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Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 214, 8 September 1921, Page 4

At the inquest held at Gisbome into the death of the young man Leslie Edward Singleton, aged 25 yeare, who was found dead with a gun lying near his 'body, the coroner returned a verdict of death as the result of a gunshot wound, eelf-inflicted during a fit of mental depression.

An application for possession of a tenement was heard this morning by Mr. H. W. Bundle, S.M. The owner, John W. Clapham (Mr. J. Osburne-Lilly) sought possession of a. house occupied by A. Payne (Mr. J. F. W. Dickson). Plaintiff purchased the house 14 months ago. He had a wife, and two son?, who were at present living in apartments. Defendant was also a married man with three children, and two others also resided in the house. Mr. Bundle refused to make an order for possession, holding that the balance of hardship was with the tenant. No costs were allowed.

The last has apparently been heard of the combined electric lighting scheme for Birkcnhead and Northeote, both councils having adopted the report of the recent conference, when no action was taken in connection therewith. The' Xorthcote Council last night confirmed the recommendation for the formation of the suggested Waitemata Electric Power Board, and also agreed to the Marine Boroughs' Association acting as a provisional Board. Councillor W. H. Barnes, however, objected to the Association acting in this capacity, believing that the Council should undertake the circulation of the petition in Northcote in accordance with the resolution of the Birken-head-Xortheote conference. The Council should apply to the Association or the Minister of Public Works for a specimen copy of the necessary petition and other details, and supervise its circulation in its own district. The Council also donated a guinea to the funds of the Auckland Hydro-Electric Tower League.

At the Wellington competitions on Tuesday evening- the piano solo (open) class final result ivas as follows: Mr. Edwin F. Tanner, I'JO points, 1: Miss L. V. M. Quinn (Auckland), 183 points, 2; Mr. H. Moody (Christchurch), 182 points, .". The judge said that Mr. Tanner had given an absolutely brilliant performance. The marks awarded were the highest yet given by him. Miss Qninn had been excellent, and had a good technique. Mr. Moody spoiled a fine performance by striking some false notes. The girls' song (Charles Begg .Scholarship), for girls 10 and tinder 21, resulted: .Miss Lillian H.'inham (Christchurch), ISS points, 1; Miss Xellie Amies (Wellington), 180 points, 2; Miss L. V. M. Quinn (Auckland), 165 points, 3. Miss Hanham, the judge said, was a young singer who showed great promise. Miss Amies was a proir> : sin<r voting singer, with a musical and fairly flexible voice. Miss Quinn had a voice of pure lyric quality.

The question of tyre-tax again came up during , a discussion at last night's meeting of the general committee of the Auckland Automobile Association, when Or. IT. I). Mackenzie urged that such a tax would lie more equitable than a flat rate. This was after Mr. H. C. •lone-; had given voice to a ritmour that the duty on motor cars was likely to be greatly increased when the tariff was revised. The discussion was opened over a letter received from the Oarage Proprietors' Association of New Zealand, stating its desire to discuss several questions with local members of Parliament before the coming session, and suggesting that as the interests of the riaragc Association and the Automobile Association were identical the two bixlies should combine to interview members of Parliament. The meeting agreed to appoint a deputation to interview members of Parliament as suggested. Recently his Excellency, the Oovcrnorrienera!. received a communication from Dr. Philip Harpe:-. who U in charge of the Leper Asylum, Makogai Island, Fiji, soliciting Christmas gifts for the inmates of tht* institution, and the question of bringing an appeal before the public of Xew Zealand has been placed in the bands of the Minister of External Affairs, the iron. E. P. Lee. Yesterday Mr. Lee had ;in interview with Mr. Alfred Nathan, whn.-e firm, Mes.-r-. L. D. Nathan and Co.. are Xew Zealand agents fur the Fijian Government, and arrangements have been made for the reception of donations, money, books and other suitable gift-s at the premises of Messrs. Xathan and Co.. Auckland. The firm will .-cc that the gifts are carefully packed and shipped to Fiji. Persons whose sympathies toward-; the nnfortunatt> subjects who are inmates of the leper asylum. lead them to make ;jift« are requested to mark parcels plainly, ••Donation for the Leper Asylum. Fiji." There are 230 patients at the leper asylum, three being Europeans (one a Xew Zcalander) and the others arc Fijians, New Ilcbrideans and Solomon Inlanders, and shortly eleven additional patients fSamoans) are to be received in the institution.

In the course of his address on "Bud Selection,"' before the Canterbury Fruitgrower* , Association on Saturday, Mr. George A. Green gave an interesting account of how the -poor man's orange" , got its name. He said (states an exchange) that Sir George Grey introduced a number of citrus furits and grew them on his land of Kawau, 45 or 50 years ago. On one of the occasions when Sir George threw the island open tn the public, he showed the Auckland nurseryman. Mr. Hay. his citrus trees, nnd referring to a prolific bearin" oranjj?. he said. "There's the poor man's orange." Mr. Hay obtained some cutting-; from Sir George and wrote on the label "poor man's orange,"' thinking that Sir George"- reference was to the name of the orange. From these cutting's had been propagated the "poor man oranges"' growing in the Auckland district.

The new One Tree Hill Road Board regard the unusual interest taken in the recent poll on the question of a rating system and the raising of a loan for the concreting of the board's portion of the Manukau Road as an indication of the confidence of the ratepayers in the board. Fifty per cent of the rateparers availed themselves of the franchise, and in this respect the district must for the time being he regarded in the nature of a paragon among local •bodies. Mr. Molntosh. at the nueting of the board last night, commented in a favourable tone on the attitude of the ratepayers.

The Auckland Automobile Association decided last night to make representations to the City Council regarding the absence of substitute lights on tramears Mr. J. A. Warnock raised the question by saying that when the electric current was switched ofT the absence of substitute lights on the trams constituted a .-ouree of danger to motorists and others, especially in ilMisrhted streets like Jervois Road, for instance.

A correspondent writes to the "Manawatu Times": --The present wholesale retirement from the Civil Service of capable men has another aspect than that of its hurried purpose. They will draw exactly two-thirds of their' pay for doinp; nothing until death claims themtheir places will be filled by promotions and transfers. The travelling expenses entailed will nearly equal the other third of the pay so saved."

The Hoard of Trade has decided to grant permits to import limited quantities of fowlwheat. Application must bo made to the Wheat Controller.

Only one person faced the barrier at! the Police Court this morning, and he was a first offender, charged with being found drunk in Victoria Park yesterday. He stepped into the box blinking, pleaded guilty, and left convicted and discharged. j Xewmarket Borough Council last eren-j ing considered a protest forwarded by, Kaiapoi Borough Council against the proposal of the Minister of Public Works that borough councils shall continue to maintain main roads. Mr. S. DonaldsonMayor, pointed out that it was inequitable that boroughs should be called upon to bear the upkeep of main in their areas, while road districts and town ■districts escaped such liability. The council resolved to support the protest, received from Kaiapoi. Some of the ratepayers in the One Tree Road Board district are chafing at high rates. At a meeting of the board last night, the chairman, Mr. R. G. Clarke, explained that it was only a revaluation that would bring about any j change. The Government Valuation Department had not assessed the district, for eight years, but it was expected that | the new valuation would be completed before the rates were struck for the next rating year. There would be considerable increase in the valuations, and probably a reduction in the rates would I then 'be possible. Mr. Clarke also ex- j plained that the proposal to introduce ; rating on unimproved value, which was \ recently defeated at a poll, was not the policy of the board. Some time was occupied by the Xewmarket Borough Council last night considering the proposed amendments to the j tramway by-laws, submitted by thej Auckland City Council. A report by aj sub-committee reecommended that clause ; 8, defining the liability of passengers in regard to payment of fare?, be amended by the addition of the words "providing f the conductor is not guilty of con-! tributory negligence." It aleo suggested that the City Council be asked to interpret the word ''luggage" in the clause prohibiting the carriage of luggage which j would, in the opinion of the conductor, interfere with the comfort of passengers, or impede officials in the execution of; their duty. An additional clause was recommended to be forwarded to the City Council for consideration, stating, that when a car fails to stop at a recog-1 nised stopping place after a passenger! has given the signal the conductor shall,: ■providing his attention is immediately j drawn to the matter, signal the car to j stop at once to allow the passenger to ' alight. The recommendations were adopted by the council. At a meeting of the Thames Harbour Board yesterday a letter was received from the Auditor - General draw- ; ing attention to the cxpendi- ! ture of £172 for propaganda in connection with the harbour scheme. The auditor said that this was considerably in excess of the limit imposed by the Public Revenues Act, and asked within seven days an explanation of the board's steps to adjust* the matter so that ho would not be compelled to issue a surcharge for the amount involved. The chairman suggested a legalising clause in the Washing-up Bill, 'because the expenditure of the money was abso- ' lutely essential. He said that the matter could not be placed before ratepayers without increasing the expense. The board decided to leave the matter in the hands of the chairman and secretary. The healthy state of the Scout movement in Devonport, and the good work of the Young Citizens' League were re- j ported upon at the Ecvonport Borough Council last evening by the Mayor (Mr. IT. P. \V. King), He said the local Scouts' had taken a new lease of life and now j numbered .50. Judging by their keenness 1 Mr. King did not think it would be long; before they brought back to Devonport I the King's Standard, which was held by the local troop in the first year it was presented for competition. Mr. King said he had attended a meeting of the local Young Citizens' League, when 32 ; young people were initiated by Mr. E. C. Cutten. Both these movements were of such a nature as to be fully deserving of: the approbation and assistance of the ■ council. It was agreed to send a letter! of appreciation to Scoutmaster Knowles and the Rev. J. Milburn Stewart. According to the assistant secretarr of the Wellington Hotel Workers' Union Oh. J. McKenzie), a recent applicant at the union's employment bureau in Manners Street had walked all the way from Wellington to Auckland, and all the way back, in an unsuccessful quest for work, j "When he got back he had a beard like ' Robinson Crusoe's," said Mr. McKenzie. "At one of the city hotels where he used to be employed as kitehenman they rigged him out with some clothes and , gave him a few shillings; but what is a man like that to do next?' , "As an evidence of what local bodies are doing in the way of planting trees, it is pleasing to know,' , says the "Te Karere o Tane," "that the 'Wellington City Council is engaged this season in setting out 2000 trees in one of the reserves at Evans Bay, while another big job planned ie the planting of SOOO pinus muricata and pinus insignis on the new reserve at Khandallah. A row of Xor- ' folk pines will bo planted in Oriental Hay also." I A Maori judgment debtor told the magistrate at Featherston that he had received £112 from his father's estate. '■ His father died while he was away at! Gisborne, and his friends indulged in a i tangi without his consent. This had cost .£2OO, and he had borrowed on his ! return sullicient money to pay his por- j tion of the expenses. The repayment of; this had absorbed the greater portion of ; his legacy. j Only fifteen local bodies' officers attended tho meeting addressed by Mr. I F. A. Lloyd last night to hear the c.v I pounding of the arguments in support 1 of the formation of a Xew Zealand Local bodies Officers' Guild. Mr. Lloyd said ' that 20 branches of the guild had been formed. He emphasised that the guild was in no sense a union, but a body whose aim was to promote efficiency. It , was decided to hold a further meetin; at a later date. Messrs. Wright and Sons, contractors, explain that it was at the Kincsland! Public School building, not the Grammar School building (for which they are the contractors), that a youth had his arm broken on Tuesday last. The local bodies in the Thames district will confer regarding the firebligh* menace. The fruitgrowers have asked hawthorn to .be declared a noxious weed. They state that blight is preva lent, in I'aeroa, and jiny extension u'onM be disastrous to the large local orchard?. A general meeting of the members of the Taka.puna Bowling, Croquet, and Tennis Clubs combined was held on Tuesday night in the Borough Council Chamber. It has been decided to hold a Queen's Carnival on a large scale during the summer month?, the proceeds tv pay off the liabilities of the clubs. The Devonport Kerry Company, by advertisement, warns persons of" tretpassing or causing damage on I'ine Island. j

There wa? a etronj smell of ■frying egg at the junction of tort and Commerce Streets at midday today. More than one person remarked upon the incident, particularly to the fact that there are no dinin-r room.- in the imi mediate vicinity. The cam' , was disIcerned in the middle of tli" tl'oroiighfare, la yellow pancake of egc of extraordinary 'dimensions frizzling up in the sun's .strong heat. How it came there was the big query, and inquiries .-howed that, a box of eggs which had reclined on a (rap had fallen off and heuomc unshellctf in the smash. Sora' , fpw dozens quickly spreading out on the road. In order to aE-sist the Northcote I School Committee, whose funds are at a j low ebb. with three school? to rater for. the Xortheote Borouph Council last night agreed to supply water to ; he Xorthcov Infant School free of ■harj-p, and u> remit the amount of £16 2/ owing. A similar course was adopted, with respect to the Xortheote Main School, with a I limit of 20.000 gallons per quarter, tap I committee, to pay for water in cxc.*-;., «; this quantity. An amount of £6 19,----owing for water supplied to this school I was "also wiped oft. The three schools are thus enjoying free water, the Birkenhead Council having recently agreed to supply water free of charge to the Birkenhead Infant School. I An eddy of wind in Elizabeth Street, ! Melbourne, a few days ago caught the i hat of a West Australian farmer, and ; carried it playfully across the roadway. An obliging young man ran in among the traffic, picked up the hat, brushed it carefully, and handed it back to its owner. The stranger showed great com- \ jniseration, and as a further proof of \ affability brushed some dust off the J farmer's coat. The visitor, says the ! "Argus," was grateful —until, just afterwards, he missed £3 from one of his coat. pockets. He followed the young man, but the stranger saw him first, and ! after a chase escaped. The ■way in which the Xew Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company avoided the payment of an excessive income tax was described by Mr. J. A. Sinclair in the course of his address at the dairy meeting in Morrinsville on Friday evening. ; The Government proposed to levy a tai of 8/9 in the £ on all profits. The company was prevented, by the provisions lof the Act. from putting 13 or 20 per ! cent to reserve and a like sum to depreciation, as it had been doing. It was 1 decided (says the Morrinsnlle ''Star , ') ] to pay out every penny to its suppliers, I issuing shares instead of money for a ! proportion of the amount, and with the money thus obtained carry out the development work it had in hand. In this way no excess profits were earned by the company and the Government got '• nothing. The supplier, when he gave up ; dairying, received full value for the ! shares allotted to him. For at least the last five weeks the only source of employment for the city's out-of-work has been privately, the demand for labour on Government worts having completely died away. In consequence of this the local Government Labour Bureau has concentrated its efforts in placing the unemployed with private employers, and the effort, while only absorbing a small eection of the ' large number anxious to get back into harness has been fairly satisfactorily. This 'week seven have been placed, the majority in the country. The annual inspection by the Education Department of the Technical School I and the School of Art are being carried I out at the presnt time, Mr. W. 5. L» i Trobe, superintendent of technical educaI tion, and Mr. E. C. Isaac, inspector of I technical schools, being responsible for ! the work. As some thirty teachers j have all to be graded according to their ' class of work in the technical school the. ! superintendent and the inspector are j having a strenuous time. The Xew Zealand Wool Committee advises that ■clearing up" wool sales have been arranged for the Xorth Island as under: Wellington. October 11, catalogue, 10,000 bales; Xapier. October 14, ' catalosnie. 6000 bales; "Auckland, October IST catalogue. 6000 bales; Wanganui, j October 20.. catalogue, 5000 bales. • In accordance with programme, Mr. ! Holland, M.P., leader of the Labour party in Parliament, is to deliver a policy speech in the Town Hall on Monday night. He set out on the campaign. ! which is to ta-ke in certain electorates throughout both islands, in his own electorate a fortnight ago. Soft collars will be found comfortable for spring days. See cur makes and ; shapes. Firm of Fowlds. — (Ad.) 1 Deal with a firm with a reputation. There is no doubt that if you do you will deal with J. H. Dalton and Co., Ltd., 27ti-275, Queen Street, when ordering your next suit.—(Ad.) i --