LOCAL AND GENERAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23134, 5 September 1938, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Naval Reservists' Cruise After remaining in port at Auckland for several months, during which she received refit, the Admiralty minesweeper Wakakura left on Saturday on a fortnight's training cruise with 14 trainees of the J loyal Naval Volunteer Reserve. During the cruise instruction will be given in gunnery, minesweeping and seamanship.

Maori Team Disperses Cheering and singing marked the departure of the limited express for Wellington last night, when southern members of the Maori Rugby team which recently toured Fiji loft for their homes. Members of the Auckland .Rugby Union and local Maoris were at the station, and cheers lor the team •and for the Rugby Union were given.

Spring Bloom Plum, almond and peach trees in suburban gardens and orchards are now showing a wealth of bloom with promise, given favourable weather conditions, of plentiful fruit crops. Golden wattle, however, which with normal weather should be at its best now, has suffered so severely from the heavy rains as to have had an unusually shortspell of beauty.

Large Slip at Waiheke Over 500 yards of rock and spoil, including two large boulders about 12 feet in height, slipped away from a cliff on to the main road from Surfdale to Oneron on Saturday morning. Four men were engaged all day Saturday before the road was sufficiently cleared for traffic. Several weeks ago another slip blocked the road a few hundred yards from the present fall. Advertising on the Air

An admission that he did not like advertising over the air was made by the Minister of Finance, the Hon. W. Nash in an address to supporters at l'etone. Mr. Nash said he had to admit that some people liked advertising by means of the radio, but he did not, and he did not know why people who had their advertisements in the newspapers also wanted them over tho air.

Tree Ignited by Lightning Lightning struck a large? pnriri tree on the property of Mr. J. Kennedy, of Putiki Bay, Waihoke, at tlio height of the storm on Friday night. So severe was Lhe impact that the tree caught fire and burned like a furnace throughout the night and during the following day, until it was totally destroyed. The blaze was watched by many interested residents of the district.

Arapuni Power Plant The turbines of 21,000 and 20,000 kilowatts recently installed at Arapuni are giving every satisfaction. Mr. W. H. Gregory, the engineer who was in charge of their installation, said on Saturday that the new units were "running beautifully." The six turbines installed at the works are in full operation at the present time. The demand on the works is steadily increasing. The power gencrated has reached 110,000 kilowatts during peak periods. Equality of Women

"Women have won the right to equality with man in all phases of national life," stated Mrs. A. M. Nicholson, president of the Old Girls' Association, when unveiling an honours board at the Auckland Girls' Grammar School during the jubilee celebrations on Saturday. She added that opportunities were presented to the girls of to-day which were denied to their parents, and with them the responsibility that the widening influence of women was one of the high ideals of servico to God and humanity.

Two Outbreaks of Fire Two small fires necessitated the attention of suburban fire brigades yesterday afternoon, the first occurring in the kitchen of a house at 11 Ascot Avenue, Reniuera, occupied by Mr. F. S. Downard. The call was received shortly after mid-day and was answered by two engines from the Great South Road and Remuera brigades. A shortcircuit in the engine of a motor-car was the cause of the second alarm. The fire was attended by an engine from the Mount Eden brigade and was extinguished with a chemical extinguisher, only slight damage being done to the carburetter. Safeguarding Trees

"J hose of us with a full admiration for the tree growth around Rotorua sometimes think what a calamity it would bo if a fire got among it," remarked tho Minister of Internal Affairs, tho Hon. W. E. Parry, at Rotorua. "1 know there arc citizens hero who are ever on the alert for the firestick, tho lighted cigarette-end tossed on the wayside, and the camper's fire left smouldering. These citizens who guard the Dominion's forestry are rendering tho district and their country a great service, which will be appreciated by the people of to-day, and will be honoured by those who come after them."

A Valuable Timber Confidence in the future of the pinus insignis- as a building timber was expressed by Mr. James Fletcher, who was speaking at a meeting of St. David's Men's League on Saturday evening. He mentioned that he lnvd built a house of this timber at St. Clair, Dunedin, 26 years ago, and when ho visited it recently he had found it as sound as on tho day ,it was finished. Already, he said, builderswere using 9,000,000 feet of pinus insignis annually in Now Zealand. He predicted that when tho State sawmills were in operation, 30,000,000 or 40,000,000 feet would be used in a year, and that in 10 years New Zealand would be exporting pinus insignis to Australia.

Pheasants' Eggs An offer made by the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Hon. W. E. Parry, to supply from the State Game Farm, Ngongofaha, settings of pheasant eggs for hatching by individual sportsmen in the Rotorua Acclimatisation district, has not produced the crop of applications expected. Mr. Parry, in an interview at Rotorua, said that tho scheme was planned to encourage the breeding of pheasants for liberation and to improve tho shooting of the district. "The offer from the farm .of eggs for the sportsmen of the district to hatch was made as a gesture to enlist their practical assistance," ho added. "It has not been taken up as readily as was reasonably expected. Wo aro now completing arrangements for the handing over of eggs to those sportsmen who have applied for them. It is considered that tlie birds bred from the eggs supplied will be ready in August, 193!), which will enable the breeder to retain tho birds until after the shooting season. Some may wish to keep a fow stock birds."