LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20027, 17 August 1928, Page 12

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Primary and secondary schools in the Auckland education district will close for the second term vacation to-day. The former will resume on Tuesday, •September 4, and secondary schools a week later. The special excursion rates arranged by the Railway Department to cover the school holidays came into force yesterday. An imminent increase in the passenger traffic, which has been fairly slack for some time, was indicated by the large number of reservations made yesterday for to-day's trains. Seating accommodation on the limited express this evening is fully booked and the second express will leave with at least two extra carriages. The portion of Green Lane between Remuera Road and Great South Road will in future be known as Green Lane East, the City Council passing a special order to that effect last evening. The One Tree Hill Road Board has already agreed to rename the portion of the thoroughfare controlled by it, Green Lane West. The object of the alterations is to avoid confusion, particularly in the addressing of letters. Passengers by the Marama for Sydney to-day will include Father Cyril Martindale, S.J., of London, and Archdeacon Holbrook, of Auckland, who will attend the Eucharistic Congress, which is to take place in Sydney early next month. In addition, a large number of lay people, who will bd present at the congress, will be passengers. Every mail boat from the Dominion to Sydney until the end of the month will be a full ship.

The new assembly hall at the Seddon Memorial Training College, which is nearing completion, will be opened in .the latter part of September. The board of managers yesterday decided to invite the Mayor of Auckland, Mr. George Baildon, to perform the opening ceremony. Fixing the actual date has been left in the hands of the chairman, Mr. H. S. W. King.

" But what about the maintenance of the child ? This' is pretty casual," remarked Mr. Justice Blair at the close of an undefended divorce petition in the Supreme Court, yesterday. The petitioner and his counsel, who appeared to have thought the case closed, seemed taken by surprise. Counsel remarked that the respondent, who had the child in her care, was at liberty to apply for maintenance. "I am not going to have this easy way in which people think they can deal with children," replied the judge. The petitioner, in reply to a question, said he was prepared to pay 15s a week for the support of the child. Mr. Justice Blair, after pointing out that the child seemed to have been forgotten until he mentioned it, said he. .woijld not make a decree until provision for the child's maintenance had been arranged.

The planting of native trees in the avenue leading to the War Memorial Museum is not deemed practicable by Mr. T. E. Pearson, superintendent of parks. Reporting to the City Council last evening, Mr. Peai'Son said the position was an exposed one, and he knew of no native trees that would be suitable unless a wind screen were erected to assist them until they were thoroughly established. It was far safer to depend on exotics. The Parks Committee pointed out that the question of planting trees would require consideration in next year's estimates. The report, was adopted.

The premises of Motor Replacements, Limited, at the corner of Gittos and Stanley Streets, were entered on Wednesday evening, entrance being effected by a window. If is stated nothing of value was stolen. » Hie Auckland Automobile Association advises motorists that the Pipiroa ferry on the Hauraki Plains highway is closed indefinitely. This will necessitate a deviation through Ngatea and will add about eight miles to tlie run to Thames. It is unlikely that the City Council will be able to meet the Auckland Hockey Association's full request for further grounds for next season, but the matter will be considered later. The association has lost the tenancy of the recreation ground at Market Road, Repiuera, and has approached the ' fcouncil for the setting aside of ten playing areas nextseason in addition to the one already allotted at Victoria Park. The Soldiers' Memorial Park at Hamilton presents an attractive appearance at present. Several fine beds of later bulbs are bursting into flower. The pergola of punga stems is being duplicated on a larger scale and with stouter trunks, and a new rockery is being constructed near the caretaker's house. A small Italian garden is to be laid out where the central rose beds are situated. The Beautifying Society has made a start on its street tree-planting, which will continue for several weeks, and Lake Crescent is being planted with alternate rowan and silver birch trees. Owing to lack of information as to the cost of purchase, the council of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce decided yesterday not to support the Hastings Chamber of Commerce in its . effort to have an area in the Waikaremoana district set aside as a scenic and water conservation area. It was stated the proposed area was between a point two miles to the east of Te Whaiti and that part of Lake Waikaremoana known as " The Outlet."

It may not bo generally known that, it is illegal to transmit broadcast musical items over tho telephone. The annual report of the Post aud Telegraph Department states that with tho development of radio broadcasting such a practice has grown up The practice causes inconvenience to subscribers wishing to obtain the attention of those so using their telephones and brings about unnecessary wastage in battery-power. The practice is liable also to cause a somewhat serious restriction upon the use of calling facilities at automatic exchanges. It was deemed necessary to prohibit the use of telephones for this purpose and with this object in view a tegulation made by Order-in-Council was gazetted in October las*

Tho fact that a person is not entiypd to drive a motor-cyclo until he has » licence to do so was hronght home to a youth, aged 18, in tli« Magistrate's Court in Wellington. The defendant said that when he was caught by the con stable fie was only learning to ride. "V you wish to learn to drive 1 advise, yon to go out of town where there is no traffic," was the advice given by the Magistrate, Mi - . J. H. Salmon. The regv lations did not say where a person was to learn to drive, but no one was per mitted to ride a motor-cycle until he had obtained a driver's licence.