NEW ZEALAND NEWS

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 81, 3 February 1928, Page 5

NEW ZEALAND NEWS

NOTES FROM ALL PARTS. ?HE DOMINION DAY BY DAY. Bay of Islands Seal. A petition, which it is said has been signed by a very large number of the electors of Bay of Islands, was presented to Mr W. Grounds at Broadwood yesterday, asking that he contest the Bay of Islands seat a,t [the general election. The petition was presented by Captain Rushworth and Mr J. W. Jones, of the Farmers' Union. Mr, Grounds pro-

,u « cu >■<-> s*vc ma. uecijsiun in n iew days. Some people, who assert they have "inside information," say it is certain that Mr Grounds will contest the seat. Smard "Work. Exceptionally smart work was performed by the postal officials in Auckland on Monday evening in handling the mail from th e Royal Mail liner Aorangi' (stales the New Zealand Herald). The vessel arrived from Vancouver at 8.5, and.as soon as she anchored 170 bags of letters for th e South were loaded into the postal launch;>#longs;ide the liner. The launch reached the wharf at 8.15, andHhe,.mdil' was loaded into lorries and transferred to the second express, which had been delayed. The express was dispatched at 8.25 p.m., the .transference of the mail from the liner to the train having only occupied 20 minutes. Had it not been for the activity of the postal officials the delivery of the mail in the South Island would have been delayed 24 hours. ■

Blocked with Pumice.The pumice deposits dislodged by th e .formation of the new watercourse at Arapuni have caused far more trouble at the Horahor a elec-tric-power works than was anticipated and have necessitated the closing down of the work s on three occasions- thi s month (writes a- Hamilton correspondent).* From present ideations it appears that the works will have to close" every' Sunday for an indefinite period: Some of the difficulties confronting those in charge of the works could be guaged last Sunday. The headrace gates were closed at 8:30 a.m.,. and when the bulk of the water had drained off a huge layer of pumice sand over sft 6in deep and containing thousands of cubic yards remained on the bottom of the race . The turbine chambers also held a large quantity and one turbine was almost wholly embedded i n silt. Barge boulders of pumice and bulky pieces of timber were wedged in the screens, forming an effective barrier for much of the water. One view was sufficient to show the casual observer why the works have not been running satisfactorily this month. About 40 men worked at high pressure in removing the debris in the vicinity of the turbines. The screens were thoroughly cleaned and replaced and a good deal of sand at the bottom of the headrace was swept through the works by the' overflow from the lowered headrace gates. The headrace was filled again at 4 p.m. and the wheel s of the turbines resumed revolving at a speed sufficient to meet the evening's requirements of the district.

* * Troubles of Unemployed. ■■" A deputation consisting of four men who are earnestly seeking employment, called at the Auckland "iStar" office to mention some of the difficultie s that beset the members of Auckland's workless army which daily scan s the "wanted" advertisements in tne,hope that'they will get work. The , quartet; answered an advertisement for canvassers and learned tnat they could .meet thenprospective employer at a certain time in Shortland Street. As the latter announced that he w°uld wear a wnite flower in his buttonhole he was located without difficulty. This was last Wednesday;- the four met. were engaged, and tney were instructed to be at an ..address in the city yesterday morning to start work, jrfut the employer with the ~w1a75 nower did not materialise and his four employees are anxious to hear from him. One Of the deputation said that advertisements were frequently misleading-. He mentioned" u; '. recently he answered ensealled at uii address, was engaged/ and was cnai informed tnat ne had to put |«c5U iuio the business. 'And I never nay pence, let alone htty 'quid," ne added. Another member of the deputation mentioned two instances wliere he had applied for work and aad found that a cash deposit for

i a considerable amount was wanted. it practically means buying the business," he said, "and when a man can't pay his tram fare there is not much chance of him taking on a partnership." A recent advertisement for a traveller for the country drew quit e a number of applicants. On applying to the address that was given there was no sign of the prospective employer. •