LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18497, 6 September 1923, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

The improved; prices obtained , for beef last week were maintained at the Westfield fat stock . sales yesterday, in spite Of ; J >: - large f yarding. Extra '■'% choice •ox realised '■ £1 14s- ; per '• 1001b., choice and; prime bringing. £1 9s to £1 13s, and other grades 10s to £1 Bs, according to quality Cow and heifer beef brought ; from £1 5s to £1 Us per 1001b. Prices: for sheep i were also about • equal to those , of last week. Wethers sold at ; from £1 10s to £3, ewes £1 to £3 15s, hoggets £1 ;2s to £2 14s 3d. The first spring lambs met with a ready sale at from £1-lbs; to £2 and the demand was unsatisfied, .Figs we're yarded in small numbers, and prices consequently showed ; an' improvement choppers and bacon pigs realising W.«s to ! £4-lis.'.:;;:;;'•;;'';; .;v:V', ; .; ' W■ Newmarket 1 proposes to erect a safetyzone. -The Streets Committee, reporting to the Borough Council lest evening, referred to : the congestion: of ': traffic at the tram stop in Broadway at certain hours. To relieve the position' the committee recommended that the tramway authorities ho asked to remove the line at present used for shunting purposes, that in the event of this being done, a safetyzone should be erected at the stop opposite the rpilway entrance. The council adopted the report. • •. ,'.; i.■•'■ VAn exodus of shipping from Auckland took place yesterday, when five large steamers departed: The Dutch steamer Djember cleared • at 6.30 -a.m., and the Shaw Savill and Albion steamer Mahana at 7 a.m., both for Wellington. At midday tho Wairuna sailed for Melbourne, and the Katos. for Newcastle. The last to •leave port -was the Kurow, which sailed in the evening for- Newcastle. These vessels were replaced by three arrivals, lhe Waipori from Greymouth and the UUmaroa from Sydney arrived in the morning, and the Rakanoa arrived from Newcastle in the afternoon. An amusing tribute to the efficacy of newspaper advertising is paid. by an offices of the New Zealand'lnsurance Company, who has been visiting country agencies. Included in some advertisements published was a statement to the effect-that '•' ashes are useless, but the New Zealand Insurance Company pays for them without delav." With an eye to business, two small boys, who evidently read the papers, collected and sifted the household cinders.: Thev appeared at the country agency beariris? between them a benzine tin filled with ashes. Their enterprise did not go unrewarded, as the company's officer appreciated the joke. . -■'.■' A number <f "K'hccv committees \ver«« considerably disturbed last year by the partial abandonment by tho Education Department of the principle of £ for £ subsidies. The Auckland Education Board yesterday was furnished with a return of claims for subsidies which were not granted in full by the department, and it was agreed, after discussion, to renew application to the department for the unpaid balance. , The revision of the railway tariff, which is now in progress, is arousing considerable interest among farmers. The Auckland Provincial Farmers' Union has received advice that a conference on the subject between the Dominion executive of the Farmers' ) Union and officials of the Railway Department will tako place in October. The concreting of that portion of Manukau Road which comes within the jurisdiction of the One Tree Hill Road Board, was referred to by the chairman of. the board, Mr. R. G. Clark, last evening. The board was, he said, very pleased that the work had been completed, with credit to the contractors and to the board's engineer. When the Great South Road was completed; the whole work would have Keen done within the amount appropriated to the" work l : by tho loan and under the estimate of tho engineer. :: , The exposuro of school teachers to the contraction of epidemic illnesses , led to the Education Board being approached yesterday with a view to obtaining tho full payment of salary for teachers, on leave of absence through epidemic diseases, and ailments. The proposal was advanced by the Auckland branch «>f the Educational Institute, which - urged the board to request the department to amend tho regulations so that absence on account of suci illresses should bo made a matter entirely apart from absence due to ordinary illness. ; It was agreed, to support the branch in the nia;wr, hi.d make representations to the department. . The fact "that some motorists are still using the portion of Manukau Road between Broadway, t Newmarket, . and the top of the reserve, w as mentioned at the meeting of the Borough Council last evening. The engineer, Mr. A. Greville Walker, said the tramway tracks wore in course of being raised, and he considered the roadway was now unsafe. The danger would. bo much greater as soon as the railway bridge decking was stripped. The council decided to issue a further warning and to prosecute the first offender. . Four contracts for the formation of the road from Putaruru to Arapuni have been let by the Public Works Department. One gang is at present engaged metalling the first portion of the road. A great deal of heavy: traffic .will be carried by the road when the contract for the construction of the hydro-electric station is commenced. .. ' ■;",', ■■'.'■'■:■::' " Every assistance in furthering the objects; of a " Boys' Week '" in Auckland next month was promised by the Education Board yesterday. The scheme; was outlined in' a letter received from the Rotary Club, which is organising the campaign' in conjunction with the Young Citizens' League, boy scouts, and other welfare organisations. .The movement was regarded, favourably by the board and it was agreed to thank the Rotary Club for its efforts in the matter. One thing that has impressed the onlooker is the fluency with ' which the Japanese delegates to '' the pan-Pacific; • Science Congress speak English,.writes our. : Sydney correspondent. It is the perfect, polished English, which it would be a treat to hear more of among our own kind. How many Australians, going to Japan, could make themselves understood : in clear, usdefiled Japanese ?•■.. Which reminds one of the visiting Chineso Soccer footballers. Out.;,at, the Showground, a Sydney youth greeted one of them with, " John have a cigarette." "Thank you," replied the educated young Chinese, " but I am not John, and I do not smoke cigarettes." '- ;' ;' ■'" Residents in, the vicinity of the Bellevue Gardens, Lower Hutt, Wellington, .were startled on Saturday morning 1 by the sound of an explosion, and those who were about in Woburn Road, by the sight of a small steam boiler hurtling through the,air, and crashing on to the road near Mr.' Riddiford's residence. '■'. Investigations showed that the boiler had come from Mr. George Chapman's grounds, where it had been used for the purpose of providing steam for soil sterilisation. By a mis- ; chance, the pipe leading into,the sterilisa- ' tibri chamber became blocked, and the accumulation of steam caused the explosion. Considerable damage was done to Mr. Chapman's property, and some of the debris was thrown into the neighbouring premises. " . ° "Everything is going on all right according to programme," stated the H6n. J. G. Coates, Minister, for ' Public Works, in Wellington, with reference to his visit of inspection, the day before to the hydroelectric 1 development works; at Mahgahao. "From a layman's point of view," added the Minister, '"the Mangahao : dam seems to bo the .controlling factor; and, : if (we have the luck to go on without a. flood, we. "should b;* ready -'to supply current bv the end. of Juno next." : : : ,: ..:;•; ; ■ . *: -; :;, There ■ are . now, only five ; influenza patients in the Dunedin Hospital.; x There have been no admissions of sufferers from influenza since August 13. . .