LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21328, 1 November 1932, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS

Miner Struck by Prep Aj the result of a prop falling on kim •while he working in the Hiknrangi Coal Company's mine at Hiknracgi yester- [ day, Mr. William Robinson, a miner, aged i iP t years, of Wa.ro, received a fracture of | the left forearm. He was admitted to the j Whanzam KospitaL ; Concrete Electric-Power Poles j zzi experiment. the Auckland E.ec"r*.cI Power Board recently authorised the puri chase of a nansb-er o* concrete poles to | carry electric-power hnes. At a meeting tof the board yesterday, tne general | manager, Mr. R. H. Bar*ley. reported that I the first deliveries had been made. On his I recommendation, the purchase ol a turther > 100 poles was decided. [ Unemployment Taxes Due ' C nem ploy men z vixxs ars ajain to- | day and may be paid at the special office t provided on the second floor of the chtet ; pvst office. The taxes payable are the I quarterly unemployment, levy of 5s and t the third instalment of the emergency nnj employment charge of Id in every Is 8d of j in come other than salary or for tne | year ended March 31, 1932. I Professional Courtesies j Professional courtesies were exchanged ! v/hen one counsel in the witness box was ! being cross-examined by another barrister ' ir. the Supreme Court yesterday. Mr. | Allan Moody, addressing Mr. J. F. W. | Dickson, asked "You cross-examined with | your usual skill?" "I am <]u:te prepared j to accept that a3 a statement of fact," | returned Mr. Dickson solemnly. | Fruit from tbe Islands i Supplies of fruit from Cook Islands and ' Fiji were being discharged yesterday from ' the motor-ship Hauraki and the Royal : Mail liner Niagara respectively. The ; Hauraki, which arrived from Los Angeles, | via Cook Islands, on Sunday a&ernoon, ! brought 10.000 cases of tomatoes and ! nearly 4000 cases of oranges from Aitutaki j and Rarotonga. The Niagara arrived from ! Vancouver yesterday afternoon with over i 3000 cases of bananas, which she loaded i at Suva. | New Safety Zones in Newton ; Two new safety zones in Karangahape | Road were completed by the Transport i Board during the week-end. The zone for j outward trams stands a short distance past I the intersection of East Street, while the ! inward zone i.s near Howe Street. The zones were erected as the result of a request to the board by the Karangahape Road Business Promotion Society, and the locations were fixed after communications between the board, the society and the City Council. Electrical Fireworks The fusing of an electric arc on the top of a pole in a lane off Upper Symonds Street gave rise to a somewhat alarming electrical display yesterday afternoon. A | series of reports and explosions with showers of sparks continued for about a quarter of an hour and the upper part of the pole burned fiercely. Apart from the temporary cutting off of power from a few adjacent premises no harm was done, however, and the damage was soon repaired. Degree Examinations Start The annual examinations of the Univer- 1 [ sity of New Zealand for honours, degrees, j diplomas, certificates of proficiency and scholarships will commence to-dav and will be continued until November 18. There are 2058 entries from the Auckland centre, the candidates from which will sit at the Auckland University College. Other centres in the province are Whangarei, Dargaville, Prkekohe, Hamilton, Thames, Waihi and Te Aroha. Altogether there will be 53 examination centres in the Donr'nion. Tropical Fish for Sydney A number of small tropical fish is being taken from Honolulu to Sydney by the Royal Mail liner Niagara, which arrived at Auckland yesterday. Tho fish, which are of the most vivid hues and peculiarly marked, are to be exhibited in the Sydney aquarium. They are contained in special tanks and a continuous stream of sea water is supplied by means of the ship's pumps. When the Niagara left Honolulu the tanks contained about 70 fish, but owing to the change of temperature of the water as the vessel proceeded south, a great many of them died. The loss on previous similar shipments has generally been about 50 per cent. Chinese and the Oath The Oriental practice of administering the oath to a witness by requiring him to extinguish a lighted match was resorted to in the Police Court yesterday during tho hearing of a case in which several Chinese were called to give evidence. One Chinese appeared to bo undecided and hesitant when asked which form of oath lie desired should be used, and ho engaged in a. lengthy conversation with an interpreter before being sworn. "I hope ho does not want to cut the head off a rooster." remarked tho magistrate. Mr. F. K. Hunt. Tho witness finally elected to make the Christian oath. Of the remaining Chinese witnesses some were sworn on the Bible and others were sworn by blowing out a lighted match. Christmas Mail Despatches The Postal Department advises that tho Christmas despatch for newspapers, packets and parcels by direct steamer for Great Britain and Ireland, and also parcels for Europe, will close at Auckland on Thursday and will bo forwarded by the Commonwealth and Dominion Line motorship Port Gisborne. The mail is scheduled to reach London on December 16. The Christmas despatch of mail for Great Britain, Ireland and the Continent of Europe will close at Auckland on November .15 and it also is scheduled to reach London on December 16. Tho mail closing on Thursday will provide an opportunity for people to send Christmas numbers of the Auckland Weekly News to friends in Great Britain. The postage for each copy will he twopence. Copies posted by tho mail which closes on November 15 must bear additional postage. An Earthquake Lesson A lesson learned in Napier from the earthquake is being put into effect, by the sinking of Abyssinian wells, the purpose of which is to provide a water supply in the event of fire when the ordinary mains fail as they did on the occasion of the earthquake last year. It is proposed to sink about eight of these wells in various parts of tho town area, open spaces being chosen for their sites such as at tho intersection of streets and Clive Square, where they are not likely to become inaccessible through near by buildings falling on them or through excessivo heat from burning buildings in their neighbourhood. They are to be driven down to a depth of approximately 7ft. below mean sea level, so that seepage will supply a constant flow of sea water which will always be available to fire-fighting apparatus in the case of extreme emergency.