Untitled

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 158, 5 July 1921, Page 4

I | g I Mr. E. C. Cutten, S-M.. delivered dc- 1" Icision this morning in the case of G. | c ■J,. Lee (Mr. Campbell) v. J. E. D. Spicer " (Mr. Beale). The dispute was regarding I t Ia fence which was erected by arrange- I ' -ment between plaintiff and defendant's I B properties nine years ago. The fence l was not in accordance with the Fencing C |Act. Plaintiff now sought to have f : another fence constructed, close-boarded t ! for a portion of the distance. Defendant s iwas willing to put additional posts and r, wires in the existing fence. Mr. Cutten > said he could order the fence ■Co be J altered in accordance with defendant's ' offer, but as neither party really wanted ( 'thai to be done, he decided to refuse the > order asked for. j Mr. F. J. Gunn, the Coal Controller, F | states that several causes contributed ' * I to tho present favourable position in i ' respect to coal supplies. One of the '- "" ! principal factors is the decreased de- i ; mands for bunker coal due to the pre- j ' ! vailing slump in shipping, and another ; c is the present monetary stringency, - which is having the effect of restricting " i purchases of coal by the main services j and industries to bare actual require- | E ments. The mildness of the winter sea-. d i son lias also been responsible for a re- J n j duction in domestic orders. T

I Decision was given at the Magistrate's Court this morning in the case of .I E. Stratford (Mr. Inder) v. the Public Trustee. The claim was for £70 17/ G. 3 Mr. W. M. McKean, S.M., said this was r a claim against the executor of a de--1 ceased person's estate for services ren- . dered. Plaintiff with her husband and : four young children went to live iv the ' house of deceased under an arrangement, 1 according to plaintiff's evidence, that she l should board and take care of deceased [ i and nurse him when ill. The statement ;of claim alleged that it was arranged ' | that plaintiff was to be paid for these • services, but that no definite amount ; ' was agreed upon. Plaintiff claimed £5 . ■">/ per week for 12i weeks. Mr. Mc- , | Kean said he had decided on the facts j and gave judgment for plaintiff for £23 ' j ■■>! with costs. 1 On the motion of Mr. F. C. Brew, the ' Mount Eden Council last evening carried - a resolution which set out that the time ! had arrived to dispose of the garbage in a more sanitary manner, and that the i Finance Committee report on the mat- • ter. Prior to introducing his proposal, • Mr. Brew alleged that refuse was tipped • in the open with the result that flies • and rats were made a menace to resi- ■ dents. '"If a destructor were to cost • -50,000," he pointed out, "a 3d or 4d rate would pay interest on the necessary - loan. ' Members contended that the tip was not the menace alleged to be, and that the boronjrh could not afford the expense of a destructor. The resolution, as mentioned, however, was carried. It was announced on Saturday that the freight rate on coal conveyed by the Union Steamship Company from West Coast ports to Wellington had been increased hy 2/!) per ton." Wellington coal dealers have been informed by tho merchants that ii; consequence of this increase the price of coal has been ad- j vancecl by 2/0 per ton. "Hie extra amount is likely to be passed on by the j dealers to t"nc consumers at once. Tlie I minimum freight on coal between the j West. Coast and Wellington is now 13/11 ] per ton. In 1014 it was 5/7 per ton. and it had increased to 0/7, an advance of 72 per cent, by 1918. The freight now announced represents an increase of 149 per cent on the 1914 rate. ! Regarding tiie Mount Bden quarry, (the Mayor, Mr. J. W. Shackelford, re I ported to the meeting of the Borough I Council la-st evening that he understood from the Mayor of Auckland, Mr. J. H. Gunson, and the city engineer, Mr. WE. Bush, that the very favourable proposition made for the city to lease the quarry from tho Government under terms in which they were considering a lair return being made to the Borough Council, "had now lapsed. The Government would not consent to give the city a lease, with the result that the consequent advantages were lost to the borough. Despite this, however, the (City was carrying on under a monthly | tenancy, and paying a rental to the Government Also, notwithstanding | the fact that no lease could be granted ;m accordance with the previous agreement, it had been intimated that toloZT d t b ° PrC P ared t0 ™»der the borough eertam compensation for the damages done to its road consequent upon the heavy traffic. Tn reply to the criticisms of a correspondent whose letter was .published in _ ade tTTn" thS C ° al C has made the following statement-— "A statement was published to-day that the position of all our main industries and services ,n respect to stocks of coal held was perfectly satisfactory. \ re - I view of the official figures does not" bear out this statement, at any rate as far as gasworks, which are one of our main industries, are concerned. At the present time the gasworks throughout the Dominion, while in a better position than for some time past, are not holding sufficient reserve stocks to enable _iem to carry on should an emergency arise affecting the contmuitv of coal supplies. Indeed, only recently the Railway Department, in order to assist uas' companies to maintain operations." released -otne Newcastle small coal from shipments coming to hand on its account. Tlie dosing down of freezing works and dairy factories for the season has lessened tlie demand for steam coal, hut when the operations of these industries are resumed provision will have "to be made for the supply of approximately 30.000 tons per month to meet their requirements." Sir George I.awson .Johnston, speaking at the annual meeting of shareholders in Bovril, Ltd.. said that with the general cost of production, including wages, at its present high level it was not possible in most cases to produce the necessaries of life at anything like pre-war cost. On the other hand, there were to-day large stocks of products on which the owners were prepared to cut their losses, and which they were ready to sell even down to the 1914 prices. Between these stocks and the consumer, who was on average still paying over twice pre-war prices, there seemed to be a blockage. Here was surely an opportunity for reversing, to the mutual advantage of employer and employed, the vicious circle in which rising wages had continually chased increasing prices. He said that those who had not taken the plunge to clear below cost, that if they could replace below the price at which they cleared, they would not really be making a loss, and a stable business profit would soon become possible. It was desirable that food products should be widely distributed through millions of cupboards rather than they should congest the warehouses and wharves. At a meeting of Auckland Parliamentary representatives this morning in the Chamber of Commerce it was decided to visit Arapuni and Aratiatia at an early rtiitc. probably towards the md of the present month, in order to enable the members to acquaint themselves with the respective merits of the two sites as sources of hydro-electric energy for tho province. The Hovprnment'"electrical engineer. Mr. 1.. Birks, will bo a-sked to accompany the party, and it is hoped that the Minister of Public Works, the Hon. J. G. C'oates, will also be able to make tho trip. A concert, directed by Mr. Arthur O'Halloran. was given lit the Costley Home, Epsom, last night, to an appreciative audience. A varied programme of ;ong=, recitations, and instrumental music was contributed to by the following.—Misses Lewis, Crosbie, Postles, .Messrs. J Drury. ,J. Calvert. H. Eagleton, A. Hall-Skclton, A. O'Halloran. Captain Gibbons, and thp Masters Phil and ripnr.p Skelton. The Eastern Extension Telegraph Com- ! pany advises that it will he unable to resume United Kingdom traffic, via Eastern, until the Red Sea cables are restored. Three ships are on the ground, but are unable to work on account of the weather. A second fast cable became interrupted on July 1, and the Aden-Zanzibar cable on Thursday. The ielay will therefore increase. "Cancer and Its Relation to Public Bcalth" is the title of the lecture to be lelivered at the Epsom Library Hall tolig'ht hy Mr. Kenneth Mackenzie MD. F.R.C.S.