General News.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20173, 27 February 1931, Page 10

General News.

The auction sale of building sites and dwelling at Woolston called by the Commissioner of Crown Lands for yesterday afternoon, was not held, as thcro wero no buyers prosent. t

This week tho IlcatJicotc County Council employed 181 three-day men under the Unemployment Board's No. 5 Scheme, the wagbs clioquo amounting to '£ 337.

The larger of tho after-shocks which are reported from Hawko's Day are atill being recorded on the seismograph at tho- Christchruch Magnetic Observatory. The new instruments, which will bo very much more sensi-. tive, will not be completely installed for some time yet. v,

The Napier Citizens' Control Committee lias issued a memorandum regar ding tho repatriation of Napier residents. "Earthquake refugees in Christchurch interested in tho reconstruction of .-their residence?'', can peruße the memorandum at the City , Council offices, ■ Manchester street. The Boy Scouts and Girl /Guides are hpldipg a rehearsal to-morrow of tb® rally which will be given at the Show Grounds til© follbwmg Saturday before the Chief Scout and the, Chief Guide, .I*olxl and Lady. Baden-Pofrelk, It is now announce/ tfiat the /dearsal t , be private and that the public will not I be admitted.

A n»aa in a stato of starvation and evident distress was picked up on tho Gisborne road'by a mototfst and taken to the Tolaga Bay Hospital. A nurse later going through the man s clothes was surprised to discover ft bundle ot ing from some ,mental derangement.— Breast Association- . i' tfia one-itou. tram ;scir vice is exTramway Bgard.ia obtaining quotations WASSnf dars to JhO purposes of one-man trams. 'received; and' supplies ordered it will take some time to effect' the' alterations,' to ' tho electric t*aw*o^*».' ; ' ,),*»■ _ Duringthe hearing of a case in tho Ciyii 'OOaH yesterday permission was glvfen. atoitness, who was in popr bwltki: t0: sit oown wliila .giving hw •evidence,,, tiowaver, nq #air oould be one wa* borrowed from tho iFr&p the reporter displaced sit* •tingpntl# .wmfowrwll, "Are we aa ifnfroverfched aathisE S.M., with a smile, "Well have the solicitors sitting on tho floci 'W' Although, a conference to tliat ond \ was held in Wellington,at the ond ot Semerowr* there wi ptfll an* by \ tho Government of the iwaujations for .licensing alpine guides. The president ofihe dnstchqrch Ski Club (Mr Boy Twynetain) stated yesj tiorday that the regulations would P»h&bly not bo issued until Parliament .'Ba4 met and passed the nefcessary legislation. ' ' Under the Unemployment Board's :jfa; ■'■B 'Scheme, . tho spar<J pays .for labour required by any local bodies, several Canterbury schools are taking , advantage of the opportunity Of having, various improvements corRed out in their grounds. To date ' 6PVOP schools havo applied to the Canfcerbury Boai'd for asstsfcf.rice. They are tfre Cashmere. Elmwood, • Richmond,' Sumner, Shirley, • Waltham, and Wainjairi school?. ' The suggestion, made somo time ago, regarding economies that might be effected in connexion 4 with the Chnst•"cljnrch tramways;" principally in the of! revising the time-tables, has not yet taken .definito form, and it seems doubtful whether anything will he done in the.matter, ' Tho General lianag&P (Mr Frank, Thompson) told a reporter yesterday tbat reduction of the 'Hime-tables -eant a curtailment, of service to;the public,.and required W* c ". consideration befofe being ndertaken. *'Sopibtliins ?n6re oujdjt to bo done about tlibsQ automatic lights working on Saturday afternoons, Sundays, and late at nights,' r «aid Mr C. R. Hayward at a meeting of the - motor compiittee of the Pioneer ■ Sports Club ilast 'evening. "During the business hours ihey are a great success," he continued, ''but after that they are an 'absolute 'wash out'" "A confounded nuisance at midnight," was the comment of aodtber member., It wns left to the delegates to, linns the matted up at "the next quartcrlv .meeting or the South Island Motor Union. • "One cannot'speak too highly of the manner in which the.sanitary inspectors, both departmental and'local t(ody, have 1 done, and are- doing, their work in the earthquake »rea, ? ' Dr. .r. Fletcher Telford,' Medical Officer of Health, told.a reporter yesterday. The same remark, he added, applied to ths civilians taken on as pupernumerftries. For two days • these supernumeraries looked after animals Jeft in the earthquake areas, but as 'th'erq !wa» ipoye. important work for •them to do, tjie authorities connected with the Society for the Prevention of Csuelty to Animals wern approached, arid they wade arrangements for awpals to be looked afterj. > '

Members.of the Licensed Victuallers' Association took 50 of the inmates of the Jubilee Memorial Home for » day's outing to Waikuku Beach yesterday. Tho party loft the boino in 15 cars at eleven o'clock and had lunch 1 at the beacli. They returned to the City at 4.30 p.ip. -after al'tenioon tea*

There has been an appreciable and a welcome rit>o in tho level of Lake Coleridge Bince last Sunday, according to information received by tho chairman of vthe Oity Council's Electricity Committee (Gr. H. T. J". Thacker). Tli© level of the lake, Cr. Thacker told a reporter last night, was now at 1667.5 ft., an increase of .55ft, or a little over half a foot, since Sunday's reading. l The lake is still 4.65 ft below overflow level, 1672 ft.

•Giving evidence at the Magistrate's Court in Blenheim, with regard to the invasion of his surgery by a gang of shearers asking for medical advice concerning a skin disease, Dr. E. NobleAdams stated that he did not know, at the time, that they wore Bliearers. "They looked more like prosperous solicitors," lie added. "A prosperous solicitor," jocularly remarked "s£ member of the Bar, sotto voce, "is an extinct bird!"

The water used in the Bowker electric fountain is used over and over again, so - that it is not a constant drain on the City supply. The City Engineer (Mr A. R. Galbraith) told a reporter last night that the amount ol' water necessary was between 2000 and 3000 gallons. Taking the higher figure, the cost for water is threo shillings. The fountain is to be operatod day and night. The day period (with no colour effects) will be from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and the night period (with colour effects), from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Soon after tho receipt of wireless ircssages regarding tho Hawke's Bay earthquake disaster, tho passengers on tho Niagara, whicharrivcd at Auckland from Vancouver on Monday, organised a fund to be * used in aiding tho distress among sufferers in the afflicted areas. As the result of a collection mado' among tho ship's passengers, who numbered 163, over £l7O was realised. This will be forwarded to the earthquake relief fund.

"The first part was true, but 1 wjnnofc vouch for tho second part," said the Mayor.(Mr J. It. Archer) telling a story of v-ie Napier earthquake, at tho opening of the Victoria strefet shopping carnival yesterday afternoon. Tho story concerned a couple who wero being married at the Napier Presbyterian Church -when the f»rst earthquake was felt. Tho party moved" outside the building and the ceremony was completed there. A few days later a friend of the bridegroom Baid to him, "You got a fright on your wedding day?" "Yes, replied the groom, "and I have her still."'

Men employed by tho Health authorities in cloaking up in Napier after the earthquake had some trouble with two classes of foodstuffs, Dr. T. Fletcher Telford, Medical Officer of Health, told a reporter yesterday.' In shopß where thcro wero soda fountains, the jara containing the syrups mexo smashed. The contents were spilled over calces and small goods, the result being a horrible mixture which had to bo shovelled out and buried. Where ice-cream had been left in containers it went rancid and gavo off a most offensive odour. In one establishment they came across a quantity of ice-cream which required, threo motor-lorries to remove. Tho freshest was used for pig food, and Was buried in trenches.

An incident related by a resident of Giaborne illustrates life's little ironies (says the "New Zealand HcrahJ"), The narrator's wife received ,a severe ne?* , vous shock on the occasion' of the ?e----cent earthquake, and each subsequent disturbance made her condition worse, feeling that she would :bo,.;tke'better for,a stimulant of some' sort, the husband procured a bottle of brandy, and, on arriving tyomo for luttohi placed it on the breaTtfaat-room mantelpiece, with instruction* to' hie£ family that if a shock should occur during, his absence a smalldose was At'once to be admlnistefed to bis wife. He had barely left his home .when a shock came. Bushing back to liis residence* he found his wife in a dead faint on the lawn. He daShddlntif the Bouse to geif tho brandy, and found the bottlo lying on tho hearth in' piecesl The mantelpiece was decorated with an array of china plates and ornament?, but nothing had but the brandy. > •

An interesting fact noted by Dr. T. Fletcher Telford, Mediqal Officer of Health, on reaching Napier three days after tLo was that for the first our days tho only birds in evidence in any numbers were minas and starlings, and it was not for about a week that othor birds began to return, and even then they did not seem settled. While he was driving about the town on inspections, two birds attempted to* alight' on the car, and dashed against the wind.. screed, Inspector Swain, of the' Health Department, related to him that while investigating certain premises on the hill -a pigeon alighted on his ' shoulder, trembling. It pocked at somo bread and fruit the inspector-offered'it, and the bird allowed ■him to stroke it. Only after a considerable interval did the pigeon leave him. • All over the place, but particularly in the portions of the town devastated by fire, cats and dogs went up almost to anyontf to be fondled. When Dr. Telford left Napier this week bird lifo seemed to be returning to normal. Stormy weather encountered' in 'the Pacific by the Bhaw,' Sayill, and Albion Steamer Maimoa,;which reached Auck-t land from Liverpool on Wednesday evening, nearly caused the postponement of the wedding of the 'second officer, Mr A. S. Win ton, who was married at dnehunga shortly before eight o'clock the same evening, tho latest hour.at which the ceremony could bo conducted. Arrangements had been mado for ,the wedding to take place at seven o'clock, as the Maimoa was expected' to arrive earlier in the day. Then she ifr&s delayed by rough weather, and it was not certain that she would reach pOrt in time. The vessel ' anchored in tho stream at .6.30. p.m,, and later pratique had, been granted she berthed after seven o'clock*. The bridegroom had discarded his uniform, and was dressed ready for tho wedding, so that when'tho Maimoa berthed hp lost no time in setting .out for Onehunga in a taxi. He reached the church at ten minutes to eight—l?REßS Service . Sports should always remember that' the Goltjf Band Taxis do not charge any more on race days than any other day. Our prices are always the same, arid tho cheapest, so why pay more? Keep on 'phoning 34-076 or 35-572 for a Gold Band Taxi and save your n:aney and have an extra bet. Thank