LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 274, 13 August 1920, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

'['ho postal authorities advise that from August 15 tlio commission on lnonevorders for payment hi Canada and the United States of America will bo reduced lo fid. for f'oli pound or fraction of a. pound, and the rate of conversion is to bo altered from 4 dollars 87 touts to the pound sterling to 4 dollars 30 cents in the case of Canada.' and ,4'dollars in the case of tlio United States.

The lighter traffic was able to got through the big slip on the KaiwarraNgnio Bond yesterday afternoon.. A big gone of men is employed there \set.tinß the spoil away and making the road safe. .The upper road is still dangoroue. aud has been closed to all traffic.

In these days of Irish prices vc is vuy seldom that one hears of anything' being given away, but yesterday largo crowds besieged the premises of a city, grocer, Vho was giving away small packets of tea, presumably to impress on the public the location of his premises.

A headmaster of a city school 6tatect that yesterday out of an attendance of 650, some 150 children were absent. The causes were colds, influenza, mumps, and measles.

The population of the Dominion at the end of March last (excluding Maoris and residents of Cook and other Pacific Islands) was 'estimated at 1,174,139, and at the end of flie half-year the estimate was 1,178,722, the increase for the quarter being 4583, of which 98 was gained by immigration and' 4435 by excess of births Over deaths.

In Chambers yesterday, the Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout) delivered reserve*! judgment in the case of the City Council v. the Wellington Milk Vendors' Association, Ltd. His Honour said that the action was commenced by a writ' issued on November 29, 1319, claitnine from defendants the sum of .C 4508 lis. fid. The writ was endorsed ns follows'.—"The plaintiff-claims .£9 9s. for costs of service, of.this writ, and costs incidental them-' to." The writ was served on the date of issue, and on that day the defendants sent to the collector of tho corporation tho sum sued for. but no costs. The question, said His Honour, was wbetbor the plaintiff* were entitled to the costs. Tlie question .arcse, ought the Court under the circumstances to either refuw the costs or to modify the costs? He was of opinion that he had. no power to do so. He was of opinion that the plaintiff must recover the amount of costs claimed. His Honour allowed £2 29. for'the costs of tho motion, and gave judgment accordinuw.

The births registered during the June quarter numbered 7412> a decrease of 119 ou the number of the preceding quarter, but an increase of 1276 when compared with the June quarter, 1919. The birthrate for the first half of the current year is equal to an annual rate of 25.51 per tCKW of mean population, as compared with a rate of only 21.55 for the year 1919. i

An elderly man named Frederics Lyness was charged in the Masistrate's Court yesterday morning, before Mr. J. S. Evans, S.M., with being idle and disorderly person, in that he possessed insufficient lawful means of support. Lyness, who is 76 years of age. was arrested for vagrancy on July 21, and a day or two later he had to be removed to the hospital,- where lie had been an inmate until about two days ago. Tho police in the meanwhile made inqnirliw to see if Lyness could be accommodated in ihe Ohiro Home, but the managor of (hat institution declined_ to have him because on several previous occasion* when in Ihe home Lyness aroved to 1m a nuisance. Sub-Inspector Emerson said the man was very frail, and Apparently had no friends.: He had a list of ■ lift previous convictions for vagrancy, theft, and larceny, but mostly for vagrancy, his first conviction being recorded as far back as 1870. Lyness said he had friend? in the St. Vincent de Paul Society, and he thought that they would help him. The Magistrate convicted and discharged him, and advised the old man to'cel his friends to look after him.

The Magisterial inquiry into thn ciicumstances of the recent collision h«tween the Duchess and Kuahino while tho latter Tcssel was berthed at th» Queen's Wharf will be opened at 10.30 o'clock this morning. Two_ assessor* hav& been appointed—Captain S. O. Smith (nautical assessor) and Mr. W. Hood (engineer assessor).

The immigration and emigration returns show Hint during the month of July 3606 persons arrived in New Zealand as compared with 176b m July last year. Of tho arrivals last mouth, 1529 came from the United Kingdom and 1832 from the Commonwealth, 't'ho departures totalled 2948, as against 995. Tho hulk of these who left New Zealand last month went'to .'Australia. Tho arrivals during Thst montfl exceeded the departures by 06*, while in July, last year the gain was 770.

In the course of his remarks beroM the Advisory Board of Patriotic Societies yesterday, Mr. Clutlm Mackenzie stated that Sir Arthur Pearson was totally opposed to gathering the Wind together in colonies as was dene in the bad old days. When *o treated the mou worked at thoir trades from H a.m. till 6 p m„ and outside of tlioee hours no effort was mado to amuse or entertain Ibem. Now, at St. Dunstan's, work only lasted from 10 a.m. till i p.m., and every effort was made to fully occupy the mind at other times—with cards, dancing, singing, swimming, wading, and so on. Again, in referring to the difficulty he had experienced in getting work for the Wind masseurs in Auckland, Mr. Mackenzie said: "People generally seem to think that a man who had lost his sight had also lost some of his other seiises, which, ie not the case." v

The Housing Branch of the Department of Labour is calling for tenders for the erection of 265 houses in various parts of the Dominion, including 54 for Wellington and Petone. It is intended to shortly call for tenders for additional dwellings in other parte of New Zealand.

The last meeting of the Wellington Warehousemen's Union passed ft resolution endorsing the action of those city councillors who protested ' against tho ovictiou of tenants from houses in Howe's Lane, the union considering that no property should be taken for commercial purposes while the-scarcity of housing accommodation exists.

A. conference between representatives of the Importers' Committee of the Wollineton Chamber of Commerce and representatives of shipping companies and of the Harbour Board, which was held last week, set up a special committee 4o dovise a working scheme for receiving town cargo for coastal ports, with the object of reducing to a minimum the queuo of carts which at present obtains, and of eliminating the waiting charges incurred. This special committee met yesterday morning, and before launching a comnrehensivc scheme, it was decided to cxneriment with a system by which cargo should bo received within appointed times at ship's side. This scheme will take the form of requiring shippers to book thoir cargo at the shipping office, and caißo will require to be delivered to the ship's side at the times specified on the boat-note. Shippers of cargo arc advised to get in touch with their carrying firms and the shipping companies before sending cargo down to the wharves. With the experience thus gained it is hoped later to draw up a comprehensive scheme for receiving cargo.

According to returns published in tho Gazette of mutual fire insurance offices, the amount of policies in force held by the Wellington Farmers' Union Mutual Fire Insurance Association is ,£629,531; Tflranaki Farmers', .£681,203; Hnwke's Bav Farmers', =£111,604; and Otago Farmer.*'. £WM(. James O'Neill, the distinguished American actor, whose death is reported from New London, Conn., was up till a few years ago one of the few remaining tragedians of the 'American stage. ITo was born in Kilkenny, Irelnnd, on November 15, 1819, and made his dnbu 1 on the stage at the age of IH, at Cleveland. Ho appeared with Adelaide Ncilson at the age of 20, and two years later played alternate star pa I'M with Edwin Booth in the classical repertoire, and also starred jointly with the late W. H. Crane. Besides having played most of the Shakespearean rrjjes, lie was noted for his exposition of sucE roles as Enoch Arden, TiffiSn Cray in "The New Magdalen," Landry in "The Dead Heart," Pierre in "The Two Orphans," SWe in "The Motaxman," and Virgtnlue.

It fs understood that arrangements have been made with the Hutt Park Committee for tho use of the park for an exhibition of aeroplane hying.

It is notified in tho Gazette that the Copyright Act, 1913, has been extended to Poland.

"We have not had a revaluation of this city since 1914," remarked the Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke) when addressing a meeting of ratepayers in the Town Hall last night. "We have.urged the Government to revalue the city, and we have a right to a revaluution every two years at least.

A business man whose affairs take him frequently through the Waikato and other dairying districts in the North Island is exercised in his mind regarding the probable scarcity of cattle in a few years' time. "Too many calves are being sacrificed," he remarked to a representative of the "Auckland Star. "At some farms where thew used to rear sixty to eighty calves each year, 1 now find" only four or Jive aro saved. This is the outcome of the good prices that are being paid for the milk. It pays the dairy farmer better to sell MS milk than to rear the calves. That is, of course, looked. at from the point o view of immediate profit, but what oithe future? If the calves are not being reared,-where is the supply of cows to come, from in a year or twos time* One thing is evident, namely, that tne price of cattle is not likely to come down unless more calves are reared. It seems ■to me that instead, of £U to .£2Ol each, the price of good dairy cows is moie likely to be nearer .£3O to J6W each.

During the course of discussion on the loan proposals at last night's meeting o» ratepayers in the Town Hall, a speaker wanted to know when the city won d he able to pay off the amount.that: thecouncil proposed to borrow. 'Oh) what odds ii Money is never paid?" interjected a member of the' audience amidst loud laughter.

''■: Two men who entered the -Expeditionary Force from the Railway Department and returned partially disabled are unable to resume tlieir old duties, and are employed as crossing-keepers at a wage of ,£3 a week, although other crossingkeepers are receiving 10s. a day, according to a statement made lo the House by Mr. G. Mitchell (Wellington South). Mr. Massey premised to kok into the matter.

According to a Gazette notice, the Government has fixed the maximum retail price of petrol' at Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin for Class A at 325. Cd. per case, Class B 275. 6d. per case; ot Napier and Timaru S3s.' aiid 285.; at Wanganui, New Plymouth, and Gisborne 35a. and 305.. and it Invereargill "345.- Bd. and 295. Cd

With a view to making the work at the Pctone Technical School more attractive for tho students, the management has inaugurated a series of lectures to be given during the year. The second lecture of the series was Riven la3t night by Mr. W. Donovan, M.Sc, assistant analyst, at the Dominion Laboratory, who spoke on "Chemistry and Industry.'' There was a large attendance. Tiie lecturer stated that all industries were af fected in some way by chemistry, as, for instance, mining and dairying. His w marks were illustrated by experiments, prepared in some cases by the student attending the chemistry class, A vote of thanks to Mr. Donovan was earned by acclamation.

An extremely neat and distinctly ap propriate souvenir of the visit of tho Prince of Wales to Wellington is beimr /distributed to the se'hool members of the Wellington branch of the Navy League. It takes tho form of a very artistic and popular photograph of the "Smiling Prince," enclosed in a double card, with a suitable inscription on one side, which includes the three principal points of advice to children embodied jn the Prince's letter to the school children.

The latest JhforinarTon to hand regarding the Mount Pisa run is that the surveys nrc well in hnnd, and it is nn'ficipated that the work will be sufficiently' advanced to offer the subdivisions for selection before tho expiry of ihe lease on February 28 of next year. TRe run 'has been snTjfilYWed into 14 blocks, with the exception of 6000 to 7000 acres of the flats and lower slopes, which'have been Kept-out with a ■view to subdividing tor closer settlement. —Cromwell "Argus."