LOCAL AND GENERAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23115, 13 August 1938, Page 14

LOCAL AND GENERAL

i School Holidays • Primary schools in Auckland will close for the term holidays from .Friday ' of next week They will bo closed for a fortnight, the reopening day] being • Monday, September 5. Practically all ; the secondary schools .-.ro also closing from next Friday, but the pe/riod of the holiday is just over three/ weeks. They Avill reopen on Tuesday,: Septem- , ber 13. ' Flood Damage in North j It is estimated by the Whangarei . County engineer, Mr. J. Morris, that I it will cost £623 to repair dariiage done to roads in the eastern coastal areas ! of the Whangarei County during the i recent storm. This does not^allow for [ minor repairs, and an application is . to be made to tho Government for a ' £3 for £1 subsidy for repairs ncccssi--1 tated by the flood on July f26. i Large Landslide • One of the largest landslides on Wair hcko Island in recent years occurred ' during tho storm which' swept the . Auckland Province on Tuesday. A cliff ( approximately 150 ft. high, fronting the sea on the western side of Palm Beach , collapsed, and hundreds of tons of ' spoil were spilled across ilie beacli and ! into tho water. Tho landslide occurred 1 in an unfrequented /part of tho | island. Shag's Meal of Eels A particularly large black shag shot at Lake Forsyth was received recently by the Canterbury Museum. Tho shag weighed Gib. 120z., boit when it was ' j opened it was found j that tho 12oz. 1 represented tho weigVit of two nn--1 digested eels, one of) 9oz. and 20in. 1 long, and tho other of 3oz. and 12in. long. Tho shag was/flying low when 1 i shot and looked as ' though it was i weighed down by the eels. Conversion of Scow 1 After lying in Rotken Itow for many j years, the old Auckland scow Echo has Inow been given a /new lease of life. ! At present sho is hn/nled up on the slipi way of C. Bailey land Son, Limited, j being converted in/to a bnrgc. It has ■ beeii found that long idleness has j seriously deteriorated much of her j woodwork and majuy new timbers are being put into her (hull and sides. When , finished she will bte put into use carrying shingle for {McCallum Brothers, Limited, to Auckland from the gulf. Complaints About | Firearms A watch to prevent the discharge . of firearms in tilie gathering area of Lake Takapuna'a watershed is to bo kept by the TakJapuna police. In reply to complaints -q.hicli it had made to tho authorities, the North Shore Boroughs (AuckJland) Water Board was informed by the police at a meeting yesterday that the Takapuna station would attend t/o the matter. Members stated that in j the shooting season the illegal discharge of firearms in this area had been a serious danger to a number of persons. Mount Eden With tho tfcity again favoured by spring sunshi/ne after some days of unsettled weatlner, the summit of Mount Eden was a popular spot for visitors and idle city residents yesterday morning. Several women were to bo seen in sheltered spots, their attention divided between admiration of tho ! wide panorama and the pursuit of the domestic tafsks of knitting, sewing and darning. Shortly before noon a large party of Auckland Grammar School pupils chose the summit as the goal for a morn/ing route march. Technical "Tliere i is no necessity for anyone to apologjise for sending a boy or girl to a technical high school." said Dr. D. E. Hansen, principal of the Christchurch College, in an address recently. The New Zealand type of technical high school was now well established, he said. He quoted a remark tay Dr. I. L. Kandel, of Columbia University, New York, to tho effect that the New Zealand technical high sehoolfwas one of the most interesting educational developments he had seen. The Liaw's Delays "Aril there somo places where the Magistrate's Court does not sit for two or thCree months?" asked Mr. Justice Fair jin the Supremo Court yesterday. Countsel had just said that proceedings had been taken in the Magistrate's Coufirt against a bankrupt, but no hearing | could be obtained for about two months because it was in the country. In to His Honor, counsel snid he 'was not certain whether tho case bo at Wellsford or Warkworth, bufc. there were places where the Court sat, only at intervals of months. Stvidents Leave for Chateau Mho railway station was enlivened yesterday afternoon when about 50 stfiidents from tlio Auckland University College left by the early express to spend tho first week of the college vacation at the Chateau Tongariro. interest in tho excursion was stimulated by tho visit to tho college last \\|eck of Mr. E. Skardarasy, ski-ing instructor at tho Chateau, who gave a demonstration of tho fundamental principles in tho management of skis. A party of students .from the Auckland Teachers' Training College will also 'visit tho Chateau this week-end. I Good Stocks on Oyster Beds j Stocks of oysters on tho beds in ! Auckland from which tho Fisheries Department obtains its supplies are I described as heavier than at any time in the past 25 years. There was an exceptionally heavy set of the spat on the rocks during the past fivo years, with tho exception of the 1936-37 season, which was a failure from tho aspect of propagation. Cold temperatures caused the failure, for any drop in the temperature of the sea for a period of 15 days in tho incubation period is fatal to tho spat. Tho set of oysters on the rocks last season was the heaviest for many years. Restoring a View To the accompaniment of numerous expressions of regret by tree lovers, Wellington City Council employees are engaged in felling trees on tho south side of tho plantation known as the Fairlio Terraco pines, covering tho hill that lies between tho Kolburn bowling green and the playing field adjoining To Aro School. Tho plantation, more than 20 years old, is a particularly fino one. Residents of Fairlio Terrace, Kolburn Parade and other areas whose harbour view was affected by the growth of tho trees, put their case to the city council last year, which decided to cut down the trees at tho hilltop. This suggestion was criticised by the Wellington Beautifying Society, which pointed out that to destroy the "guard" trees would let tho wind into tho centre and ruin what was ono of the city's finest plantations and a much-admired beauty spot. Tho society was informed that it was only intended to thin out some of the trees at the top of the hill to improve the view.