LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19389, 26 July 1926, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

The right of all people to receive treatment at the Auckland Public Hospital was asserted by the chairman of the board, Mr. W. Wallace, yesterday. „ If, however, there were two applications for the last bed available in the hospital, the applicant in the more needy circumstances would have preference. This policy was endorsed by the Minister of Health, the Hon. J. A. Young, who said that while he remained in charge of the department the policy would be upheld.

Three spectators at the opening of the Mount Wellington Highway on Saturday received an unpleasant 6hock when a passing motor-lorry fouled a string of bunting and brought down the wooden standard attached to a platform. Hands were held high to ward off the falling pole, but three people were .struck on the head, one sustaining a painful scalp wound. An unusual incident during the weekend was the departure from Auckland of five overseas steamers, all for Wellington. The Norfolk, Gisla, Maimoa and Tongariro sailed on Saturday, and the King Malcolm yesterday morning. The Gisla and King Malcolm are notor-ships and have gone to Wellington to replenish their oil-fuel before departing from New Zealand. The: other three steamers have cargo from England to unload. The difference in the customs of the Navy and Army was shown in a small way during the church service in the Calliope dockyard yesterday. While those of naval rank were ordered to remove their caps the marines wore their helmets throughout the service. Malicious alarms have been given to. the Newmarket Fire Brigade on the last four Saturday evenings. An organised attempt to discover the person or persons responsible, made by the brigade on Saturday evening, was almost successful. A huge Reremai shark has been caught at the whaling station near Cape Brett. It was 20ft. 9in. in length, and 10ft. in girth. The spread of the jaw was 3ft.

The announcement that the- humane and merciful activities of preventing cruelty to animals and of protecting' women and children are henceforth to be promoted by two distinct societies seems to have been received with general satisfaction," said Canon Percival James in his sermon at St. Mary's last evening. " The combination tended to create confusion, as for example in the mind of the child who spoke of the society for the prevention of women and children.' Both of these diverse activities are likely to benefit by the separation and reorganisation. But let us not forget a great principle to which the old joint society boVe witness: That it is as much our duty to protect dumb animals from preventable suffering as it is to save a human child from cruelty." Auckland motorists took full advantage of the mild weather during the week-end, and traffic was quite heavy on popular roads. Yesterday afternoon numbers of parties ventured to the Tarnaki waterfront, a locality usually shunned in winter.

The Franklin Agricultural and Pastoral Society has received delivery of the Massey Memorial Cup from the manufacturer. is a handsome trophy. The cup and ornamentation are entirely of gold, and the cup is mounted on an ebonj* base, the whole- standing about 24in. high. A portraiture relief of the late Prime Minister is worked oa the cup itself and provide:- a striking likeness of Mr. Massey in solid gold, while on the stem is engraved his motto, "A Square Deal." Below is the monogram of the society. Two ornamental gold handles of Grecian design, each embodying a laurel leaf worked in gold, set off the cup. Miss Kelso, of Tamahere, holds the trophy this year, having won it for the season as the owner of the champion hunter at the society's last autumn show. The derailment of a truck during shunting operations at Huntly on Saturday was responsible for a slight deky in the train schedule. The train due at Auckland at 2 p.m. did not arrive until 2.20. The interruption was purely local find ijo other trains were affected. Property values in the Mount Wellington Road District were contrasted by Mr. J. Wood, chairman of the Mount Wellington Read Board, at ,the opening of the new highway on Saturday. Mr. Wood said that five-acre sections changed hands for £2U in 1877. They now com,manded prices up to £2OOO. , A denial that there was friction between the Auckland Hospital Board, the honorary medical staff and the British Medical Association was made by the chairman of the board, Mr. W. Wallace, at the opening of the Wallace Wards at the hospital yesterday. "At no time' in the history of, the institution have the relations been better," Mr. Wallace said.

The new Nelson Anglican Cathedral, now in process of construction, will include an interesting association with the Canterbury Cathedral, the Mother Church of England. In the recent restoration of this historic edifice some of the large stones were found to be falling into decay and had to be replaced. A slab in good preservation was cut and squared and presented to the Bishop of Nelson, Dr. Sadlier, on the occasion'of his late visit to England, fciy the Dean and Chapter, for insertion in Nelson's new cathedral. It was shipped to Nelson by the Tongariro, and will eventually be included in the new cathedral.

A little known sport that flourishes in Wanganui is Badminton, a popular winter game in England, but so far not widely introduced to the Dominion. Played with racquets and a shuttle, it can be developed to an amazing pitch of speed and skill, and calls for a high degree of accuracy mid fitness. In England the National Badminton Championship meeting is one of the sporting events of the year, but in New Zealand, Wanganui and Napier are the only towns where the game is played, A match- between the Wanganui and Napier clubs is projected. "If it were not a" serious matter I should be inclined to laugh at the idea of getting a new dredge to cut out the Otago bar," said a master mariner when asked in Dunedin what he, a regular navigator of the coast, thought of the project. "Forty years ago," he went on to say, "222 was brought here to dredge that bar. She tried it for one day and that was the first and last, of it. If she had kept on all her buckets would have been smashed, and to no purpose. What would be the use even if she did dredge the bar 1 The first easterly wind w„>uld bring the stuff back again. There's only one. way to get that bar clear and keep it clear, and that is a steady and strong scour."