LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14292, 11 February 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Owing to the fine weather experienced, there will be a record crop of fruit of extremely fine quality this year, especially of Bon Chretian pears. Nectarines, however, are not quite so heavy. The fruit is already pouring in on the market, and such is the demand that paices are expected to prove equal to previous years.

Mr. . Clement L. Wragge reported at seven o'clock last night:—"There are indications of the existence of. a barometric disturbance over the lower latitudes of the Tasman Sea. At "present it would be premature to state what part of the west coast of New Zealand wiill be first affected, but the barometer will doubtless soon begin to dip, and shipping bound west round the North Cape, should be on the alert for an incoming of bad weather."

An important question affecting public health was raised in a letter from the Auckland branch of the Trained Nurses' Executive, read at last night's meeting of the City . Council. The letter deplored the custom followed by vendors of; meat in exposing it for sale :to the dust of the streets, often to the. sun, and always to the flies. The branch asked whether it would not be better for all concerned if some practical method were adopted by which meat could be -stored in darkened and ventilated chambers, and not exposed to the public view. The town clerk said the request opened up a very big question, involving the reconstruction of all butchers' shops. The Council had power to make'by-laws regulating the sale of all articles of human food of a perishable nature. The matter was referred to the By-laws Committee.

A young man was admitted to the hospital yesterday afternoon, suffering from 1 some rather nasty scalp, wounds. He was riding a horse at Ellerslie, where he resides, when the animal became , somewhat restive, and threw him on to the road. The injuries were fortunately not serious. *• '- v ■'

The British! electorates have (says our

London correspondent) been unusually hospitable to candidates from the Outer Empire. Apart from the candidates who are actually contesting seats, Dr. Chappie, Mr. .Fell, Mr. J. Cathcart Wason, and. Mr. E. G. Jellicoe, there are several New Zealanders; to whom seats or nominations were offered. Mr.' R. McNab, who has been assisting Dr. Chappie, in Stirlingshire, was offered nomination, with a good chance of : success, in a three-corner-eg contest, but he felt that his'natfVe land had still some strong claims on his

activity. Sir Robert Stout, the Chief Justice, was pressed to accept a nomination,

and the same honour was accorded to Mr. I. W. Raymond, of • Invercargill, whose business ties prevented his entertaining it. The difficulty by which most colonials are faced in British politics is the conflict of land-taxation on the one hand, find tariff-reform on the other.

Quite recently a deputation waited on the Hon. J. A. Millar, Minister for Railways, in regard to improvements 'to the station appointments a - . Penrose Junction. Yesterday, Mr. J. S. Dickson, one of the deputation, received a letter trom Mr. F. W. Lang, M.P., stating that he had received a letter from' the- Minister to the effect that the station accommodation, generally speaking, was sufficient for the reasonable requirements of traffic, but that' • instructions had been given for a verandah to be provided at the unction. Since the deputation waited on the. Minister, gas has been installed at the 6 station.

That palatable delicacy, the . grape, is once again on the market, and being sold in large quantities to a heat-parched public. The outdoor grapes will not be ready for another fortnight, but hot-house grapes are selling readily at from 5d to 7d per lb .wholesale, with very good varieties up to Is. The retail prices are 'from lOd to Is 6d per lb. These prices will keep up till the arrival of outdoor grapes, which will probably commence at 5d per lb wholesale, and 8d or 9d retail, and gradually work down to about 2d or 3d per lb wholesale. A few Sydney grapes are coming in now, and being disposed of at the same prices as have ruled in previous years, 6d per lb .wholesale, and 9d per lb retail, but that figure does not pay the Sydney shippers. If the grapes arrive in good condition, the shippers make money, but in nine cases out of 10 the fruit is in a damaged condition.' In any case, the' Sydney grapes will not affect the market. If the present fine weather keeps up there will be a good crop of locals this season, of very fine quality. . / .A settler living between Cape Colville and Cabbage Bay, writes complaining of : the nuisance caused by the carcases which have been thrown overboard from the Kaipara. She states that within four chains of her house, there are now 0 quarters of beef and a sheep. On one occasion she had to take her family away into the bush on account of the objectionable smell. Some of the residents in the vicinity have been burning the meat, while others have been putting it back into the tide, and it .still keeps coming back. This state of things, ouir informant states, is especially hard on the coastal farms, where the women have to do so much of the work. Nobody seems willing to shoulder the responsibility, and in spite of applications to the Health Department, and other places, nothing has been done. Some one,- she considers, might even send disinfectants. In regard to this complaint, Dr. Makgill, the district health officer, told a Herald representative that an inspector had been sentto Coromandel to inquire into the matter, and any case where any real damage was being done woujd be attended to at race. Disinfectants, he said, would be worse than useless. Reporting to the City Council regarding the Grafton Bridge last night, the city engineer (Mr. W. E. Bosh) stated that the contractors for the work had mads fair progress. The concreting of the footpaths was completed, and with the exception of the ' holes left for removing she timber, no work beyond that necessary- to the parapets, the laying of kerbs, sad paving and finishing the road and pathway surfaces, and removal of timber now remained to be done. The contractors had been requested to put on more men, so as to expedite the completion of the bridge. The Works Committee recommended the finishing off of the roadway of the bridge with a layer of asphalt, which the engineer estimates to cost £1664, rod this course was agreed to. The estimated total cost of the bridge, on completion, is £39,480.

An application was before the City Council last night for permission So erect swings on Shelly Beach. The Works Co'nmittoo recommended replying that the Council had no site available, and the recommendation was adopted. in response to a request from the Ponson by Ladies' Swimming Club that- gas bo laid cn to the dressing shed on Shelly Beac-h r it wa3 . decided to consider i the matter in time for next season. Another question in connection with the same ; beiieh that came before tha Conncil last night was an application from' the caretaker of the bathing shed for consideration in the matter of the £12 ?os, which he had paid out in mistake to the wrong person. The Council decided to pay half the amount, and to instruct the caretaker not to take any responsibility for valuables in future, j

Yesterday was a feast day so far as the . Chinese in Auckland were concerned, being the Chinese New Year's Daythe commencement of the year 2461. The Chinese places of business were not closed, but the day was quietly celebrated, ;in the usual way.

Arrangements are now well in hand for the complimentary garden party which is to be tendered to Mr. W. F. Massey, M.P., by his Franklin constituents, at the Helvetia Ostrich Farm, ; Paerata. The gathering, which promises to Ibe highly successful, takes . place on Saturday, eb-

uary 19, commencing at", two p.m. - To

meet the convenience of guests, a special train will leave Auckland at 12.40 p.m. on that day. • All trains will be met' by conveyances, and excursion fares will be available for the 10 a.m.ftrain to Frankton.- ; 1 •

A special memorandum was forwarded to the City Council last night by the city engineer (Mr. W. E. Bush) to the effect

that the electrical engineer (Mr. A. Wyllie) reported that loaded cartridges were still being found amongst matter sent to the city destructor. Mr. Bush pointed out that there was considerable danger to employees handling this material, and urged that publicity be given to the com-

plaint, in the hope that this would lead to greater caution on the . part of the public. No action was taken further than

this laying of the communication on the table. , \ '

A conciliation conference will be held on Wednesday, - 23rd inst., under the presidency of . the Commissioner (Mr. T.

Harle Giles) between the Merchant Service Guild of Officers engaged in coastal steamers and the Northern S.S. Company and others. The points which will be. brought, up for consideration include the classification of steamers, holidays, rates of officers' pay, and the regulation of hoars.

In regard to a statement recently circulated that it is intended to rearrange the magisterial districts round about Auckland, so as "to enable more time to be given to city work, a Hekald representative made some inquiries yesterday, It-

ppears that no official communication has

been made public here, if any has been received. It is, however, apparent that from the point of view of the legal profession here, assistance would be welcomed. It has been pointed out that while

•unedin and Christchurch, . but • more es-

pecially Wellington, have two magistrates who spend practically the whole of their

time in the city itself, Auckland is not so favoured, as one of the magistrates stationed here, has a considerable outside dis-

trict, wljich renders it impossible for him to give as much assistance as might be

desired in the city itself. For a long time /past a great deal of the Police Court work has had to be done by justices of the peace, and as both the civil and police work has increased very largely during the last two or three years, - the general opinion is that it is becoming Increasingly needful that more assistance •. should be available to cope with the work- ' ■ ,