LOCAL AND GENERAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22353, 26 February 1936, Page 12

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Fall While at Work While at work on the new picturetheatre building in Wellesley Street East about mid-day yesterday, Mr. R. Greaves, aged 34, married, of 155 Nelson Street, City, fell. He was taken to the Auckland Hospital in a St. John ambulance, and it is believed He may have suffered a fracture of the pelvis. His condition is not regarded as serious. Building at Papatoetoe "Those figures are very satisfactory following upon a depression period," remarked a member of the Papatoetoe Town Board at a meeting of the board last night, when the half-yearly return on building was submitted. It showed that permits had been issued in respect of 29 buildings of a total value of £10,098. There had been 12 now residences and one business block erected in the past six months. New Church on Haiti Hill A handsome new church is nearing completion at the Te Poho-o-rawiri Pa, Kaiti, Gisborne. Built on modern ! lines, with seating for 150 people, the church stands on the slopes of Kaiti Hill just behind the fine meetinghouse which is so well known to visitors to the East Coast. The church will be known as the Holy Trinity Church and will be consecrated by Bishop Williams and Bishop Bennett on March 6. > Difficulties of Taxi Drivers A request that the board institute a uniform system of house numbering in the district was received by the Mount Roskill Road Board at its meeting last night from a leading City tax'cab firm. It was pointed out that the cab drivers encountered considerable difficulty in locating addresses owing to some numbers being attached to gates and others to houses. The board decided to reply that it had no jurisdiction in the matter. Ratepayers will be requested, however, to affix number-plates to gateposts. Mount Albert Finances . The sound financial position of the Mount Albert Borough Council and the recovery made in recent years was revealed at a meeting of the council last night, when details of the district fund account were submitted in the town clerk's report. The fund now showed a credit balance of £2536 against a debit last year amounting to £17,573. "I have waited for this day when we could show a credit balance," said the Mayor, Mr. R. Ferner, who pointed out that in 1931 the council had an overdraft of £34,000. Ash Wednesday To-day is Ash Wednesday,' marking the commencement of the 40 days of Lent. The name is derived from an ancient custom still observed by the Roman Catholic Church of marking the foreheads of the congregation in church with consecrated ashes obtained by burning the palms blessed on the previous Palm Sunday. The day is kept in the Anglican Churches, except the American Episcopal Church, by the recital of the Commination service, or solemn "denouncing of God's anger and judgments against sinners." Cicadas' Midnight Concert To hear a cricket at night is common, to hear a cicada at night ,is a little jjeculiar, but to hear a host of cicadas rasping heartily in the depth of night is distinctly unusual. Such, however, was the experience of an Auckland resident this week. A powerful street lamp close against some trees which harboured large numbers of the insects presumably created the illusion of sunlight, and the heat of the night did the rest, with the result that all the cicadas in the vicinity began their rasping without due consideration of the hour. Dismal Schoolrooms Brighter schoolrooms were advocated bv Mr. C. M. Littlejohn, headmaster of the Auckland Grammar School, in addressing old boys of the school at a luncheon in Milne and Choyce's Reception Hall yesterday. Schoolrooms were dismal places, he said, but the modern idea was to make them bright and attractive and to surround the boys with reproductions of works of art. He saw no reason why a step forward should not be made in this direction at the Auckland Grammar School to beautify the classrooms, instead of having dreary walls stained with frequent blots of ink. Use of Radio-telephone A marked improvement in the use made of the overseas radio-telephone service during December and January is reported by the Post and Telegraph Department. The number of calls during this period totalled 164, compared with 73 in the previous December and January. The service has been provided by the New Zealand Post Office since November, 1930. The charges have been gradually reduced, although on the basis of last year's results, it is stated, the business while growing cannot be regarded as a flourishing one. In 1931 the total number of calls inward and outward between New Zealand and Australia and Great Britain was 285, and in 1935 the total was 724. Heavy Arrivals of Oranges Heavy arrivals of oranges from Jamaica, together with a shipment from California, have caused a weakening in price at the City Markets. A shipment which should have arrived from Jamaica by the Fordsdale about the end of January was sent by the Empire Star, which, instead of arriving a month before the next shipment, was only a fortnight ahead of the Port Brisbane, due at Auckland next week. In the meantime, a quantity arrived from California by the Mariposa, and the position was further weakened by the fact that the Rangitiki landed Jamaican oranges at Wellington and Christchurch about the timo the Empire Star reached Auckland, thus filling requirements of the southern markets. Pedestrian's Lucky Escape There is a lucky man walking the streets of Dunediji, He missed having his neck broken by a fraction of an inch on Saturday. He was walking in High Street when a motor-car, coming out of a right-of-way sounded its horn. He waited until it had passed and then stepped forward: If he had looked groundward he would have seen a taut tow rope behind the car. His failure to look nearly cost him his "life. As he moved across the right-of-way he tripped over the tow ropo and fell in front of the towed vehicle. His neck was directly in the course of the right-hand front wheel and the wheel was actually brought suddenly to rest against his neck, which was pressed on to the ground, but not sufficiently to cause serious injury.