LOCAL AND GENERAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23000, 30 March 1938, Page 12

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Flowers Bloom Twice The unusual weather experienced this summer is reflected in the garden of an Ostend resident, where a scarlet bottle-brnsh tree is in full bloom for the second time this season. Lilac trees and rhododendron bushes also bear a second array of blossoms, and a guava bush carries both maturing fruit and flower buds.

Jurors Not Required For the second time this "week the services of a jury summoned to attend the Supreme Court have not been required, and their orders to attend have had to be cancelled at short notice. The hearing of a divorce petition which was to have been contested to-day is not now coming on, and there are no further jury cases this week.

Mariposa's Time-table To avoid her arrival at Auckland from San Francisco on Good Friday, the time-table of the Matson liner Mariposa, which left Los Angeles yesterday on her southward voyage, has been advanced a day throughout. The Mariposa will arrive here on Thursday, April 14, and sail the same day for Sydney, where she is due the following Sunday. Drivers' Award

A special order of the Second Court of Arbitration adding a large number of parties in the Northern industrial district to the motor and horse drivers' award has been issued. A clause in the order applies to undertakers the section of the award which gives power to employers to make special arrangements for hours of work in certain circumstances, provided that the total hours do not exceed 44 weekly.

Musick Memorial Fund Included in the accounts which were passed for payment by the Auckland Harbour Board at a meeting yesterday was an item for £250, representing the board's contribution toward the memorial being established to commemorate the flights across the Pacific and his work for aviation by Captain K. C. Musick, commander of the Pan American Airways Samoan Clipper, which met disaster near Samoa. The money has now been paid to the Musick Memorial Award Committee.

Hobson Whar! Progress A report to the Auckland Harbour Board yesterday on the construction of the new Hobson Wharf, or coastal trading jetty which is being built to the west of Prince's Wharf, stated that the'concreting of the bearing piles had now been completed. Up to last Thursday 129 of the main piles had been driven, representing 61 per cent of the total. In addition 7700 square ft. of decking had been concreted, making a total of 22,462 square ft., or 45 per cent of the total area. Progress on the work had been satisfactorily maintained.

Tomatoes in City Street A vegetable garden of sorts is trying to establish itself in Hereford Street. Christchurch, in the heart of the business area. Among all the excavation, pile-driving and steel welding for a new building, self-sown tomato plants are flourishing. How the seed got there is a mystery, but it is an even creator mystery that it ever germinated, or that the plants, once up, were able to survive. One suggested explanation is that a tomato may have been thrown ciuit from a restaurant kitchen that once stood near by, and, after drying, was broken and its seeds scattered durine the recent building activity. Mishap in Customs Street

A large crowd collected and traffic was temporarily delayed in Customs Street East about 2.30 yesterday afternoon when a tram and a motor-car were involved in a collision at the corner of Commerce Street. The tram struck and buckled the left rear mudguard of the car when the latter stopped across the tram track in avoiding other traffic. No one was injured. A line of outward-bound trams soon formed along Customs Street toward Queen Street, and motor-cars had difficulty in passing the many s[)eetators on the roadway. The position was relieved with the removal of the damaged, car and the arrival of traffic officers. Estimates Exceeded Estimates framed by the City Council of the amounts of current rates and arrears of rates which would be collected for the financial year just ending have been exceeded. The total rates struck were £560,050 and it was estimated that the collections would reach £512,500 by the end of March. However. up to March 15, a total of £515,554 had been received, or 100.59 per cent of the estimate. At the same date Inst year the collections amounted to 101.01 per cent of the estimate and in the previous year 99.70 per cent. Arrears of rates at March 31 of last year stood at £86,665, and it was estimated that £47.850 would be collected. The actual result has been £19,553, or 103.56 per cent of the estimate. This compares with 1"13.56 per cent for last year and 70.62 for the year before.

Checking Mosquito Menace The need for greater activity on the part of local hodics in checking the mosquito menace lias been demonstrated by the experience of a group of Morningside residents. In one particular street the householders have been literally plagued by mosquitoes during the hot weather, and a few days ago two or three men set out in an endeavour to locate the breeding place of the insects. A search revealed that the surface of water beneath the gratings in the stormwater drains was almost alive with mosquito larvae. The residents immediately obtained supplies of oil and proceeded to spray the drains, not only in their own street, but in other streets in the vicinity. As a result, they have not been troubled by mosquitoes for the last four nights.

Busy Day for Fire Brigades A busy day was experienced by the city and suburban fire brigades yesterday, six calls being answered in and near the city. An engine from the central station was summoned to an outbreak in a rubbish heap behind the Occidental Hotel at about J3.40 in the afternoon, the fire being extinguished without The wash-house and pantry of a six-roomed dwelling at 2 Oxton Road, Sandringhnm, occupied by Mrs. M. R. Flood and owned bj Mr. J. West, of Mount Albert Road, were damaged by fire at about 1 p.m. before the outbreak was extinguished by the Mount Eden Brigade. The engine from the Remuera Station was called out when a truck owned by Winstone, Limited, caught fire in Remuera Road, while the Great South Road, Central and Mount Roskill Brigades were summoned to other minor outbreaks.