LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20969, 4 September 1931, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

While the driver of a Checker taxicab was attending a football match at the Domain on Wednesday afternoon, his vehicle, which was left standing near by, was removed. The car was recovered at Kumeu by the city police yesterday, while in the afternoon Detective Packman arrested a man in the city. The suspect will be brought before the Police Court this morning. The name "Britomart Place" is to be givtjn to tho junction of Customs Street East, Breakwater Road, Beach Road and Fort Street, in accordance with a suggestion recently made to the City Council by Mr. T. McLaughlin. It was stated the site was approximately that occupied by Fort Britomart before the promontory of that name was cut down. The breakage of the overhead wire connecting the outward and inward lines near the Mount Albert tram terminus at 11.15 last evening caused a stoppage of tram traffic for half an hour. A repair waggon was sent out and finally cars were able to attain sufficient speed to coast over the affected section. A stowaway who was discovered on the Matson Line steamer Ventura after tho vessel had left Auckland last Saturday evening for San Francisco was transferred at sea to the company's steamer Sierra, which is due at Auckland this morning from Los Angeles, according to advice received by the Auckland agents yesterday. Tho stowaway is stated to be an Irishman who has lived in New Zealand for a number of years. A proposal to have house numbers painted on the vertical face of the kerb opposite each gate was laid before the City Council last evening by a company which applied for the sole right to do the work. It offered tho council a royalty of 10 per cent, on all money collected, the sums so paid to be devoted to unemployment relief or any other purpose the council wished. The city engineer reported emphatically against the proposal, which the council, promptly rejected.

"Supplies of fish are so scarce and the Government restrictions so stringent, that we have been compelled to withdraw "our one remaining trawler from the Hauraki Gulf," said the manager of a local trawling concern yesterday. He added that fish of all kinds were abnormally scarce at present, but email supplies were still being drawn from the Bay of Plenty grouuds.

Of all the Kohimarama property-owners whose beach frontages have been taken for setting back the waterfront road, all" but one have come to terms with the City Council as to the compensation payable. It was reported to the council last evening that the last owner wanted £l6O for one-twenty-fifth of an acre, equivalent to £4OOO an acre, whereas the council had made a liberal offer of £IOO. It was decided to set in motion the legal machinery for taking the land for road purposes. A new signalling device for controlling the water traffic through the opening in the western viaduct is being tried out just now by the Harbour Board officials. The device is a notice board consisting of a series of louvres which turn on the pulling of a cord. One side displays the worfl "stop" and the other the word "pass," and its purpose will be to ensure that vessels moving in opposite directions do not attempt to make use of the 50ft. entrance to the inner harbour simultaneously. When the device has been perfected to the satisfaction of the staff it will be installed beside the lifting span bridge and operated in conjunction with it. The City Council recently wrote to the Railways Board asking that the advertising sign on the overhead bridge south of the Auckland station be painted out. Last evening the council received a letter from the general manager stating that in a prior interview with officers of the department the Mayor had stated that while he did not favour the use of the bridge for advertising, no objection would be raised. Under these circumstances-the Railways Board could not see its way to authorise the painting-out of the sign. On the Mayor's motion it was decided that the Department be asked not to - renew the advertising contract on its expiry. Trout spawning in the Rotorua and Taupo districts this season is exceptionally early and it is reported by Maoris living on the shores of the lake that fish have already left the streams after spawning and returned to the waters of Lake Taupo. Fish appear to be unusuallyj plentiful. In view of the early spawning, representations are being made by Taupo fishermen for an extension of the opening of the season to include Labour Day and the week-end preceding it, which would advance the opening date to Saturday, October 24. In this connection, a letter has been forwarded to the Minister of Internal Affairs by the Taupo Progressive League. The Rover sedan motor-car, owned bv Mr. S. S. Wilson, of Auckland, which was removed without authority from outside the Hamilton Club in Grantham Street, Hamilton, on Wednesday evening, was recovered by the police yesterday. The car was found in Thackeray Street, a quarter bf a mile from Grantham Street.

The first moonlight aeroplane raid to be made on London occurred 14 years ago to-day. At 11 p.m. on September 4, 1917, about 20 large German aeroplanes crossed the south-east coast of England and, apparently breaking up into groups, made their way over London. Forty bombs were dropped in the London area, 11 persons being killed and 62 injured. The raid lasted three hours. The raiders were engaged by anti-aircraft guns and British aeroplanes, but only when the searchlights illuminated the enemy machines could they be seen from the ground, as a thin haze overhung the sky. On the previous night aeroplanes dropped bombs on the naval barracks at Chatham, killing 107 naval ratings and wounding 86. -They did not, however, reach London. Previously to this London was bombed several times by Zeppelins.

The decline in building operations in Invercargill is exemplified by the returns of permits issued by tho city engineer's department for tho month of August in comparison with the corresponding period last year. The total value of permits issued for all classes of building last month was £2948. In August, 1930, the value totalled £11,698. Of the £2948, £2540 was spread over permits for the erection of four new dwellings.