LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18461, 26 July 1923, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

\ \ X .J* ' Oj"'* , ' Prices for beef l at' the Westfield fat stock sales yesterday showed a marked improvement, the best grades appreciating in , value 'from 2s to ': 3s per lQOlb., com- i pared with - last week's ' rates. y; ' Extra choice ox ■ realised £1 8s per ICOlb.. other grades bringing from 12s to £1 ;7s 6d. according to quality. This advance marks the seasonal increase that, commenced about'-'a month ago. Sheep values were maintained at last week's rates. Wethers realised from £1 10s to £2.. Is; ewes, •- £1 to £1 15s; noggets, 15s to £1 10s 6d. Pics again sold well, choppers and bacon pigs bringing from £3 10s to £5.17s 6d ' A shortage in coal supplies for domestic uses is stated to exist in the city at present. This, however,- is said to be usually the case in the months of July and August, and the present shortage, is not considered in any degree a, serious one. Domestic requirements are stated to be more than three times as great in July as in January, and dealers are sometimes unable during the winter months to keep • pace with their orders. The supplies of Newcastle and Westport coals are said to be good, and as these are chiefly used by factories, the shortage of other , kinds does not affect, industry. ' • ■ . • - .. The future of the Waitemata and "Thames Hotel properties in Queen Street was considered by the Dilworth Trust Board this week; The existing leases, which are held by the Campbell, Ehrenfried Company, will terminate on June 30, 1925, and the board has determined that it will not renew the leases for hotel purposes. •It intends to spend a large sum of money in remodelling these buildings. also the whole of the Tyrone Buildings, turning them , into first-class shops on Wthe' ground floor, with modern and commodious offices on ' the other floors. It is considered that the change will greatly improve the appearance of the entrance of the city. It will rest with the Licensing Committee whether a transfer of the licenses is effected, or whether they shall be cancelled.

, The coldness of the classrooms at the Mount Albert Grammar School was a matter that received attention at the meeting of the Board of Governors yesterday. The headmaster reported that the temperature in the classrooms in recent weeks had been well below 50 degrees during school hours, and "lie asked the board to reconsider the question of heating the rooms. It had been customary, he said, for the boys to indulge in physical exercises in class to afford relief from the cold. Mr. W. Ward Baker stated he had visited the school cn Tuesday and found some of the rooms like vaults. It was agreed that 50 degrees was far too low a temperature for school classrooms, and it was decided to obtain ft report on the matter of heating. The estimated cost of heating the school was put down at over £120. A statement regarding the health of Newmarket was presented to the Borough Council ; last evening by the health inspector. From the beginning of. January to July 23 there had been 11 deaths, five of these being from senile decay, the ages being from 91 to 75. Of infectious and notifiable diseases there ' had been live cases of diphtheria, two of pneumonia, one of pneumonic influenza, one of erisypelas, and one of scepticaemia. There had been one death from pneumonic influenza. ■ The Arbitration Court .will conclude its session at Auckland to-day.. It Bits at Wellington to-morrow afternoon, and ;at Dunedin on August 8. Touches of humour wore incorporated into a case before the Compensation Court yesterday. An aged miller, named Pilgrim, was claiming against , the Pukekohe Borough Council for compensation in respect of certain water-power rights, arid Mr."' Endeari, counsel for defendants, when calling Mr. T. R. Gulliver to give evidence, remarked that on the previous day they .had gone through . the : " Pi-grim 1 s Progress," and now were , about to start on "Gulliver's Travels. A little later Mr. Endean, when addressing the Court, referred to Mr. Pilgrim's rights as being "as dead as Tutankbamun in his tomb,' to which Mr. Leary, for tho claimant., replied that "some people seera to ' think 'futankhamun is very much alive;" At another stage' Mr. Endean urged that the power rights were of no value, and said the best test of . that was Would Mr. Leary put any money into the, mill ? "Is it ?" at once asked Mr. Justice Herdman, "he might have none." "Then," persuasively added Mr. Endean, "he rAight borrow some on the value of the rights." The formation .of an Auckland ; t branch of the Canadian Club was! decided upon at a meeting held yesterday at the office of the Canadian Trade Commissioner, Mr. W. A. Beddoe. Mr. . Beddoe was elected president, Mr. C. 'B. Jones vicepresident, and , Mr. C. M. Croft assistant Canadian Trade * Commissioner, secretary and • treasurer. >:'• A committee was also appointed to draft a : constitution and bylaws,; which will be considered at th© next meeting of the club. "The advisability of appointing a qualified physical instructor to the two boys' Grammar schools, ; was discussed by the Grammar Schools' Board of " Governors yesterday. It was stated that whereas the two girls' Grammar schools' benefited by having two mistresses who were expert physical instructors, the physical side of instruction at . the boys' schools was given by masters in their capacity as officers in thfe cadet orcein. ; It was decided to obtain an opinion from the headmasters of the boys' schools,-' and. in the event of; it being favourable and consent being obtained from the Education Department, to advertise for a suitable instructor. A committee of Birkenhead residents was appointed at a public meeting to cooperate with the council in a general .beautifying scheme. The Mayor, Mr. E. C. Walton, presided The meeting, which was convened by the Borough Council, empowered the committee : to consider means for generally promoting the welfare of the borough. , A tribute to the truth of .certain statements given in the witness box was made by Mr. Justice Herdman in the Compensation Court yesterday. Referring to the evidence of R. E. Pilgrim, claimant for compensation in respect of water-power .riirlits at Pukekohe. and that of his wife, His Honor said that if they were condemned at all thev were condemned, by their own truthfulness. Very heavy frosts have been experienced in Cambridge recently. Yesterday morn- J ing the frost there was particularly severe. ■' : ' • The list of cases for the Supreme Court sessions which commence next Tuesday contains 12 civil actions to be tried before a Judge and jury of 12,. ?nd six before a Judge and jury of 4. There are 39 civil actions to be tr'ed by a .Tndfe alone, 10 divorce cases be'ore a Judge and jury of 12, and 61 undefended. divorce cases. • -fe ■ i '; ' Corporal punishment for youthful delinquents was advocated by Mr. Justice Hodman at the Supreme Court vestecdav, when admitting a youth to probation for theft. "What ought to be done," said His Honor, " would be to order\you a birching by the police; that is what should be done to boys who get into mischief of this kind. Nothing would.be better, but I cannot order it, as the law does not permit it." ; • The hours of attendance at the Northcote post office are now 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. These came into force last Monday. : V Eight or ten black swans were seen off Oriental Bay, Wellington,.between 8 .and 9 ; o'clock on Sunday morning. • The' bad weather may have ; accounted 'for :: the appearance .of the birds in strange* waters, arid. the visit to (he harbour was not a very long one. ,Tin; ..swans seemed soon to 'discover that they had ' come upon a [place; to which , they ; y?ere not accustomed.