LOCAL- AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1934, 17 December 1913, Page 6

LOCAL- AND GENERAL.

. Hie postal-authorities advise that Hie JUI.S. -Niagara,' which sailed from Suva for. Auckland on December 13, is bringing ■ Enejish and American nm jl s via Vancouver. The Wellington portion is expected to arrive by the. Slain In.nk express on Thursdav morning nest. ■~. . Acoustically, the Magistrate's Court is one of the worst rooms in the city— and it should bo the best. An effort lias already been made to improve the acustics, but without any success, lied curtains have been hung a certain distance from the ceiling a few yards in front nf the Magisterial dais." That, according to an expert, is against all the laws relating to sound and its absorption. Tito curtains as they are now hung naturally absorb a good, percentage of vocal sound before it has reached the body of the Court, am! tlicv are suspended in just the very place where a clear air-space is required. If they are there, as presumably they are, to check the echo-effect, they should) according to the expert in question, be hung well at the back of tho Court, so that there will be an absorbent beforo tho voice bits the back Wall. Most people who visit tho Court for a first time aro sometimes surprised to hear the almost confidential tonal character of ■ the official conversation between Bench and liar. It has developed the baiid-beliiud-thc-car habit in the habitue of the body of the Court. The offices of tho City Council will Ik> closed from the evening of December '24 | (Wednesday next) until January 2. , On ' all days other than statutory holidays, officers will be in attendance for tho receipt of rates at the rates office, and in tho City Engineer's department, to attend to any matters of urgency. A lolly and "soft drink" shop in Mount Eden Koad, Auckland, occupied by William Palmer, was raided oh Sunday morning by Senior-Sergeant Hutledge and Sergeant Bowman, and a large quantity of beer and several bottles of whisky were seized. This is the fourth raid on liouscs where liquor was alleged to have been sold that Senior-Sergeant lltit-lcdgo has conducted since his transfer to Auckland from Wellington a short time ago. In the- three, previous casca heavy fines were inflicted. The State Schools of Wellington .are to eloso for the summer vacation tomorrow afternoon. They are to reopen on Monday, February 2. A's was'menfi'olied'in tho Legislative Council last week, considerable feeling exists in Now &i.(iand aga'isist Jthei continuance of tho quarantine regulations, and tho insistence upon vaccination by tho Federal Health, authorities. Dr. Yalinti.no, Chief Health Officer, yesterday informed a reporter that communication respecting tho matter was proceeding botu'eon the Health Department and the Federal quarantine authorities. It had been pointed out that no cases had occurred in Auckland sinoo November 4, and it was expected that the restrictions would bo almost immediately removed. In addition to the Day's Bay grounds, the Eastbourne Borough Council has had another scheme for recreation grounds under its notice. This is Dr. MaekciiKio's property at llena Bay. which comprises some 5 acres of level land and 70 acres of bush hills. The block is opposite the. wharf, on the eastern side of' County Road, to which there is a frontage of 760 feet, live latest Government valuation assesses tlio property at £4220, and Mrs. Mackenzie,'as accent for her husband, has -offered it to the council for £3000. In order to make a clean stoppingplace .for tho tramcars at the foot of Upper Willis Street, the whole of the road space between tho tramline .'and tho rater channels is being paved with stones set similar to those used on the opposite corner. Tho spot referred to is a very lively stopping-place, and tho advantage of having, a clean and solid pavement extending across the street is obvious. For some time past, says the Sydney "Telegraph," the fire brigades in the city and suburbs have been the victims of false alarms, -and all attempts to catch the offenders have proved unsuccessful. The districts most affected have boon North Sydney, Mosman, and Manly. To prevent the sending of false alarms, a telephone lire alarm-box, similar to that in use in tho United States, has been designed, and the first instalment of the new type will be made at Mosman in tho course of a couple of weeks. hi the new box the glass for breaking has been done away with. The box is opened by a half turn of a knob handle, and a pull when the stop is encountered. Thereupon a loud hell rings for some seconds and calls lire attention of others to the person operating the instrument, Inside the box is a telephone communicating with the lire station. Tho Melanesian Mission steamer Southern Cross re turned to Auckland on Saturday morning from Sydney, the Solomon Islands, New Hebrides, am! Norfolk Island, after an ahsenco of nearly eight mouths, Tho _ vessel brouiiht back Archdeacon Cullwiek and liis family, and a number of ministers and lady' missionaries who have spent some time at tho various mission stations controlled by the Mclanesian Mission in tho groups. Kcports received by the vessel stale that at all the mission stations visited throughout tho groups the work being carried out by the missionaries is most satisfactory, and everyone appears to bo in the best of health. -, The Southern Cross will probably remain at Auckland until April next. .'.'.' Tho Wnipa Coal' Mining Company's .capital has been over-subscribed. The nulway. eonneetinn between tho mine : and. the. Main Trunk railway (yj miles) is all but completed, and when that is ready there .will he no obstacles in the way of making an early start with the actual mining and marketing of coal. This will probably he commenced town id the-end of January. In view of the contemplated'early start, the diroetors, having been taught a lesson by the recent industrial trouble, are determined that the miners employed by tho company will- bo. registered under the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, whether they be a separate union or: a branch 1 of. the Arbitration Union now forming at Unnily or not, As there is .an open face of excellent, ennl ready; to start on, there will be no iui- ( ■ ti pi 1_ difficulties,-in .connection with the -, hewing- work,;:. and by tho end of the financial..year s itjs.n"ntieipatcd that the ] mino:iviil."bo?in■;full swing.".. 1

/'Tho twelve Native school boys, who intend to walk from To Kao to Auckland, in order to see tho Exhibition, started on their 323-mile pilgrimage on ' Saturday morning, The journey will he made in easy stages of 11 to 2'i miles a day. According to the .prearranged plan, Mr. J. Banks, who is m ciiargc of the party, intends the lads to reach Auckland on tho afternoon of January 3. _ The Auckland Hospital Board, has decided to build two more operating theatres and another anaesthetising room at- the city hospital. These wiil adjoin the existing theatre and form one big block, In the course of a speech in tho School of Arts recently, Dr. Long, Bishop of Bathurst, referred to tho Gov-ernor-General's recent observation that ho was nor, a "wowser." Tho Bishop said ho did not care how many Govern-oi€-eiierals said they we-re not "wowsers." _ If a "wowser" was a selfrespecting man, who went home sober, and the anti-wowser a drunkard, who used disgraceful epithets towards the former, then bo preferred to he on tho side of the wowser. A branch of the Auckland Municipal Library was opened at Panvell on Saturday. In declaring the new* institution open, the Mayor of Auckland (Mr. Parr) said that tho idea_ of tho City Council was to follow as closely as possible tlio lines of the Grafton branch library. Tho main room ( was to be used as a reading-room, where all tha best magazine literature of the day and the newspapers would Sic provided, At the back .was a lending department, equipped with over SOU volumes. Tho reading-room would bs free, and a small fee would be charged for the lending department,