LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17347, 19 December 1919, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

i- The following weather 3 forecast was 'C issued by Mr. Clement L. Wragse at _ eight o'clock . last evenipg:—Conditions are unsettled "and : decidedly suspicious. .- The new 1 disturbance" named ego as is increasing ,in energy, making north, and is now off the West Coast. A change K seems imminent; Winds between, north--5 east and north-west, shifting westerly " later. Some rain is now likely. Sea mod- - erate, , but rising later. , An English and American mail arrived m ' by the Niagara yesterday. The Southern portion was sent away by train, but only part of the Auckland portion was delivered. The balance will be delivered this ' morning. A mail from Fiji, Tonga, arid . Samoa arrived by the Talune, and was delivered yesterday. The names of fully 54 returned soldiers appear on the Repatriation Board's unemployment register—the lowest . number yet recorded. Of this number 19 6 have been discharged for more than 12 7 months,' and have either been placed in t employment previously or have left posis tions they returned to. e Upwards of 20,000 cases of bananas ar--3 rived from Fiji by the Talune yesterday. The fruit is reported to be a fin© shipment, . and as good, favourable weather was ex- . perienced on the trip it-reached here in splendid condition. It is understood the ' fruit was sold at 24s to 25s a case. An- \ other line of fruit that reached Auckland * yesterday was 9000 cases of apples brought - from Canada by the Niagara.- The Flora, l due from the Eastern Pacific next Tuesi day, is also bringing fruit. J Some criticism is levelled by the headmaster of the Auckland Grammar School, ' Mr. J. W. .Tibbs, at: the majority of 73 "free-glace" boys of Auckland district who 5 failed to complete their second year at the ' school. In his annual report he says they 7 ought never to have entered the school, : that they came merely because they won - free places, and that some of them worked • only under constant pressure, showing >' little interest in the new subjects. Good i wages induced some of them to leave . school, while others were "retired" for . playing truant. Ho declared that much ( public money was wasted by sending to the higher schools boys who would be better employed in an office or at a trade. : A statement made recently to the effect > that the American* Consulate-General was [ to be transferred to Wellington, was re- , ferred to yesterday by Mr. A. A. Winslow, [ who returned by the Niagara. He' said he had received no notification of any ( change, and did not think it was : meditated. Possibly the fact that he had been promoted in grade by his Depart- . ment had led to misapprehension on the ; point. . The three women who were injured by . the capsizing of a motor-car into & swamp on the Paeroa-Te Aroha Road on Wednes- ' day, are recovering from their injuries, though one is confined to her bed. The car, which was only slightly damaged, was pulled on to the road again by a team of horses and taken to Paeroa. The owner of the car, Mr. R. P. Staples, of Hamilton, was not driving the car at the time of the accident. ! A visit to Narrow Neck camp was made yesterday by, Mr. A. Harris, M. Matters ' particularly affecting the payment of pen;t sions and gratuities were brought under ). Mr. Harris' attention, and he promised to _ make an immediate investigation, with a view to securing a remedy for any griev- '" ahces found to exist. Before leaving the '" camp the men heartily, congratulated Mr. h Hemes upon his re-election as member for . Waitemata .by such a ..large majority, e three rousing cheers being given in his honour. * Ir ■ e * Three pupils 'of the Roto-iti Native ■I School have gained Government scholard ships, writes our Rotorua correspondent. ;- One, a girl, is to join the Victoria School, e Auckland, for two years. The other two e are boys, who are to attend St. Stephen's School for two years. They hope to enter the engineering profession at the end of 5 that period, e e Lord Kitchener might have had a better opinion of the junior cadet system had he . known that the men of our division -at Gallipoli were its product, declared Mr. } J. W. Tibbs in the Grammar School last evening. In the speaker's opinion the 0 whole community had sustained a loss in d discipline and smartness by its abolition, a but he notes with pleasure that the Legisj lative Council recently favoured its restorao tion* it The Northcote Borough Council has y accepted a tender for repairing the seaV wall at the Northcote Wharf approach, the e price being £448 18s. The council also t- decided to expend £25 in constructing e steps to connect Little Shoal Bay Reserve v with Seaview Avenue, thus providing an easily-accessible "short cut" to the western end of the borough and to the Kauri Gully 5 " Scenic Reserve. it e The danger of jerking children by their arms was illustrated on one of the Devonq port ferries yesterday. As ,the boat neared r _ the city wharf a mother seized her little one by the hand and gave a sudden pull, ' . with the result that the child's arm was " dislocated. By a happy chance two docd tors were on board, and they gave prompt it attention to the little sufferer. As a result of the epidemic of influenza 10 in 1918 the standard of work during the a past year at the Auckland Grammar 8 School has been below the average. The <'t inspectors have made due allowance for it this circumstance by awarding senior free , e places without, examination. r " A challenge cup for competition in the *" Boys' Agricultural Glub scheme, has been <* presented by Mr. W. Stuart Wilson, of ». Wellington. Dr. C. J. Reakes, Director l- General of Agriculture, will arrange the i- judging. There is a serious shortage of labour in New Plymouth, and local bodies are experiencing great difficulty in obtaining the e necessary number of men to carry out the works on hand. A further difficulty local bodies and other employers are met with , is that of houeing accommodation. In this '' connection it was stated at" the New Ply--0 mouth Borough Council that a number of ■, men from outside districts were prepared 0 to accept employment with the borough, 8 provided accommodation was guaranteed £ them. The council discussed various pro- , poßals, including one that an effort be made to purchase a number of huts from g the Defence Department, but eventually it i was agreed to go into the question of ways 6 and means of providing accommodation . r on the dormitory principle with common . diningrooms. a The District Repatriation Board met s yesterday, Mr. A. W. Gillies presiding. ~ Sixty-three applications for business loans y ranging from £50 to £300 were conside ered, and of these 36 were granted or s recommended, the remainder being either r held over, withdrawn, or not recomt mended. Of 55 applications for furniture loans, 53 were granted. In the vocational training section four men were granted '■' loans to purchase tools of trade, seven were given allowances for books and fees 8 while studying at schools and colleges Id e trainees in workshops and factories and '■ five apprentices were granted subsidies, a and five were, allowed sustenance while « attending schools and colleges. One ap- - plication for fees was declined a pis being the end of the department's a first year, the board placed on record - its high appreciation of the capacity dise played by the chairman, Mr. A. W. Gil- - lies, and also of the able manner in which the staff had performed its work. ' i