LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17649, 9 December 1920, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Prices for beef at the Westfield fat stock sales were on a par with late quotations. Choice ox beef sold to £2 15s per 1001b., prime £2 9s to £2 14s. Sheep sold at late rates, heavy prime wethers realising £1 13s to £1 16s 6d, and medium prime to £1 12s 9d. Lambs advanced in price, selling up to £2 for extra prime. Pigs, penned in large numbers, declined in price, choppers bringing £6 18s to £7 15s, baconers £5 15s to £6 7s, according to quality.

An unusual accident occurred yesterday morning on the Takapuna tramway service, as a result of which Mrs. Alfreda Burton, of Tennyson Avenue, Takapuna., sustained two broken ribs and a severely bruised back. Mrs. Burton, who was a passenger by the 10.15 a.m. tram to Bayswater, was thrown heavily against the next seat -when the tram rounded the sharp uend at the top of Clifton Road. After being attended by Dr. Miller the injured woman was conveyed to her home.

The cash sales of surplus military clothing at the Drill Hall were concluded yesterday, although moderate stocks of various lines are still on hand. Realising that many working men have been unable to make purchases during the daytime, the department has decided to open the cash sales department between the hours of 5.30 and 8 o'clock to-morrow evening. The mail order department is still working hard to complete the country orders, and expects to finish its work very shortly. Where mail orders cannot be completed the money forwarded by the customers will be returned by mail by the paymaster when the sales are finished. The demand for blankets has been very heavy, and only a few lines remain. Towels, working shirts, and woollen caps are all sold, but large sizes of new boots, all sizes of partly worn and' re-soled boots, jerseys, and a few mattresses remain. Plentiful stocks of underclothing and shoes are held.

Christmas comforts are to be provided by the Auckland Patriotic Association for the tubercular soldier patients in the Domain shelters and for the patients at the King George Hospital, Rotorua. This was decided yesterday at a meeting of the executive. It was also resolved to suggest to the Advisory Board the provision of similar comforts for the patients in the Waipukurau and Hanmer military hospitals, with an intimation that the Auckland Association would bear its proportion of the cost. The matter of attending to the needs of the Auckland and Rotorua men concerned was left to the Annexe Committee.

Complaints that pedestrians boarding tramcars showed a tendency to loiter between the footpaths and the tram lines were made by\ two or three members of the Newmarket Borough Council last evening. Mr. G. E. Smerdon said the practice was a source of annoyance to motorists, and the council should ask pedestrians to move quickly when stepping from • the footpath into tramcars. The Mayor, Mr. C. Leek, said that the cars did not usually give people much time to loiter, and he thought the problem was one for the police to deal with if it was of sufficient importance. The matter was dropped.

His Excellency the Governor-General has consented to act as patron of the Raglan Carnival Club. -Funds raised by this club are devoted to public purposes in the district. At present they are being used to improve the local recreation reserve.

A wharf labourer, Mr. Jack Johnson, met with an accident on the waterfront at about four o'clock yesterday afternoon through a load of timber in a sling falling on his foot. He was conveyed to the Auckland Hospital, where one of his toes was amputated. . Mr. Johnson is a single,, man, and resides at a boarding house in Customs Street. ■ ■ .-

, A design for a drinking fountain, which; it is suggested, should be erected -at' Newmarket as a soldiers' memorial, -was submitted - to the Newmarket Borough Council last evening. The cost was estimated at £45 if the fountain is built on a granite step, or £35 on a concrete step. It was resolved that the Mayor, Mr. C. Leek, with Mr. S. Donaldson and the town clerk, make further inquiries, afterwards calling a meeting 'of the Citizens' Committee. The funds already, available' amount to £30, being the balance of the sum subscribed for the soldiers' reception last February.

The proposal that the lane running off Victoria Street above City Chambers should be reserved as a night stand for private cars has developed considerably. At the meeting of the committee of the Auckland Automobile 1 Association last evening the secretary, Mr. G. W. Hutchison, reported that the superintendent of the Fire Brigade had agreed to permit eight cars to stand there. . The property owners concerned had • consented to give the association the right to reserve the lane for the use of its members > and to exclude other cars. This merely required to be confirmed by the Public Trustee, who was concerned in some of the property. No difficulty was anticipated in this. It would only remain to refer the matter to the Underwriters' Association and the whole thing would probably be arranged. ' , : \

In reply to an inquiry as to when the Harbour Board expected to place on the market the debentures in connection with its loan of £1,000,000, the chairman of the board, Mr. H. D. Heather, stated yesterday that he had had considerable correspondence with the Prima Minister on the matter previous to Mr. Massey's interview with the Mayor, Mr. J. H. Gunson, during his recent visit to Auckland. The reply received from the Prime. Minister indicated that an Order-in-Council was to be put through by him, enabling the board to sell debentures at a discount. Mr. Heather said that in these circumstances it would only be a short time before the necessary authority would be received and then the board, in conjunction with the City Council, would arrange the rate at which debentures would be offered to the public.

Consideration was given to the wording of a new traffic by-law enacted by the Newmarket Borough Council at last evening's meeting of the committee of the Auckland Automobile Association The secretary, Mr. G. W. Hutchison, quoted the by-law as reading that a driver must " bring his vehicle to a stop when a tramcar has stopped or is about to stop for the purposes of taking on passengers or letting them off." This, he said, was the exact stipulation of the by-law. Nothing was said about how near the vehicle was to be to the tramcar. nor was any qualification made. On the literal reading of the law, so long as there was a stationary tramcar in the borough every vehicle must stop and remain motionless until the tramcar started again. After discussion it was decided that in the event of any member of the association being prosecuted under the by-law the association should . undertake his defence with a view to testing the by-law. It was decided to notify members to that effect by advertisement.

The North Island Railway Appeal Board was occupied yesterday in hearing the appeal of Mr. D. C. Hislans, ticket inspector, 'Auckland. Decision was reserved. To-day the board will hear the appeal of Mr. G. S. Frost, foreman at iTankton Junction.

A five-seater motor-car, owned bv Dr. H. Gilmer, was stolen in Wellington on Saturday afternoon, and was found on Sunday by the police, abandoned near Featherston. Dr. H. McLean, who is acting as Dr. Gilmer's locum tenens while the latter is on a visit to Australia, left the car standing outside his resident in Boulcott Street afout 4 p.m. on Saturday During his brief absence some person or persons made off with the car, which is valued at about £500. Dr. McLean returned a few minutes later, and on discovering the theft, reported the matter, to trie police. The description of the car was promptly telegraphed to all the police stations within a wide radius. On Sunday the Featherston police -found a yellow car abandoned on the roadside which answered to the ; description of the stolen vehicle-. Dr. McLean left Wellington immediately to,bring the car back.