LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19744, 17 September 1927, Page 10

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Painful injuries to the fingers of one hand were sustained by • Mr. Thomas Coyle, waterside worker, as the result of an accident on the steamer Katoa, at Prince's Wharf, last evening. A heavy girder • slipped when the slings were being adjusted, crushing Mr. Ccyle's hand against the bottom of the hold. The injured man was taken to the Auckland Hospital by the St. John ambulance.

An exciting incident occurred yesterday afternoon in St. Luke's Road, at the site* of the tunnelling being carried out for the drainage of the Cabbage Tree Swamp area. A large derrick, which had been used in connection with pumping operations, was being hauled on to the road from the trench below," a motor tractor with.a length of chain attached being used for the purpose. The road had almost been reached when the chain suddenly snapped and tho tip-dray and derrick were immediately precipitated backwards. There was barely time for the workman on the dray to jump clear. A second attempt met with a similar fats and it Mas only at the third effort that the derrick was safely landed on the upper road. The carriageway was \ery much torn up in the process, but fortunately no one was injured.

A heavy piece of plaster recently fell from the ceiling of the State Fire Office in Hamilton, smashed a wooden counter two' inches thick, and narrowly missed a typist who was working nearby. Steps were immediately taken to prevent a repetition of the occurrence, and workmen have been employed night and day in reinforcing the building with heavy iron girders and in replacing* the plaster.

The principal final examinations of the Auckland University College will probably begin on Wednesday, October 12, and' continue until Saturday, October 22. Partly as a result of the reconstitution of the New Zealand University a different system of testing' tike work of students has been brought into operation this year. Under this the final" examination ceases to be the all-important thing and entries for specific subjects are not made at the end of the term. Entries count from the beginning of the academic year, and the • student's progress is continually tested throughout the session, as well as at the close.

" This man found £SO in an old box about a fortnight ago. It was part of a gratuity that he had forgotten. As a result, sir, he has not seen daylight since." This was the apt description of a constable the other day in the Napier Police Court in making an application for a prohibition order against the defendant described. , Children's playing areas in the Morningside reserve have recently been provided by the Mount Albert Borough Council. The Aroha Women's Club and the New Zealand Natives' Association are combining in an effort toward providing tennis courts in the same reserve, thus assisting in meeting the growing need for better playing areas in the borough. The house - numbering movement launched by th& Auckland Carriers' Association to provide correct numbers on the front gates of dwellings has been favourably received by several local bodies. At present, many houses are not numbered, while others have the number displayed in small letters beneath a verandah adjacent to the front door. There are other complications, in Auckland, tha New North Road being a case in point. A portion of this thoroughfare is in the city area, the other part being under (he control of the Mount Albert Borough Council. From the city end the house numbers read upwards from number one, and beyond the city boundary the sarpe -plan is followed. This is one of many streets in which the numbers are duplicated.

The Wanganui Chess Club has two players in its ranks who make it, it is believed, unique among the clubs of the Dominion. One is blind and plays on a special board' in which each piece can be used. The blind player discerns between the white and black men by touching the top?, those of one colour being rounded at the top and those of the other pointed. He plays a sterling game, though, of course, the varying positions have to be visualised. The other. player—one of the best in the club —is deaf and dumb, and is one of the keenest and most enthusiastic members.

.With reference to the rebuke of Mr. F. A. de la Mare in the. Hamilton Supreme Court on Tuesday by Mr. Justice Herdman for his action in appearing in the Court as counsel, and party to the case concerning the Herbert Smith Trust, Mr. de la Mare explains that it was by arrangement with Mr. N. S. Johnson, counsel for Mr. S. B. Smith, the other party concerned, that it was agreed that he should adopt this course. Mr. de la Mare says he had engaged Auckland counsel to argue his case for him, but, owing to the arrangement referred to, he cancelled counsel's instructions to appear.

A private railway line is being laid from the Wanganui station to the balk oil receiving depot on Taupo Quay. The oil will be pumped from the ship into cylindrical tank trucks, which will afterwards distribute the oil to inland towns. The first oil tanker is e spec ted to arrive at Wanganui shortly.

"It seems that you have been a party to a fraud,*' said Mr. Salmon, S.M., to a judgment debtor who stated, in the Magistrate's Court at Levin the other day, that the debt for which he was sued was for goods lie had obtained for his father, who subsequently failed. "You knew your father was unable to pay," the magistrate added. "Xot then," replied the witness, who also stated that he was receiving £3 a month as a farm labourer at Otaki, and had four children, one of whom he had been supporting in a sanatorium for three years. "I don't like the look of it," commented the magistrate, "but I cainot make an order at present, under the circumstances." The amount of the judgment was £l3 16s 3d.

It -will not l>e long before the Wtagasni Public Hospital is equipped with a thoroughly up-to-date radio-therapy department, which will meet the needs of a wide area. The equipment, which is costing in the vicinity of £SOOO, is now in the Dominion, and-it is expected thai the new department will be in working order by December. Badium will be obtained, in the form of emanation, from Wellington, where supplies of the radium salt am held. At a later date Wangamii hopes to possess its own store of the radium ■»&»