LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17482, 28 May 1920, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

.", , - . ;...-• ;: /;; About 83C bags o? English parcel mail . for. Auckland, forwarded via' Australia, ; were' brought to Wellington' by the Wai- .' kawa, Iwhich) arrived i from (Newcastle jon s Wednesday night. - This should reach ' -Auckland v - by. this «ftftemoor's express. ;.• The i letter portion i;< of £. the y; mail was . received by \ the » Maheno, ; . which : arrived , here on Tuesday. r ;, The Paloona.which ar- ,* rived at'Blrff from Melbourne 'yesterday,' brought a large Australian mail for Auck- '■:■ land . and. it will ; probably arrive on . Sunday morning. The Paparoa, which arrived . hera ; early I this ■ morning from Liverpool, : has a parcel mail only, .403 bags of which j are for Auckland. ! •', " V' >,» -.'- ; < The fish market is still practically hare, although; the arrival of a v trawler yesterday with v about ; ten tons of mixed fish afforded temporary relief. ; Another r , trawler is expected to arrive to-day, but. as the boats are meeting very unfavourable conditions outside ;' the Hauraki Gulf,; a email catch is anticipated. "• « , . A V requisition signed by, 103 retail fruiterers was received by the City Council ' last, evening ;> asking ! that fruiterers' shops should be closed ;. at 7 p.m. from Monday to, Thursday and at 11.30 p.m. - on Friday and Saturday. The city; valuer reported that in his opinion there were 64 ■ legitimate signatures to the document out of 137 engaged m tho business and ocI cupying shops, that 23 of the signatories were those of hawkers, and' that 39 were ineligible for various reasons. A-firm of solicitors asked on I behalf of clients that the requisition ; ' should • not v be certified until a counter-petition protesting against the hours named had been received. The 1 Mayor stated that some of the signatories • having withdrawn their names from the petition there 'did not remain sufficient to ' make it legal request. 'No action was, 1 therefore taken. ' ' '" '■■ • ; :< . A telegram was received yesterday :by ! the president : ( of the Farmeru' Union Pro- . vincial Conference, Mr. J. Boddie, from the Prime Minister, stating; that he was 1 unaware that a \ large number of; partlyworn tarpaulins were being destroyed ;by the Railway • Department. j ■? Mr. -Massey added that he would have inquiries made "regarding the matter. Mr. Boddie * explained ,to the conference. that^ : the telegram was in reply. to a complaint by the union that tarpaulins that would, bo suitable' for .usei by farmers were being dej . stroyed. He said similar 1 complaints had been previously made, but rib satisfaction had been obtained from the Department. , '| ! The' complaint made by Auckland merchants regarding 'the diversion of ; railway tpods waggons ;to the 1 purpose of , passenger traffic was referred to at a meeting of the'council of the (Camber of \Commerce vesterday. ?H A : letter was; received j from . the Railway . Department, , stating: that the use of goods waggons for passenger purposeti was 1 unavoidable, '-• but that all waggons sb diverted were invariably returned to goods traffio a* early as possible. It was generally agreed by members of 'the. council that no fault rested with the local officials of the Department, but it was resolved to write to the Minister : urging the necessity for increased rolling stock for both passenger and goods traffic. ;. *. ; ' -"'' ,'. '•'■'■'■ V ;-,; j,',-; : .-.. : The distribution of rat poison on behalf of the City Council was recently discontinued by A the. chief {.. sanitary inspector, ; Mr. C. T. Haynes. Mr v P. J. Nerheny ■■ referred to the matter., at tie meeting of \ the council a fortnight 'ago, when the inspector stated that his action had been due to statements .made. by Mr. W. \, J. Holdßworth to the effect that the poison used was not effective. The matter, was thereupon referred to the Works Committee which recommended■ at last evening's meeting of the council i that the -inspector keep a good supply of efficient rat poison ana maintain its free distribution. . i?» A statement "'that \, sugar * has been ehipped from .New Zealand to Tonga, not- t withstanding the embargo placed upon J its export, was conveyed to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, in; correspondence from the ! Minister for External Affairs, and from the Board of Trade, which read at a meeting of the council of the chamber yesterday. It was resolved to reply to the Board of Trade, stating that in '; the opinion sof the ; chamber. • steps should. bo taken against those who ; had broken the law, in thia respect- -^k-o _.v*. . The > Auckland ■ Land Board yesterday concluded a sitting extending over a day and a half. The Commissioner of Crown Lands,> Mr. H. M. Skcct, presided. j A total of 337 items were dealt with, the majority being connected with the settlement of soldiers on the land. ■■ The loyalty, to the British Crown of subject races during the war was referred to by the Rev. Percival E. IJames at a meeting of the Church Missionary Society last evening. He said his personal experience was that the vast majority of Indians and Egyptians had a warm friendship for the British. They preferred British rule to any other, because we occupied territory to protect the native inhabitant* from themselves and from others. Our object was .to make them fit, which they were not now, to govern themselves. For that purpose God had chosen the British Empire, and it was a matter of pride that among all tho European nations wo were the best governors of these native races. Suffering frm scalp wounds and abrasions on both legs and knees, a twelve-year-old boy, Stanley Labium, who resides at Princes Street, Otabuhu, was admitted to the Auckland Hospital last evening. The boy was driving a trap, in which were two men, when the norae became frightened and broke a portion of the harness. The vehicle then collided with a telegraph pole, and tho occupants or the trap were thrown out. The two men escaped injury. The presentation to the City Art Gallery, for permanent rotention there, of Mr. Walter Wright's painting of the first arrival in Auckland Harbour of H.M.S. New Zealand was formally offered to the City Council last evening in a communication from Samuel Vaile and Sons, Ltd., and 34 others. The council decided to thank the donors. A petition was recently sent in to the City Council by carrying firms and others asking that concrete roads should be dressed for Bft at each side with sandbound macadam. It was urged that in their present state tho roads were dangerous for horses. The city engineer, Mr. W. E. Bush, last evening reported to the council that he could not recommend the course suggested being followed. He was satisfied that the paving of the principal thoroughfares had proved an immense saving to the majority of the firms who had signed tho petition. To adopt the suggestion would be detrimental to the progress of the city and to the interests of all the carrying firms. On tho recommendation of tho Works Committee the council decided to reply that the complaint arose in part from the practice of some carriers of overloading. It was also decided to state that steps had been taken to render the gradients safe. A record' auction sale of. second-hand timber was held yesterday on premises lately known as Nathan's buildings, Karangahape Road, the sale being conducted by J. R. Robertson, Ltd. Bidding was brisk, and there was a very large attendance, buyers being present from all parte of the country. Several lots were sent as far south as Te Kuiti. The prices were the highest yet realised for used timber, the average being £3 15s per 100 ft. There was a great demand 'or doors and windows, all lots offered being readily sold. The average price for doors was £2 15s, and for windows £3. The Community Club movement was brought under the notice of the City Council la§t evening. The committee recently appointed to inaugurate a club asked the council to establish and financially support recreation halls for the public. The writers stated that they would organise a band of volunteer helpers to assist in the practical management and organisation of such institutions; The matter was referred to the Public Services Commutes,