LOCAL AND GENERAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21396, 20 October 1934, Page 12

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Baby Named Marina Royalty frequently has a pronounced bearing on the naming of children, and, following the recent engagement of Prince George, now Duke of Kent, to Princess Marina, Auckland now has its first infant Marina. The child was born, very appropriately, in King George V. Hospital, Rotorua. Night Trips for Ambulance Two runs into the country were made by a St. John ambulance between 10 i p.m. on Thursday and 6.30 yesterday morning. The driver and his assistant on night duty covered over 150 mites in the course of the t . two trips. The inachine left Rutland Street for Pukekoho about 10 p.m., and was no sooner back in the city than it was despatched to Bombay. Both runs were undertaken to bring victims of illness to hospital. " Old Oontemptibles " Another step toward the formation of a branch in Wellington of the Old Contemptibles' Association was taken at a meeting of men who were among tho "First Hundred Thousand" British soldiers to enter the war in France and Belgium. The meeting decided to ask Colonel A. D. Carberry to act as chairman of the branch when it has been finally established. About .35 men now have indicated their intention of joining the branch. Cold Day in Auckland There was a pleasant but cold change in the weather yesterday, although light showers were experienced early in the morning and sharp showers of hail and rain fell in the eastern suburbs in the evening. Although the weather was fine during the day, the moderate southerly wind blowing caused a drop in the temperature and made the conditions noticeably cold. The thermometer registered 59 degrees at four o'clock in the afternoon, compared with 65 degrees at the same hour on Thursday.

Penguin in Wellington Harbour Considerable attention was attracted recently by the appearance of a young penguin in the water in Wellington Harbour. The bird, which, according to some workmen engaged in the vicinity, was the same one as appeared there last year, was busy catching fish. It would swim out along the edge of one of the wharves, dive, and swim under water at great speed toward the junction of two wharves, driving tho fish before it. The speed attained by the bird seemed to be almost twice that of the fish, and it seemed to have no difficulty in catching what it wanted. First New Zealand War Casualty In the course of the action against the Turks at the Suez Canal in February, 1915, Private E. Ham, of Motueka, a member of the Twelfth Nelson Company, was 1 wounded and later died. He was the first New Zealander to lose his life in the war. Among those who were present at the reunion of survivors of the Main Body of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in Wellington on Tuesday was Private Ham's brother, also Major Brereton, who commanded the company, and others who were at the graveside when Private Ham was buried at Ismailia. Railway Excursionists

About 1000 excursionists will leave Auckland for various North' Island resorts by four special trains to-day. Two trains leaving for Rotorua at 1.20 p.m. and 1.45 p.m. are expected to carry a total of 500 people, and one taking passengers for Te Aroha, National Park and Waitomo Caves will have a complement of about 300. This train will leave Auckland at 1.15 p.m. About 200 travellers will go north by a train leaving for Whangarei at 6.45 a.m. The excursionists will return to the city after the long week-end made possible by Labour Day. In addition, all the regular trains are certain to be well patronised over the holiday period.

Advertising Auckland at Melbourne Support of a proposal by the Auckland Travel Club to publish a booklet advertising attractions to be held in Auckland in the summer, for distribution among visitors to the Melbourne Centenary celebrations, was given at a meeting of the council of the Auckland Agricultural and Pastoral Association yesterday. A request for a donation of a guinea toward the publication was granted. A letter from the club stated it was proposed to distribute in Melbourne 4000 copies of a brochure advertising activities in Auckland in November, December, January and February, including the summer show in February. The purpose of the booklet would be to encourage visitors to Melbourne to extend their tours to the Dominion.

Spring-time Scenes The countryside between Auckland and Hamilton is now revealing all the glories of spring. Both wild and cultivated flowering shrubs and trees are blooming in profusion, and in many well-kept gardens along the route fine specimens of lilac and flowering cherry trees. Just past the Great South Road tram terminus the cherry trees planted along the roadside for about a mile are in full (lower and, although the wind and rain of the last few days have spoiled them somewhat, there is still a fine show of colour. The willowclad banks of tho Waikato River are clothed in green with the new season's foliage, while on the Taupiri Mountain and the bush-clad slopes of the hills between Huntlv and Ngaruawahia there are splashes of the blood-red crimson flowers of the rata. Some magnificent specimens of the rata, in full flower, are to be seen on tho hill above the burial ground of tho late Maori King. To Mahuta, near Taupiri. South African Conditions As a result of the high price of gold, business is booming in Johannesburg, the great South African city on the Rand. Writing to a friend in Invercargiil, a resident of the Union states that streets are being opened up and many buildings are being erected. A number of these are of the American skyscraper type, 10, 15, and 20 storeys. The growth of Johannesburg is described as marvellous, and there is not a carpenter or a bricklayer out of work. Brick kilns cannot copo with tho demand. Many of the latest buildings have roof gardens where afternoon tea can be served 200 ft. skyward. On the other hand, however, fanners and graziers are suffering loss and ruin, not only on account of low prices, but owing to drought, disease and locusts, which are making the lot of the man on the land very hazardous. At Bloemfontein, in the Orange River Colony, a sale of over 1800 head of droughtbtricken cattle was held recently. Prices ranged from 10s to 2s 6d a head, and many were given away.