LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20723, 17 November 1930, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

A new motor-car, tho property of Mrs. A. L. Mitchell, of 14, Grafton Road, was removed from a private drive at Koliimarama about 9.30 p.m. yesterday. Tho doors of tho car had been loft locked. At a late hour tho car had not been recovered.

As a result of falling from a tree at tho back of tho Mount Albert Grammar School on Saturday afternoon, Edwin Leonard, aged 11 years, living in Fowlds' Avenue, Mount Albert, was admitted to the hospital with a compound fracture of the left leg near tho ankle. Ho was reported last evening to be making steady progress. There was a very slight improvement in tho condition of Desmond Pickett, aged six years, who was knocked down by a motor-car in Wellington Street, Freeman's Bay, on Friday evening. Howover, his condition is still serious.

To embark a steward who. had been landed from another vessel, the Swedish steamer Hellenic, which arrived at Auckland on Saturday morning, called at Nine Island on November 8. The steward is a member of the crew of tho motor-ship Yngaren, and he became ill when tho vessol was loading at the island at the beginning of October. Owing to the vessel having no doctor on board tho man was put ashore for medical attention. The two vessels aio owned by tho ono company, and the captain of the Hellenic received wireless instructions to call at tho island for the steward. Niue Island lies near tho shipping route between Los Angeles and Auckland so the Hellenic had only to bo diverted about twenty milca from her course.

Drawn by a common impulse of curiosity, local residents gathered in strong force at the park enclosure at Point Resolution at seven o'clock last evening to witness the novelty of the limited express leaving by the waterfront route for the first time. Handkerchiefs were waved as the train went past and the greetings were returned by the passengers, many of whom were standing on the carriage platforms with a view to seeing all of interest along the new railway outlet from the city. Three trucks of the 8.25 a.m. train from Hclensville to Henderson were derailed on the north side of Swanson station on Saturday morning. The train, which included several passenger carriages, bad just passed over a bridge when the accident occurred. The line was soon cleared and no services were affected. The trucks were slightly damaged. The cause of the mishap is not known.

Interest in the scheme to establish a children's health camp at' Motuihi Island during the approaching school holidays is being taken by Canon Grant Cowen and his helpers in the Dock Street Mission. Tho Minister of Health, the Hon. A. J. Stallworthy, who was in Auckland during tho week-end, met the mission authorities, who promised their co-operation in the scheme. They are enthusiastic concerning the possibility of obtaining a free and health-giving holiday for the children of poor parents.

When the Swedish steamer Hellenic arrived at Auckland from Los Angeles on Saturday morning she attracted considerable attention owing to her pronounced list to port. The list is caused by the vessel's cargo, which consists of nearly 500,000 feet of timber on deck and timber and general merchandise in the holds. The timber, which is slacked high on the deck, is very green and heavy, and tho weight is not counteracted by the light cargo in the holds. As the timber is consigned to Australia the list will continue until all the cargo is discharged there in a fortnight's time.

Nineteen years ago yesterday there occurred one of tho biggest fires in the history of Auckland, that of tho warehouse of Macky, Logan, Caldwell, running from Victoria Street to Darby Street. Tho outbreak was discovered at about 11 o'clock in the evening, and soon the building was in flames. For a time fears were entertained for tho safety of the whole block, but after nearly three hours of strenuous fighting the firemen gained control. Tho damage was estimated at over £150,000.

An impudent theft was perpetrated on Friday afternoon in the main street of To Aroha. A business man was unpacking a case at the side of his shop, and was called away| for ten minutes. On returning, the case and goods, valued at about £3, bad disappeared. The thief left no trace, but evidently made his escape into a back street.

The Asfciburton High School is about ta tako its place among those secondary schools of the Dominion that have been in existence for half a century. Jubilee celebrations are being planned to be hold next Easter, and will last from Easter Saturday until the following Tuesday. The functions proposed include a football match and a social reunion, a church servico, an official opening and roll call, a garden party, and a jubilee ball and motor drives. It is anticipated that- a large number of ex-pupils will assemble for tho occasion, and they propose to present a suitable jubileo memorial to their old school.

The fashion for tall wireless poles has now extended) all over the district at Napier. Among keen radio mon there is a healthy sort of rivalry as to the height of their aerials. A Napier enthusiast has lately had erected on the Marino Parado a pole 73ft. high, which is considered the tallest in the district. It is reported, however, that this is shortly to be eclipsed by an 80-foot pole. Though the erection of such tall poles requires great skill and care, aerials 50ft. and 60ft. above the ground are now common.

" Dealing with the prison system of New Zealand prior to 1880, tho records are moro or less vague,"' said Mr. B. L. Dallard, Inspector-General of Prisons, in an address to the Howard League of Penal Reform in Wellington last week. "Tho earliosb record that I can trace of a prison is in 1838, in tho historic villago of Kororareka, now Russell, Bay of Islands. As the colony developed, local gaols were established, but persons found guilty of rnoro serious crimes were transported to Tasmania. Some criminals wero detained in military barracks And others in hulks. Tho last prison hulk at Otago Heads was not abolished until just about 40 years ago. Although a local gaol had no doubt been established earlier, the first documentary record I can trace of u prison in Wellington is in 1849. The gaoler's journal contains entries which reveal in a cryptic form the worst features of tho early prison methods in New Zealand. One entry is, ' Received prisoner. "P.Hj.," aged 10 years, convicted of felony.' Another entry is* 'Received two prisoners sentenced by court-martial to transportation, "A.D.," for !4 years, and "P. 8.," for life; both leg-ironed and locked up-' "