LOCAL AND GENERAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22390, 9 April 1936, Page 10

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Holiday Season The Herald will not be published to-morrow (Good Friday). For the convenience of advertisers tho Queen Street office will be open to-night until 10 o'clock and to-morrow from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. On Saturday and Monday the office will be open during the usual hours. A Corner Improved A valuable improvement at a busy street intersection is being made by the Newmarket Borough Council, which is setting back and rounding off tho kerb at tho corner of Park and Carlton Gore Roads, opposite Outhwaite Park. The work had been almost completed yesterday. Easter Crowds at Thames Accommodation will be at a premium in Thames during tho Easter holidays, in addition to 190 members of fire brigades who will visit the town for a demonstration, there will also be 22 teams of bowlers. All rooms at the 13 hotels "and five boarding houses have been booked. Many of tho visitors will bo accompanied by thoir wives. Late Westfleld Arrivals A train derailment at Mercer on Tuesday evening was responsible for at least half the beef yarding at Westfield yesterday arriving abnormally late. Usually consignments from the south are all in the yards by 6 a.m., but yesterday the staff was kept busy until late in the morning unloading and penning stock. Building at Newmarket A marked increase in building returns for the year at Newmarket was reported to the Borough Council last night. The report stated that new dwellings of a total value of £5150 and new business premises valued at £8373 had been erected. Additions and alterations to existing premises were valued at £B7BO. The increase over the previous year was £15,902.

Many Train Travellers Nearly 350 people—tho vanguard of the Easter train travellers —were passengers on the limited express which left Auckland last night. To cope with the increased traffic, four extra secondclass carriages, one sleeping car, and ono luggage van had to be attached to the train. There were also two extra second-class carriages on tho New Plymouth express, which carried a fairly large number of passengers. Northcote Scrub Fire

A scrub fire occurred about 7 o'clock last evening in the large vacant section on the hillside near the gasworks at Northcote. Tho ground was covered with long dry watsonia, which burned for some time. The Northcote Fire Brigade considered it advisable to avoid a recurrence of fire by allowing thcdry growth to burn itself out from the Clarence Street frontage down to tho harbour.

Moving Museum Exhibits Although only a week has elapsed since moving operations were commenced at the old Wellington museum, a large proportion of the bulky exhibits have now been stored in the new Dominion Museum in readiness for display. Thg transfer of some of the exhibits is a delicate work, and many of them, such as butterflies, insects, preserved specimens of sea and land life, fragile china and woodwork, will be left to the last.

Activity in Port Harbour Board officials and other port authorities will be kept busy during the next few days. Three overseas vessels, the Port Sydney for London and the Sydney Maru and Waiotapu for Australia, are all scheduled to leave this evening, while the Hurunui is to sail for London at daylight to-morrow. The Rotorua arrives from Liverpool this morning and the Cape of Good Hope will reach port from Tampico to-morrow. Several other ships are expected to leave during the week-end. First Aid by Motor Patrol

Appreciation and praise of the first aid rendered by Patrol C. Walker in a recent serious accident case on the Great South Road was expressed by a Pukekohe doctor in a letter received by the council of the Automobile Association (Auckland) at its meeting last night. "It should make us very proud of our patrols when a medical man praises the first aid rendered by one of them," remarked the president, Mr. A. Grayson, who explained that all the patrols had received St. John Ambulancfc instruction. Railway Delays

The railway service between Morrinsvillo and Frankton has been very erratic for some weeks, largely owing to tho work in progress in relaying the track and in strengthening the Hamilton railway bridge. Between 30 and 4b men are employed between Claudelands and Frankton and all trains are required to slow down to a very low pace when passing over the section of tho line referred to. The Tauranga-Auckland express, in particular, is frequently bohind time in arriving at Frankton, and much inconvenience is caused to passengers.

Puzzle for Motorist A New Plymouth motorist who drives a car that has started willingly every day for tho last two years was surprised tho other day by tho car unexpectedly refusing to answer the most persuasive demands on its mechanism. When the starter failed tho crank handle was brought into commission. The tank was found to contain benzine, tho carburetter was Hooded and all tho other conventional remedies wero tried without avail. A breakdown truck was summoned and when the mechanic failed to start tho defaulter, it was towed to a garage. There it continued an enigma for expert mechanics until ono of them in tho process of sliding between the wheels saw a potato effectively stopping tho exhaust pipe. Bluff-Melbourne Shipping That arrangements for tho recommencement of tho Blufl-Melbourno shipping service should be made in time to cater for thoso in tho south who wished to attend tho Melbourne Cup meeting early in November, and that the service should bo extended until after tho Easter holiday period in 1937, were requests recently made to the Union Steam Ship Company by the Southland League. The secretary of the. league has received advice from the company that these representations have been "duly noted," but that a decision in the matter is not contemplated at "this early stage." The wishes of the league, which are quite understood, will, however, receive consideration a little later. The Marama, which had been maintaining the service between Bluff and Melbourne, went off tho run on March 20. The company stated that the service would be resumed in November.