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Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 110, 10 May 1923, Page 4

1 "Who finds keeps" is an adage which > lias cropped up on two occasions in the • Auckland Supreme Court this week. ! His Honor Mr. Justice Stringer meni tioned the point to-day in reference to • the finding of totalieator tickets. He i pointed out that where a totalieator ; ticket was found lying on tlie ground i and there was nothing to indicate the i owner, its retention by the finder was - not regarded in law as theft. It was i theft if a man picked up something that 1 could be identified as belonging to some • one else. In the case of gold or silver i which could not be identified as belong- • ing to someone else it was not theft to [ keep it, although a man of high moral I character would hand it over to the • authorities. • In affirming the principle that main I roads be constructed in concrete, the j Mayor of Avondale (Mr. W. J. Tait), at the meeting of local bodies' delegates ' last evening, stated that the Avondale Borough Council spent a considerable cum in thoroughly renovating its main ' road from the Three Lamps to the Whau Bridge about twelve months ago. Modern traffic had now 'brought this piece of road back to its previous unsatisfactory Rtate, and the council had again to face this expenditure. It would have been much better to have put the road down in concrete. Mr. Marshall Laing (Wai--1 temata County Council) urged the New i Lynn delegates to favourably consider , concrete when formulating their proposals for the improvement of their main road, which it was understood ; would form the subject of a Commission. 1 St. Andrew seems to have been a 1 popular saint in the early days of Aucki land. On Tuesday evening the two . churches in the district each named St. j Andrew celebrated anniversaries. The eeventy-eeventh annual meeting of the • parishioners of St. Andrew's Anglican . Church, Epsom, was- held, and it was f reported that the building wae absolutely free of debt, notwithstanding the fact that important additions-have been made-during', the year. - St. Andrew's ' Presbyterian Church, Symonds Street, , had a reunion on Tuesday evening in connection with its seventy-fifth anniversary. _ "Very had business," said Cγ. Little, at the Devonport Borough Council last • night, when a letter was read from i. Messrs. King and Bartley as a special . committee appointed by the outgoing council to consider an alleged breach of ' contract over the acceptance of tenders ' for electricity eupply. The letter stated ! that the council had forfeited a discount of £100 through a slight technicality. 1 The councillor's condemnation was, Ijow. J ever, mitigated considerably when explanations from the town clerk, Mr. J. Wilson, demonstrated that the council 1 was really £28 ahead on the transac- | tion, by the advantageous variation in • favour of the accepted tender over its ' nearest competitor. I The committee of tne Auckland Automobile Association again last night discussed the question of the parking of '. motor cars in Shortland Street, and eventually it was agreed that a request ' he made to the City Council to exempt ' the south' side of Shortland Street, be- ■: tween 6'Connell Street and Feild Lane, from the operation of the by-law, which I forbids motorists to leave their cars un- ■. attended for more than 20 minutes. It 1 was the general opinion of members that '■ \ eince the recent by-law relating to the 1 J parking of cars, there was more chance ■: of accidents now than before, as cars ; were now parked in the area used by ■ traffic. A communication from Christchurch ! was read at the Wellington Industrial I 1 Association's meeting, stating that Can- ' [ terbury manufacturers would etrenu- '! ously oppose the removal of the cm- ' bargo on German goods, until all manufacturers were satisfied such removal ' would not adversely affect their interests. • i The president of the Wellington Asso- . I ciation (Mr. L. T. Watkins) expressed ■ i the opinion fliat those concerned here i J had confidence the State Department J would do the right thing, and he ■ thought the matter should be left at that. So long as they had the sympathy of the department they would be all right; that was better than a law through which clever minds would drive 1 a horse and cart. A member, at the annual meeting of . the Civic League held last evening, mentioned that she had recently been ' J visiting Wanganui, where she had been 1 j taken to a "rest home" for mothers and • I babies which was entirely free and , I where mothers could attend to their _ J children and have a rest when in the ; ; town. There was a woman Labour • j member, Mrs. McCombs, on the Christ- : church City Council, who had procured . i a fine room in the heart of the city at J the tram shelter where mothers and ' I children had free accommodation and '! attendance. Hamilton also had a rest : room, and the Wanganui one was beau- , trtully clean and also free. It was a . disgrace to Auckland that women and ' children received so little consideration ■in comparison with other towns., ! I "When sailors, used to the trackless :; ocean, and accustomed to find their I ■ way by chart and compass, begin to .-. complain about Devonport roads, it is •i time they had attention," was the com'■ment elicited last night at the-Borough , Council meeting, when a letter was read ~ from Acting-Commander Agar, of H.M.s j Philomel, directing attention to the uni satisfactory condition of Queen's Parade • I By direction of the Mayor, Mr. Lamont 1 j the complaint was delegated to the 'jepeciar attention of the Works Commit- ' tee. as was also the plea of a deputation ' I from North Devonport residents for 5 roadine facilities. with tha promise of - immediate inspection of affairs by the • i Council.

At the Magistrate's Court, Tβ Kuiti, T. J. A. Carmont, trainer, Tβ Kuiti, was charged with failing to. obtain a permit to bring the racehorse Flying Planet from Auckland to Te Kuiti (.elates the "Waikato Titties"). It was explained that the horse was free from "tick," and the charge was simply thai it had been brought into, a "clean" area from a "tick" infected district without a license. The Magistrate imposed the minimum penalty of £5, and costs. The Devonport Borough Council, at its first business meeting last k night, endorsed a comprehensive itinerary •which should ensure a thorough understanding of current borough affaire. On Saturday, by the motion of the Mayor (Mr.Thos.Lamont), a general inspection of the borough will be undertaken; next Monday and Tuesday the Public Services and Finance Committees will meet, while Friday is scheduled for a full meeting of the council for consideration of the annual estimates. In addition, the first step has been taken in the revision of the borough by-laws, on the motion of Cr. Aldfidge.by an instruction to each department to prepare tentative alterations for immediate consideration by the council. Some time ago the railway authorities decided to apeed-up the Kaipare, train, which aft pvesent is due to arrive in Auckland at 9.10 a.m., and in this connection they cut out some of the stops at suburban stations, notably Glen Eden and New Lynn. At the conference of delegates last evening the Glen Eden representatives emphatically stated that there had not been any improvement effected, and the journey still occupied the same time through delays at other stations. They wished the conference to recommend that this train stop at Glen Eden and New Lynn as previously. The proposal was' accepted. Reference was made by" members at the annual meeting of the Civic League last evening to the fact that none of the candidates for the City Council placed their platform before the women of the city, so how were they to understand if they did not hear the views of would-be members. If it was a Parliamentary election they all had a chance of hearing what was proposed, but with the municipal elections women did not know* who 4,0 vote for. There was nothing in the papers, either, as so much of the municipal work was done in committee, and so women were entirely in the dark as to what was going on. The speaker advised the members of the Civic League to find out when a subject of importance to women was coming forward and to try and attend the public gallery in the Town Hall. When Councillor Fraer, of the Devonport borough, suggested at last night's meeting of the council that advantage should be taken of provision made by the Municipal Corporations Act for enlisting expert voluntary assistance on borough problems, point was given to his remark in the subject matter of a letter received by the town clerk from four highly qualified electrical experts resident in Devonport, offering their services in. an honorary advisory capacity. Appreciative comment of such evidence of public spiritednese was freely voiced by members, with direction tor consideration by the Council's Electricity Committee. The question of licenses Tor the King Country is causing, considerable interest and at Tuesday night's meeting of the Taumarunui Borough Council a letter was received from the local Chamber ofi Commerce asking, the council if it wouldbe prepared to send representatives to a conference to be held in Taumarunui about the. middle of June to discuss the licensing question in the King Country. There was considerable discussion, councillors holding divergent views on the desirability or otherwise of licenses in the* King Country. Eventually it was resolved that the council appoint delegates to attend a conference on the question about the middle of June. The Mayor. Mr. C. C. Marsack, and Cr. G. E. Manson were appointed delegates. It is a curTous fact (says a Sydney writer) that ever since there has been a Firearms Act, requiring every possessor of a gun or revolver to hold a license, there has been more shooting than before. . The "gunmen" have not bothered about licenses. The law has operated against the householder t rather than against the criminal. The former, generally speaking, is reluctant to have a weapon about the house where children may get at it, and the additional trouble of having to pay for a license for it decides him against it. The "crook," requiring the weapon in his business, and knowing that unless captured the question of license is not likely to come up— and then it would not matter a great deal—cheerfully takes all chances. The conclusion is that the Act does not prevent the possession of arms by persons likely to use them against others, but does in instances prevent law-abiding householders from making this provision to defend their homes against criminals. It is in its unfolding an interesting problem, and is often a subject of discussion among a band of police waiting to go on duty. The recent prosecutions of members of the Auckland Automobile Association for exceeding the speed limit on Grafton Bridge caused the secretary to mention the matter at last night's meeting of the association. He stated that a request had been made that the association should contest a prosecution for a breach of the by-law, but in view of the circumstances no action had been taken. The speed limit was at present 10 miles an hour across the bridge, but the police had allowed a considerable margin over the limit, and few motorists who did under 20 miles per hour were prosecuted. Several members considered that the present limit was unreasonable, and that motorists should be allowed to cross the bridge at a reasonable speed. It was pointed out that sometimes when there were many persons crossing, a speed of only five miles an hour was possible. However it was decided to request the. City Council to remove the speed limit on the bridge, as it was not at present being observed. Telephone subscribers are reminded by the Post and Telegraph Department that unless their telephone accounts are paid their telephones will be cut off. Some people may have been thrown out of their calculations by the fact that accounts are now being rendered monthly instead of half-yearly as in the past. Accounts have to be paid within one week of the date mentioned therein, and those subscribers who have received accounts should not neglect to comply with the demand otherwise their telephone connection will be cat off without further delay when the due date expires. At the annual meeting of the Civic League last evening the subject of children's push carts being carried on the trams as in other towns was brought forward by a member, who said that the slogan, "Prams on Trams," should be shouted by the Civic League till they were listened to. In other cities, like Wellington, it could be done. Why not here? Auckland seemed to be the only city where women and children had no consideration.