LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19833, 31 December 1927, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

There mil be no publication of the Herald on Monday, which is being observed as tiie New Year holiday. The Queen Street' office will be open on that day from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. for the receipt of advertisements for, Tuesday's Herald. A slight improvement is reported in the condition of Mr. Michael Liddington, who fell from a car on the scenic railway at Luna Park on Thursday. He is still, however, among the serious cases in the Auckland Hospital, Monday will be observed as a holiday by the Postal Department, and in consequence the outward San Francisco mail will close at nine o'clock in the morning, but late fee letters can be posted up to 7.35 p.m. at the railway station box. The mail will be despatched from Wellington on Tuesday by the Tahiti. Usually mail by that route closes at Auckland at 5.30 p.m. on a Monday.. The late shopping night saw brisk business transacted in tho shops in Queen Street last evening. The streets were thronged but the crowds were not by any means as large as on the preceding Friday evening. The shops will be open again this morning when, no doubt, heavier business in the New .Year requirements will be recorded. A compound fracture and dislocation of the elbow was sustained by a boy, Philip James Costello, when he fell* off his bicycle at Stanley Bay yesterday. The accident occurred when the chain broke suddenly, throwing the boy on the concrete road. His condition is not serious. The presentation of an attache case was made to Mr. J. H. Holt by members of the police force attached to the Newton station, in appreciation of his services in assisting to arrest a thief on November 4. Mr. Holt was in the vicinity of a shop in Karangahape Road when a man was seen by a constable to remove some crockery which was on view in the doorway. The man ran down Howe Street, and was pursued and caught by Mr. Holt after a struggle. As a result the constable was left free to capture a companion of the thief. Mr. Holt also received a letter of appreciation from Superintendent .W. G. ]Wohlmann.

The Mount Eden Fire Brigade received a further token of gratitude recently for its efforts in combating the disastrous fire at the timber mill of Henderson and Pollard, Limited. A cheque for £ls was sent to the- brigade by the Colonial Ammunition Company, whose premises would have siuffered severely if the fire "had not been so efficiently checked.

Good conditions for motoring were reported throughout the Auckland Proyince yesterday. The Auckland Automohile Association received reassuring reports during the afternoon concerning the clay roads, and all unmetalled surfaces were drying rapidly. The recent rains were not heavy enough to hold up traffic on any of the popular routes, and there was no necessity for chains on the Mamaku Hills. A motorist' came from Silverdale without chains yesterday morning, and the surface improved greatly during the afternocn. The unmetalled sections between Whangarei and Kaikohe, via Mangakahia, were in very fair condition yesterday, but there were short soft pieces on the Whangarei-Kawakawa highway.,

No trace has been found of the body of Miss Florence Henchman, who was drowned and washed out to sea from the beach south of Paritutu, on Tuesday evening, states the Herald's New Plymouth correspondent. The Harbour Board launch joined in a fruitless search along the coastline yesterday afternoon.

An explosion of an oil stove in a tent in the Tongariro National Park, occupied by a resident of Hamilton, resulted in the destruction by fire of the tent and gear. The camper's loss is estimated at £ls.

Tho glimpse of tie dorsal fin of a shark caused a mild sensation among bathers at the East End beach at New Plymouth on Christmas Day, and there was a hurried rush to dry land. A warning was given to other parties along the beach and from the safety of the shore they watched the shark cruise along in the breakers. It was about Bft. in length.

A large eel was captured in Boulder Creek, at Kaimai, a few days ago, states the Herald's Tauranga correspondent. The eel was five feet long, 18in. in girth, and weighed 281b. It was caught with a lassoo. Previously in the same locality two large eels, one weighing 221b., and the other 241b., were caught.

Two Maori girls taught an impudent Cisborne youth a lesson last Saturday. The girls \vero swimming in tho Kaiti basin and were annoyed by offensive remarks and the throwing of small pebbles by the youth on the bank. They determined to put an end Co this molestation, and while the youth was directing his attention to one of the swimmers, the other, scrambling out of the water unseen by the tormentor, came along behind him, and, lifting him bodily, tumbled him into the water below. As he was unable to swim, the youth found some difficulty in struggling out, bub he eventually regained the bank none the worse, but a little wiser for his experience. It was a sorry looking figure that left the scene, with the> derisive laughter ol the swimmers ringing in his ears.

An unusual ■' find " was made by Mr. W. F. Fryer while sweeping a chimney recently at Nelson. His brush disturbed a email, copper coin, which fell at his feet. Apparently it is a farthing fairly well preserved and bearing the head of Charles 11. The date, 1675, is clearly discernible. How the ancient coin came to be up a chimney is a mystery. The young folku an! suggesting that it may have dropped from the pocket of Father Christmais on one of his annual visits,

Several youths were checked in the streets of New Plymouth on Christmas Eva when tho police insisted upon their discarding masks, whiskers, wigs and false noses. Threats of arrest were necessary in some instances, for at such a season frivolity is at its height. It was explained, however, that masquerading in the streets was an offence against tho law.

It has been slated that some of the Gisborne motorists who obtain supplies of petrol at the local bowsers are careless in the matter of draining the hose, and that as much as a pint of benzine has been found in it afterwards. On the occasion of a visit of the inspector of weights and measures to a bowser, he was rather surprised to .find after a farmer had taken a 6H that not a drop of the fluid could be drained out. He mentioned this fact to an attendant, who remarked: " You'll never find a drop after a dairy farmer has been at it, because he knows the last thing about stripping."