LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 209, 29 May 1920, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Several speakers at the meeting of limbless returned soldiers last night mentioned that they had been _ badly treated by conductors on the Wellington franieare. They did not mean to c-ast reflections on. the conductors as a class, but thought that they should receive more consideration from some who were not disposed to give it. One man said he had been forcibly removed from an Aro Street car on Thursday morning and thrown on his back in the street, after he had informed the conductor that lie -had an artificial leg.

On being asked yesterday as to what use is likely to be mad? in future of the military hospitals established throughout tho country, Brigadier-General M'Gavin, Director-General o£ Medical Services, 6tated that the policy had already been decided upon, that as the number of patients in the military hospitals diminished tho beds that thus became vacant would be made available for civilian patients .sent in under arrangements with (he Health Department. At present the Trentham. Eolorua, and Pukeora hospitals were abfe to ,£jke in a number of civilian patients. The co«t of these, of course, would be born by the Health Department. ' •

Numerous thefts of hats, overcoats, and umbrellas from tho porches of several Auckland churches havo led tho pol/ca. to -warn ministers of the risk taken by the congregation in leaving their personal property out. Several ministers announced last Sunday that l;i future members of the congregation should bring their belongs into the church.

Harrowing stories of their hard struggle .. against poverty were told to the New South Wales Minister of Health (Mr. M'Girr) by a deputation, of mothers who waited on him in Sydney recently. Dr. r Arthur, who introduced the deputation, said these women, "who sported no crepe de chine or two-guinea shoes," had rendered greater service to Australia than-any politician .or prince, and yet ihey were condemned to a life of suffering so poignant that it made him-"see red" and feci as though he would turn Bolshevik. Then came tho women, with their heart-breaking tales. Said one, "I'm 29 and I- .have, eight children. My husband earns .€3 17s. Gd. ner week, and I havo to go out myself to earn a living. I have only tho rags on my back." Another mother of eierht said her children could get no clothes. She had had no clothes for years, and no furniture since she was maTried, because she tried to buy a house. One woman told the Minister, that she had to put her - six children into the one bed to keep them warni, because she had so few bed-clothes. Then Mr, Davidson, one of 20 members of Parliament present, arose and said: "This has gone far' enough. It would break a man's heart. It is fime we, as a Labour Government, took direct action. Lot us strike a graduated wealth tax, -so that we can do something for these unhappy women." He then left tho room, with tears in his eyes. Mr. M'Girr said that the deputation, though paiiiful, would do good. They gave tne lie direct to those who denied' the! 1 ? was any. poverty in the city. ! 'W© must do something," lie continued, "in the pa: t.ure of a subsidy to mothers." The Minister . promised to introduce a Bill to pay so much a- week into tlie Savings Bank for each mother who had more than two children, and whose husband did not earn over 4JG a week.

Mr. H. Holland, M.P.. has forwarded to the Hoii. E. Lee, Minister of. Justice, a petition signed by eleven jurymen, asking for.the releaso of Alice Parkinson, The jurors were the ones who wero at the trial of accused. It will be remembered tlmt' the jurors brought in a strong recommendation to mercy.—Press Assn.

In ;thc Supreme Court at Timaru (leports the' Freda Association), William Ijoonard Ellis, a steward ou the Corinthic.was found guilty of receiving stolen property, and sentenced, to three years' reformative treatment.

The' Levin. "Chronicle" says' that .thaKuku Maori community has been stirred by the recovery of two valuable whalebone meres 'buried for many years. Tho paper- relates that they were discovered by the aid of u Native woman, Mrs. Takuraligl, wife of the Hon. To Heu lieu Tukino, M.L.C., who claims to possess powers of divination. The scene was laid off the main Kuku road, and a few hundred yards to tho rear of Mr. Pink's residence. Leading a procession of about 120 persons, the chief actor took a course for some distance through the bush, and then over some maize cutivations, and a<rain entered . a bush pathway, which eventually reached a stagnant, weedcovered watercourse. Here she halted, and placing, a stick in the ground at the water's edge, declared that the lost meres would be found there. A spade was procured, and on digging down a depth of about two feet the meres were unearthed. Mr. Eobert Uansficld, of Manakau, ono of the oldest Natives of this const, recounted some particulars concerning the long-lost patus. He stated that the weapons were owned by their ICoroniria and Paretiwhana, who buried tho meres Vo prevent their being lost, but prior to their deaths did not inform their descendants of the hiding-place. The patus were formerly'weapons of war, and, being tapii, were greatly treasured. It. was believed that the loss of the patus had acted detrimentally lo the well-be-ing of tho later generations of the former chieftain owners, honco the desire to recover them and break the evil spell.

An important project is- in hand to form a company to manufacture vegetable parchment -in Britain. It is pro-posed-to build a mill in Lancashire, putting down two 100 in. paper-«aking machines and four acid baths for making the parchment.. Eav material used will be' cotton rags, which will be obtainedfroin Egypt or India, so as not to disturb the home market, as largo quantities will be required. It is hoped to produce GOOO tons annually. . .

The generous action of the New Zealand Kefrigerating Company m purchasing a sports ground for its em-' ployees at a cost of over J3IOOO was warmly commended by Mr. W. A. Veitch', M.P., speaking as a representative of Labour at a social gathering in Wanganui. Mr. Veitch said ho felt convinced that the company was really trying to devqlop good feeling with its staff. He, contended that the thing required in' New Zealand to-day above all else was a,-better understanding^between employers and . e'mployces. Until employers, placed the position of their men on a sound and satisfactory footing, there could be 110 confidence between Capital and Labour.. Tile action of the company in mirchasing a cricket ground for its employees was going to 1 do good and promote an excellent feeling amongst, the men. "I am afraid." continued Mr. Veitch, "that we do not attach sufficient importance to the social side of. life. We waul to get together more, and I believe it is a really , wise action on behalf of the company to spend this considerable sum of -money in the manner it proposes doing. .This action will be highly appreciate by all sports. The sporting spirit does more good than all the howling .in the world."

"April 1, 1920, being the day before the Easter holidays, the deer stalking season opened most opportunely (says'tho ■annual report of the Acclimatisation Society). 'The Taiihereiiikau country is opened for the first time for several seasons past; the area from, the Hunawatu Gorge to Shannon if. closed, as is the Ohau area. But owing, no doubt, lo the advent of the holidays many sportsmen went for' the antlers. .Licenses issued prior to 'Miuch 3f numbered GG, anil at April 30, 137—thus establishing a record for the society anil possibly for the Do-, minion. Heads are reaching the taxidermists very tardily; but the table gives 93 heads—probably about two-thirds "of ■ those taken'.'"'' •'

I'icture-theatre posters having been alleged in some cases lo be of an objectionable character, fiie matter was brought before tho «i mister of Lduealion ]>y the Auckland Education Hoard. One speaker said Mine of these, posters: were so extremely objectionable in character thai it was considered tlicrtf * '. ild bo somo kind of censorship exci'— d over their production and aitTtriuiiirvn throughout the country, as fliey very frequently came into children's hands. ■ He had been reliably informed that one man in particular in-Wellington was responsible for the production of this class of poster. Mr. Parr expressed his entire sympathy with the protest, and, further suggested that, a woman should bo ..included oil the proposed board of censorship. "And semi me along the nnmn of that ijinn," he added, "and I will see what caJi bo done '.vitli him." '

In moving the adoption of a remit that South African War veterans and those of other wars in which the Empire lmir taken part be admitted to membership of the Returned Soldiers' Asyociution, the secretary to the Auckland branch, Mr. E. F. Andrews, stated that he did not think it said much for the association that it shut these men out. They should all l)e in association. The pensions received uy the South African veterans were very poor, as were the gratuities. It was only under pressure from the Returned Soldiers' Association that some of them hud been increased. They ought to he proud to havo any old veteran of previous wars in the association. (Applause.) The secretary to the South African War Veterans' Association, Mr. 1. D. M'Comish, who was present as a member of the execulive of the Auckland Rt'imicd Soldiers' Association, expressed gratification at the remarks of Mr. Andrews. The remit was adopted.

Thirteen Chinamen arrived at Auckland by the Malieno from Sydney oil Tuesday morning. Four failed to pass tho education test, and will be sent back to Australia. The total number of Chinese who have arrived at Auckland since January 1 last is 332. In tho same period 135 Hindus landed there.—"N.Z. Herald. - '

"Opossums," says tho annual report of (ho Acclimatisation Society, "are steadily increasing in various parts of the societv's district, in face of a certain amount of innawTul taking, but there is a prospect of something being done in the matter of uniform regulations covering all requirements, as Professor lurkhas been inquiring into the opossum question throughout the Dominion, and his report is no doubt already in the hands oft«;c Minister of Internal Affairs. There is a valuable industry possible under proper control,"

The arch of greenery erected at the entrance to the Parliamentary Grounds in connection with > lhe_ Prince's visit has now been demollsned, and the grounds are resuming their normal appearance. The temporary war memorial on the green opposite the Government Buildings, put up in connection with Anzac Day, has also been removed.

At Hie suggestion of jTTss M'Leaii, tiie principal of the Girls' College, the College Board of Governors yesterday decided to appoint Mfe Barber as teacher of music at the institution. Miss Barber's duties .will be to cultivate a love of good music not only 'in potential performers, but in potential listeners, A>-i an experiment her work will be confined at the outset to the junior classes.

A little over. a month ago the men working at the Otira end of the tunnel were granted permission to engage under the contract system, and inquiries made by, the Grevmoufli "Star" on Monday elicited the information that the contract system had worked admirably. The men are now earning- approximately 235. per day its compared with 18s. formerly, and the work is going ahead at a reasonably rapid pace, j

"During tiie past year (says the annual report .of the Acclimatisation Society) Messrs. G. Cooper, D. Riddiford, A. Sutherland, and A. M'Millaii made donations to the guilds of the society, amounting to <IM2 IGs., and Mr. & G. Nathan purchased - and presented to the society a number of pheasants. This practical sympathy with the work of acclimatisation is greatly appreciated, and the council records its sincere thanks to the abovenamed.

The New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts' sketch exhibition will terminate tonight after the drawing of the art union, whjcli will take place at 'J o'clock.

Owin»' to the war, musical people in Nw. Zealand have lost track of that brilliant Dunedin pianist, Mr. Arthur Alexander, who gave an interesting recital in Wellingtons few years ago. His parents have been advised that ho .lias been appointed, a professor at the Roval College of Music, London. - Mr. Alexander has recently had published in London his own arrangement for violin and piano of two Irish folk «,ng», to wit, "Foggy Dew" and "I'm the Boy for Bewitching T-hem," of which the London critics speak well. One writer fays; "Afthur Alexander, in handling these two lovely Irish tunes, lias treated tjirm at once scientifically, and tenderly,' thereby succeeding, instead of damaging them, in giving them a new lease of life He bias approached them reverently, as may be seen from a footnote to the eecond number, where he draws the player's attention to a passage where he has allowed his own imagination to intrude. lie did well, for lis imitation of Irish music is so good that it could scarcely be detected even by a folk-song specialist." "The Foggy one of those wonderfully emotional Irish songs that have a mysterious power of-stirring the dentils of one's soul.. It is all the more effective for the simple way in wteicli the arranger has treated it. "I'm the Boy for Bewitching Them," an exhilarating jig, is much more elaborately set ;in fact, it makes a very brilliant concert piece, which should'be eagerly taken' up *by all good violinists. Both pieces provoked a tempestuous applause when they were played from manuscript a few months ago by Miss Edith Abraham and the composer.'

"We have received from the Bureau ol Standards, Washington (savs the "Faraday House Journal") a bibliography ol the literature relating to the gas helium. The discovery of helium is a scientific romanpo. Frankland and Lockyer in ISGf announced the existence of an element ip tho sun unknown on earth, and named it helium. In 1805 Sir William Ramsay discovered helium in deveite. and in 1808 Jio produced pure helium. In 1003 RamwtY and S'oddv proved that radium produced helium, nnd in 1904 Dewnr succeded in liquefying (no xrtf.. In )!W5 Ramsay proved that the iimount of helium in the air was one part in 245,300 by volume. The applications of helium are many. It has proved of great use m thermometry, and as a means of producing very low temperatures. In photometry helium tubes have oeen used for standards of light. The development during the war of great fractioning plants m America capable of separating from natural gas a sufficient quantity of helium to supply a fleet of airships, opens a new chapter in the history of the gas. Before 1918 only a few cubic feet of the gas had l>een separated at enormous cost. Now it is possible to separate millions of cubic feet at. a "moderate cost. Jlie many curious properties of helium make it highly probable that it will be useful in many industires

The inadequacy of the school cap at present in vogue, as a protection to tno head,'- was the subject of comment at Inst meeting of the Auckland Grammar School Board (states the Star ). One member said that 'these "oyster shells left the nerve centre at tho tack ot the head exposed, thus risking meningitis. J t was suggested that some- form of s.ouch hat, protecting the neck, should be worn. The wearing of "shorts" during the winter time was also dealt with, .tins resulting exposure of the knees through this form of dress, it was urged, might be sowing the seeds of rheumatism or other diseases. The. adoption of "knickerbockers" during the winter months was suggested as a remedy. It was decided •that this matter, as well as that of tho wearing of caps,'be left in the hands ot the'chairman. Professor A. P< W. Thomas, who will confer with lite headmaster. '

"Since 'high wages have been jirevalunt in Britain the tea-clrinking habit has increased to an alarming. extent,' saul a medical • man who has recently arrived from the Old Country, "but from what I have seen since 1 winie to Auckland 1 would say that ten-drinking 'hero lms reached tiie limit;. People seem to drink tea at. every hour of the day, and all I can say is that for your own snkes yon Rhould 'take a pull' on whatjias become too strong ft 'habit with- you, and is already telling on the nerves of your young girls and women, as is easily seen by even a casual glance. at their faces. One of the greatest evils we lwve in the Old Country," he added, "is the development. of the cigarette habit amongst girls and women, Which is of nuile recent origin, and you should bo very thankful that it has not laken such a strong ho'd liere. It is onlv the nerve spTinlists, who eonnv into clo=r> contact witiii- the evi's of the hnbit who really know the harm it (Toes an<l the ills which accrue from it." —Auckland "Star."