N.Z. SOCIETY OF ACCOUNTANTS

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 206, 28 August 1920, Page 13

N.Z. SOCIETY OF ACCOUNTANTS

» MEETING OF THE COUNCIL. A meeting of the Council of the New Zralnnd Society of Accountants was held at Wellington on Tuesday and Wednesday. In the unavoidable absence of the president. iMr. \v. K. Best, of C'hrlstrhurchl. the vlrepresldent, Mr. Walter Green (Dunedin), presided. A number of matters dealing with the classification of members were dealt wilh. A discussion took plare on the question of the Society's Benevolent Fund, and It was divided that Ihe present system of contribution is Inequitable, nnd the Executive Committee was iustrucled to take steps to convene a general meeting of tile members- wilh a view to re-arranging tbe annual subscriptions, and allocating a certain portion to the credit of the Benevolent Fund. It was decided to increase the grant to the Unlvemlty Colleges at Auckland. Canterbury, and Otago to £100 each for a further period of one year, which amount carries a subsidy of £ for £ from the Government. Mr. Hutchison (Auckland), moved: "That the Government be reminded of the promise made by the Premier to appoint 11 commission to Inquire into the principles and incidence of tnx'ation In New Zealand, and that It be pointed ont that in Ihe opinion of this society Ihe establishment of a Parliamentary committee dpi-s not afford the npcesoary opportunity to obtain the required evidence from all sections of the community." The resolution was carried unanimously Mr. Waller Green, of Dunedin. was elected president -for the ensnlnz year, and Mr. G. W. Hutchison (Auckland), vice-president.

j The following is the interview with 7 our special correspondent:— Senor Henriques Gutierrez is a somewhat imposing looking gentleman of perhaps 50 years of age. He wears the moustache and beard common in the Latin Republics, and though his hair is white his bronzed skin tells of a residence under tropical skies. His manner in repose is dignified, but when he commences to specie it is with the plentiful gesture and vivacity common to the Latin American. "Having explained to him the information which had come into my possession, he, after some hesitation, commenced to' speak freely. "Yes, s-enor." he said, his English being remarkably good, "it is as you surmise; there is a very considerable what-you-call mystery in this matter—more than mystery. It is what we call epotv venable, or, if you prefer French, epatant. Senor, it is hopeless to further 1 conceal, and therefore I will tell you the stoj-y which—but yon shall hear. "In Bolivia we have, as you know, two what-you-call parties; the one that of the present Government to which I belong, und the other, what-you-call is it not. Hie 'scum'? lfa_a.de.te, they are worse than scum, but I cannot speak of them with calmness. "Some months ago our present noble Government succeeded, with comparatively little bloodshed, in what-vou-call ejecting, is it noto the party of the unmistakable—no, unmitigated—is It not,. —scoundrel Senor Valdes Huidobro. "In the last place which we captured ; with many salvoes was the Treasury, the ( Government Treasury. Unhappily in our country the Government Treasury is not always worth taking, but at this ] date the scum which I have before mentioned, Valdes Huidobro, had collected in the manner peculiar to him, a considerable amount of money—when I say money, Senor, do not misunderstand mc. I do not mean Bolivian money, but good hard American dollars. It was at this • moment of out victorious attack that what-you-call ze villian of this drama appeared; or, I should say, disappeared, taking with him all the revenue of our mighty country. The disappearance of this huge sum of not less than 09,000 DOLLARS— ! always well understand. American dollars — de-whut-you-call, depleted the Treasury of mv well-beloved country to such a most serious -extent that it 'was only with the utmost difficulty and large I expenditure of ammunition that we prevented a serious rebellion. In the meantime this scoundrel, for whom we have, as you may have seen, advertised in the i New Zealand papers, had almost ar- j • ranged his departure: fortunately, by the i providence of the Blessed Saints, his ! principal fellow-conspirator, moved by ] the offer of a fabulous reward (which, unfortunately, we cannot pay him, for | he. too. Is now dead)., betrayed him; and j as he set out to enjoy the cursed American whaling ship that was to transport I him to the delights of Paris, a trusty , body of our beloved Government's friends (of which I was one) intercepted him. Before I tell you how this | thrice accursed scoundrel met his more than deserved fate, I should explain that J not only was he removing the revenue of my beloved country but also ONE OF ITS FAIREST DAUGHTERS, Olivia Bernales, whom it had been proposed one of our great Government (of which I was one) should marry. "We met him on the foreshore as he (a thousand curses on his soul) was about to-what-you-call-embark. One of our Government in—how-you-say?— heroic manner discharged his new American revolver three times at his back and the dog died. j "Mark you that—he died; of that I '■ am sure." I During this soliloquy the Senor had be- , come somewhat excited, and when I yen- , tured to suggest that there could be no I doubt about it under such circumstances, , he gesticulated emphatically, and said:— ' "None, for I loaded the revolver my- j self that morning." I 1 "Well," I said, "this no doubt, Senor, | is very interesting, but where does the , mystery come in?"- ! , 'The mystery, my friend, for that is , I indeed the right word, "is that > ZE DEAD MAN IS NOT DEAD." J "But how can that be?" I asked. . "Listen, comrade, and I will tell you. When we came to search his body, or : ! what we thought was his body, we do , ! not find any trace of tbe revenue of our 1 : great country, and when we come to J examine the vessel and the quays and ! all the city—that beautiful city of ' Antofagasta—neither could we find any j trace of the fairest daughter of Bolivia. ' Our great Government, including the • President himself, searched ,the city in J vain, and it was only after the lapse of ' many weeks that we discovered that : Olivia had eloped with the great revenue. ' "She was tracked to Buenos Aires. ; and from there (we were always too ; late) on to a vessel that carried sheep's , bodies from this, your beautiful country. J The love of travel is ever strong in tbe . bosom of the true Bolivian, which perc haps explains why Olivia, assumed the ' married name of the chief mate of that ' vessel. . "From Europe, to which we had j tracked them, they took passage hy anj other vessel, which, after many happenj ings, with which I need not weary you, ) ARRIVED'AT AUCKLAND. ? "Here the fairest daughter of Bolivia ? and the chief mate of the vessel (he was " an accursed Scotchman) landed, still ! I taking with them the revenue of our great Government. Tracking them with i the greatest despatch (although, unforj tunately, always a little late), we arrived , at Auckland two days after these two , -unhappy people, and since then we have in every possible manner endeavoured to . discover them. Your detectives, and our detectives, and the members of the late Government of my beloved country (for unfortunately since my departure a fresh rebellion has been successful) i. moved all the heavens and all the earth possible to discover what-you-call the— truants —and it is here that the extraordinary mystery commences: for you will remember that I told you that that unparalleled scoundrel c VALDES HUIDOBRO WAS DEAD - —you will remember that, will you pot? 1 —he was dead. I shot him—l mean I i was there when he died. I searched his - body for the revenue of our great coune try. I turned him over and his pockets. f I kicked his body as he. lay there, and - yet THAT UNPRINCIPLED, UNPARALLELED, UNSPEAKABLE SCOUNDREL ' IS STILL ALIVE. How do I know that? Listen, my friend, and I will tell you. C "You know what-they-call finger 1 prints, that is the thing that there is no

contradiction of. It is what-you-call ze gospel of truth. Ko two peoples, noi monkeys, nor anything with bunas h.ts one linger print the same as anothei finger print: and yet—while we searchoo for the beautiful but faithless Olivia we discovered a finger print of this unprincipled, unmitigated, unspeakable scoundrel— A FINGER PRTNT THAT HAP BEEN MADE WITHIN" A FEW HOI'F.S OF OCR VISIT. I will explain. "When we traced tbe fair but fickle Olivia was find that she is in Auckland masquerading ns Mrs. McGregor. It was this name which led our Chief of Police to suspect that the chief mate was ;■ Scotchman. We find her boxes; we find her clothes: we find herhats, her boots, her toilet articles, but we do not find her—nor the revenue of 09,000 good solid American dollars which we seek: but in one of her boxes we find a note from tbe accursed Scotchman saying—hut I will read it to-vou:— - 'Dearest Chuck, Old Tarro (may his soul shrivel for that is what he called mc) is in the city, so that we had better lie doggo for n day or two.' "When I read that I think he go with tlie hunting dogs, hoy-you-call-it?—the hounds—but they tell mc that this accursed Scotchman did not mean it for that. The note goes on to say—here it is:— " 'Meet mc at the best Picture Theatre, and we can stay there till the train goes. —Sandy.' "I ask the fine big man in uniform who I stands at the corner of Customs Street; | they tell mc he is what-you-call a Bobby, I which, no doubt, is high military rank, for in Bolovia I am sure he would be a Generalissimo; I ask him, 'Where is the best Picture Theatre/ and he point out a small but magnificent building called "Everybody's." I rush in, that is to say, the Chief of Police rush in— for I think I have mentioned that I was also Chief of Police with our great Government — and I examine with the . minutest care of A THOUSAND DETAILS FOR TRACES of what-you-call ze runaways. I have with mc all my impedimenta, and I disgorge the microscope which I apply to finding traces. "After an arprument with the attendant regarding the right of a Chief of Police and Generalissimo (did I not mention that I was Generalissimo of our noble late army?) I examined all possible j places for discovery of the faithless I Olivia: and in applying to my right eve . the microscope with the view of discoverI'ing tlie nature of my surroundings I find, whal you think I find?" Here the S'enor became incoherent, mixing, as it seemed to mc, half a dozen i languages together. When he had sufficiently subsided I enquired tlie reason lof his agitation, j "I will tell you, my friend. It is that II search for the finger print of the fair, faithless and fickle Olivia, who carries! I with her the revenue of our great coun.try, and what do you think I find?" I suggested a large audience, but he waived the idea aside and, in a tremendous burst of agitation, added:— "I find ze fresh FINGER PRINT OF THAT MAN WHO IS DEAD, the unspeakable, unprincipled, unparalleled scoundrel Valdes Huidobro. Since that moment I have not slept, for revolvers are cheap in my great country. and I am an old man: so it is imperative I find whether there can be a mistake, j The finger prints, we all know, it is imI possible to duplicate. All persons who ! have hands, although they may have the . identical mjmber of fingers cannot have .the identical number of finger prints. This finger print, all records prove, must 'have been imprinted by that unspeakable, i unparalleled, unprincipled scoundrel: and iif this is so. he, my mortal enemy, Valdes Huidobro. is ' NOW ALIVE IN AUCKLAND. ! While there is any doubt I cannot sleen; II cannot eat: I can drink only modi?rately. Tt is therefore necessary to prove beyond doubt whether he is alive or dead. "I have offered during the last few days millions for proof of this, but It : appears that the currency of my griat ] country is not appreciated, and therefore Ito prove that the matter is of the greatest possible importance I offer a reward of £"-0 .to be paid in good silver for any person who can supply with his : own thumb an exact duplicate of this linger print, and to furtner impress on the cultivated ponulation of this yournoble country I offer another reward of £_n. also payable in good silver, for the person who produces THE NEAREST APPROACH TO THE FINGER PRINT of either tbat unprincipled. unDaralleled: and unspeakable scoundrel Huidobro, or of the fair, faithless, fickle Olivia. "Senor, T beg of you to entreat the young, beautiful, and cultivated population of this noble country to assist mc in my tremendous search." The story th3t Senor Outlerrez has to tell is certainly remarkable: that ho In in earnest there can be no doubt. Ha has proved that he ia willing to pay this large reward for the exact duollcnto of ) the finger print in question, of which n. cony will be shown on tha screen at I "Everybody's" Theatre on Friday next: . and if it Ib, as seems mont likely, 1mI possible to obtain, then ho will present , the lady or Jtentlemnn who can produce . the thumb print bearlnsr the largest ruim- ! foer <yt points of rewmblnnca to tho • orleinal, with the sum of t2f>, ( He further stipulates that tho decision •of the Management of "Everybody's" , Theatre shall be final: and *iiat If It is impossible to exactly adjudicate ns to i which Anger print is the noorest to tho . original then the prize will bo dlvlilnrl . at his discretion among such of thft competitors whose thumb prints aro thought nearest to the original. Ho further mentions that all appliances wi!i be provided at the Theatre for the taking of the necessary thumb nrlnts. and al»o thai 1 every vtsltortotihe Theatre may submit-as ' many thumb prints of differ*nt persons '• as they are able to collect. It cer.aJnl\ - seems possible that by this mean, a solution may be obtained of what in the 1 future will doubtles' he "7" "" Inema Murder." For whjtfcw } oM«s ITuidohro was killed In 7 }° li^ u ?^7 n^ r . ther he has been killed in Auckland, or whether ho is still alive, time ana infinger prints can alone decide. Editorial Hote—The Public are• urjent- • ly mJSStea to collect the ■th«mt> ortnt. . of as manj' persons as possible.