LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20649, 22 August 1930, Page 10

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Tho primary schools in Iho Auckland Provinco will close for tho second term holidays this afternoon and will reopen again on Tuesday morning, September 8. Tho children will thus have just over two weeks' vacation. Since Tuesday morning thero has been practically no variation in tho barometer reading in Auckland. Tlio reading then was 30.35 in., arid last evening it was the same, tho variation at no time having been more than .05in. A fast flight was made by a Moth aeroplano from tho Bay of Islands to Auckland yesterday morning, tho trip being accomplished in about an hour and aquarter. Captain J. D. Hewett, with Miss Hewott as passenger, left tho Bay of Islands at 6.45 and arrived in Auckland shortly after 8 o'clock. Flying at a low altitude the machine followed tho coast lino for the greater part of the trip. When the aeroplane was crossing tho stretch of water at Waiwera a large stingray was seen in tho shallow water below. The trip to the Bay of Islands occupies about nino hours by train and service car. Six cases of trout ova from the Torigariro hatchery aro to bo forwarded to tho Stato Fisheries, Sydney, by tho Uliniaroa, which will leave Auckland this morning. Tho cases arrived by train yesterday and they were takon in charge by officers of tho Department of Internal Affairs for careful storage on the steamer. According to figures submitted to a conference of local body representatives held at Newmarket last evening, tho total number of electors in tho district under tho control of tho Auckland Transport Board is 82,337. Of tfceso 50,471 aro in the city area, 20,062 are in tho. area comprising Mount Albert, Mount Eden and Newmarket, and 11,804 in tho area made up of Onehunga, One Tree Hill, Ellerslie, Mount Roskill and Mount Wellington. Under the present system tho city has six representatives on tho board, and tho other two areas have two representatives each. Tho tendency of motorists to travel at excessive speeds on good roads was mentioned by Mr. E. D. Mosley, S.M., in the Magistrate's Court in Christchurch this week, when fining a defendant for driving at 47 miles an hour. " Thero is too much of this sort of thing," said tho magistrate; "thero is absolutely no necessity for it. You get on a good road and becomo road-hogs immediately." Thefts of golf balls have been very prevalent on tho links at Miramar, Wellington, lately, and have caused a great deal of annoyance and inconvenience to players. A glaring example was witnessed tho other afternoon just after a foursome had started. One of the players took a long drive, and no sooner had the ball come to rest than a youth darted out of some near by lupins, took the ball, and ran off with it. Another player, who formerly was a keen harrier, gave chaso and caught the youth, who, according to tho player nearly collapsed with fright. His name and address were taken and the matter was reported to tho police. An incident in connection with the evergrowing popularity of wireless comes from Napier. A woman recently had a set installed in her home. Delighted with the prospect of hearing music over the air she sat besido it immediately after breakfast and proceeded to turn tho switches and knobs in all directions. Her pains wero unrewarded, so after an hour of futile effort she rang up tho firm whence she purchased tho set and complained in no undecided style that tho machine would not work. "Send a man up at once," she demanded, "Excuse me, madam," came tho reply, "but I think it might bo as well if you were to wait until thero is something on tho air." While a tramcar was bound to Wellington from Island Bay ono day this week somo 'children wero observed hurling pellets of some kind at the passing car in the vicinity of Berhampore. Ono of theso pellets struck a passenger in tho eyo and smashed with tho impact, indicating that tho pellet was dried mud or clay of somo kind. Tho person suffered agony for tho rest of the day, and has not yet recovered. In another recent instance boys were seen throwing stones at passing motor-cars at tho foot of Ngahauranga Gorge. In that case ono stone broko a windscreen, and a splinter of glass enterod tho driver's eye, with tho result that he was under the doctor's care for three weeks afterward.

"Wo are constantly being told that there is plenty of work iu tho country," said Mr. E. 11. Andrews, chairman of tho Finance Committee of the Christchurch Citizens' Unemployment Committeo, at a meeting this week. "It is absolutely not true. We have investigated, and simply cannot get work in tho country." Ho added that ho got in touch with many country people, and the position was that farmers are helping each other to do any work that is necessary. Staff-Captain Dry, of the Salvation Army, said that he had been told that there was plenty of work at Little River, but when ho asked how many men could be employed, ho was told two. That number was sent, but one man got no work and had to walk back to town. It was stated that letters to county councils had resulted in tho information that there was no work available. At tho hearing in tho Arbitration Court in Wellington of tho application of the Builders and General Labourers' Union for a new award, several budgets of household expenditure were presented. One witness, a married woman, said her husband earned 2s an hour when it did not rain, his average earnings boing £3 15s per week. The family lived in two rooms, for which they paid 26s a week. Tho items of expenditure for tho week were given, and it was stated that tho wages could hardly meet tin outgoings. A good haul of mullet was secured by two enterprising fishormcn in the shallow water near tho end of tho SLanley Bay jotty on Wednesday morning. With a net the' men caught about 100 fish. It is an annual occurrence for shoals of mullot to mako their appearance at Stanley Bay during tho coldest part of tho winter. In a letter to tho University . Council, Dr. 11. Bevan Dodds, dean of tho Dontal Faculty of Otago University, states that tho clean of tho School of Dentistry of the University "of Pennsylvania has informod him that flto school will accept any New Zoaland dental graduates for its senior class. Dr. Dodds had carefully explained to tho dean tho course of work at Dunodin.