LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20011, 30 July 1928, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Commencing on August 6 the night passenger train from Frankton Junction to Auckland will stop at Newmarket. This arrangement is to meet the needs of passengers living in the suburbs of Remuera, Onehunga, etc. When the daylight limited express commences running in the summer, it also will stop at Newmarket. Sparks from a passing engine set fire to a sleeper on the Parnell railway bridge shortly after ten o'clock on Saturday evening. The City Firo Brigade was called and the flames wer- quickly extinguished. Tenders are being called by the Auckland Firo Hoard for the supply <. f a ncv firo engine to replace an obsolete machine at the city station. The new engine will be of the same type as tho one recently purchased, costing about £IOOO. Included in the equipment will be a modern extension ladder. The impasse which arose last week over tho tendering of a civic reception to the English League football team, which will arrivo at Auckland by the Aorangi this morning, was not removed over the week- j end. No further negotiations were reported last evening. The funds of Auftjdand charitable organisations will bo augmented by the distribution of approximately £IBOO collected by the Commercial Travellers' Association during its recent " drive." At a meeting of the general committee on Saturday it was decided to allocate the money among several organisations, and by means of a coupon system, flour, coal, meat, sugar, rolled oats and potatoes will be made available for deserving people. Messrs. W. H. Prentis, A. Thomson and R. Clover Clark, organisors of the drive, were congratulated on its success. A considerable improvement was reported yesterday in the condition of Bishop Cleary, who w<is injured in a motor-car accident at Hamilton a week ago. There was also an improvement in the condition of Father Cyril Martindale, of London, who was hurt at the same time. Both the patients, however, will be confined to their beds for several days yet. Very little change in the unemployment position in Auckland is shown by the figures supplied by the Government Labour Bureau. The total number of men on the books on Saturday was 816, compared with 803 tho previous week. Of this number 637 were classed as fit for heavy work and 179 as fit for light employment. During the week positions were found for 127 men, as against 66 in the previous period. The news of the death of Mr. Alexander Bell, a well-known Waikato settler, has brought a letter to the Herald from Mr. Alexander Bell, a pioneer of Taumarunui, to remove an impression that it is he who has died. "Many of my old friends," ho writes, "'although distant, would be greatly pleased to know that I am still to the fore and hale and hearty, just finishing up my 88th year, and that it was a namesake whom I had never met who had passed away." Mr. Bell has been a resident of Taumarunui for the last 54 years. The patience and courtesy displayed by Mr. Justice Blair during the hearing of two protracted civil actions in the Hamilton Supreme Court last week were greatly appreciated by the juries engaged. At the conclusion of each case the foreman thanked the Judge on behalf of the jury he represented for the consideration that had been shown by the Bench. A resident of Waitoa has decided that the raising of ducks is a profitable sideline. Between September 28 and May 28 last a duck on his farm hatched 41 ducklings which were sold at 3s each for a total return of £6 3s. That the New Zealand Government had a great chanco of attracting thousands of American travellers, to Rotorua and Wairakei, provided it improved the present accommodation, which was not what Americans were accustomed to, is the opinion of Mr. F. I). Waterman, organiser and a managing director of the Waterman Fountain Pen Company of NewYork. In an interview at Wellington he said he considered the scenic attractions of both places were remarkable and deserved more attention than they were receiving. The members of the Morrinsville Agricultural and Pastoral Association usually elect the district member of Parliament to the offico of patron. At last week's annual meeting a member suggested that it would be unwise to make a selection from the three candidates for tho seat, owing to the risk attached to the possibility of " picking the wrong one." The •difficulty was finally overcome by tho election as joint patrons of Messrs. A. M. Samuel and C. E. Macmillan, the members for the neighbouring electorafo*. In commenting on tho proposals contained in the report of the new primary school syllabus, Mr. E. K. Lornas, in his report to the Wellington Education Board, had something to say about writing in the primary schools. "It is in Standard V. that speed in writing is first mentioned, but in every standard an appropropriato speed and quality should bo insisted upon," says Mr. Lomas. "Nowhere in the syllabus in writing is there any reference to a definite standard of attainment in either speed or quality, and yet these are two of the simplest elements accurately determined by the use of correct measures of writing, possible even to untrained collego students. Writing in schools' is always condemned by .the business world, and always unjustly, bocause, as a matter of fact, the quality in Now Zealand schools is at. a correct degree of attainment, but the speed of even a good Standard VI. is that of an average Standard 11. on any recognised scale of measurement." The fact that motor traction is superseding that of horses for. heavy carting was evidenced at the sale of a contractor's plant at Gisborne last week. Some block drays, which were valued at £SO, could not find bidders at as low a price as £lO. That horses were still in fair demand, probably for farm work, was shown when 10 draughts sold from £25 to £35. These wore of a good type and attracted a great deal of attention. Harness and implements sold fairly well. In the course of a letter to a friend in Grey mouth, Mrs. J. Crooks, who is now in England, lias a few words to say regarding daylight saving in that country. She saysßeally, it isn't dark at 11 p.m. The mothers seem to have no fuss with the children going to bed here. They go when the sun is still shining, so there must be something wrong with the New Zealand children."