GENERAL NEWS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 303, 19 December 1912, Page 7

GENERAL NEWS.

Fine weather favoured the members and their families of the King's Empire Veterans to-day, when the annual picnic took place. 4 trip round the harbour 1 was made m the roomy steamer Eagle. x Between five and six hundred were on , board, and a band enlivened the proceedings and enabled quite a nuniber of the old people to indulge in dancing bongs were given by Veteran Thos. W Allen and \ eteran Rogers. Colonel R. ; B. Morrow greatly pleased the company with a humorous recitation, and Lieutenant John -haw was the life and soul • ot the company. Refreshment* were to > w ,V n board ' P r °**ided by Mr. and ■ Mrs. Adams. Through the energy of the . hon. secretary (Captain Jame, Stich,bury), the King's Empire Veterans still ' I -w P VX UP m nambe «. the member- { _tf V , CDd ° f tte ***« being 425, lunds are still good. Me_bers ; ! had looied forward to\his oat__?___ . , many came ~ eat dktancea for the pur- ; ! Jpe * kin * to ««- •" i !vi^,, T PUbUC , "* relnil »ied of the ad- : SSs_i ■i ___?■ _*■« ~- G£r £ ■lS"__*s^r~ft-^SiS to deal with a day or two before Christmas, and the *■ ore «*r_. The land contiguous to Wellington is C^ t f"-P *~ d «*>rd butter outputs. 2r- heani « of » compensltion ease a witness stated that land about WeUuigtop-Pahautanni, Porixua, etthad deteriorated to a considerable extent Reckoned on a basis of weight of sheen he computed the fall at easilf 61b per S* 2 ln J°°L. diSerend so pronounced. The country carried about the same number of stock, but it did not turn than off so well; it did not grow bone m them—a result of the disappearance from the soil of the potash. The greater portion of the land was of a nature that made ploughing impossible. The witness did not think the land would deteriorate further—it was about as bad as it would get. -It so happened that he was the principal policeman of the Dominion," said the Hon. A. L. Herdman, at the Civil Service dinner at Christchureh, "and he had recently spent some time in some pols. in the Wellington Terrace gaol he had been told that the favourite hymn Of the prisoners was the one commencing, 'We love the place.' (Laughter.) In the Lyttelton gaol which he had visited that day, he had been told that the favourite was the one "Open wide the gates." (Renewed laughter.) Speaking a little later, 1 Mx. G. I—axenson, JMJ?., added another good story. when he wa s in the gaol on a visit he had been shown a letter in which a prisoner complained about the Salvation Army coming and playing such hymns as "Where the gentle sheßphejrd guards his flock," whil-S the warder marched up and down on the wall with the men decorated with the butterfly design incarcerated below! A Duned.n syndicate wnich has purchased the lea.se and full picture rights of the Queen' 3 Duneeiin, which has been running for six months, for £13,000, was offered by a well-known theatrical firm an increase of £2,000 on the amount. The offer was refused. Individuals who crarry cards into hotejis for the purpose of playing for sport—and money, too —with whosoever they meet, are likely to cause trouble to themselves, and certainly to the licensees. In this connection a word of advice was given by the chairman of the Wellington Licensing Committee. The committee had under consideration an application for a transfer of a license to a person against whom proceedings were take— recently for allegedly permitting gambling on premises for which he had a temporary lieeaise. The information was dismissed, but the magistrate stated that he believed the gambling (card playing) was going on, though not to the licensee's knowledge. "We would like to urge all licensees to be exceptionally sharp about these people who bring cards in and play games of their own," said the chairman. "It leaves a taint behind which takes a great deal of washing out." At the Palmerston Police Court an accused was charged with having used indecent language. His counsel submitted that the language in question did not come under the section of the Act under which the proceedings were taken. He pointed crut that of the three words complained of one was used by Thackeray, another frequently occurred in the Bible, and the third was commonly usesd in law. His Worship replied that these facts elid not make the words any the less offensive I when used publicly. There were words I used in law which were certainly indecent in the ordinary acceptation, and the terms mentioned in the information came within the meaning of the Act. Accused had £5 in his possession when arrested. A fine oi £3 wrs imposed. Dunedin master bakers attribute the cause of the recent advance in the price Of bread to the fact that the cost of production and distribution has been materially increased under the new award, which gives journeymen from 10/ to 15/ more than they received under old conditions, though they will put in three hours' less time. It is said that in some Dunedin bakehouses the wagsheet is greater by £10. After several unsuccessful attempts to establish an agricultural show in midR_n=ntikei, the residents of Morton and surrounding district have at last gained the requisite support to justify the formation of an A. and P. Association. It is stated that this latest addition to =how fixtures will commence operations with a membership of nearly five hundred. The annual show of stock and produce will be held during February. It is "-leaned from official sources that only two or three applications for the position of General Manager of Railways had been received from members of the service in New Zealand. Local applications close on December 24th, and possibly more will be received before that date. No information had been received by the (Government regarding the date on which applications close with the Hio_ Commissionejr at London. Until the new general manager arrives, Mr. Ronayne would continue in his present position. The services of 20 or 30 men are to bo dispensed with at the Whangamomcnj end of the Stratford-Te Koura railwa,'. The single men, according to the Departmental rule, go first. A Napier paper remarks that in a long list of achievements or" Old Boys of the Napier Hi <T h School read out at a meetmo- by the heaelmaster there was no mention of the lad Allan Berry, who, with only a few pounds in his pocket fought his way Home in the stokehole of a liner to study meeiieine. Not only did he work his passage Home, but ha worked when he got there, passed his preliminary, and was aeimitted to Guy's HospitaL