LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20842, 8 April 1931, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

The wet weather in Auckland yesterday caused considerable delay to shipping, the heavy showers in the afternoon involving a temporary stoppage of all cargo work. The vessels affected included the Royal Mail liner Aorangi, which was scheduled to sail for Vancouver at four o'clock in tlio afternoon, but owing to the delay she did not leave until four hours later.

A largo number of visitors to Auckland returned to their homes yesterday, nearly all the trains which left for Wellington and provincial centres being well filled. The expresses to Whangarei, Rotorua and Tauranga in the morning carried full complements of passengers, while the first two expresses to Wellington last evening wero very well patronised. The extra train, which left at 8.5 p.m., also carried a fair number of travellers.

As a result of tho taxicab he was driving toward the city colliding with a centre pole in the Giieat North Road, at Grey Lynn early yesterday morning, Mr. Geoffrey Halse, aged 26, of Waimana Avenue, Northcote, was admitted to tho Auckland Hospital with an injury to the left knee and slight cuts on the head. There were no passengers in the taxicab, which was not extensively damaged. -

The tomato season in Auckland, which is now drawing to a close, lias not been a good one for growers, although until the end of January the prices were the highest for several years. Since then the supply has exceeded the demand. There has been practically no blight this season, with the result that the amateur gardener has teen able to maintain his household supplies. Largo quantities of mushrooms are being received in the City Markets, principally from tho Marton district, but during the past few days there has been an increase in local supplies.

A request for a more frequent tram service on the Dominion Road route in the evenings was made to the Transport Board yesterday by the Mount Roskill Road Board, which asked for a 10-minute service to Mount Albert Road from 7 p.m. to midnight, instead of the present 16-minute service. The Transport Board decided it could not comply with the request in view of the small patronage at night. The manager, Mr. A. E. Ford, said a 10-minute service was in operation up to 7.33 p.m. The average number of passengers carried after that hour was 4.1 on the in trip and 9.9 on the out trip.

According to a cablegram received by Mr. W. A. E. Leonard, owner of the yacht Rangi, lier crew thoroughly enjoyed the trip across the Tasman. They were being entertained by Sydney yachtsmen and were having a pleasant holiday. The members of the crew who took the boat to Sydney will bring her back to Auckland. A cablegram suggesting that the Rangi should leave Sydney on Saturday, April 18, was sent by Mr. .Leonard yesterday.

Damage to several plate-glass windows of shops at Onehunga was done during the Easter holidays by the use of a diamond or glass-cutter. The cuts were noticed yesterday morning on the reopening of the shops for business. In some cases the marks were parallel and in others a criss-cross design had been made.

Proposals for easing the road alignments near the intersection of Sandringham and Haverstock Roads on the Sandringham tramway route and the intersection of New North Road and Ennismore Road on the proposed Avondale tramway route were before the Transport Board yesterday. At the suggestion of the Mount Albert Borough Council T the board agreed to assist with the acquisition of land to the extent of £6O.

The mushroom season in the Rotorua district is now at its height and the recent warm moist weather has resulted in a good crop. Many parties have been out collecting and express themselves as very pleased with the number and condition of this delicacy, which is particularly plentiful in the Ngongotaha and To Ngae areas.

Now that construction work has ceased on the northern railway line, Okaihau is a very quiet place. Most of the railway employees were absorbed in road works and 30 expert concrete workers were transferred to Arapuni. A number is still engaged between Okaihau and Rangiahua cleaning tho machinery ready for transport elsewhere.

A large number of relief workers has been given employment by the Hamilton Beautifying Society in clearing away undergrowth and removing worthless trees in the parks and reserves under its control and in improving the appearance of the grounds. The walk along the western bank of the Waikato River has been neatly trimmed and its appearance has been greatly improved.

Gold prospecting lias undergone a revival in the Gore district lately. During March 16 minors' rights were granted at the Gore Magistrate's Court, as compared with six in January and February and three in December. Among thoso who have obtained rights are a number of unemployed, who havo sought to secure some of the precious mineral in the streams of the district, lured, no doubt, by the reports that a few "old hands" arc securing sufficient for a living.

A diverting incident occurred at the llnwcra railway station the other morning. After the departure of tho mail train and as tile people wevo leaving the station a red polled cow that was being driven along the road entered the door of the station and walked right through the building, across tho platform and on to the railway line. Shortly afterwards it was rounded up by a boy and removed to its rightful place on the highway. While a motorist was proceeding along the Main South lioad, near Milton, Otago, tho other day, he saw, lying in the centre of the road, what appeared to be tho body of a man. He was forced to swerve violently in order to avoid running over tho figure, and narrowly missed skidding into a car proceeding in tho opposite direction. He righted his car, however, and, pulling up, went back to investigate. He found that tho "body" was merely a stuffed dummy which had apparently been placed on the road by practical jokers with a perverted sense of humour. The road at that point was covered with fine gravel, and it was almost impossible to prevent, a skid, which in les? fortunate circumstance* might have resulted in a serious accident and consequent loss of life.