LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20642, 14 August 1930, Page 10

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

A. particularly brilliant, meteor was witnessed about six o'clock last evening. In Auckland it was seen in the bright twjlight and would h.avo been a magnificent object if it had occurred after nightfall. 'First seen in the north at a high altitude the meteor, shining with a. greenish hue, fell very slowly toward the north-western horizon. As it flew through the sky it left behind it a beautiful trail of whito matter. Just before disappearing it expanded into a broad flanio of light. _ ; , Cases of theft from playing grounds under the control of the City Council were discussed at a meeting of the management . committee of. tha Auckland Rugby. League last evening. A letter vf ' protest was received • from the Ponsonby Club. The chairman, Mr. C 4. * Rhodes, said the league intended to bring the matter under the notice of the council, as thoso cases were altogether too frequent. • • ■

A departure from Auckland last evening was the Union Company's intercolonial steamer Maunganui' for Sydney, via Wellington. Seven passengers are making the trip from Auckland to Wellington and another nino passengers joined tho vessel here to travel to Sydney. The Maunganui will arrive at Wellington tomorrow morning and after emb.u-king passengers she will be despatched for Sydney in the afternoon.

Work on the new Whau Bridge is unlikely to commence before tho spring. The commission appointed to apportion the cost between the local bodies concerned will have to meet again to try to reach a decision agreeable to all parties. V •

Tho conversion of the basement of the Wallace Ward at the Auckland Hospital into a casualty department has been completed, and adequate accommodation has now liecn provided to cope with any demand. The chairman of the Auckland Hospital Board, Mr. W. Wallace, stated yesterday that increased accommodation for the treatment of casualty cases had been a long-felt want. The waiting accommodation had also been inadequate when the department was situated in the main building. Full provision had been made in this direction, and tho department was now much more convenient. A new type of concrete paving slab is being used in the city for surfacing tho street footpaths. Tho new slabs' are designed to prevent pedestrians ' slipping, which is a common occurence with tjie smooth concrete slabs at. present in use, and they have been put down in front of tho Bank of New Zealand in Queen Street and Yorkshire House in Shortland Street.' The upper surface has a roughened appearance, brought about in th? mould, and affords the foot an excellent grip. . If tho strips now being laid prove a success further similar' paving will be done in different parts of the city. , A motor-car owned by Mr. A. Stott which was removed from outside a house in Mokoia Road, Birkenhead, was found in tlie bush near the Birkenhead Wharf on Tuesday evening.' The car was noticed by a passer-by, who informed the Birkenhead police. The vehicle was apparently abandoned, and was not damaged •in any way.

Gooci progress has been made with the extensive fernery behind the winter gardens in the Domain, and the work will be completed in a few weeks. The rock work is practically finished and the paths are made, while half the area has been planted with ferns. Clematis and other suitable climbers have been placed to ramble over beams erected to screen the ferns from the summer heat. The whole area has been artistically and effectively planned, with little caves, fountains and waterfalls, and when the work is finished it will add a distinct charm to the attractions of the Domain.

The main road between the Pakuranga Hall and Howick will bo clpsed to traffic to-day, when preparations for concreting operations will be commenced on two. sections of the road. A metalled detour route has been provided, and until the main. rpad is reopened in about months drivers will be required to follow tho Buckland's Bay route for some distance, later turning back to the Ilowick Road near the Mellon's Bay Road junction. The .Auckland Automobile Association has erected detour signs, and reports that tho route is in good order. Tho Albany Road will also be closed for through traffic from next Monday,' when concreting of the experimental strip, will bo commenced if the weather is. suitable.

The judgment of the Appeal Court in tho Northcote rating case,. ruling that exemption of half rates applied to buildings vacant fbr six months under all systems of rating, was referred to by the Mayor of Birkenhead, Mr. J. P. McPhail, at a meeting of tho Birkenhead Borough Council last evening. Ho pointed out the serious position that tho borough and other districts rating on the unimproved value system would be placed .in during the current financial year unless amending legislation was passed. It was decided to request tho local member of Parliament, Mr. H. G. R. Mason, to usp every endeavour to seo that a legislative remedy was secured this session, by providing that section 69 of tho Rating Act, 1925, shall not apply where rates are collected on the unimproved value. The ship-breakers who have been dismantling tho old coastal paddle-steamer Wakatere have;, presented one of the ship's lifeboats to the Melanesian Mission. The lifeboat Ims seen many years of exposure to sun and rain and is at present being repaired in Auckland. It is tho intention of the Melanesian Mission to send the boat to one of its island mission stations.

An analysis of a sample of water from tljo Waiuku water supply was the subject of very favourable comment by Dr. T. J. Hughes, medical officer of health for Iho Auckland district, in a report received by tho Waiuku Town Board on Monday evening. Dr. Hughes stated that the analysis showed tho supply to be one of the purest in the province. Tho water reticulation system has been recently installed at Waiuku, the water being obtained from a deep-level bore at Barnaby's Hill, Waiuku.

Coastal vessels but not trawlers were fitted with bathrooms, it was said in the Arbitration Court in Wellington on Monday in the course of the hearing of the trawlers' dispute. Tho. managing director of a company owning trawlers told tho workers' representative that lie did not know a trawler anywhere in the world that had a bathroom.