LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19550, 1 February 1927, Page 10

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

A large amount of overseas mail, including letters from Em-ope, is being delivered in Auckland. The Niagara arrived from, Vancouver yesterday morning with 214 bags of ordinary English and American mail and, 157 bags of American parcels. "This morning the ' Marama will arrive from Sydney with "470 bags of English, Eastern - and Australian mail and 60 bags of Australian parcels. Under ordinary circumstances the next outward European mail, would be despatched by the Niagara from Auckland, via Vancouver, on February 15, but the Postal Department is" sending a mail to Great Britain, Ireland and the' Continent, via Australia,, by the Marama on Friday. Racegoers are not- speculating in such large sums are formerly. The general decrease in totalisator investments shows this, the Takapuna Jockey Club's meet- . ing, concluded yesterday, being a case in point. During the two days tlie totalisator investments fell to £97,313, a decrease of £19,376 10s" compared with -the corre'spoiidihg meeting'last year. : The-,'godwrt -shooting . season in the Auckland acclimatisation district will open to-day. Godwit shooting licences may be- obtained for 10s, but sportsmen who obtained the £l. shooting licences last " year will be ■ entitled to shoot godwit without further charge. The godwits aire , reported to .be present in large numbers on the -mudilals of the Kaipara Harbour, which 1 is-the principal shooting ground in the neighbourhood of Auckland. ". . A large number of Auckland medical practitioners left for the south by train last evening. They are travelling to Dunedin to attend tha Australasian Medical* Congress, which will open on .Thursday...., .'" . A ,ver£ fast run from Suva was made by' the Royal Mail liner Niagaia, which reached Auckland from Vancouver yesterday morning. She sailed from Suva at noon on Friday and reached Auckland at 8.25 yesterday , morning, covering the distance.: of -1-140 miles, in 67£ hours, at an average 'speed' of T6vBB knots. During the last 48 horn's the average speed was 17.17 knots, Births totalling 330 Were registered at Auckland last month, four more .than for the first, mohth of last year. - There was a decrease of-25 deaths, the number last 'month heing 110. The number of marriages notified,.' 172, was the same as in January* -1926. -.v-. «.{*•' .- A .decided .thrill, was associated with the victory of; Scat in the last. race at the Takapuna meeting yesterday. The totalisator had closed, the flag at the judge's box was hoisted for the race to start and the horses were lined up ready at the barrier-—all except Scat. Scat was back in the birdcage, having twisted a footplate, and a farrier .'Was busily effecting repairs. The four or . five, minutes that elapsed probably seemed a good deal longer to the anxious" backers, hut they were amply tecompensed for any agitation they suffered. When the work of repair vwas at last (finished,. the horse was taken at the run to the starting-post, the field was despatched in a moment, and Scat came "with a- good dash in the final stages to score fairly'comfortably and pay a good dividend. A plea that Mr. Coates should not be asked to make too many speeches on.his return from the Imperial Conference' was made at the Rotary Club luncheon yesterday by Mr. 'S. M. Bruce, Prime Minister of Australia. "During my five months away J have made an avei'aige of between two and two and a-half speeches a day," Mr. Bruce said -amid laughter. "I spent most pf my;, time speech-making in England, and on behalf of your Prime Minister I ask that he be not subjected to what every Prime Minister is after returning from the Imperial Conference. To attend an Imperial •> Conference is to realise you work harder than ever before in your life; but your friends meet you when you return, say how pleased they are to see you and then say you have had a topping holiday. I know it would be useless to make :such a- plea to. my people, but you may be more civilised here." (Laughter,) Large crowds are expected to assemble on Mount Eden during the evening when the Duke and Duchess of York will drive to the summit by motor-car. Several suggestions for improving the road and for providing safety for the public were made at a-.meeting of the Mount Eden Borough Council last -evening, - A proposal to erect a powerful electric light on the summit was submitted . and left in the hands of the Works Committee. One member suggested a large illuminated "Welcome" sign but it was thought this would prove too expensive. It was decided to carry out certain improvements within the next week or two. * From Shanghai comes a warm appreciation of the latest Christmas number of the Auckland Weekly News, of which the North-China Daily News says: "One of the most beautiful newspaper supplements we have received for a long time. The many -.wonderful colour photographs give a vivid impression of the beauty which is -New Zealand's, and provide a. full explanation of the passionate devotion with which New Zealanders love their country.To send such a supplement to those of us who are doomed to.the squalor and flatness of the local countryside almost amounts to cruelty."-. The number of people arriving at the Port of Auckland!' from overseas last month totalled 1357, compared with 2305 during January of last year, a decrease of 949. Departures numbered 1033, as against 1235 for January, 1926, a decrease of 202. A decision to provide a new fire engine for the Mount- Eden Brigade was made at a meeting c-f the Mount Eden Borough Council last evening. The tennis courts of the Auckland Lawn Tennis Association.in Stanley Street were spoken of highly by members of the New South Wales tennis team yesterday. After a tour during which they played on several of the principal courts in New Zealand the visitors said they considered the Auckland courts possessed the best surface of any they had seen in the Dominion A consignment of 23 Canadian grouse arrived by the -Niagara' yesterday. They are for the Canterbury Acclimatisation Society, and were received by Mr. D. Hope, an official of the society, who took them south by train. last evening. They will be liberated in North Canterbury. After .settling on a bowser pump for three days, the swarm of bees which alighted outside Mr. G. H. Mobbyriev's garage in Kingsiand has. be«jb removed. The jservtces of an. expert .were obtained yesterday, and the bees were transferred to a sugar bag.