LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIVIII, Issue 17684, 20 January 1921, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Prices for beef a.t the Westfield fat stock sales yesterday showed little change compared with last week's rates, though a trifle firmer in some classes. Extra choice ox realised up to £2 12s per 1001b., other grades ranging from £2 5s to £2 10s per 1001b., according to quality. There was a heavy yarding of sheep, values being slightly easier. Good wethers realised from £1 12s to £1 16s; ewes, £1 7s to £1 10s 9d ; lambs, £1 3s 6d to £1 lis. Pat pigs were again penned in large numbers, competition being steady. Choppers brought from £6 to £7 7s, and baconers £4 5s to £5 14s. The Auckland Prices Investigation Tribunal yesterday received a complaint alleging that the Takapuna Tramway and Ferry Company was charging excessively high passenger fares between Auckland and Bayswater. The complainant stated that! hat had communicated with the Minister for Public Works, the Hon. J. G. Coates, Mr. A. Harris, M.P., and the sec-etary to the Board of Trade, asking that this matter be investigated. In view of the fact that the complaint had been sent direct to the Board of Trade, the tribunal decided not to take any action, pending receipt of instructions from Wellington. The persistency with which racing is followed was again strikingly illustrated yesterday, when a crowded train left Auckland shortly before 7 a.m. for Claudelands, Hamilton, where the Rotorua Jockey Club held its annual gathering. Residents of Hamilton and the surrounding districts attended in strong force, and the meeting was a marked success. The Rotorua Cup was won by Mr. J. McNicol's gelding Woody Glen, and the presentation of a beautiful silver cup attached to the event was made amidst much enthusiasm. A petition was received by the Birkenhead Borough Council last evening from upwards of 800 residents of Birkenhead, Northcote, and Chelsea, suggesting the alteration of the evening ferry time-table. It was urged that several whose work on the waterfront ceased at 10 p.m. now had to wait till 10.45 p.m. from Auckland, and it was desired that the steamer should leave at 10.10 p.m. for the convenience of these men. It was decided to refer the requests to a conference with the Northcote Council. To-day is the twenty-first anniversary of the departure of the Second New Zealand Contingent to take part in the South African war. The contingent, commanded by Major Cradock, and consisting of 258 officers and men. left Wellington in the steamer Waiwera on January 20, 1900, and arrived at Durban on February 18. At the official send-off the Premier, Mr. Seddon, announced that a third contingent would be despatched, and said that, if necessary, every man in New Zealand who could bear arms would go to the front. At this time the British troops were in the midst of the strenuous struggles of the early part of the war. The condition of the boy Hiram La Marquand, who lost control of his bicycle and crashed into a stone wall at Onehunga on Sunday afternoon, was reported by the hospital authorities last evening to be less critical than previously. There is no change in the condition of Mrs. Jane Smith, who -wan badly burned about the face and body as the result of the explosion of a. benzine stove on the scow Lena on Sunday. The precis of correspondence which came before the Education Board yesterday contained the following :—"Mangere East : The Right Honourable W. F. Massey reports that he would prefer not to sell his land as a school site." "Make him an offer and if he won't accept it acquire it under the Public Works Act," said Mr. A. Burns. "All in favour?" said the chairman, and amid smiles this course was adopted. A sensational incident was connected with the race for the Welter Handicap at Hamilton yesterday. The contesting horses had just passed the winning post when New Zealand, ridden by H. Goldfinch, fell, and King Albyn, ridden by T. McTavish, colliding with him, was also brought down. New Zealand was found to have fractured a fetlock, and within a few minutes of the accident he was destroyed. A letter from the Takapuna Borough Council in regard to its proposed loan for carrying out various borough improvements was received at) a meeting of the trustees of the Auckland Savings Bank yesterday. An inquiry was made by the council whether the bank would provide the loan in the event of it being sanctioned by a poll of the ratepayers. It was resolved to reply that the question of supplying the money from the bank's funds could not be entertained at present. It was stated that all the money the bank has at' its disposal was required to meet applications for small loans of under £1000. The Takapuna Council last year prepared a scheme for borrowing £170,000 for water supply and beach improvements and the erection of a new library building. A rumour has been in circulation to the effect that the Harbour Board contemplated requesting the Railway Department to extend the railway line along Quay Street to Prince's Wharf, which is the new name to be given to Hobson Wharf, shortly to be rebuilt in concrete. The chairman of the board, Mr. H. D. Heather, stated yesterday, however, that the matter had never been before ohe board, and that no such application had been made to the (Railway Department. The adjourned conference of local bodies in connection with the electrical power scheme of the Minister for Public Works, the Hon. J. G. Coates, will be held on Tuesday, February 1. The sub-committee, which held its first meeting at the Town Hall on Tuesday evening last, will bring down a report on the proposal to form one power board for the entire Auckland isthmus. A number of replies were received from the Minister and the General Manager of Railways at a meeting of the Morrinsville Town Board with respect to the resolutions passed by a public meeting in Morrinsville recently concerning the railway station. A member remarked that the replies were duplicates of the letters received from the department some months ago. They were still considering the question of improvements to the station. It was decided to ask the Minister whether the department was likely to complete consideration of the matter before the present general manager went out of office. The board expressed impatience with the way in which the department had treated the townspeople of Morrinsville in regard to the railway station. Baconers are selling in the Thames Valley district at 6d per lb., the lowest price for years, writes our Morrinsville correspondent. The price not long ago was lid. Bacon has been 2s per lb. in the retail shops at Morrinsville for some time past, but it is understood that there is likely to be an appreciable drop in the retail price before long, and that bacon will be cheaper than it was before the war. One shopkeeper in Morrinsville said that the bacon factories had been trying to get rid of large quantities of bacon since before Christmas. Sides of bacon have been sold lately by farmers at Is 3d per lb. A course of instruction in agriculture for school teachers will be held at the Ruakura State farm between January 24 and 28. Some 75 teachers will attend. Otago Harbour is said to be at present teeming with dogfish, and as a result fishing, both by amateur and professional fishermen, is much handicapped. The large number of young dogfish, about a foot in length, is a feature of the unwelcome visitation. Of course, dogfish visit the harbour every summer, but the unusually large number this season is regarded to be due to an appreciable extent to the warm, sunny weather of the last few weeks. The other night a fisherman's catch consisted wholly of dogfish, ranging in length from 12ins. to 4ft. 6in.