LOCAL AND GENERAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21518, 15 June 1933, Page 10

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Idle Steamer to Sail After being idle in the stream since June 1, the motor-ship Speybank is to sail for Queensland to-morrow to load a sugar cargo for Europe. The vessel arrived from Ocean Island on May 23 and after unloading a cargo of phosphates she wa,s removed to the anchorage in tho stream to await orders. Malicious False Alarm A malicious false alarm of fire, given from a street call box about 10.40 o'clock last evening, resulted in two fire engines being sent on a useless errand. The call, which was to John Street, Ponsonby, was answered by one engine from the central brigade and another from the western districts brigade. Wright's Deviation Open The latest section of the Great South Road to be improved and made .available for traffic is near Ramarama, where motor vehicles are now using Wright's deviation. The route provides comfortable travelling, and eliminates a dangerous corner and two steep inclines. The necessary signs are being erected by tho Automobile Association. Whangarei Hospital Admissions .The number of admissions to the Whangarei District Hospital during the month of May constituted a record for the institution. Patients remaining in from the previous month numbered 82 and admissions during the month were 180. Those discharged totalled 162. There were eight deaths, and 92 patients remained in hospital at tho end of the month. Old Custom Broken In holding its annual meeting in the city yesterday, tho Devonport Steam Ferry Company, Limited, departed from a custom which had been followed since the inception of the company 38 years ago. Previously meetings were held at Devonport, but the change was made to suit the convenience of shareholders, most of whom had to make a special trip across the harbour. There was no noticeable difference in the attendance at yesterday's meeting, about 30 shareholders being present. No Lights on Motor Vehicles Vigilance lias been exercised by the police recently regarding unliglited motor vehicles which have been left in streets at night, and numbers of prosecutions have come before the Police Court. Several truck and car owners appeared before Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M., yesterday, charged with the offence, and were fined 10s each, the magistrate commenting that the practice was dangerous to moving traffic. Other motorists who were prosecuted for having only one headlight or no tail light on their vehicles were fined 10s or ss. Long Journey by Ambulance A long journey was made yesterday by a St. John ambulance stationed at Whangarei. After picking up a patient at the Whangarei Hospital, the ambulance left at 9.30 a.m. for Waiuku an(\ the patient was taken to his home there. The ambulance then came to Auckland, where it was garaged for the night at the St. John station in Rutland Street. The return journey will be commenced this morning and on reaching Whangarei the vehicle will have covered over 320 miles. The ambulance is one that was transferred from the Auckland station to Whangarei about three years ago. Motoring in Urewera Country Advice that the provision of a telephone line from To Whaiti to Ruatahuna in the Urewera Country was being proceeded with was received from the Unemployment Board at a meeting of the council of the Automobile Association last evening. The association donated £o toward the cost of transporting the necessary poles. It was explained that in case of breakdown or accident in the heart of the Urewera Country, motorists had found themselves isolated, with no method of communicating with the nearest centre for help. The extension of the telephone system would thus be of great value. Stepping Yacht's Masts A novel method of stepping masts was employed on the schooner-yacht built by Mr. C. Wild for Mr. J. W. S. McArthur. The vessel was towed to a wharf inside the western viaduct where her 80ft. masts were lifted by a crane and placed into position, the whole work being completed within an hour. The masts had to be put through small holes in the deck about one inch greater in circumference than the masts and to carry out this work it was necessary to tow the yacht into tho calm water inside the viaduct. The old method of stepping masts was to qrect sheerlegs and it sometimes took several days to step the masts in a vessel, according to her size.

Buried Trees Uncovered Traces of an old forest were uncovered when the relief workers who are improving tho bed of the Oakley Creek to the west of Richardson Road, wete digging short deviations to straighten the course of the stream. After digging through a thick deposit of clay tho workmen came to a deep layer of compressed roots and spongy vegetation resembling peat. The trunks of several large matai and rata trees were unearthed, the timber being in a good state of preservation. The trees had to be removed to permit tho free flow of water through the new channel and the men wore allowed to cut them up for firewood. The timber was found to be very hard and when dried made excellent fuel. West Coast Horses "Tho West Coast horses are most intelligent animals," said Mr. W. A. Kennedy in tho course of a lantern lecture dealing with a trip from Nelson to Queenstown, via the West Coast, to members of tho Workers' Educational Association in Christehureh. "If you were to take a horse from tho Canterbury Plains you would probably lose the horse and yourself, too," he stated. A West Coast horse would swim a river and think no more about the matter. If tho rider were to cross the river on a footbridge the horse would swim alono and wait on the other side for the owner. In the same way the horses in the Queenstown district wore full of wisdom and knew their jobs thoroughly. In dealing with a river-bed where there was quicksand, a local horso would sometimes refuse to cross a't as many as five or six different places before he would find a safe spot. The horse knew far better than his rider what ground was safe and what was not.