LOCAL AND GENERAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22008, 15 January 1935, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Waterside Workers' Picnic The members of the Waterside Workers' Union will hold their annual picnic to-morrow and no cargo work will be done on vessels in port. The picnic will take place at Motuihi. Accident Victims' Condition The condition of Mrs. Elizabeth Hulse, -of St. Helijjrs Bay, who was injured when a motor-car in which she was driving with her husband collided with another car on the waterfront road on Saturday, is still serious. I' nrther improvement occurred yesterday in the condition of Mr, Hulse, who is now out of danger. Mongooses for Dunedin Two mongooses, consigned to the Dunedin Zoo, are on board the steamer Narbada, which arrived at Auckland from Calcutta yesterday. The mongoose is a small animal of great domestic value in India, as it is an enemy of snakes and, a-s such, is invaluable when it can be persuaded to stay about a house. Many of the animals grow quite tame and become most attractive household pets. Sheep Killed by Alsatian Dog An Alsatian dog. among some sheep last week on the Selma Estate at Pendarves, near Ashburton, killed one lamb and three ewes. A number of other ewes were mauled by the dog and it is expected that they will have to be destroyed. The dog turned on Mr. T. Weir, manager of the estate, when he endeavoured to chase it, and he had to retreat to his cart. He sent a bov for a gun, with which the dou was shot. Newspaper in Court The fact that it is an offence to read a newspaper during a Court sitting was pointed out in the Hamilton Police Court yesterday, when the magistrate, Mr. S. L. Paterson, stopped proceedings for a moment to draw the attention of the clerk of the Court to the fact that a solicitor was reading a paper. The clerk reminded the offender that the action constituted contempt of Court, and the newspaper was promptly put away. Work at Hobsonville Base Excellent progress is being made with the levelling of the landing field at the Hobsonville aerodrome. The parties working under contract are now engaged on the higher part of the field, the face of the excavation in many cases being over four feet high. At the same time the material to be moved has to be wheeled a considerable distance. The long spell of dry weather has made the Bubsoil hard to deal with and this has slowed up the work. Fresh Pastures for Cattle In view of the arid conditions prevailing in the Waikato farmers are finding it increasingly difficult to feed stock and the opportunity is being taken in certain cases to move cattle to parts of the country where there is more grass. Evidence of this is given by the fact that two special stock trains have been arranged to transport beasts to Kirikopuni, in North Auckland, where the rains have been responsible for a splendid growth of grass for this time of the year. Laburnum's Last Cruise The Imperial sloop, H.M.S. Laburnum, commanded by Commander A. H. Maxwell-Hyslop, returned to Auckland yesterday morning after her final Southern cruise and berthed at the Devonport Naval Base. During the next few weeks the vessel will undergo preparations for her voyage to England, where she will be dismantled. The Laburnum is expected to leave Auckland about the end of next month. She will be replaced on the New Zealand station, probably about May, bv the new oil-burning convoy sloop H.M.S. Wellington.

Holiday Railway Traffic In order to cater for the heavy railway traffic resulting from the holidays, both inward and outward New Plymouth trains will be run as separate units to-day. Normally passengers are carried on the main line expresses in special coaches which are taken off at Taumaranui. The northbound train will arrive in Auckland, this morning at 6.38 and the Southbound train will leave at 7.18 this evening. Although this arrangement has been necessary in consequence of the busy season and may be continued under special circumstances in the future, the Railway Department reports that the demand is too erratic to make it necessary as a regular service. Safety on Tramcars * Specimens of a warning notice in effective colours, designed to instruct people in th,e correct method of alighting from tramcars, have been placed in some trams. The precaution has taken because of the practice of numbers of people, especially women, in alighting with their backs toward the direction in which a car is moving. Serious injuries have resulted upon occasions. The notice in use shows a woman alighting wrongly, and also the correct method of leaving a car, facing the direction of travel. Between the two diagrams is a smaller representation of an "ambulance which has arrived to attend a victim who has suffered by using the wrong method. Quick Aeroplane Tiip In completion of a quick return flight to lnvercargill, during which he carried air mail for the Royal party in the south, Flight-Lieutenant S. Wallingford arrived at Hobsonville aerodrome at 3.45 yesterday afternoon. Flying a Fairey lII.F aeroplane, he left on Saturday morning and flew through to lnvercargill. On Sunday afternoon he made the journey to Wigram Aerodrome in 2 hours 40 minutes flying time. Leaving Christchurch at 9.15 a.m. yesterday, the trip to Hobsonville was made in 4 hours 50 minutes flying time, a halt being made at Palmerston North fov refuelling. Slight headwinds were encountered during both journeys, which were without incident. Loss of Library Books

Compared with Christchurch, where the central library is reported to have suffered considerably as a result of the unauthorised removal of books and acts of vandalism, the citizens of Auckland are fortunate in the treatment which their property receives. "Considering the amount of use made of our library," said the deputy-chief librarian, Mr. A. D. Cunningham, yesterday, "our losses are relatively small, and do not justify a departure from the 'open access' system at present employed." On an average, Mr. Cunningham continued, about 75 books were lost each year. Most of them were small in size, so that they could be removed in the pocket of a coat. Books usually taken related to useful arts, language and literature, fine arts, philosophy and religion, biography and travel and science. In most cases it was possible to replace them without difficulty.