LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20967, 2 September 1931, Page 10

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

I Stormy weather was experienced by the ! Union Company's passenger steamer ' Monowai, which left Auckland for Sydney on Saturday morning, and she did not arrive thero until last evening. It was tlia vessel's last trip in the intercolonial run for a long period, as she is resuming in the Pacific mail service and is to leave Sydney for San Francisco, via Wellington, to-morrow. After cruising in the Pacific for more than two months H.M.S. Diomede is scheduled to leave Suva to-morrow and to reach Auckland next Monday. Ihe warships Laburnum and Veronica are also cruising in the Pacific and the Navy Department advises that tho Laburnum is scheduled to reach Auckland on September 10 and tho Veronica on October 12. English mails will reach Auckland on four days in succession this week, a most unusual occurrence To-morrow morning tho New Zealand Shipping Cornpany'3 steamer Tongariro will arrive from Liverpool with ten bags of ordinary English mail and 200 bags of parcels for New Zealand, and the Matson line steamer Sierra is duo on Friday morning with 1529 bags of English and American mail for New Zealand. The New Zealand Shipping Company's steamer Remuera is due on Saturday afternoon with English mail, and the Royal Mail liner Aorangi will arrive from Vancouver on Sunday with about 1500 bags of English and American mail. " The stoppage of trams right at street intersections continually proves to be a real source of danger," reported the traffic inspector, to the Mount Albert Borough Council last evening. He mentioned particularly the stop at tho intersection of Commercial Road and New North Road and asked that the Transport Board should be recommended to have it moved back a considerable distance. The council decided to bring the matter before the board and to suggest that all tram stops should be at least two car-lengths from street intersections. In dealing with a number of defaulters in maintenance who pleaded want of employment as an excuse in tho Police Court yesterday, Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M., remarked that the operation of the proposed land development scheme of the Unemployment Board would provide a solution of such cases. "I could send this class of person to break in the land for 9s a day for two years," the magistrate said. "After hard work for that time they should be used to seeking employment." The advantages of giving a rebate for prompt payment of rates were mentioned at the Papatoetoe Town Board meeting last evening, when it was reported that £4300, representing 55 per cent, of the total rate revenue, had been collected up to August 31. The chairman, Mr. W. J. Nicholson, said the board had estimated it would receive £4OOO by conceding a 5 per cent, rebate and this had been exceeded. This had resulted in a reduction in the bank overdraft and a saving to the board of a considerable sum in interest charges. Whangarei experienced a particularly dry August, only 3.71 in. of rain being recorded, states the Heuald's Whangarei correspondent. This brought the total for tho eight months of tho year to 37.34 in. In August last year the rainfall was 5.29 in., and in 1929 it was 5.37 in. The average for August during the last ten years is 5.27 in. The dryest August re-cox-ded -tfas in 1922, when only 1.77 in. fell. In 1925 the exceptional fall of 11.67 in. was registered. During a senior Rugby match between Carterton and Old Boys at Carterton on Saturday the referee was obb'ged to leave the field and be replaced. The referee, Mr. C. Blake, in endeavouring to avert colliding with a player, twisted his knee. Play was held np, and tho ambulance men called on to the field. Mr, Blake was unable to continue, and was assisted off the field, while Mr. H. J. McKenzie, who was acting as a lino umpire, donned the injured man's jersey and took the whistle. An enthusiasm rare in these days, but with which the people of New Zealand at one time were wont to champion a cause, was displayed by the residents of Canterbury 46 years ago to-day. The point at issue was the construction or not of tho East and West Coast railway. On September 2, 1885, an open air demonstration attended by 20,000 people was held in Christchurch to urge tho construction of the line. A procession ono mile long lined up in the town and mlarched from Cathedral Square to Hagley Park, where the meeting was held. The gathering was the largest ever held in Christchurch up to that date. Special praise was bestowed at an in-' quest, in Wellington on Saturday morning by tho coroner, Mr. I. Salek, upon Mr. Alexander Pell Cook, who went to the rescue of those who were in the small fishing boat which struck a rock at Breaker Bay on April 26 last and overturned with the loss of three lives. Mr. Cook had gone to tho rescue at very great risk, the coroner said, and had been successful in saving tho life of the only survivor, Francis MacPherson. When he had saved Mr. MacPherson, Mr. Cook made every attempt to recover the others. Tho inquest, which was held at the direction of the Attorney-General, was an inquiry into the deaths of George Williams, aged 28, John Pettifer, agod 30, and Robert Campbell Parker, agod 13. Nono of the bodies was found. The coroner returned a finding that they had been drowned through the capsize of the fishing boat when it struck the rock. " Every man who undertakes farm i work is expert at his particular job," said Mr. R. W. D. Robertson at a meeting of Taranaki farmers last week, when : referring to farm labour in Scotland. The ; ploughman could plough to a hairsbreadth, lie said, and he knew tho exact depth of tho soil. It was the same in nthcr departments of farm labour. Tho farmer knew that any man he hired was in expert at his job. Every shepherd in Scotland had one dog, no more, ho idded. That dog never barked. It was "ed on porridge and never tasted meat. ft lived in tho house and was treated 1 ike one of tho family. Tho dogs did \ wonderful work. J c A new use has been found for the oil i vhich sometimes flows from the old-No. I ) well at Moturoa. Near by numbers of •ell concrete b'ocks are being manufac- s ured, and tho crude oil is ideal for I creasing the forms for making the jlocks. Tho use of the oil saves the r lecossity for preparing a special grease n or the purposa. !