LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20959, 24 August 1931, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

The mild, sunny weather experienced yesterday had the effect of bringing people out on the beaches handy to the city. Several people enjoyed a dip at Takapuna Beach in the afternoon,.and a number were " sun-bathing" on the sand.

For the convenience of travellers leaving from the Auckland railway station a new train departure indicator is now in course of erection in the concourse of the building. The indicator is in the form of a diamond-shaped booth, painted in conformity with the general decorative scheme, the two sides facing the entrance bearing departure announcements, while the two opposite sides will contain poster time-tables. The indicator is expected to be in operation within a few days.

A spectacular collision occurred at about 5.30 on Saturday evening between a sedan motor-car and a taxi at the intersection of Grafton Koad with the Grafton Bridge approach. The sedan, which was occupied by the driver, Mr. C. V- Mark, and three ladies, was travelling down Grafton Road and had almost passed the bridge when the collision occurred. Hie impact overturned the sedan and the windscreen was splintered. None of the motorists was hurt, though all received a severe shock.

During shunting operations at the Paeroa station yards on Saturday morning a full petrol truck over-ran the end of a siding arid broke down the wooden stop. The front end of the truck came to rest against the side of a large drain, leaving the other end suspended in the air. Fortunately, the derailed truck was in such a position as to allow the benzine to be pumped direct into the oil company's storage tanks, which are situated close to the scene of the mishap.

The possibility of communal garden plots being established to provide vegetables for the unemployed next winter was foreshadowed by the Minister of Labour, the Hon. S. G. Smith, in replying to a deputation from the Waikato Welfare League in Hamilton on Saturday. The Minister promised to recommend to the Unemployment Board to grant the league's request that workmen employed on its garden plot, wood-cutting and boot repairing schemes bo given relief wages.

The competition initiated by the Marine Department in an effort to find a type of cargo hook which will prove safer in operation than the type at present in use is now in its final stages. Selected types from the many entries received have been tested on various coastal ships and some of them are now being tried on overseas liners. After the trials have been completed a conference of the parties concerned will bo held and at this conference a desigu will be selected. Should the favoured hook meet with the approval of the Marine Department its use will beeome compulsory at New Zealand ports, and possibly it will" also be adopted in other countries.

The recent increase in -the hawking of goods in the streets and from door, to door was referred to at a meeting of the council of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce. It was stated by some members that hawking had become a nuisance to householders. Other members stated that there were cases of distress which justified even this method of earning a living at the present time. The suggestion was made that greater care should be exercised in the granting of licences.

A statement that the operations of ova collectors for tho North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society would put a stop to the efforts of poachers at Lake Coleridge was made by a member of the council of that body at the monthly meeting A member of the Rangers' Committee denied that the poachers were now carrying out operations. " They have changed their district," he added amid laughter.

Because of the scarcity of feed, numbers of stock are to be seen grazing on the roadside in various parts of the Wairarapa. The matter was mentioned at a recent meeting of tho Masterton County Council, and again at the last meeting of the Featherston County Council, when it was stated that a well-known settler of the Lower Valley had over 3000 sheep on the roads in different parts of the county. This farmer had been threatened with impounding proceedings, and wrote to the meeting asking under what section of the Impounding Act he was liable, seeing that the sheep were being driven three miles a day. It was alleged that special men had been employed to keep the sheep moving with the evident intention of securing cheap grazing.

" That is pretty good compound interest," said Mr. R. O. Dixon at a meeting of the Waimakariri River Trust, when a letter was received from the Minister of Defence, Hon. J. G. Cobbe, stating that if the trust wanted the use of the department's cooking utensils in its camps after the end of tho present month they would have to be hired at tho rate of 5 per cent, of cost for the first week and per cent, for each succeeding week. The engineer pointed out that the utensils would not be needed after that period and the matter was dropped.

Much of the trouble which has developed in the present period of commercial depression has been caused through many business concerns, in boom times, developing solely with the object of making more profits, said Mr. J. E. Strachan, of Rangiora, in an address in Christchurch. " They overcapitalised, speculated and took risks and these have led to the unsound position that many of them aro finding themselves in to-day."

A new scale of charges in connection with the inspection and quarantine of imported livestock came into force last Thursday. The fees payable for the transport of livestock, including horses, cattle and sheep, to and from quarantine, have been either doubled or more than doubled, except when the Dumber of horses and cattle belonging to one owner exceeds five, in which case the charge remains tho same as in the schedule which has been in force since 1915. The range of veterinary and inspection fees has been enlarged, and the charges for sustenance and care of animals increased.

The opinion that, in the future, not only would the standard of a nation's culture be judged from its books and its works of art, but also from the quality of its national broadcasting, was expressed by Mr. J. E. Strachan at a meeting in Christchurch. lie said that, in a few years, by listening to the material broadcast from a nation's stations, a fair idea of the standard of culture of the nation would be obtained. Mr. Strachan is. a pioneer radio experimenter and has, since the earliest days of broadcasting, taken a keen interest in that subject.