LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20922, 11 July 1931, Page 10

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

The express from the North was delayed yesterday as a result of the engine of the Opua-.Auckland train breaking down* at Towai at 11 a.m. A relief engine was sent from Whangarei, but the express did not arrive there until 1.5 p.m., an hour and five minutes late. Time was made up* on the run to Auckland, the train arriving at 6.27 p.m., or 12 minutes behind schedule time.

The seal pond at the Zoological Gardens, vacant since the death of "the lastsea lion, will shortly bo occupied by a pair of pelicans, which have been ordered from the Melbourne Zoo. These curious birds should form a distinct attraction, on account of their unusual build and their handsome plumage. They are very much at home in the water and are adepts at swimming and diving.

Heavy supplies of vegetables have been offered at the Auckland City Markets this week and have brought considerably decreased rates. Good quality Southern potatoes and Southern and, local, onions are selling at lower prices- than at the corresponding time before tha war. There have been large crops of both vegetables and the returns are not proving very profitable to growers. Apples, owing to the large supplies available in cool store, are also cheaper than before the war.

The prompt action of a passing motorist prevented serious damage when a fire broke out in the engine of another car in Mount .Eden Road, near Normanby Road, at about 2 p.m. yesterday. The fusing of wires in the electrical equipment of a sedan car belonging to Mr. T. of 45, Grange Road, Mount Eden, caused the outbreak. The passing driver used a. small hand extinguisher to such good purpose that the flames were almost entirely suppressed before the arrival of the Mount Eden Fire Brigade. The damage was confined to the wiring and a slight blistering of the paint on the bonnet of the car.

" How did your husband behave in his language?" counsel asked a witness in a case in the Magistrate's Court yesterday afternoon., " Was he accustomed to swear?" The witness considered the question for a moment and then admitted that her husband's " language" was not exceptional. "Don't all men swear?" she asked.

The winter whaling season on the east coast grounds off Cape Brett is now in progress, but very few whales have been secured so far. Until the end of last week only two had been taken to the Whangamumu station, but then two more were caught. Boisterous weather has hampered the operations of the steam-whaler Hananui 11. considerably. The scarcity of whales in the North is attributed to the activities of Norwegian whalers in the Ross Sea and it is feared that if the depletion continues , whaling will cease to be profitable in about five years.

A motor-car, owned by Mrs. A. J. Paltridge, of 57, Islington Street, Ponsonby, was removed from the corner of Karangahape Road and Queen Street early last e.vening. The car, which is valued at £l5O, had not been recovered at a late hour.

An order-in-counciL revoking, the Board of Trade trading stamp regulations issued on February. 20 of this year has just been gazetted. The regulations now revoked provided that no person or company carrying,, on business as a trading stamp company should dispose of its assets or deal with them in any way without the consent of the Minister of Industries and Commerce. While it would appear that trading stamp companies are now free to deal with their assets, those concerned are for the most part awaiting the effect of the Trading Coupons Bill, which the Primo Minister, the Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes, has p.romised to bring before the House of Representatives at an early date:

A painful injury was received by a woman on the Berhampore golf links, Wellington, as the result of an unusual accident. A. party of four golfers, .two men. and two women, were at one of the tees. One of the men was practising a few swings when , the club flew out of his hand and struck one of the women, who was standing behind, full on the left side of the face. It inflicted a long gash, requiring several stitches.

The new reinforced concrete bridge that spans the Manawatu River at the Woodville end of the Manawatu Gorge Road has been completed, and the final touches aro being put to it, prior to opening it for traffic. The bridge, which is said to have cost about £27,000, is of most imposing architecture.

The problem of how to keep the seagulls off their grounds is confronting the caretakers of Wellington reserves this wet weather. Thousands" of seagulls gathered on the Basin Reserve on Thursday morning and when the caretakers succeeded in frightening them off they flew away and descended on the nearest, ground, which happened to be that at Wellington College. The gulls were equally unwelcome there; so much so, in fact, that a gun was fired to send them away, so it was. not long before they were back again at the Basin Reserve. The gulls serve a useful purpose in eating the, grass grubs, but in wet weather their feet do much damage to the turf.

" For the life of me I cannot understand why the Christchurch Tramway Board permits its cars to be used for advertisements advising the public.to ride bicycles," said Mr. T. H. Butterfield, at the inauguration of the trolley-bus service to North Beach, a few days ago. "Bicycles," he added, "constitute, the greatest opposition that Hie board- is faced with." : / ' '

The damage that was done to a statue of Lord Kitchener at Oratia last week recalls similar occurrences in Canterbury, says the Christchurch Times. A few months ago the marble statue 'of. a soldier, which serves as a war memorial at Kaiapoi, was badly damaged. City statues have nofc escaped from the spoilers, although in' most of tho cases in the city no permanent injury has been done. The watch-chain was once removed from tho statue of John Robert Godley, which stands in Cathedral Square, Christchurch. The Rolleston statue,: in Rollestoa Avenue, has frequently been "decorated" with hats, .garlands of flowers and'beer bottles, and for this students of Canterbury College have been blamed, for, in most cases, the "improvements" coincided with college festivities. Similar treatment has at times been accorded to the statue of William Sefton Moorhous#, . .*• •