LOCAL AND GENERAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23206, 28 November 1938, Page 10

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Church's New Year Advent- Sunday, which marks the beginning of tho period of preparation for the celebration of the nativity, was observed in the episcopal churches yesterday. The day has long been recognised in western churches as the beginning of tho ecclesiastical* year.

Accident Victim's Condition The officers' cook, "William Cass, aged 24, married, of H.M.S. Philomel, who was admitted to the Auckland Hospital in a fairly serious condition on Friday suffering from an injury to the head had considerably improved last night. His condition was reported to be not serious.

Flounders Plentiful Flounders have been very plentiful in tho upper reaches of tlio Waitemata during tho past few days, and a number of fishermen have secured excellent catches within a comparatively short space of time. On Saturday afternoon one man obtained six dozen, many of them being of good size.

Opotiki Rat Hunt An Opotiki poultry farmer who has been troubled with a plague of rats in his sheds organised a hunt recently. Men and dogs stood by while a concrete floor in a shed was torn up, all exits having been blocked with fine mesh netting and corrugated iron. A startling number of rats was revealed, and when tho hunt ended it was found that 242 had been killed. Escort Vessel Returns After a visit to the South Island and tho West Coast Sounds, the Imperial escort vessel Wellington, commanded by Commander 6. N. Loriston-Clarke, returned last evening from P:cton and anchored outside tho Rangitoto Reef. She will berth this morning at Calliope Wharf. Tbe escort vessel Leith, commanded by Commander L. C. P. Tudway, will return from a coastal cruise on November 10.

Motor-car on Fire Slight damage was done to a large sedan motor-car which caught fire near tho corner of Garnet jßoad and West End Road, Westmere, yesterday morning. The vehicle is owned by Mr. F. P. Murphy, of Bayfield Road, Heme Bay, Two fire engines, one from the Central Station and the other from the Western Districts Station, answered the call, but the flames had been extinguished by hand by the time the two machines arrived on tho scene. Arbitration Court Work

"The one Arbitration Court and tho industrial magistrate are working quite satisfactorily, and I am informed that they will have practically caught up with tho work by the end of the year," stated the Minister of Labour, the Hon. H. T. Armstrong, in an interview last night. The same arrangements for hearing industrial cases should subsequently bo sufficient, ho added, although if it were found necessary, consideration would be given to the appointment of a second magistrate.

Rough Terry Crossing Motorists using the AucklandDevon port vehicular ferry yesterday afternoon felt the full force of the fresh north-easterly wind on the harbour, and many cars were liberally sprayed with salt water. Canvas shelters were put up on the ferries, but these did not giv-e full protection from the flying spray sent up as the vessels ploughed their way across the harbour. Some motorists on reaching home had to wash their cars to remove all traces of salt from the bodj'work and thus prevent rust. Field Club Visits Waiheke

A party of 20 boys, members of the Balmoral School Field Club, visited Onetangi, Waiheke, yesterday to collect specimens of native plants. Members of the club keep pressed collections of their specimens, a prize being presented at the end of the year for the best album. Onetangi was the fourth place the club has visited this year. The party was in the charge of Mr. F. E. Coulthard, a master at the Balmoral School. The boys left Auckland by excursion steamer in tho morning and returned last night. Street Work, on Sunday

Owing to the heavy volume of traffic which passes through the bottle-neck of Broadway, Newmarket, on week days, the repaving of the street has had to be carried out on Sundays. The work, which was started some time ago, was continued yesterday, when gangs of men were employed operating largo mechanical graders oil the sido of the street nearest to Reinuera. Apart from the fact that fine, loose metal was inclined to be scattered by the tyres of motor cars, the work was carried out with little inconvenience to traffic. Divorce Petitions

Sixty-six divorce petitions have been set down for hearing at the Supreme Court to-day by Mr. Justice Fair and Mr. Justice Callan. The most common ground on which tlio petitions are based is separation by. order of the Court or by agreement, but there are many others, in which tho grounds arc either desertion, adultery, or failure to comply with an order for the restitution of conjugal rights. As both Courts are to be occupied in tho afternoon with the hearing of adjourned jury cases, it is not likely that all the divorce cases will be heard to-day.

Juries and Witnesses Somo factors which may very properly be taken into account by a jury when deliberating on evidence given at a •trial wero referred to by Mr. Justice Kennedy when commenting on a motion for a new trial in tho Supremo Court in Dunedin. "There are so many things that a jury has to observe," His Honor said. "It must not only count tho witnesses. It can see tho witnesses and tell from their attitude and demeanour what manner of people they are. It may then conclude, as a Judge may conclude, to what extent a-witness .is to be relied on in preference to other witmesses." Contrast In Bullion Handling

A sharp contrast between the methods used in Seattle and in London in the transport of bullion to and from banks was drawn by Mr. E., Wood, secretary of the Otago Importers and Shippers' Association in an address ivt the annual meeting of the association. ho was in Seattle early this year, Air. Wood said ho saw an armoured car usod for the carriage of large sums of money. Ho was so intorestecr in the vehicle that ho studied it closely until ho saw the guard peering suspiciously at him through a slit in tho rear of tin* car. Later, in the West End of London, ho saw an ordinary carrier's van standing outsido a bank and several men carrying bars of gold on their shoulders into tho building. There was no guard, and not even a policeman \vas in sight, the only official present being a bank clerk, who checked tho bars of gold as they were carried past him. The speaker was even permitted to hold one of the ingots of gold valued at about £2OOO, in his own hands,,