LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19142, 7 October 1925, Page 10

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

The warships Dunedin and Laburnum returned to Auckland from the South Sea , Islands yesterday, the former having been away for seven weeks and the latter for nearly five months. The Dunedin will leave on Saturday for Wellington, where she will remain a month while the crew undergo their annual musketry training at Trentham. She will then proceed to Dunedin and Lyttelton, returning to Auckland on December 5. Three days later the Dunedin will, carry out gunnery exercises in the Hauraki Gulf. The Veronica has been cruising in the Islands since June and is due back at Auckland on November 4. The Ulimaroa arrived from Sydney yesterday with mail from Australian States and the East for Auckland. In addition there were four sacks of mails from Honolulu. Normally there is only about half a bag but the stay of the American Fleet in Honolulu is responsible for the sudden increase. Most of the letters appear to be for members of the fair sex. The prohibition of the use of motorcycles on Auckland wharves was the subject of a letter received by the couucxl of the Chamber of Commerce yesterday from the Sports Motor-cycle Club. Complaint was made that as a result of the prohibition business was seriously hampered and great inconvenience was also paused to private owners of motor-cycles, who were now unable to meet steamers for the purpose of assisting friends when disembarking. The council passed a resolution referring the matter to the Harbour Board for consideration. A party of 16 Chinese Masons left for Wellington by the Main Trunk express last evening. They are the Auckland delegates to attend the opening of a new Chinese Masonic Lodge in Wellington. The party is being conducted by Mr. W. Lip Guey, who will act as interpreter during the visit. Tentative arrangements have been made by the Defence Department for a refresher course for the Auckland staff early next January at Okoroire. There sill be one course for officers and one ; for N.C.O.'s, extending from January 14 |to January 23. All the staff, comprising about 20 officers and 30 N.C.O.'s, will attend if the present arrangements are carried out. The Dairy Produce Control Board has made arrangements whereby gifts of butter may be made by residents in New Zealand to friends in Great Britain. Each pound of butter will be put up in a carton and the 41b. forming each packet will be enclosed in a larger carton. Opportunity will be taken to advertise New Zealand dairy produce on the cartons and by literature enclosed in the package. Prompt orders ran be delivered in Great Britain for Christmas. Takapuna's sewerage scheme is so far advanced that in the centra,! portion of the borough it will b« available for use within a few weeks—as soon as advice is received that the Health Department; approves the arrangement to be made for a temporary outfall at Black Bock into Rarigitoto Channel The main sewer along the waterfront from the foot of Clifton Road to Black Rock is already laid. The reticulation of the streets lying between Lake Road and the sea has been carried out in the area between The Strand and Alison Avenue, and will be completed in Sanders Avenue and The Strand within a fortnight. The whaling mother ship, Sir James Clark Ross, with her two whale chasers, is expecte:! to arrive at Stewart Island next Wednesday. She will be taking quite a number of the younger fishermen from Stewart Island on her voyage south and this fits in well with the Island arrangements as the men return again just in time for next season's fishing. Whaler chaser Star V with Captain Anderson in charge left for Dunedin this week for their store of ammunition to be in readiness when the mother ship arrives. Captain Anderson, who held the record for capturing the most whales last season, is to be in charge of one of the new chasers for this year's work. Typical of the difficult cases of settlers who, having bought at inflated values, are now unable to meet their liabilities was one which came before the Gisborne Land Board recently. It was shown that the man who was behind with his payments was a splendid worker, but had paid too much for the property, which is now not worth the amount of the existing mortgages. After paying all interest the man would have slight'y less than £IOO a. year on which to live. On the other hand, it was obvious that if the present settler could not make a living from the place no one else could. The board is now endeavouring to find a means of reducing the heavy interest payments on the mortgages,, and thus assisting the settler on to his feetIt was reported at a meeting of the Patea-Waitotara Rabbit Board that rabbits had been noticed on the Belmont and Springvale Golf links. The question was raised as to whether the golf clubs contributed rates to the board. The secretary explained that as the golf clubs did net own stock they could not be rated under the system under which the board was operating. The inspector, Mt Munro, pointed out that the board could go on to the property and any work executed would have to be paid for by the two clubs. It was decided to leave the matter in abeyance for the time being, but to ask the chief rabbiter to poison the area and make a report. "Otago isins in the use of the Maori word greater than any other part of New Zealand," remarked Mr. J. H. Stevens in a speech at Palmerston North the other day. The speaker mentioned that he had protested against a proposal that the Union Company should name one of its boats "Wing-a-tui," which suggested that someone should get a gun and wing a tui. Later it had occurred to him that the name should have been "Ui-nga-tui," which was a favourite retort of a Maori to a question. The word meant, "Ask a tui" and as the tui was a chatterbox, one could understand the allusion. On a Southland run of 4030 acres the rabbit is getting little rests*, as war against him has been declared in earnest. During the last 12 months nine rabbits to the acre, or 36,000 in all, have been accounted for, and the fight is still going on. With the profits from the skins rabbit-proof netting is being procured, and thus "Brer Rabbit" is helping to extinguish himself. If other ninholders and farmers tackled the rabbit problem in the same manner, says a writer in an Invercargill paper, their numbers would soon be reduced.