NEWS IN BRIEF

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 18, 16 October 1943, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF

Hutt Pipe Bridge

A conference is to be held in the Town Hall, Wellington, on October 19 to discuss the question of replacing the Hutt nine bridge and the maintenance of the existing bridge till the new one is ready for traffic.

Salvation Army Street Day. Despite the unfavourable weather m Wellington on Thursday, the Salvation Army street appeal, part ot the annual self-denial effort, realized £6io. or £JO above the previous record, established last year.

Death of Aircraftman. An aircraftman ot the lojal Ata Zealand Air Force, Ac.l Richard Ldward Isaacs, lost his life at a North I* laad air station in the early houis ot .Huis day morning when three huts were destroyed by fire. His father isDi. D. N. Isaacs, 72 Muritai Load. East-ioume, Wellington.

Missing Man. ..... ■' , , Mr. Edward Nicholas, a single man, aged 65, has been missing since Omober 2 He lived in a whare on the side id the estuary at Tairua, on the east coast of Coromandel Peninsula, bcarch pinties have found his hat m the water, but no other sign. The. only known relative of the missing man is a sister, Mis. Lai, Auckland. —P.A.

Labour Caucus. A causcus of members of the I ailiamen tar y Labour Party is to be held the week, lifter next. Its main business is expected to be the making of a recommendation for the filling of the Cabinet vacancy caused by the defeat at the general election of the Minister of Agriculture and Marketing, Mr. Barclay, and the choice of a new Speaker.

New Fire Alarm System. Wellington would have had a new lire alarm system installed long ago had it not been for the war. At yesterday s meeting of the Fire Board it was reported that some of the fire alarm boxes for the Duplex system had arrived, and tvere stored at the Constable Street station, ready for erection in the- streets, when the rest of the equipment came to hand.

Registered “Fancy Word.” . , The expression “tabloid, which is m common usage, is in fact not a word but a term registered iu 1884 'by Messrs Burroughs, Wellcome and Co., as a trademark applied to chemical substances used in medicine and pharmacy and afterward for other goods. It was held by the Court of Appeal in England to be a ‘ffancy word” as applied to the goods for which it is registered and legally restricted to the preparations of the firm. Woman Called for Jury. The first woman to be called for jury duty in New Zealand is Miss Elaine Kingsford, of Takapuna. She says that she is looking forward to the experience of sitting -on a jury when the Supreme Court session opens next week but she may be denied the opportunity on account of a shortage of staff in the Takapuna Borough Council offices where she is employed. The matter will have to be discussed with the sheriff or submitted to the Judge.—P.A.

Auckland Tram Tracks. “Speaking as an engineer," said Mr. Justice Tyndall, when presiding over the Arbitration Court in Auckland on Thursday, “I would say that your tram tracks in Auckland are in better condition than any others I know in New Zealand. Credit for this, he said, was due to the engineer and the manager. Most of the tracks in New Zealand today he would not pass as at all fit for public traffic. “I must say,” he concluded, “that Auck; land is very much better than any ot the others.”

Wandering Stock: The Hutt County Council yesterday decided to request the Government to bring the legislation dealing with wandering stock up to date. "The wandering stock legislation is something like the liquor laws —100 years behind the times,' declared Cr. J. J. Maher. The chairman, Mr. R. L. Button, said they wanted the Act altered to permit of prosecuting owners of wandering stock, instead of having, as at present, to drive the stock miles to the nearest pound.

Fissure in Fire Station Tower. What was, after the earthquakes of last year, a crack in the walls of the stairway tower of the Wellington Central Fire Brigade Station in Clyde Quay was described by the superintendent. Mr. C. A. Woolley, to the Wellington Fire Board yesterday as a fissure. His report was that the crack had developed considerably in the last 12 months and leaks had also occurred from other cracks in the parapet. It was decided to call in the board’s architect, and at the saine time to advise the State Eire Office which holds the earthquake risk on the building. Illegally Wore Uniform. “You knew you were doing wrong and were defrauding the Government,” said Mr. Stout, S.M., in the Magistrates’ Court, Wellington, yesterday, when fining William Watterson Guthrie and lan Isles Guthreie, brothers, each £2 on charges of illegal use of a uniform. SeniorSergeant G. J. Paine said that Jan Guthrie had borrowed the uniform from his brother to travel to Napier, thereby obtaining a railway fare concession. On his return he was asked by a military policeman for his leave pass on the rail-' way station, and then admitted that he was not a soldier.

September’s Fires. During September the Wellington Fire Brigade received 96 calls to fires. Of these 53 were to actual fires and 43 proved to be false alarms. Of the actual fires 26 concerned properties, 14 were due to outbreaks in gorse, grass or rubbish, and 13 were chimney fires. Of the false alarms 2.1 were justifiable and 22 were classed ns malicious. For the four mouths ended September 30 the brigade received 562 calls as against 524 for the corresponding period of last year. 'The number of property fires in the four months was 124, whereas in the same period of last year only 94 such fires occurred.

Six Months’ Work, One Month’s Holiday. Members of the Wellington Fire Brigade for every six months’ employment' are entitled to a month's holiday. This was mentioned at the Fire Board yesterday when the matter of allowing a member holiday time after he had' worked less than three months was discussed. The chairman, Mr. S. S. Dean, said it was a concession the board had made to allow a man holiday, time off for a term of employment, under six months. There was no obligation on the board to allow holidays at all for under six months’ work, nor did the award under which they worked stipulate for anything of the kind. The application showed the folly of grunting concessions at all.

Search For Lost Watch. A. fine of £lO with 10/- costs was inflicted by Mr. Stout, S.M., in the. Magistrates’ Court, Wellington, yesterday, on Richard Dwyer, licensed dealer, Vivian Street, Wellington, for a breach of the Second Hand Dealers’ Act by failing to record the name and address of a person from whom he had purchased a watch. Senior-Sergeant G. J. Paine said that following the report of the theft of a watch on August 31, the police had visited defendant’s shop and had questioned him about it. He denied any knowledge of it. An examination of his books revealed nothing, but on the stock being inspected, the watch was found. It was a bad case. Such action by a dealer hindered the police in recovering stolen property. Esperanto in Universities. “Not everyone is aware that the Liverpool University was the first in the world to establish a permanent, lectureship ot Esperanto,” said Mrs. I*. Hughson during a meeting of the Karori Esperanto Society this week. She explained that three £25/prizes were awarded each year in a competition open to any matriculated student or graduate of an approved university in the British Empire, and that Esperanto had also been accepted by the Liverpool University as a firsl-year subject for lhe B.A. degree. “Another interesting fact,” said the speaker, “is that this language is among lhe examination subjects of the Royal Society of Arts and Ruskin College lias included Esperanto in its Army Educational correspondence courses.”