LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 304, 17 September 1921, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Ilia Wellington Stock Exchange will bo closed to-day.

The quarterly session of tho Second Division of the Court of Appeal will ho begun on Monday next. Until the Arbuckle trial is concluded no films featuring tho comedian will be screened in New Zealand. This information was given to Tub Dominion yesterdav by Mr- E. R. Chaju'bsrs, director of'the Paramount .Film Service in Now Zealand.

The retail price cf butter is to lui reduced from 2s. sd. to 2s. 4-d. per lb. on Monday next.

Over 200 motor-cars bound for Wellington passed over the Paekakariki Hill uj daylight yesterday, and the cars were still coming through at night. On the Napier express there was not a vacant seat, and at Raekakariki extra carriages had to be put on, making 17 carriages in all. Iho New Plymouth express was also full, and .was also a very long train. The third Test lias attracted many people to Wellington, and the pickpocket is given an excellent • opportunity I to practise hist art. A. lady visitor was this week relieved of her purse by some-light-fingered gentry, and her indignation knew no hounds when she discovered that apart from tho fifteen odd shillings in the purse, it had also contained four tickets to to-day s match. The question of tho appointment, of teachers camo before the last meeting of the Wellington branch cf the New Zealand Educational Institute. The president (Mr. A. C. Blake), on behalf of.the committee of management, moved: “That this branch requests 'the Minister of Education to enforce on other. boards the same 'open-door’' policy as is practised by the Wellington and Hawke's Bay Boards in ‘riving outside teachers equal opportunities with their own in applying for positions.” The,motion- was carried unanimously, and the president and secretary were instructed to draft a letter to the Dunedin branch of the institute to refute certain, statements that have bren made in Dunedin papers • rconrdin" tho , m tit hod of appointment ndopl-iDy (he Wellington Education Board. It was stated that the members of',tb<j Dunedin branch, who made tho statements, showed that they did rot understand the method adonled.'in Ibis district. T’’e chairman pointed out'that official stnFsHc’ showed that Welling/ (on easilv led in the matter of. outside appointments made since June 1.

The filial Imt candidates nominated for election ns representatives of the employees oil the Board of Managers of the Technical Cqllegn ’is as under:— Messrs. J. Barras, A. Batt, A. D. Bayfield. J. M- Campbell, C. H. Chapman,IT. Dyson, T- Graham, D. R. Kennedy, J. Head, 11. Thompson, T. IL Wallace.

A. second-hand dealer named Henry Pearlman was yesterday fined X 5 and had his license cancelled for not entering tho particulars of his purchases of second-hand goods as required by section 8 of the Second Hand Dealers Act. Tho defendant obtained a license in May last. Prior to that hs was a market gardener.. He was several times informed of his responsibilities by visiting detectives, and was shown what entries' to make and huw to make them. Ho failed, however, to comply with the provisions of the Act. . . ■ A Press Association telegram from Hokitika, states that a public meeting, after hearing a lecture by Mr. J. Bushby. on "The Arthur’s Pass Tunnel,” married a motion expressing the hope that the Government would concentrate upon speedy completion of the work. The motion thanked the Government for the attention it had so far given to the piercing of the tunnel. Consent has been given by the Minister, of Finance to local .bodies’ loans under the provisions of the Finance Act, 1919, amounting to .618,000. Included are the following:—Hutt County Council (for water supply at Paekakariki), JiGOOO; Leyu 'Borough Council vfor ererting workers' dwellings), AlltoO. Consent has ‘been given io the payment of higher rates of interest as follows:—Auckla”d 'Harbour Board.. 41250,000, to bo borrowed, beyotid New Zealand at 7 per cent.; various local authorities X 7700 at G per. - cent'. • 1 , The show of spring flowers at the',Botahical Gardens at present is such as will' repay a visit. The narcissi are particularly filio. also the daffodils, and the magnolia arid kowhai are in full bloomMr. IV. J. Morris, of ' Reofton, donated 425 ss. for' naval essays in the schools of the Inangahiia County. Mr. Morris Fas- requested the. .. Wellington Navy League', to. undertake the arrange-, monts. .This will be done in. conjunction with the Palmer prize essay competition of 'the Wellington branch' of the league, and vthicn is now in progress throughout the primary and secc”daTy schools of the Dominion. " For the forthcoming election of representatives of employees- associations on the Board of Managers of the Wellington Technical College, Messrs. A. E. B.att and A D Bayfield have been nominated by the 'following guilds,:—Bank officers, insurance officers, shipping officers, gas or- > ficials, Wellington wholesale soft goods employees, Wellington general merchants assistants. The Avro ’plane, which arrived at the Hutt Park on Monday, made a flight over Petone and Wellington on Wednesday, Mr. W. F. Sturinan (secretary of the Hutt Park Committee) being the passeneeb. It is understood that satisfactory arrangements have now been- arrived at whereby regular passenger flights will 'be conducted from the Park. The bridges on the Porirua-Titahi Bay road are being dismantled, and are unsafe for traffic at present. The M.ikar.i County Council advertises that persons using the road and ford do so at their own' risk. It was rccentlv stated by a contemporary that the City Council was going to run a motor-bus service from Courtenay Place to tho Athletic Park to-day. That is not correct/ The error arose through the application of certain motortruck owners to be allowed to use the Blair and Allen Streets'stands as a start-ing-place for those ■■ who intended to ply for hire for the day, a request whlca was grafted One of the sights of to-day will be the New Zealand Aei;o Transport's Avro, which will fly over the Athletic Park whilst the football matches are in progress. This machine is the lightest-pow-ered one to have made the crossing from Marlborough, and being symmetrical in build and coated with aluminium paint it is peculiarly bird-like in its appearance in. flight. '

The inquest on John Tattorsall, who, died at the Wellington Hospital on Thursday evening, will be held on Monday Tattersall, who lived at Island Bay, fell off a tramcar, striking his head on thq ground. Two Hindus, passengers to Sydney -by the Riverina, were searched! before the vessel sailed on Tuesday, and were found with yearly £4O in gold in their possession. As a passenger is not allowed to take a larger amount in gold than F 5 out of tho country, the gold found on thp Hindus was confiscated by the Customs officers.

At' London Sessions recently the manager of n club was indicted for having kept a. ■ common gaming-house. The Judge said the only question for the jury was. whether, poker was an unlawful game. The jury Mound the defendant not guilty, and lie was discharged. Mr. Rooiue, for the prosecution, said the police entered the premises on May 10, and found five men playing poker. On the table were different coloured counters to the value of £9 ss; Tho highest stake plaved for was 325. The Judge: Unless poker is an unlawful game, there is no evidence that this is a common gaming-house. Mi-. Roome: That is right For the defence, Mr. Charles Stewart Cox, of High Holborn, was called as an authority on poker. He said ho had played the game for nearly fourteen years. Skill was the governing element in poker. The game as now pLayed had not the slightest rela-hon to the poker of earlier days, which had won for itself such a bad name. Mr. Roome: Supposing you had four acee and a king in Jrour hand 1 , what would happen?/ The witness: T should drop dead Mr. William Dalton, who said ho bad plaved poker for forty years, stated that there was a preponderating element-of skill in poker. Attached to a stick found on Tuesday morning, stuck into the Arnold River bridge, Baxters Siding, was ft note, which read:-”P.T.,-You will find my body in the'river under the bridge. The workmen who discovered the note, fearing a tragedy, communicated with the Greymouth, police by telephone (telegraphs the Greymouth correspondent of the Christchurch *Rress ). ‘ O breathless and excited was the informant that the police had difficulty in tak- . ing the message over the wire, ionstable Rodgers, of Brunner, was detailed to investigate. About an hour alter-the first message was received, the telephone bell ran again. “Greymouth Station—Baxter’s Siding here. Yes, replied Senior-Sergeant M Carthy. ulio‘ answered the. telephone. "About what I rang you up before. It was-er—some-one drownml a dog.” Apparently a local “humorist” saw a dW dog ”> the water and decided to play a prank on Ins workmates, and wrote the tragic note. Complacs as to the Railway Department’s'methods of handling petrol ~010 made to members of Parliament in Auckland, at the Motor Proprietors’ Conference. It was stated hat under tho railway regulations petrol was carried in open trucks-without protection, with the irowit that after getting wet the tins rusted quickly nhen put in store, and jhe loss by leakagewas very serious. It was pointed out that petroj cbuld bo carried quite =afeb under cover, as the fumes of P® lrol - *’ ing heavier than air, would be dissipated through bracks in the floor or doors of trucks. Covering the load with a tarpaulin would not confine the ga--The chief inspector of explosives who was the technical expert., it was stated, recommended the protection of pelr<> transport, but the railway author.ties would not move unless Parliament made them. It was further stated that railway rates on petrol wore excessive, and nettled revision. Petrol was now »<? essential to tbc' settler as lime or manure; and should be rated accordingly. Jhe cost-of transporting petrol from the ports to The inland towns was too great, ami the expense being very much greater than entailed in bringing it from America. Reasonable treatment in this respect was necessary to assist in providing efficient arterial transport. The members present agreed that petrol was daily baeoming more of a necessity, and give the views placed be- 1 fore them careful consideration.