LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20228, 12 April 1929, Page 10

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Struck bv a piece of iron while working at Mount Wellington on the deviation railway line yesterday morning Mr. William Haswell, aged 49, sustained a fracture of the loft leg. The injured man resides in Tranmere Road, off Dominion Road. A fracture of the left leg was sustained by a boy, Iloy Sharkey, of 10, Wright Road, Point Chevalier, who was knocked down by a motor-car yesterday afternoon. Doth cases were admitted to tho Auckland Hospital.

An outbreak of fire among sawdust at a cabinet-making factory at 12, Wellington Street last evening was attended by tho City Fire Brigade. No damage was done to tho building.

A grant for tho establishment of a don ta 1 clinic at Onehunga has been authorised by the Cabinet, according to advice received by Mr. W. J. Jordan, M.P., from tho Minister of Education. Tho grant is the result of repeated representations by Onehunga residents.

Senior stuff officers of the Now Zealand Defence Forces from all parts of tho Dominion have completed their camp at Waiwera, and many of them left for the South last evening. Tho camp served as an annual refresher and training course, a theoretical attack on Auckland and tho city's defences forming the principal subject of study.

A proposal to adopt the system of rating on unimproved values will be submitted to ratepayers of the Mount Eden borough at a poll on Monday, May 6. A petition requesting tho taking of a poll was presented to tho Borough Council on Monday. Under the Act, there has to bo a poll provided the petition carries the requisite number of signatures.

Tho Telegraph Department is within a few points of clearing away all tho arrears of work in installing telephones. So far as the city is concerned the only names on tho waiting lists are those added from day to day as applications aro received, and no difficulty is being experienced in installing telephones as they are wanted. Tho Mount Eden exchango has been completed and tho telephones installed, and tho exchange has accommodation to provido for future demands. The Remucra station will bo completed iri two months, and in the meantime the waiting list in that district will bo reduced by working, the telephones through the Mount Eden exchange. The extension of tho Onehunga exchange has reached the stage at which the engineers arc able to connect subscribers.

Tho Transport Commission of a year ago is primarily responsible for the loss of Auckland's city engineer. Speaking at a farewell gathering last evening Mr. W. E. Bush said it was during tho course of that commission that counsel for tho city had asked him to prepare himself to give evidence on the Greater Brisbane scheme, and the investigation lie had made had caused him to take an ever-increasing interest in the big experiment Brisbane was undertaking by tho abolition at a stroke of 19 local bodies, and placing the control of all services under one authority. He had resolved at the first opportunity to investigate the scheme personally, and had done so on his visit to Australia at the close of last year. When Mr. W. A. Jolly, Lord Mayor of Brisbane, had visited Auckland subsequently, Mr. Bush said ho sensed that it was desired he should apply for the position of engineer to the water supply and sewerage department of tho Greater Brisbano Council. Ho did so, but he confessed he was somewhat surprised when ho was awakened one night to hear tho news of his appointment.

Motorists who havo recently used the Paeroa-Waihi road complain that potholes are continually working through the new surface. Jt is staled that the soft material employed in surfacing is not up to the standard required by tho traffic density. Recent rain made the road very soft, and the running surface deteriorated very rapidly.

Two albatrosses, tho larger with a wingsprcad of about Bfl., were seen on the sea off the New Plymouth Municipal Baths the other morning. The big bird was about 50yds. from the shore, and one swimmer went out until ho was within a couple of yards of the bird, which took no notice, bub continued to sit idly on the water. The swimmer said he could have touched the bird, but since the albatross is reputedly ferocious ho merely splashed it. The bird spread its wings, taxied across the water for about 300 yds., and /lew seawards. Some time later, however, it was seen swimming not far from tho spot it had just left. No further developments are reported regarding tho discovery of fireblight in the Kaikoura district earlier in tho year. Although a Fireblight Committee, of the specified number, was nominated by the Bangiora. and Loburn Fruit growers' Association, certain preliminaries havo not been carried out and these will require to be completed before the coniinitt.ee can function. The Canterbury Fruitgrowers' Association nominated a committee in excess of tho prescribed number and an election consequently is necessary.

"When tho New Zealand Division arrived in Franco in 1916." writes a correspondent to an Australian newspaper, " Mr Downie Stewart was a lieutenant with the Ist Otago Battalion. For the first three weeks therft was no pay issued, and everyone was ' broke.' It. was then that Stewart got busy and arranged for an advance from his own private account of five francs to each man in tho battalion. 1 remember him walking the eight miles to Hazelbrouck in the pouring wet to complete the. arrangement. There was great rejoicing next day, and wo regained tho confidence of tho villagers, who had expected to find us millionaires and found only paupers."

The change of public opinion as regards hospitals was referred to at Wellington on Tuesday evening by Dr. If. B. Ewen, medical superintendent of the Wellington Hospital, when lecturing to members of tho St. John Ambulance Brigade. Some years back, ht> said, people with means did not think of entering public hospitals, but now this had been changed, and all classes were looking to public hospitals for treatment. So great was the demand that patients had to bo sent out as soon as possible in order to make room for more pressing cases. Hospitals in these days had not tho accommodation to deal with tho demands put upon them. The Wellington Hospital, for instance, had not always enough beds to accommodate the patients offering. The run upon hospitals within recent years was duo .to a change in public opinion regarding hospitals generally.