LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20819, 11 March 1931, Page 10

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Preliminary work on the Whau Creek Bridge at New Lynn arid the Tamaki Bridge on the Great South Road, near Otaliuhu, is now well forward. At the Whau Creek the filling has been completed at both ends of the bridge and a temporary staging erected, while at the Tamaki River a start has been made with the filling on the Tapatoetoe bank.

A Baby Austin touring car, the property of Mr. W. H. Vincent, of 96, Ulster Street, Hamilton, was removed from Victoria Street, Hamilton, between 7.45 and 10.30 last evening. The car had • not been recovered late last night.

The Melancsian Mission steamer Southern Cross is being refitted at Western Wharf for her coming cruise to the mission s(aliens in the south-west Pacific. The vessel is to leave on April 7 and she will be absent from Auckland for about four months.

A Gipsy Moth aeroplane from the Auckland Aero Club will visit To Arolia this morning. it will bo piloted by Flying-Officer D. M. Allen, and will have as passenger the president of the club, Mr. Spencer Mason, who desires to visit To Aiolia on business. Tho aeroplane will arrive at To Aroha about 11 a.m. and will return about 4 p.m.

The board of inquiry set up by tho Minister of Railways to report upon tho recent destruction by firo of a mail van attached to the Main Trunk express has been taking evidence from postal officials in Auckland and will hear further evidence this week at Taihape and Ohakunc. Tho board consists of Mr. E. Casey, divisional railway superintendent for the North Island, chairman; Mr. H. P. Donald, chief postmaster at Auckland, and Mr. P. R. Angus, assistant chief mechanical engineer to the Railways Department. White concrete slabs are replacing the familiar white-washed kerbstones which mark the fire-plugs in city streets. The work was started about the beginning of the year and before long all the fireplugs in tho city area will be marked with these indicators.

The instalment of the memoirs of the lato Marshal Foch, published to-day, brings the famous soldier's narrative of tho concluding stages of the Great War up to the eve of the end of tho fighting. In to-morrow's article he will deal with, the preliminary negotiations initiated in October, 1918, by Germany, through the medium of the United States, for a suspension of hostilities. Tho succeeding de- ; liberations by the Allies regarding the conditions of the Armistice, the meeting between Marshal Foch and the German envoys, tho signing of the terms on November 11, tho order to lay down arms at 11 o'clock on the forenoon of that day, and tho subsequent march to the Rhine, will form tho subjects of tho concluding instalments.

A new fishing launch for Messrs. Devich and Tokich, of Thames, was launched from the yards of Messrs. C. Bailey and Son, Freeman's Bay, yesterday. The boat, which has been named the Dalmacia, is 41ft overall and has a beam of 10ft and a draught of 3ft 6in. She has been built on the bent frame principle and is very heavily constructed, having three stout fore and aft stringers aside. The launch has an insulated chamber for fish amidships, the engineroom is situated aft and the living quarters are forward. She is fitted with a3O h.p. engine and is expected to attain a speed of about eight knots. She will be engaged in seine net fishing in the Hauraki Gulf.

The fact that a large number of houses in New Lynn, built under tho scheme of advances to workers are unoccupied has provided a problem for tho New Lynn Borough Council. Several of tho houses have been offered at auction on behalf of the Government, but have not been sold, and in the meantime the borough cannot recover any rates from the properties. Tho opinion was expressed by ono member of tho council that tho houses are deteriorating at such a rapid rate that the Government will eventually be fortunate if it can sell for £3OO houses on which £IOOO has been advanced.

The suggestion to hold a conference of Dominion tramway authorities in Wellington to inquire fully into the decline in tramway and bus revenue from publiclyowned tramway and bus undertakings, which has been made by the New Plymouth Borough Council, is not being supported by the Auckland Transport Board. Speaking at the meeting of Me board yesterday, when this decision was made, tho chairman, Mr. J. A. C. Allum, said a conference in Australia recently had discussed all aspects of the case. "At this particular stage wo should not look with favour on any conferences unless they are vitally necessary," said Mr. Allum. The board, however, would be pleased to furnish tho New Plymouth Council with any information.

This week the contract of placing a coating of shingle on tho main Coro-mandel-Thames Road, from Waikawau to Wilson's Hill, will be completed. Motorists already appreciate the absonco of potholes on this portion of the highway. The shingle should give the road a good running surface in future. A striking instance of how some lines of wool rose at the last Christchurch sale is reported in the case of Mr. R. D. Miller, of Methven, Canterbury. Mr. Miller had a line of Corriedale wool which had been passed at 5d at the previous sale. At the recent sale tho same line brought 10^d. A pig-hunting party met with considerable success in the ranges behind Matatoki, Thames, at the week-end. They reported tho capture of an exceptionally large boar, which was estimated to weigh about 3001b. A member of tho party said that deer also seemed to be numerous, judging by the number of hoof marks seen in the hills.

" Is it not your experience that neurasthenia usually passes off when the strain of the caso is over?" asked counsel in the Supreme Court at Wellington recently wlion a doctor was describing the condition of one of the parties in an accident case. "It tends to pass off," replied tlio witness. Counsel (with a smile): Especially if damages are awarded.

Only tho fact that dry rope is not a conductor of electricity saved a Marlon farmer from being electrocuted recently. The farmer was engaged with a horse drawing out a length of fencing wire, when tho wire jumped into the air and made contact with tho overhead 11,000volt power lines. Tho horse was immediately electrocuted, but tho farmer, who was leading the horse by a piece of dry rope, escaped,