LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21315, 17 October 1932, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

Race Trams Held Up Owing to troublo experienced at the Point Chevalier sub-station, there was a stoppage of the trams which were assembled to bring away people attending the Avondale races on Saturday evening. Tho stoppage occurred at 6.30 p.m. and 20 minutes elapsed before the service was restored. As a result of the trouble at Avondale, the Rcmuera tram route, which is linked up with the Avondale system by through-routing, was also affected, considerable delays occurring between trams at the theatre rush period. Two Bulls Hauled Out of River An unusual ihcident occurred at the Hauraki Bridge over the Waihou River at Kopu last week. A well-known farmer was driving two pedigree Jersey bulls, which were evidently thirsty, and on seeing the water they made a rush for tho river outside the protecting rails of the bridge ramp. Unfortunately the tide was out and both bulls became bogged in deep blue mud. They were unable to move. The owner in a dilemma sent to Thames for a motor salvage waggon. With the use of the crane and gear on the waggon both animals were hauled out after some trouble in attaching ropes to them. Burden of Exchange Because on every £IOO sent to India the exchange costs £9 10s, the funds provided by the Baptist Church for its missionary work in India are considerably lessened by tho time they are made available for use on the mission field. When the budget for next year's missionary expenditure was announced at the jubilee conference of the New Zealand Baptist Union in Christchurch last week, an item of £430 was included to cover interest and exchange, of which by far the greater part, it was announced, was to meet the exchange payments on the money to be sent to India. Niceties of Address Objections to the common practice of addressing a minister as "tho Rev. " were raised by the president, Dr. J. J. North, at the Baptist Conference in Christchurch last week. "I have a strong regard for the niceties of address," he said. "In England it is impolite to call a minister 'the Rev. so-and-so.' You can say 'the Rev. so-and-so,' using the initials, or 'the Rev. Mr. so-and-so.' I should like the conference to adhere to that,'' he added with a smile, and thereafter the delegates derived some amusement from emphasising one another's initials, particularly when three were involved. Synod Sunday Many clergy visiting Auckland for the Anglican Synod occupied pulpits in city and suburban churches yesterday. The Rev. J. C. Fussell, vicar of Waimate North, and the Rev. H. T. Steele, vicar of Whangarei, preached in. St. Marys Cathedral at the morning and evening services respectively. The Rev. H. Issherwood, vicar of the Bay of Islands, was the morning preacher in St. Paul's Church, and the Rev. A. G. Dawson, vicar of Thames, preached in the evening at All Saints', Ponsonby. The 81st anniversary festival of Holy Trinity Church, Otahuhu, was held yesterday, Archbishop Averill and Archdeacon Hawkins taking part in the services. Ban on " Cruising " Taxis A new by-law is to be framed by the Wellington City Council prohibiting taxicabs " cruising " in search of fares. Mr. H. A. Huggins, chairman of the By-laws Committee, stated at a meeting of the council last week that the reasons for the by-law were that taximen who paid for places on stands and telephones were penalised by others " cruising " about the streets and picking up the fares. The Mayor, Mr. T. C. A. Hislop, said that the by-law would not prevent any taxi proprietor who happened to be going along the street from picking up a fare. Mr. Huggins said that last time applications were invited for the vacancies on the stands not half tho vacancies were filled. Shoes Stolen Prom Case When a case of shoes was opened at the Hamilton branch of Hallenstein Bros., Limited, on Saturday, it was found that a quantity of the goods had been stolen. The case, which contained the new sea;son's ladies' shoes, had been sent from the firm's Dunedin house to Hamilton. The branch manager, Mr. E. P. Liddell, suspected that the package had been interfered with in transit. He called in a representative of the Railway Department and an inspector from his head office who was in Hamilton. The case was then opened, and it was found that goods to the value of £l3 had been extracted. Tho empty containers were left in the case. An examination showed that one of the top boards of the case had been removed prior to the arrival of the package in Hamilton. Dictionary Discovery A bright touch was introduced into his few remarks by Mr. Justice MacGregor, one of the judges in tho oratory contest in Wellington last week. He confided that lie had sought from the pages of his dictionary tho proper definition of the word " oration." Tho definition he had had copied out was: "An oration is an elaborate or formal public speech treating some important subject in a dignified style and manner, and according to tho rules of oratory." "And I would just like to add,*' said His Honor, " that the next word in my dictionary was one I had never heard of before—'oratiuncle' —pronounced 'orayshiuncle,' not 'orattiuncle.' It means a short oration, and I noticed that it is followed by the word 'rare,' in parentheses." His Honor added, amid laughter, " I do quite understand the reason for that addition." Tag on Balance-sheet For the past three years the Lower Hutt Borough balance-sheet has been returned from the Audit Department with a " tag " attached, drawing the attention of tho council to. the fact that its action in placing the balances of loan moneys temporarily in the general account was contrary to law. The department has now asked the council to show cause why action should not be taken against councillors for a breach of the law. The Mayor, Mr. W. T. Strand, said at a meeting of the council that tho action taken might be good law, but, it certainly was bad business. The law required that loan money could not be used for any other purpose than that for which it was raised. Any unexpended balances must be placed on deposit and the interest used only for the particular purpose for which the loan was raised. If so placed on deposit the kmouot ' of interest it would earn would be only about 2 or -3 per cent, while if placed temporarily in the general account it reduced the council's overdraft. It was decided to refer the Audit Department's letter to the Finance Committee for the purpose of having a reply drafted-.