LOCAL AND GENERAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22404, 28 April 1936, Page 10

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Titania's Palace Tho number of people to inspect Titania's Palace, which is now on exhibition in Christchurch, last Friday constituted a record for New Zealand. During the day a total of 1310 persons visited tho palace, thus exceeding Auckland's highest figure by 100. Shotgun Accident An unusual accident occurred in North Auckland yesterday. A Maori. Ness Toki, aged 25 years, farm hand, of Whakapara, was using a shotgun when tho barrel exploded as ho fired Ho received a wound on the left hand and was admitted to tho Whangaroi Hospital. " Made Enough Noise " In a civil claim, arising out of a motor collision, which was heard in the Invercargill Magistrate's Court last week, counsel for the defence was crossexamining a witness on the extent of her husband's injuries. " Did your husband suffer much? " he asked. "He made enough noise, anyway. I don't know whether ho suffered or not," was the reply. Empire Air Mail To-day An Empire air mail, which was despatched from London on April 12, arrived at Wellington from Sydney by tho Monowai last evening. Six bags of letter mail, including the air mail and Australian mail, will reach Auckland by the limited express this morning. The second-class mail and parcels will reach Auckland to-morrow morning. Late Run of 'Salmon A surprisingly heavy run of salmon for so late in the season has rewarded those anglers who have refused to be deterred by the poor fishing in Canterbury rivers this season. In the past few days some excellent baskets have been taken in both the Waimakariri and Rakaia Rivers. Reports from the Waitaki indicate that the fishing in that river has also improved recently. Library Examination Honoraria of £3 3s each were awarded by the City Council last night to two members of the City Library staff in recognition of their success in the recent Library Association (London) professional examinations. The chief librarian, Mr. J. Barr, reported that Misse.® F. Lewin and M. Fowlds had succeeded in passing the elemntary examination at the January examinations, and tho council decided to recognise .their efforts. Work lor Kindergartens The lifelong interest of the late Sir Arthur Myers in kindergarten work and juvenile education generally was recalled by the election yesterday of his son, Mr. Kenneth B. Myers to the presidency of the Auckland Kindergarten Association. Sir Arthur's enthusiasm for the movement culminated in the erection of the Myers Free Kindergarten as a gift to the city. Mr. Kenneth Myers has been interested in the work since his return to Auckland. Good Demand for Anzac Stamps The special issue of Anzac commemoration stamps which was made available to the public for the first time yesterday met with a very ready sale at all post offices. Both the penny and twopenny issues sold well. Post office officials stated that many philatelists were acquiring stamps and mailing firstday covers, collectors remembering the rapid appreciation in value of the Jubilee stamps that were issued last year and withdrawn after a comparatively short period. The general public and business firms also were supporting the scheme in an encouraging manner. Ilea Visits City A rare visitor paid his respects to Invercargill last week. He was the black sheep of the family, the New Zealand parrot, or kea. Shortly after nine o'clock, the cry familiar to all lovers of the mountains rang out almost in tho heart of the city. Windows immediately shot up and there, sitting quite unperturbably on a ledge of a factory was a full-grown kea. After a precarious ascent by way of a drainpipe, one adventurer all but got his hand on the bird, which, with its familiar harsh cry, flapped away to the comparative security of the trees in a vacant section. There it remained for some time. Use of Leisure That the comparative lack of imaginative literature produced in New Zealand was due to a misuse of leisure rather than to lack of it, was maintained by Mr. O. N. Gillespie, when speaking at a Wellington Authors Week gathering about fiction in New Zealand. " New Zealand," he said, " endowed all its people with leisure, but this has been largely dissolved in material pleasures. A country which, with a million and a-half population, gives more in racing stakes than tho British Isles can hardly be said to be spending its rest period in contemplation or imaginative production, but bound up with this is the perfectly laudable and natural desire for the acquisition of material comforts." Poplar Trees In Streets A petition from 15 residents of Domett Avenue, Epsom, praying that the silver poplar trees in tho streets be replaced by trees of some other variety, owing to damage done to the footpaths by their roots, and that the paths bo repaired, was considered by the City Council last night. Tho superintendent of parks, Mr. E. T. Aldridge, in a report, admitted that pruning had encouraged the spread of tho roots, but stated that he could not recommend the removal of tho trees, as suckers could easily be dealt with as they appeared. On the recommendation of the Works Committee it was decided to approve temporary repairs to the road and path surfaces and to leave tho trees in place pending a report on the cost of removing all poplar trees from streets in tho city. Stupid Hoax A telephone message received by the Invercargill police tho other night stated:—" There has been a serious accident at the Waikiwi Creek and 1 want you to send the ambulance and a constable out immediately, as somebody is seriously hurt." The call was accepted as A genuine one for, though no name was given, such messages aro usually genuine, as witnesses often prefer to be anonymous. The ambulance was despatched to the scene and a constable also went out, but there had been no accident. The fact that the police were caused a great deal of needless inconvenience was not the most serious aspect of the case, but the ambulance, while out on a fruitless errand, might have been needed for a genuine case of necessity somewhere else. It was later discovered that the anonymous call came from a public slot machine in the city.