LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19062, 6 July 1925, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Over 600 bags *of overseas mail will, be delivered in Auckland early this week. The Royal Mail liner Aorangi arrived last night with 333 ■ of English and Australian mail from Sydney. The Royal Mail steamer Tahiti is due at Wellington this morning with 240 bags of English and American mail from San Francisco for Auckland. Her mail will reach here to-morrow or Wednesday. Tho Ulimaroa _is due at Auckland tomorrow evening with 39 bags of Australian mail. . . -• •; ■ - Although the conditions are still unsettled the weather was fine in Auckland during the week-end, with a light variable wind. On Saturday the sky Was clear and the sun shone brightly all day. It was idpal spring weather, and in consequence all outdoor sports meetings were well patronised. Yesterday was fine, but the sky was dull and threatening and in tho evening the weather was showery. The barometer, after registering below 20.50 in. all tho week, began to ris'o on Saturday morning and tho reading at mid-day yesterday was 29.75 in. It fell slightly shortly afterwards and then remained steady at 29.70 in. up to a late hour. Cases of diphtheria notified in the Auckland Province during June totalled 27, not 14, according to a corrected roturn mado by tho Health Department. All but ono case occurred in the Central and South Auckland districts. An unusual motor mishap occurred in Manukau P.oad, Epsom, on Saturday morning. A motor-truck owned by the Auckland Electric Power Board was proceeding toward Greenwood's Corner, having a pneumatic air machine, or "popper," in tow. When proceeding at a slow pace one of the heavy iron wheels of tho "popper" came off, ran across'the road, and struck a stationary motor-car inflicting slight injury to the running board. Some advice on the subject of paint and powder was given by Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M., to a woman in the Juvenile Court on Saturday. A boy was concerned in a case of theft from a church, and his mother said ho had always been a good boy. She had five children altogether and had had a hard struggle with them. "Well, look here," tho magistrate said, "none of your children will have any respect for you when you smother your; faco with paint and powder like it is now. That is enough to drive any boy away from his home. Take the lad away and look after. him better. His case will bo adjourned for two years to see how he gets on." A bequest of £2OO has been received by the trustees of the commercial travellers and warehousemen's blind soldiers and sailors' fund from the estate of the late Mrs. Esther Mandel. The executors of the express the wish that tho fund may continue in a healthy state so long as tho necessity for it remains. Tho continuous wet and cold weather has produced a condition of stalemate in "most suburban gardens. It is almost impossible to cultivate tho soil in its present sodden state, especially where sticky clay soils aro concerned. Cabbage and cauliflower planted in tho autumn, where they havo survived, have made little progress and seedlings of all kinds have generally gone down before the onslaught of the slugs, snails and other pests that flourish in moist conditions. Amateur gardeners are awaiting drier and warmer weather to overtake arrears in work and also to see present crops make somo progress toward maturity. Applications for employment at tho Auckland office of the Labour Department last week totalled 208, as compared with 206 for tho previous week. Of the total 172 were classed at fit for heavy work and 36 for light work. Labourers as usual were at tho top of tho list with 71 applications, and were followed by motor-drivers with 17, gardeners and handymen with 15, engineers' fitters and turners with 12, and cooks and hotel workers with 11. During the week 20 men, including nine labourers, two farm hands, two scrub cutters and two clerks were placed in private employment, while a position was obtained for one labourer with the Public Works Department. A coramencecment has been mado with the erection of the overhead footbridge at Edendalo Road, adjacent to the Kingsland railway station. Tho two upright supports on which the superstructure will rest aro already in position and tho remainder of the bridge should be finished within a few weeks. The erection of the overbridge, like that already constructed at Onslow Road, will abolish two level crossings which for many years were a menace alike to wheeled traffic and pedestrians and both of which took toll of human life. Carried along on tho flood waters on tho Rangitaiki Plain was the carcaso of a largo pig od which were parched a turkey and two hens. Nothing is known of their ultimate fate. It was an open question whether a justice of the peace or justices had power to order the suppression of tho name of an accused person, said Mr. 11. A. Young, S.M., in an address to a meeting of the Hamilton Justices' Association. Ho added that no hard-and-fast rules could be laid down governing the question of suppressing names. Each case had to bo treated on its merits and all the circumstances taken into account. It had to bo considered whether publication of tho name was out of all proportion to the gravity of tho offence. He thought that if there was a chance of reformation by tho suppression of a name it was worth whilo giving tho accused tho benefit of it. Considerable fun was extracted by tho youngsters of the flooded areas of Edendale during tho week-end by boating on the swollen waters of Cabbage Tree Swamp. Tho craft that found most favour were rudely-constructed canoes of corrugated iron bent ingeniously to suit ',ho requirements. Quito a dozen lads were to be seen yesterday enjoying tho novel sport of canoeing on the inland lagoon, passers-by being highly amused at tho various antics of the youthful navigators. Lake Clearwater, in the Ashburton Gorge, about 40 msles from Ashburton, has been completely frozen for some time. A party of about 10 Ashburton residents visited tho vicinity recently for the purpose of shooting, taking with them an amateur wireless set. The campers spend a night in a small hut near the lake, and during the evening wireless messages were picked up from Dunedin and Sydney. The ice on the lake was tested in many places, and the party can vouch for' its -durability. «