LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19390, 27 July 1926, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

A green-painted Wolseley motor-car, belonging to Winstone, Limited, was removed from Market Road, near the Remuera railway station entrance between 4 o'clock on Saturday afternoon and the same hour on Sunday. The car was beings driven by Mr. R. N. Carpenter, when engine it impossible to proceed. When Mr. Carpenter returned the next afternoon the car had gone. No trace of it had been found by the police last evening.

The weather in Auckland was wet after mid-day yesterday and heavy showers fell in the afternoon and evening. In consequence of the rain cargo work on overseas steamers in port had to be abandoned, all waterside labour being dismissed at three o'clock.

The customs revenue for the port of Wellington yesterday was £36,871, says a Press Association message. This figure is said to be a record for any one day at any port in New Zealand.

Burglars have again been busy at Wanganui. A number of business premises in the Avenue have been visited. Ihe thieves secured very little of value.

Whitebait from the Waikato River is now being marketed. Two kerosene tins of the fish, the first to be railed from Tuakau this season, were despatched on Friday/ and,, it is understood, realised about £6 per tin. Further supplies have come to hand since and have been selling in Tuakau for 2s per lb.

In response to a circular from the Auckland Education Board the householders' meeting of the Kowhai Junior High School last evening discussed the question whether the holidays of primary and secondary schools should be made r to coincide. A resolution was carried unanimously urging that the holidays of primary .and junior high schools should be increased to coincide with the holidays of secondary schools. A ballot on the subject taken by the Cornwall Park District School Committee resulted: —That the present number of holidays be increased, 65 votes; that the number remain as at present, 117 votes; that the' former system of one week's holiday at Easter, one at midwinter, and one at Michaelmas be reverted to, 70 votes.

"Even the table in this office is made of cheap foreign timber," said Mr. E. J. Phelan at the meeting of the Auckland Unemployed Relief Committee yesterday in emphasising his contention that the importation of timber was responsible .for unemployment in the timber industry. "The Government alsd uses foreign timber, cut by cheap labour, for school desks and fittings," Mr. Phejan continued. "I am afraid there is little patriotism in New Zealand. The people will buy the cheapest goods .no matter where they come from." Mr. G. Baildon, chairman of the committee, said the Government was not the only one to blame for using cheap timber. Every man who built a house tried to get the cheapest timber both for the walls and for the fittings. Another member remarked that if the people of New Zealand insisted on hating New Zea-land-made goods there would be no unemployment.

The new rubbish " masticator" im'porte'd by the Wellington City Council has been Greeted, on the sands at Lyall "Bay "and is reported to be dealing with about 11 ton's of rubbish a day. This affords considerable relief to the city destructors. The "masticator" somewhat resembles a stone-crushing'machine in ap.pearance and action. It grinds up all kinds .of ashes, glass and 'refuse into a fine state resembling black loam, which is ,to be exeperimented with as a manuring agent on the sand lands in the vicinity of the, plant. The only things the machine refuses to grind are tins, which have to be picked out t)f the rubbish by hand.

The crash of breaking timber rose above the noise of the engines on the ferry steamer Mararoa at two last Friday morning, while on; the trip from Wellington to Lyttelton. Startled passengers, ready to believe the worst, rose in their cabins, but their fears were soon set at rest. A steward, preparing for the morning meal, had turned on the steam heater of the plate-rack in the second-class quarters, :to heat the plates. It was left on fcQO long, apparently, and the jacket plug blew out with some force. The explosion tore away the light wooden bulkhead, • a basin and a mirror -were smashed, and <>ther slight damage was done.

"I think it is a disgrace to. this country that a boy with such an amount of ability should have "to put an advertisement on a barrow," said a householder at the meeting of parents at the Kowhai Junior High Scohol last 'evening. The speaker was referring to a notice reading: "The boy who made this barrow is looking for a job," which- appeared on a metal wheelbarrow forming part of the school's exhibit. at 'fee Auckland Winter Show. There' should be some other method by Which apprentices could find positions on leaving the school. He himself knew of a dozen boysSvho wanted to be apprenticed to the building trade, but they had not a hope of obtaining their desire. He had sent in an application to the Labour Department, on behalf of one boy in July of last year, but no reply had yet been received. The headmaster; Mr. R. E. Rudman, said the boy who advertised on the barrow had obtained a good position as a result.

Passengers using the water route from Thames to Auckland express themselves as appreciative of the seaworthiness and general comfort of the Northern Steamship Company's new vessel, the Rangitoto, which has replaced the old Wakatere iu this service. Since taking, up the Wakatere's running the Rangitoto has averaged four hpurs for the trip, and it i? hoped to reduce this time by fifteen mil j vies. ,

Some particulars of the- use that is made of the natpral gas with which at least two houses are served at. Castlecliff, are published by a Wanganui paper. The occupier of the house has made full use of the supply which nature has so kindly provided merely for the driving of a pipe to no great depth. Another peculiarity is that the gas and water both emerge from the same pipe, the gas supply being tapped by a half-in. pipe near the ground, and the water a little higher up. Both will come to the* surface of their own accord, the gas leading into a retainer, from which the house is supplied, and the water into a concrete tank.' In order to assist nature in the more extensive requirements of a model pig farm, an electrical pump has been installed, and the water thus 'obtained is reticulated over the area in which 500 pigs are comfortably housed and catered for.