LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19957, 28 May 1928, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

The sixty-first birthday o! Queen Mary was observed throughout the Empire on Saturday. In Auckland the warships of the New Zealand Squadron were befiagged and a Royal Salute was fired from H.M.S. Philomel at noon. The Port of Auckland was very busy yesterday morning, when seven steamers, including five large overseas vessels, were berthing or departing. The Belgian steamer Scheldepas and the American steamer West Carmont, which had been delayed in the stream owing to the gale, berthed at Central Wharf and Prince's Wharf respectively. The Norfolk, from Liverpool, and the Kurow and Waikouaiti, from Southern ports, arrived yesterday morning, and berthed, the Norfolk at Queen's Wharf and the Kurow and Waikouaiti at Prince's Wharf. Two overseas steamers took their departure, the Canadian Transporter for New York, and the Port Curtis for Napier. Plans for the aerodrome at Hobsonville are now being prepared by Captain L. M. Isitt, who will spend this week cn the site. Captain Isitt said on Saturday that while substantial progress would be made this year it would be at least three years before the base would be in full operation. The condition of Mr. Cecil Webster, of Karaka Street, Takapuna, who was injured in a motor-cycle accident a week ago, is still very grave. Mr. Webster had not recovered consciousness last evening. The condition of Mr. W. J. Marflitt, of Grange Road, Mount Eden, who fell from a tramcar in Dominion Road on Thursday, is still very serious. A marine inquiry concerning the collision between the collier Hikurangi and the scow Havoc near North Head on the night of April 2 will be opened this morning. Mr. E. C. Cutten, S.M., will preside. Mr. A. Moody will appear for the captain of the steamer and Mr. R. McVeagh for the Harbour Board, owners of the scow. A reclamation authority which will allow the New Lynn Town Board to deposit the spoil from its new drainage outfall tunnel in Karaka Bay has been received by the Auckland Harbour Board. The Manukau Harbour was considered to be the only convenient locality in which to get rid of the earth from the tunnel, and the Harbour Board offered no objection, provided the spoil did not interfere with the usefulness of the port. About a quarter of an acre of Karaka Bay will be reclaimed and the obtaining of a reclamation authority from the Marine Department was a formal matter. A trip from Auckland to Thames was made yesterday by one of the St. John Ambulance cars carrying a woman patient from the Auckland Hospital whom it was found necessary to send back to her home. Leaving the hospital at 10.30 a.m. the ambulance reached Thames at 1.30 p.m., and arrived back in Auckland at 5 o'clock, having covered a distance of 140 miles. In spite of the bad weather the journey was made in comfort and the patient suffered no ill-effects. A coal-laden one-ton truck, owned by C. Aickin and Sons, Ltd., of Anzac Avenue, provided a few exciting minutes in lower Howe Street on Saturday afternoon, when it ran down the street out of control and, after carrying away a post-and-rail fence, capsized down a gully at the foot of the road. The driver was delivering coal at a house near the top of the street when the lorry broke away. No one was injured and the only material damage done to the lorry was the breaking of one of the front wheels. Two other lorries towed the vehicle back to the road later in the afternoon. A plucky rescue was made by a boy, aged 13, near the Kauri Timber Company's yard at Freeman's Bay on Friday. The boy was playing with an elder companion on the heavy logs floating in the bay when his friend slipped and fell into the water. The younger boy immediately dived in and managed to hold his friend's head above water until assistance was rendered by several of the timber company's employees, who ran along the logs and caught the two lads, who were both becoming exhausted. After receiving attention the boys were able to proceed to their homes. There was a slight improvement in Auckland's unemployment situation last week, the total of 955 men on the books of the Labour Department on Saturday being 45 less than the aggregate in the previous week. Of the applicants for work, 808 were classed for heavy labour. Employment was found for 169, as compared with 122 in the previous week. A number of photographs of George McQuay—the former New Zealand soldier, who has just returned to the Dominion after having lost his memory for nearly 13 years—which were taken in Sydney recently mako it obvious that he made wonderful progress toward normality in the three weeks after his mother's arrival at the Sydney Hospital. The earlier photographs depict a shrinking figure, but later views show the young man speaking animatedly, sitting at ease with friends and strolling with confidence in the open air. Near views are particularly interesting, for McQuay's lined and anxious expression of three weeks previously has almost disappeared, to be replaced by an open, smiling countenance. The vacancy in the eyes hs« waned and the features have Undergone a change for the better. A recent addition to the Canterbury Museum is a walking-stick with a history. The stick, which has been presented by Mr. W. C. Armitage, was used by Mr. Sydney Parkinson, draughtsman to the first expedition of Captain Cook, in 1768-71. He visited New Zealand with his ship and died at sea on the way to England. His stick, which, no doubt, was used in New Zealand, was sent to Revesby, the seat of Sir Josph Banks, and was given by his steward to a relative of Mr. Parkinson. The latter's nephew gave it to Mr. William Soulby, who married a Miss Parkinson, on his leaving for New Zealand in 1874. The method of controlling all trains on the main line between Christchurch and Oamaru by one man in Christchurch will come into force to-day. The system is opiated by means of a selector telephone system, by which ail stations are connected with the train control officer irt Christchurch. More efficient train running, better punctuality and better control of the movements of trucks are anticipated to result from the system, which is under the control of Mr. E. S. Brittendon, who studied its operation in Australia last year. The train control officer will know the exact whereabouts of every train on the section, and will be in a position to make immediate adjustments to timetables when it is found necessary. The system is new to New Zealand.