LOCAL AND GENERAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23554, 15 January 1940, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Large Schnapper Caught • Good opinions of the fishing to be had off the Auckland coast are held by Mr. B. Knee, of Tasrnan Empire Airways. The first time he went fishing after arriving in New Zealand ho caught a trevalli of ISJIb. and the second time, when fishing last week with Mr. J. Henry, he caught a schnapper of lfl|lb. off Kawau Island.

Ostend Road Improvement The main road to Onetangi. Wailieke Island, where it leaves the Ostend Wharf, is being widened by the Ostend Hnad Board, which Is constructing a stone retaining wall, about loft, high and 60ft.. in length, on the foreshore.

When filling behind the wall is completed. the width of the road will be increased by 15ft. at the head of the wharf. This will be of much convenience to traffic. The road has also been considerably widened at another point. City Mission Camp

A group of 55 children left Auckland on Saturday afternoon to spend a fortnight's holiday at the Auckland City Mission camp at Oneroa, Waiheke. They are children of poor parents in the city and mostly come from large families. The first party this season, which returned to the city recently, gained an average of over .'Mb. during their stay at the seaside. Boating, swimming, hiking and occasional launch trips are enjoyed at the camp, which is maintained by subscriptions from the public.

Heavy Saturday Traffic Driven into the city for entertainment by the heavy rain, dense crowds of people patronised theatres on Saturday afternoon. Ar. a result, taxis did a thriving trade and at times it was impossible *to get a taxi on any of the city stands. At night traffic in Queen Street was very heavy and a passenger who took a tramcar from Wellesley Street to Customs Street timed the trip at nine minutes, the congestion at the Wellesley Street crossing being particularlv severe.

Descendants ot Chieis Descendants of two celebrated Maori chiefs present at the funeral of the late Mr. .Tames Ilukutai at Onehunga on Saturday were Takamana To Taniwha, of Haura ki, and Te Wauwau Tapihana, of Kawhia. The former is a grandson of the famous Horeta Te Taniwha, who, as a guest of Captain Cook, spent some time on hoard the great navigator's ship, while Te Wauwau Tapihana is a grandson of the chief Tanihana, who, according to Maori tradition, was directly responsible in 1857 for the decision to proclaim Potatau the Maori King. Holidaymakers Stranded

To be without food or water from early morning until 7 p.m. on Friday was the experience of a small party of people on holidaj' at Osteiul. They set out in a dinghy and rowed across the bay, landing at a place where they thought that the boat would remain afloat for an hour or two. On returning from a ramble they • found the craft resting on the mud and the tide quite out of reach. Being unaware that an hour's walk would take them back to Ostend, they waited for the next tide and did not reach home until the evening. Small Snail Prevalent

Large quantities of .small brown conical shells were found recently in a field -at Albany. They were widely scattered in the grass and at a glance appeared to be some type of shellfish. They were identified by the War Memorial Museum authorities as a small land snail known as cionella lubrica. They are, it was stated, an introduced snail found widely over* seas and now quite common in New Zealand, although seldom found in such quantities. However, they do not become a pest.

Varying Punishments Alleged discrepancies in Court decisions in regard to men charged with being intoxicated while driving motor vehicles were pointed out by Mr. V. Butler at a meeting of the Gisborne advisory committee of the Automobile Association (Auckland), when he quoted decisions in nine recent cases that had been heard throughout, the Dominion. Mr. Butler suggested that a recommendation should be placed before the parent body to the effect that the hearing of intoxication cases throughout the Dominion should be conducted by stipendiary magistrates.

Guides in Camp Approximately 120 young women from all parts of New Zealand will go into camp under canvas at the Tauhercnikau racecourse to-morrow for a short period of training for services in national emergency. Originally planned to celebrate the Centennial, the camp was designed to accommodate GOO guides from all over the world, but the war intervened. The camp has since been reorganised on a more war-minded basis, with a view to training the older guides and leaders of companies in services which will be useful tQ the country should they be called to play an active part.

Soldiers in the Making Rapid acquaintance) with Army ways is being made by men of the second echelon of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force who entered camp at Papakura and Ngaruawahia last week. After cleaning quarters and receiving some issues of their equipment, the men have so far been principally occupied with learning a few of the rudiments upon which their training will be based. Although it is still too early to see whether they are going to make the progress of the first echelon, they have in the few days available to them mado no more mistakes than their predecessors when given strangesounding Army orders.

Refugees in Need oI Help "In the helligerent countries and in all tho neutral countries a system of rationing has been introduced," said the. llov. P. Gladstone Hughes in an address at St. Andrew's Church yesterday. morning. "In contrast,'' he continued, "the people of Now Zealand are still encouraged to spend to .tho limit and have not been invited to make a single sacrifice." The need for sacrificial-help had been enormously intensified during the past few weeks, tho speaker added. In addition to tho refugees from Czeeho-Slovakia and Poland and the thousands who had escaped penniless from the Nazi tyranny; thousands had been rendered homeless in. Finland by tho Bolshevik bombing. The catastrophe which had befallen the Turks had also caused tremendous sufferings It was to be hoped thnfc the people of New Zealand would not wait for a lead from tho Government in going to the help of the thousands of refugees.