LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXIII, Issue 8407, 8 November 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Mr C. J. Harper, Chairman of the County Council, received a telegram from Mr W. J. Dickie, M.P., last evening, stating that £500 had- been placed on the supplementary estimates for the Roxburgh Crossing Bridge. This will bo good news to the Hinds people, as well as to those who have occasion to use the .Roxburgh Crossing, and the Council is now relieved of the necessity to decide which of the two structures shall have preference, for both can Dv proceeded with.

The South Canterbury Orchard Inspector (Mr A.. Bailey Mansfield) was. in Ashburton yesterday. He has been inspecting sites offered by residents of South Canterbury for experimental orchard* plots. Mr Mansfield advises, that, arsenate of lead has been proved to be the most effective remedy for codlin moth. Tlio moths captured oy Mr Elliott were found by Mr .Mansfield to be specimens of the cut worm, and not those of the codlin, as suspected.

At Auckland yesterday frinety-four youths appeared at the Police Court charged with failing to attend parades.The hearing of the charges occupied the Magistrate two hours. Several cases, in which reasonable excuses were made, were dismissed. In other cases fines ranging from Is to £1 were imposed.

A. circular has been issued by the Wellington Catholic Education Board to the Roman Catholic community of the city, inviting them individually to contribute annual donations, payable either monthly or quarterly, to the cause of primary education under the new control. The objects of the Board as set out in the circular letter are: — ': 1. To provide for the maintenance oi all the Catholic schools in the city. 2. To enlist the support, moral and financial, of every Catholic in the city. 3. To establish a fund which will enable the Board at some future date to .abolish school fees and throw open our schools free to all Catholic children. 4. To make the lives of our devoted, teachers happier and less humiliating and to show by our practical support our deep appreciation of thoir grand self-sacrificing lives."

A Parliamentary return states that the number of births in the Dominion during 1911 were 26,354. The percentage of children under one year of age vaccinated was 1.6, and the number of exemptions granted was 6754.

Followers of horse racing are more or ;' less superstitious, and an amusing story j is told of a New Plymouth sport's win ] on the Cup race on Saturday. For a few days he had been closely studying the form of the Cup candidates, but l could not make up his mind as to which horse he was going to support. On Friday night the question was settled. At I midnight his wife presented him with ; a son, and the proud . father decided to back Midnight Suiir for the Cup. This he accordingly Hid, and the "tip" came off all right. j

An instance of how the law deals hardly with a man occurred in Wanganui this week in the case of a young fellow, George Adamson. Brought into town' by order of the police, he was immediately arrested for being in arrears with a. maintenance order. He appeared before the Court.on Monday, and was ordered to appear in Christchurch on Wednesday, his wife being in Christchurch.- -He was allowed out on bail. Before, proceeding to. the southern city lie received ample funds to pay the arrears. But, as the letter of the law had to be obeyed, the money could not be paid here, and Adamson left for Christchurch on Tuesday.

The annual report on secondary schools in New Zealand shows that owing to the rapid development of the free place system orily 13 in every 100 pupils pay fees in these schools. In 1903 there were 1600 free place pupils; now the number has increased by more than 150 per cent. Including secondary schools, district high schools, technical day schools,,, and . Maori secondary schools, 7699 children are now receiving free secondary education. The re^ port calls attention to an improvement, in the average salaries of secondary teachers.

During' his speech on the State Advances Bill in the House on Wednesday night, Sir Joseph Ward said the Minister of Finance was criticising him,, but if the necessity arose he would tell the House what he (Sir Joseph Ward) did when the country's bank was absolutely ou the verge of ruination and its chest was so hollow that you could hear it sounding from the North, Cape to Bluff. (Laughter.) He would tell them what he had'to do for New Zealand in a time of extreme difficulty, and what he did at enormous personal risk from the standpoint of continuing to be a Minister of the Crown.

The special correspondent of tht> il Otago Daily Times " telegraphs: —As stated some 'weeks ago, there is _ a pretty general consensus of opinion that Mr Donald Robertson, the secretary of the General Post Office, will be "appointed the Chief Public Service Commissioner under the Act recently passed.■ There is;, also an impression that the appointment will be made at an early date. Mr Robertson is a. man of more than ordinary ability. He has a very thorough knowledge of the public service, and his appointment will give very general satisfaction, it is expected that one other departmental officer and one outsider with business experience will be appointed as his colleagues. There is, however, no definite information available regarding the appointments. ■ Indeed, it is understood that the matter has, yet to be fully discussed by the Cabinet. ;

A definite, move in the direction of settling the question whether the out&r harbour should be extended and made available for ocean steamers or whether an inner harbour,, capable of admitting large steamers be constructed, is about to be taken up, says a Napier message, Mr J. J. Niven'having_ given notice to move at the next meeting of the Harbour Board, that "the necessary steps be- at once taken to place before the ratepayers proposals to raise a sufficient sum of money to construct an inner harbour, and that the Public Works Department be immediately notified of the Board's decision, so that all misunderstanding regarding the construction of the East Coast railway embankment may be removed and the work carried on simultaneously with the harbour construction."

It is evident that the refusal of the Ward and Mackenzie Governments to sanction a repetition of the Sedgwick boy immigration experiment has not damped the. ardour of the enthusiastic promoter of the scheme. A Wellington resident has just received'a letter from •Mr Sedgwick, dated September 2'4,in which he states that soon after the Hon. T. Mackenzie became Prime Minister he sent' him this cable : " Five hundred boys eager to greet you as their Premier." ' Mr Mackenzie, he says, did not send for the boys—and went out of office ! However, he clearly does not bear the ex-Prime Minister any ill-will on this account, for on hearing of his appointment'-as High Commissioner -he invited him to a reception of 500 boys in the Poplar Town Hall. "If he comes," the letter goes on, "He will have the night of his life, with two bands, salvoes of cheers, grand organ, etc," In all pro-. 1 bability Mr Mackenzie will he making the acquaintance of the band of 500 very soon, when Mr Sedgwick may be relied upon to do all possible to secure permission for at least some of them to come to New Zealand.

At the" Supreme Court sittings at • Nelson yesterday, Victor Laney claim- -, : ed "£SOO from Alexander Brown for s unlawful arrest and imprisonment. ■ The Judge held that plaintiff had fail-* *.■ ed to prove what was " a reasonable*! or probable cause for arrest,' and gave m judgment for defendant, with costs.

A cable message to the Independent . Service of Australia states that refus- . ing to serve on juries in cases against women is the latest scheme originated . by the male suffragists as a raeans ' f accomplishing their purpose. I hey de- ■ clare that they have conscientious ob- y jections to the immorality of trying- --- women by men under men-made laws. .

The annual meeting of the Canterbury district synod of the Methodist * Church of/New "Zeal-ind will be held in Ashburton this year. The ministerial {j session will commence on Monday, ', November 18th, and the financial ses-jv; •sion tin the 20th. It is expected that '. 29 ministers and probationers, 6 home" / missionaries, 2 candidates, and 37 lay . : representatives will he present. The '*-, Chairman; will be the Rev. C. 1L Laws, • B.A. A

On account of the Christchurch A. , and P. Show, and the consequent ab- j | sence of some of the members of the" ,t '■Technical School Association from Ash-;-" burton, the ■■ ordinary meeting of the.' %. Association, which fell due this even-" * ing, has been postponed till next week. A No classes were taken at the School to- \ day. , '<.., A telegram fronv Dannevirke sayg ;- that at the Wellington Synod the ' Methodist Church unanimously re- .•' solved that the Synod should express \ hearty sympathy and co-operation with the Bible-in-schools movement, and ' express its gratification at the engage- ' ■'• ment of Canon Garland as organiser. r of the eanypaign in its favour, and isjij encouraged by the general agreement©! of the churches on behalf of Australian w3& sympathy, which the Methodist Church -.y. supports. ■ ;-'

Intending purchasers of Motor Cars ' will find bargains at R. D. Johnston's Motor Garage, as there are two Cars , ". for sale that should command very / ready sales. Ono is a 5-Seater '', "E.M.I 1." 30-H.P.. complete with all r > ; , extras. This Car has only been used ■ for demonstrating purposes, and is as good as new, price £340. The other is ; a second-hand 5,-seater "Talbot." Now everybody knows the Talbots are everlasting, and as this Car is in perfect order, and has spare Wheel, Jack, [Tools. <*tc, it should be a rare bargain - I at £150. 7 122