LOCAL AND GENERAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22688, 29 March 1937, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Power Board Election By Order-in-Council the first election of members of the Bay of Islands Electric-Power Board has heen fixed for April 14. The representation of constituent districts on the board is to be as follows: —Mangonui and Bay of Islands counties, two members each; Kaikohe and Kaitaia town districts, one nieml*r each. Accident Victim's Condition A slight improvement was reported yesterday in tbe condition of Mr. Oliver Claude Groves, of Franklin I load, Ponsonbv, who was admitted to the Auckland Hospital last Thursday night, suffering from concussion and lacerations of the scalp, caused through falling down a (light of stairs. His condition is still fairly serious. Crowded Theatres The rain which fell steadily throughout Saturday may have depressed some persons, but it was a cause for joy for the managers of theatres. On Saturday night and afternoon queues of patrons, sometimes 50 yards long, lined the footpaths on either sidd of Queen Street, and at each session the principal theatres were packed. Holiday Drunkenness As a result of Faster festivities over the previous two days, six middle-aged j and elderly men were charged with j drunkenness in the Police Court on | Saturday. .Most of the arrests were j made on Thursday night, and all these | offenders were bailed out for Good I Fridav. Finos were imposed by Mr. W. It. McKean, S.M., ranging from 10s to I £ 1 10s, with defaults fixed at from 21 hours' imprisonment to throe days. Thieves Enter Small Store About !'•"> worth of tobacco, cigarettes | and sweets were stolen from a small lock-up store iu \\ esj Coast Road, Glen Fden, on Saturday night. The shop was closed at 8 p.m. on Saturday, and between then and 10.10 a.m. yesterday someone broke two small panels in j the front door and slipped the latch, i The owner. Miss Kathleen Lyons, was: away for the holiday period, and will not return to Auckland until this j afternoon. Very Few Accidents In striking contrast to the Christmas j holidays, the Faster period brought only six accident cases to the Auckland Hospital. None of these was serious in character. All told, only 50 surgical, medical and general emergency cases were admitted to hospital from Thursday night to last night. Ihe St. John Ambulance headquarters at Rutland Street were comparatively quiet yesterday, and the drivers were able to attend to certain necessary minor repairs to the ambulances. Whale Seen from Air When piloting a Western Federated Flying Club aeroplane from Wellington to Wanganui last week. Flying-Officer lan Keith, club instructor, sighted a dead whale about oOft. long lying on a beach about six miles north of the Rangitikei River. At the time the machine was flying 50ft. from the water and the corrugations on the underpart of the mammal, which appeared to have been dead for some time, identified it as a right whale. Portion of Giant Squid The strange mass of flesh which was recently washed ashore in the Kaipara Harbour inside the South Head, and which at first puzzled zoologists, has been identified as portion of the head and base of the tentacles of a giant squid, a species of octopus or cuttle fish that develops to enormous dimensions, up to about 70ft. across. A block of the flesh was chopped out with a hatchet to be tested at the museum, and it was found to be boneless and muscular. The whole mass was covered with a. coarse type of hair, and measured loft, one way and Oft. another. Rare Fish Caught Similar in shape and colouring to a trevalli, although actually of the kingfish species, the first samson taken from New Zealand waters has been added to the collection of the Auckland War Memorial Museum. It was recently hooked in 20 fathoms about three miles off the Houhora Heads from the fishing launch Podgora. The fish was a little over a foot long, although they growto twice that length oft' the New South Wales coast, where they abound. The samson has a name for being a game fighter and popular sporting fish, on account of its strength and jumping when hooked. Fishing from a Motor-car Undaunted by the wet weather which prevailed in Auckland yesterday, a party of fishermen enjoyed their sport from the shelter of a motor-car parked on the end of King's Wharf. Several fishing lines could be seen leading from the windows of the car into the dee]) water off the end of the quay. Further ingenuity was shown by another sportsman, who secured his line firmly to a ring bolt and balanced a thin stick under the line as it passed over the end of the wharf. A bite from a fish caused the stick to collapse, upon which the fisherman would rush from the shelter of the shed near by. Ragwort Pest "L know that there is a lot, of ragwort in New Zealand, particularly in the North Island," remarked the Hon. W F. Barnard. Speaker of the House of Representatives, in an address in lnv'uvargill. "But I was astonished by what I saw coming from Dunedin to Invercargill to-day. On both sides of the train there was good and closely settled land, but I have never before seen so much ragwort on such good farming country. Is not that a small indication that we need a larger population, that the farmers now are not able to keep weeds and pests in check? Ragwort is not an immigrant that should be encouraged !" Loans Authorised Consent to the borrowing by the ' Auckland Metropolitan Fire Board of j U.'fO.OOO by way of bank overdraft for i the purchase of a new central station I site is given by an Order-in-Council I published iu the latest Gazette. The money, or any part of it, may be borrowed within the next two years and for a term not exceeding three years. Repayment, is to be made in annual instalments of not less than £IOOO, and no part of the interest may be paid out of loan money. Consent is also to be given to the borrowing of .£'(50,000 by the Haitraki Plains County Council for the provision of a water supply in its eastern district, and the borrowing of £200,000 by the Wellington City Council for sewerage improvement*.