LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 184, 30 April 1920, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

During the month ended on April 13, 213 cases of infectious diseases came under the notico of the Wellington Hospital Board' htwilth inspectors, as compared with 211 during the previous month, and 49 during the corresponding period of last year. The inlluenza. cases included, numbered 14G, as ng.v.nst 22 in 1919.

As most of the flour used in Welling;on comes from the, south, AVellington 'or the present is not likely lo be allectjd iff that respect as a result of tlio •ailway strike. The position of towns lortli of Wellington who are. fed by :he railways is another matter altogether, md there arc small places that are bound ;o feci the pinoh within a few days, as he carriage of flour by rail is a daily tfi'air. Speaking to a traveller who sells lour on behalf of a Wellington lirm hroughout; tho Wairarapa and Manaratu djstriete, a Dominion reporter earned that the bakers in, most of the [owns were pretty well stocked up at ireseut. "I should say," lie said, "that nost of tho bakers in a fair way of jusmess have from two to three months mppliqs, in stock, so that I do not think :hore -frill be any acute trouble on that icfcount. There may bo a few of tne Manlier businesses, which live from hand to mouth, which will be short in a week Dr two, but tho majority, I am pretty sure, have a good stock in hand—plenty to tido them over' this trouble at all ivente." v; When the motion for the adjournment of the annual meeting of the Wellington Returned Soldiers' Association ivns moved last evening, Mr. J. M'kenrie asked whether the executive had revived any appeal from either the Prime Minister or the Government for- assistincc in tho manning of the trains. 'Die ihairmnn (Mr. W. Perry) said that no such appeal had been received, nnd informed the meeting that even if such an ;vent did happen the executive or the association could not take any action. It was entirely a matter for individual members. , According to our Carterton correspondent the coal shortage has forced tho Carterton Borough Council to restrict the use of gns. They have notified the consumers that from to-day gas will he available only between the following hours: 5 a.m. till 7 a.m., 5 p.m. to 8 n.m. From 7 o'clock in the morning to 7 in the evening the supply will be cut off at the works. All business premises must close at night before dark, or make their own provision for lighting. This regulation includes the late Saturday night. . The use of heaters and gas ranges is prohibited. The works landed ten tons of coal on Tuesday afternoon, from which they will have to refund one ton. whicli was borrowed locally on flint tlnv, fio as to enable them to carrv on. "With the strictest economising the supply is expected to last till Monday, and it is expected that these restrictions will operate for at lea?t a fortnight. It is not anticipated that the restriction will seriously interfere with the loonl industries, as most of the power is obtained from petrol or steamdriven engines. It is notified in' the "GaMltte" that chiekenpox is declared to bo an infectious disease within tho meaning of the Public Health Act. Tho Wellington Returned Soldiers* Association are desirous of saying goodbye to Sir James Allen prior to his departure for Loudon, and Sir James has :onsented to come along to tho club premises!, Lambton Quay, at 5 p.m. this >vening for this purpose. The gatherin" will bo a. very brief one, and it is hoped that a big muster of returned men will be present. During the course of yesterday's fnrcivell to Riflemen 11. V. Croxton and L; Loveday,. who are proceeding to hngland to take part in the Bisley meeting Mr. H. T. Marshall, chairman, ot tho New Zealand Rifle Clubs' executive, stated that he had received a letter from a rifle shooting enthusiast at Homo, who declared that tho National Rifle Association was not so progressive i body as tho authorities controlling rifle shooting in the colonies. Commenting on the letter, Mr. Marshall remarked that tho position with regard to rifle ahootin? was similar to that ot Rugby footbnll-"thc active people were it this end of the world." Rugby foottollers in New Zealand had found it >xeeedinglv difficult to follow the lead jf the British people, and the same trouble was being experienced in regard lo rifle shooting. At Home, the Nalionnl Rifle Association still adhered to the use of the short rifle, whereas Australia and New Zealand had determined to adopt the long fide. With a populate of 45,000,000, Great Britain could snlv find 1100 entrants for the Bisley meeting, wl this showed that Title mooting was going back at Home instead of advancing. Australia was far ahead of England so far as shooting was concerned and employed more scientific methods. The New South Wales Rifle Association was the best association of its kind in the English-speaking world. New South Wales had a population of only H millions, yet it could send 850 competitors to .its b,g ntlo meeting-in fact, the entries had to be limited to that number "It is tunc lliat the people in the Old Country veiy seriously considered the methods ndoptDd in the younger countries for fostering rifle shooting, concluded Mr. Marshall. Since 1911 the net expenditure of tho Wellington Hospital and Charitable Aid Bonrd has (according to a return tabled nt yesterday's meeting) increased from ,£-31130 to .-£67,797 for the year 1919-20, and to .05,186 (estimated) for the current financial year. The total levy „nd Government subsidy had during the same period increased to .£6O, 17 for the year 1919-20, nnd to JC85,186 (estimated) for tho current year. An important announcement by tho Price-Investigation Tribunal to traders appears in our advertising columns. It is understood that any advance of prices on account of the railway strike of ':ommodities above those ruling on April 26 (or refusal to sell such goods as may he in stock) without the consent of the Board of Trade or Tribunal, will be treated as an infringement of section 32 of the Board of Trade Act, 1919, and will unineditely be followed by prosecution. Tho sum of £08,830 was Bpent in outdoor relief by tho Wellington Hospital and Charitable Aid Board during (he year ended March 31. 1920. A return' tabled at yesterdays meeting of tho board showed that the cost of administering this relief was ,£1352, nnd that the daily average number of persons receding re li ef during the past year was 336. In 1918-19 the mincer was 193, and in 1917-18 it was 15-1. The average weekly cost nor head was 9s. -Id in tho vrnr ended March 31 last, 7s. -Id. in the previous year, and 6s. 9d. in 1917-18. The Municipal Milk Department has been plagued during the last, two days with requests to allow their milk wagons to carry goods to tho country towns along (he route, but the manager (Mr. It. Ward) has set his face against it for sGvornl reasons. • One of these is that tho Worries are as fully loaded with empty cans going out as they arowith full ones coming in. and there is no stowage room for miscellaneous goods. Further, he regards the business of gettin.' in .the dailv milk supply for the cilv as one. of supreme importance, and docs not care In do anything which may jeopardise or delay the service in any way. Tho Hospital authorities desire to thank Messrs. Hutcheson. Wilson and Co for their donation of a Red Cross silk flag (Hft x 16ft-), which will ho , flown at tho BflniW, dwing the visit oi

Councillor P. leaser, at last evening s meetiiiß. took exception to the City Council housing the caretaker of Makefield Park, Ins wife, and family of eight children in a three-roomed cottage, and asked that the remedying of the matter should he .made a matter oj urgency. Councillor G Frost said that the position »vas that the man had rented the house himself. Ho was given a house allowance, and it was open to him to take any house he liked. Councillor Frost favoured the idea of providing houses tor the caretakers of. all the grounds. At the meeting of ratepayers of the Minuiiar borough last evening the Mayor (Mr. S. Stone) slated that the amount of building in the borough during the current vear would eclipse all previous records, and that the number of houses now in course of erection would bring about an increase of from 25 to 30 per cent, in the number of buildings, lire value of buildings erected and in course of cwtioii up to the end of March was JH09.516. The City Council has decided that, whilst admitting no liability in the matter, an amount of JEW be paid to the Thermion Bowling Club, Ltd., to cover loss alleged to have been incurred by reason of the action of the council in placing a proclamation over property at Tinnkori and Grant Koads.

A Press Association telegram from kelson states Hint the "Colonist," Nelsons morning newspaper, which was established in 1857, has been incorporated with the Nelson "Evening Mail," and its publication will be discontinued alter balitrdav, Slay 1During the year ended March 31 last the following stock were slaughtered at the- Municipal Abattoirs :-16io cows, 10,219 bullocks. 08 bulls, 81,497 sheep, 25 436 lambs, 2393 calves, and 429 pigs. This represents an increase of 6;>o cows, 3741 bullocks, 27,497 sheep, SflGO lambs, and 1238 calves. Slight decreases were disclosed in the case of bulls and pigs. The following stock were condemned durin" the vear:-51 cows, 63 bullocks, 4 bulls 165" sheep, 9 lambs, 15 calves, and 10 pigs. The total fees received were Mi, representing an increase of i-obl on the amount received the previous year In addition the council received in fees from the Wellington Meat Export Company Hie sum of X 956 16s. on account of stock slaughtered there for local consumption. \ subscription list circulated at last evening's meeting of the .Returned Soldiers' Associate yielded the sum of .U towards the Olympic Sporls luml. During the last fortnight (reported the lionsin" superintendent to the City ">ouncil last evening) the framework of i house on Section 7 lias been complet>d and a start has been made with the nitside boarding. As the scrim had now ionic to hand it should be possible to inish the houses on Sections 11 and v.. The Department of Overseas Trade in London advises that the second lntcrlational Engineering and Machinery.Exhibition will bo held in London from September 4 to September 2a, 1920. The Fire Brigade Committee reported to the City Council last evening that they had granted authority to the superintendent of the Fire Brigade to arrange for the provision of outside patrols tor Government House during' the stay of 11. U.H. the Prince of Wales in the city. "If things go on in this council as at present in regard to meetings it will bo absolutely necessary for the ratepayers to pay a body, of councillors to do their work," complained Councillor K. A. Wright at last night's meeting ot the City Council. Councillor \\ right s remark was prompted by the proposal under discussion to go into the question ot providing' markets. This, he stated, would entail a vast amount of work. Ho persouallv spent moro tune running about here and there attending to Oily Council committee meetings than he did in connection with the Harbour Board and all the other local bodies of which he was a member put together. If the councillors' time was much encroached on, a paid council would haveto lie retained to devote the whole of each day to the city's affairs, the same as the Mayor did. Air. S. Stone, the Mayor of Miraniar, stated at a meeting of ratepayers of the borough held last evening, that the subdivision of unoccupied land within the borough was going ahead, and that the council had recently sanctioned the-sub-division of 40 acres near the city boundary and an area of one hundred acres was shortly to be thrown open in Miram»r North. The Finance Committcee of the City Council reported last evening that they had arranged for the purchase of a, supply of asbestos roofing tiles, copper crampons, and galvanised iron roohnj, and recommended that their action be approved and the. seal of the corporation authorised to be affixed to the agreement to be. entered into. The action ot the committee, was approved. Active steps are being taken towards the proposed aerial service to Mount. Cook. On May 5 M'r. It. L. Wigley. of the Mount Cook Motor Service, will leave Rockburn aerodrome with Captain Euan Dickson, manager of the Canterbury Aviation Company, on a direct (light to Fairlie, where the tanks will .bo refilled, and an aerial survey will be made of the -route-to Mount Cook. Ihe machine will fly as far as the Hermitage and back to Fairlie, but im landing will be made on the way. Captain DicKson has not yet made ft ground survey of the route, but Mr. J. 0. Mercer has been over the ground and ho st'ites that there are suitable landing places in case- of emergency. Mr. WighW's idea is that tourists tc| Mount Cook should fly from Timaru to the Hermitage where a landing ground would be levelled off. The distance by air 'is about eighty miles. It is also honed to establish an aerial service lrmn Mount Cook to Qucenstown, about 130 miles. Councillor T. Forsyth asked at last night's meeting of the Ciy Counci whether an amount would be included in the loan schedule for the completion of the recreation ground on the western slopes of Mount Victoria at the head of Elizabeth Street. A new school was about to be erected in the vicinity, and such n ground would be of immense benefit to the children attending it. Ilia Mayor said that he was not opposed to the inclusion of a sum if it would not overload the schedule. Otherwise they might be able to do something in the direction mentioned during the year. The traffic bridge at the foot of the gorge near Ngahaurangn, according to the chairman of the Maknra County Council, has been weakened by the recent storm waters, and is not safe for very heavy traffic. Councillor M. V. Luckic, who voiced the chairman's view, said that this state of things had been brought about by the heavy traffic us."d in the interest of the city, and not in the interests of Makara county at all. He referred to the, heavy meat and milkwagons, which used the bridge solely in the" interests of Wellington city, and when the Makara County Council nnnronched the council for assistance in strengthening that and other bridges in the gome, such retiuest would receive favourable consideration. The Mayor, in replying, cnitl he thought thnt the renuest and its answer raieht be left in the hands of Councillor W. H. Bennett, and himself. At last evening's meeting of the City Council" Councillor M. I". Lnckie said that if' there was one argument more than another which had justified the Cilv Council in* taking over the milk business of Wellington, it was the emergency thev were facing at the preset 1 ' lime Had the business been in t: hands of private vendors one-third of th« city would have been without milk. It would have been impossible fpr small vendors to do what one big- body had been able to do.