LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20593, 18 June 1930, Page 10

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

H.M.S. Laburnum is £o leave Auckland at 10 o'clock this morning on a four months' cruise to the South Sea Islands. The warship will proceed first to Vavau (Tonga) and afterward she will cruise to the following places:—Pago Pago, Danger Island, Penrhyn Island, Moorea, Papeete, Hervey Island, Rarotonga, Nine Island, Apia and Suva. Besides Suva other places in the Fiji group will bo visited before the Laburnum returns to Auckland about the middle of October.

The grim subject of electrocution by high-tension wires, which was being discussed in the Compensation Cfourt yesterday, was somewhat lightened when Mr. L. P. Leary, counsel for the claimant, began to refer to danger notices ho had seen on power poles. At Rotorua, ho said, lie had seen notices to this effect: "Anyone who climbs this pole is liable to fatal shock and a penalty of £10." Other poles at Ilorahora were surmounted by a skull by way of warning. "And cross-bones, too, underneath," added Mr. Justice Ostler.

A motor-car which was removed from Upland Road, Remuera, on Sunday evening was found partially burned at Orakei yesterday. Part of the hood was damaged, suggesting that it had been set on fire. The car is owned by Mr. J. Williamson, of Campbell Road, Ellerslie. A motor-car, owned by Mr. Neville Walker, of Manurevva, which was romoved from Otahuhu on Sunday afternoon, was found abandoned near the Papatoetoe Railway Station yesterday.

Fourteen aliens were included among the passengers who reached Auckland from Sydney yesterday morning. There were nine Indians and five Chinese.

The Maunganui has a new mascot. When the vessel was last at Auckland a small pup of nondescript breed wandered aboard and stowed away most successfully. He made the trip to Sydney in high spirits and there was no threat of arrest hanging over his head when the vessel arrived. The thought of putting him ashore at Sydney was never seriously entertained by members of thj crew, but even if it had been, such a course would have been against the law. Playing cheerfully on tho deck of the Maunganui this morning, the pup cast an appreciative eye on his home-town, but showed no inclination to his new homo.

Goods valued at about £2O were stolen from the confectionery shop of Mrs. Henderson, 398, Dominion Road, tram terminus, on Monday night. Entrance was gained by forcing tho front door with a jemmy. Included in the haul made by tho thieves were tobicco and cigarettes, sweets, confectionery and soft drinks.

Sympathy with the principles of the International Order of Good Templars in desiring that intoxicating liquor should bo kept out of danco halls was expressed by tho Manukau County Council yesterday. "The principle is all right as far as it goes," said the chairman, Mr. F. M. Waters. "The worst troublo is from the cars that are parked outside the halls. No ono can stop patrons from bringing their private supplies of liquor, and there is a continual stream of couples going out to the cars." It was decided to reply that one of tho conditions of dance-hall licences granted in tho Manukau County was that no liquor should bo allowed in the building.

A parrot at Opotiki recently came to an untimely end. Escaping from its cage tho bird flew into somo electric wires, on one of which it perched. Deciding to change its position it reached out to take hold of another wire with its beak. This caused a short-circuit and the bird fell to the ground dead.

Oil prospectors in Burma have to possess a diversity of accomplishments, according to-Mr. T. A. Barrett, a prominent official of the Indo-Bunna Petroleum Company, who arrived at Auckland hy the Maunganui yesterday on a holiday visit. " Men havo to boro for oil in the heart of dense jungle," ho said. " They live for wtfoks at a time in country swarming with wild animals and when they are lucky enough to strike oil, they are still faced with tremendous difficulties. The men on the job have to be everything from big-game shots and geologists to engineers and cooks. Tlio companies have to build their own railways, if the bore is in a remote district. Even now, when civilisation is spreading more and more rapidly in the East, there are still elements of adventuro to be found."

The planting of the island of Kapiti with food-bearing trees for birds with the £IOO donated by the Wellington Acclimatisation Society lias been commenced by the caretaker, Mr. A. S. Wilkinson. Already 2600 plants have been put out, largely taupata and ngaio. The former are being planted along the fringe, and the birds will distribute the seeds about the island. Other species have been planted among sheltering shrubs.

In a report dealing with tho heating problem in schools, submitted to the Taranaki Education Board last week, the architect, Mr. C. H. Moore, said it was very difficult to make a success of any system of heating in classrooms without tho cooperation of tho teachers. Windows wero provided to allow for tho maximum amount of ventilation required in tho hottest months, and unless tho teachers regulated tho openings according to weather conditions no heating system could be satisfactory.

In a letter to tho Wellington Acclimatisation Society, received last week, Mr. W. 11. Christcnsen, of Feilding, said that ho had a hen pheasant which had laid 125 eggs during tho season. lie wished to know what constituted a record for pheasants. An American authority quoted 104 eggs as tho highest known number. It was resolved to ascertain tho record.

" Clirislchurch lags behind tho other cities in tho manner in which it destroys unwanted dogs and cats," said Miss A. Forrest at a meeting of tho women's branch of the Christchurch Citizens' Association last week. " Here wo are dependent on a tank to drown them in, but Dunedin uses gas, Auckland electricity, and Wellington has a lethal chamber. We should have something more painless than tho present method, and the best method is tho lethlil chamber, as at Wellington. There, as many as 10 dogs can bo put in at a time, they go to sleep immediately, and are dead in 15 minutes." A member of tho City Council who was present said that tho matter was to be considered by the Works Committee, and in his opinion Christchurch would soon have a lethal chamber.