fire Brigade on Saturday evening, by Mr. T. J. Watts, the Dominion secretary. He declared that a fire engine had no more right to exceed the speed limit than an ordinary motor-car. Speaking of the recent deplorable accident in Christchurch iu which a fireman was killed and several seriously injured, he said the time would undoubtedly come when the law would be enforced, and the lives of firemen would then be protected. He himself knew all about speeding, for his three sons had all been fined for speeding, "and father always paid the fine, 1 ? but something, he said, must be done to save enthusiastic firemen from needlessly risking their lives. Lack of home control was complained of in the Juvenile Offenders Court on Saturday by Chief-Detective Cummings, in referring to the case of a boy of 13 years ot age who appeared on a charge of wilfully damaging a window in the Roman Catholic Church at Devonport, to the extent of £55. The boy appeared a year ago, said the chief-detective, and was ordered to come up for sentence at the end of 12 months. Since the offence he had converted a bicycle to his own use, run away from home and slept at different times in a shed and on a scow. Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M., committed tho young offender to the Auckland Receiving Home for a term. The scientific aspect of fire brigade work was touched upon at the Onehunga Fire Brigade's social on' Saturday evening by tho Dominion secretary, Mr. T. J. Watts. He stated that at a similar function at Te Awamutu tho previous evening a couple of young firemen of only 10 months' standing wero putting him through a catechism in applied hydraulics. Far f£om resenting their questions, or attempting to cool their ardour, he welcomed their enthusiasm, and urged tho younger men in tho Onehunga brigade to follow on tho same lines and make a careful study of tho higher branches of their art. Nearly every town has a " white elephant " of one kind or another. Hamilton is no exception, for it has its town hall and borough offices, a group of inconvenient and uncomfortable buildings with no pretensions to architectural beauty, and situated half a mile from the. centre of the town. Tho town hall is a notoriously unprofitable proposition to the town. The feelings of Hamilton peoplo regarding the town hall were well expressed by the Mayor, Mr. J. R. Fow, at a function held under the auspices of tho Hamilton Fire Brigade. In wishing everyone present a very pleasant time, the Mayor turned to the members of the brigade and said, " And if tho Town Hall should catch on fire, don t move. lho sally was greeted with loud laughter. Speaking of the progress of the Hamilton Fire Brigade since it changed its governing authority from the Borough Council to the Fire Board, at a social gathering, the Mayor, Mr. J. R. low, said the brigade had made remarkable strides "unhampered by friend or Fow." The Wellington Automobile Association has asked the Auckland Chamber of Commerce for its support in securing a Royal Commission to inquire into the expense of county council administration and also to urge an amendment to the Main Highways Act to embrace the maintenance of county roads. The matter will bo considered by a committee of the Chamber. " You havo gone ahead very fast, but you are not there yet," said Dr. M. J. Rendall, formerly headmaster of Winchester College, in referring to New Zealand's educational system at a meeting in Wellington. Dr. Rendall went on to refer to the boys whom ho had under his charge at Winchester, and stated that the majority of them were imbued with the desire for knowledge. So great and so natural was their desire that they did practically all their reading in their leisure hours, and the result was that at Winchester they had one of the greatest literary sets in England. They had a knowledge of English literature that was second to none.