LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18709, 15 May 1924, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Prices for beef at Westfield fat stock sales yesterday- were slightly easier than last week's rates. Extra choice ox realised £1 8s per 1001b, other grades bringing 18s to £1 7s, according to quality. Cow and heifer beef - made from 18s to £1 ss. Sheep prices were generally maintained. Wethers brought from £1 lis to £2 0s 6d, ewes 18s to £1 14s, lambs 18s to £1 10s 6d. Pig prices were firm at last week's rates, choppers and bacon pigs realising from £2 5s to £4 6s.

Two well-filled expresses, one for Wellington and the other for Mercer and Frankton only, were • despatched ' last evening. The Wellington train, which included 15 passenger cars, carrying approximately 600 persons, departed at 7.10 p.m., and the Frankton train, which left half-an-hour later, had over 200 passengers on board. " The whole thing is unfair, to my mind," remarked Mr. R. G. Clark, chairman of the One Tree Hill Road Board, at the board meeting last evening, when the new levies of the Hospital Board were received. Mr. Clark said the levies were made on Government valuations. Some of the outside boroughs had not been valued for years, but the levies in One Tree Hill were made on new valuations. He thought the valuation list would be .increased by £10,000,000 from outside districts if fresh valuations were made.

The Devonport Borough Council is experiencing a shortage of labour at present. Several complaints have been received regarding the delay in putting in order footpaths and other damage caused by storm-water. The Mayor, Mr. T. Lamont, stated last evening that all complaints were being attended to as quickly as was possible, but the engineers' department was severely handicapped in carrying out its work due to a shortage of labour. The contractor for the road in course of construction was in a similar position. A great deal of the council's labour was drawn from adjacent boroughs, and as these boroughs now had several large undertakings in hand, the men were accepting work nearer their homes.

The disinclination of juries to convict in cases to which the term " manslaughter " is applied, and the desirableness c* altering the legal description of man v such cases, was once more referred to by 'Mr. Justice Stringer in the Supreme Court, yesterday. The term, His Honor pointed out, was suggestive of something that approached murder, and juries were consequently disposed to take a lenioi't view of the facts put before them. If, he suggested, the offence were called what it really was, ■ namely, criminal negligence, juries would probably not have the same dislike to return edicts of conviction when they were justified by the facts.

Speaking at the welcome to the naval visitors at Rotorua, Rear-Admiral Brand said his only regret was that they could not bring the ships with them. He was the commander of the light cruiser section of the Imperial squadron, as they Tcnew, and he assured them it was a considerable part of the . squadron, in spite of the Hood, of which their hosts were so continually being reminded in one way or another. (Laughter). He would conclude by asking them a riddle, but first he apologised, to the,.owners of any Ford cars present. "Why was the Special Service Squadron like a Ford car?" The answer was Because it was all 'Hood.'" (Laughter.)

Th« law as to the responsibility of motorists is plain, said Mr. Justice Stringer, in charging a jury fit the Supreme Court yesterday. It imposes upon every person in charge of a motor vehicle, or, indeed, any kind of vehicle a legal duty to . take reasonable precautions against danger to human life, and reasonable care to avoid danger. Holiday baches in isolated positions on Rangitoto Island have been broken into lately and their contents removed. One bach owner submitted to the Devonport Borough Council last evening a list of articles that had been removed from his bach, and asked that some protection be afforded owners. The council decided to forward the complaint to the water police. The bankrupts of to-day may thank their stars that they did not live a few hundred years ago. In leading up at t!he Supreme Court yesterday to the history of a case of alleged breach ai the bankruptcy law, Mr. S. L. Paterson reminded the jury that in the barbarous " bad old days " a creditor could seize a debtor and make a slave of him, and could even put him to death. If he had a number of creditors they were empowered to kill him, cut up his body, and take the pieces away. "Since we commenced our radium appeal six months ago there have been several deaths from cancer in Wanganui alone," recently remarked the secretary for the Wanganui Radium Appeal Fund, Mr. A. R. Donaldson. In referring to the committee's aim to raise £3000, he said that so far £906 9s had been collected. It was intended to call a public meeting in connection with the appeal.

The infant child of a Wellington resident had a narrow escape at Hataitai last week. The nursemaid was wheeling the baby across the tramline after a tramcar had passed, arid did not notice a second car coming until it was right upon them. With great presence of mind she gave the go-cart a hard push beyond the car, and released her hold, falling in a faint on the other side of the road. Neither the child nor the nursemaid suffered any injury. "Australians, and New Zealanders, too, although very critical of sport and fully versed in the fine points of racing, cricket, and football, are allowing the finer points of the English language to fall into decay," said Mr. Montgomery Stuart, the elocution judge at the Christchurch competitions last week. While they were critical of sport, he said, they were not critical of language. There was a general falling off. The stage, schools and pulpits even now were not good models of English speech. .

The question of the probable effect of the discharge of noxious material into the Wanganui River on the Atlantic salmon has been discussed by the Wanganui Harbour Board. At its last meeting a letter was received from the Marine Department suggesting that the board should give the matter its earnest consideration, with a view to improving the conditions as far as possible. The chairman said he did not know of any power under the Harbours, Act whereby the board could prevent these discharges into the river. It was decided to ask the department what powers the board possessed in the matter. "We have now. a considerable • amount of trouble with dredging owing to the tremendous amount of driftwood in the river," remarked the chairman of the Wanganui Harbour Board at a meeting last week. A large quantity of the wood has found its way for a considerable distance down the coast*.