LOCAL AND GENERAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21615, 6 October 1933, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Measles at Infant School The prevalence of measles has seriously affected the attendance at the Whakatane infant school. Over 50 pupils are absent through the malady. Child Fractures Thigh Through falling from a fence a child, Raymond Norton, aged two years and nine months, whoso parents, Mr. and Mrs. Noil Norton, reside at 6 Prospect Terrace, Mount Albert, fractured a thigh vesterday. He was taken to the Auckland Hospital in a St. John ambulance. Control of Parking With the object of keeping closer supervision over parking in the city streets the City Council decided last evening to appoint an additional temporary traffic officer. It was stated tho traffic staff had been reduced from time to time by resignations and tho vacancies had not been filled. Zoo Admission Charge A proposal to restore the adult admission charge at the zoo, which was reduced last December from Is to 9d, except on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, to Is on all days was laid before the City Council last evening. The Parks Committee, which recommended the change, stated the reduction, made by way of trial, had not brought increased public patronage. The matter was referred back to the committee. Castor Bay Park A substantial seawall has been built at the northern end of the Castor Bay beach and the space behind the wall is being filled in to make an esplanade. The bathing shed, which has been built of brick on artistic lines, at the end of the wall, is now finished, and all improvements will be completed within six weeks. The wall is overhung by large pohutukawa trees which make a picturesque entrance to the aitomata County Council's park. Waihou Bridge Work The first pile of a new ferro-concrete bridge over the Waihou River about three miles from Tirau on the main Auckland-Rotorua highway has been driven and it is anticipated that the bridge will be in use by Christmas. The Automobile Association has received advice that it is expected that the cutting above the bridge which will obviate the rather dangerous and circuitous climb on the Rotorua side will be completed and in use at tho same time.

Sloop's Island Oruise The annual Island cruise of the Imperial sloop H.M.S. Veronica, commanded by Captain W. L. Jackson, is now drawing to a close. The Veronica left Suva yesterday to visit some of the outlying islands in the Fiji group and she is due back at Auckland on Saturday, October 14. The sloop has had an unduly protracted cruise, as she left Auckland on June 16. She will have only a short stay on her return, as she will sail on November 13 on S cruise to Southern ports.

Alsatian and Sheep An Alsatian dog which was shot when worrying a sheep on a farm at Mauku was the subject of a sheep worrying claim heard in the Supreme Court yesterday. "I cannot understand why they ever allowed them to come into the country," said Mr. Justice Herdman, who tried the case. The owner of the dog admitted that it might have been responsible for the death of six sheep on the morning it was found, but denied any responsibility for the loss of over 50 sheep that had been discovered driven into a swamp the day before. ♦ Grateful Ratepayers It is not often that a local body receives thanks from residents for improvement works that it has carried out, but the City Council has had that unusual experience. At the meeting of the council last evening several residents of Almorah Road, Epsom, wrote expressing their appreciation of the improvements made by the council recently, including the extension of tho surface of the road. They went further in complimenting the men engaged on the way in which it had been carried out. Australian Wild Flowers Supplies of seeds of Australian wild flowers, the Kangaroo's Paw, Sturt's Desert Pea and the sweet scented boronia, have been presented to the Auckland City Council by Mr. W. H. Hemingway, formerly a resident of the city. In a letter received by the council last evening, Mr. Hemingway expressed the hopo that the council would be able to make use of these seeds so that in due course Aucklanders, and particularly the children, might see these flowers blooming in their natural state. The counoil thanked Mr. Hemingway for hsa thoughtful action.

New Art Gallery Development The introduction of "period rooms" was mentioned by Mr. John Barr in the course of an address to the Auckland Society of Arts yesterday, as one of the most interesting developments that had been made possible in art galleries in tho United States through their immense wealth and the specialisation in which they were able to indulge. These rooms were arranged in chronological order, and were decorated in the style of the period they represented. The furnishings, ornaments and pictures were all examples of the art and culture of the time. The exhibits were not ticketed, but they were educational in the highest sense.

Ungentlemanly Motorists Cyclists were criticised severely at the annual meeting of the Canterbury Automobile Association, when Professor P. H. Powell complained of the motorists themselves. He often rode a bicycle, he said, and when he did so he found that the behaviour of motorists toward him and other cyclists was certainly ungentlemanly. A motor-car would turn a corner or stop with practically no warning, right in tho path of a cyclist, leaving him to get out of a difficulty as best he could. He agreed when he drove a motor-car that cyclists were a nuisance; but when ho rode his bicyclo he found that motorists were also nuisances. Sharp Street Corner

Suggestions for the improvement of the intersection of Emily Place and Beach Road by cutting back the present sharp corner by about 20ft. were considered by the City Council last evening. The city engineer, Mr. J. Tyler, estimated that the work would cost £75. The proposal was favoured by the Works Committee and referred to the Finance Committee", which recommended that the work be Rioted for provision in next year's estimates. This was agreed to. On the recommendation of the Finance Committee it was decided to award a bonus of £1 Is to "Safety," a member of the City Council staff, who made the proposal.