GENERAL NEWS

Evening Post, Volume XCV, Issue 49, 26 February 1918, Page 4

GENERAL NEWS

The proceedings in the North Canterbury timber, sawmills, and coalyard workers' dispute, heard at a sitting of the Conciliation "Council on Friday, were of a most amicable character, and probably constituted a record for Christchurch in that respect (says the Lyttelton Times). Mr. W. Goss, one of the assessors for the employers, stated that the employers considered the union claims reasonable, and very gladly agreed to them. The terms had been the more readily agreed to because of the good feeling that had always existed. Though he had crossed swords with employees' representatives on several occasions in the past, he and those he represented considered that their side had always been very reasonably dealt with by the union. Mr. H. Hagger, Conciliation _ Commissioner, congratulated the parties upon the amicable manner in which the dispute had been settled. He said that it was much more satisfactory for trade disputes to be settled at a round-table deliberation of experts than in going to the Arbitration Court. By the former method both sides knew what they wanted and mnch unnecessary matter was eliminated. The case had been one of the most pleasant he had ever had anything to do with. Mr. Hiram Hunter (employees' assessor) entirely concurred, but considered that there were cases which if was necessary should go before the Arbitration Court. For himself he much preferred the round-the-table-expert mode of settlement. .

The action of the Government in issuing a direction to commissioners of lands and wardens that, when granting timbercutting leases or licenses, they shall make a stipulation that no white pine timber shall be exported from the Dominion, so that it may be reserved for purposes of the New Zealand dairying industry exclusively, is causing timber merchants and sawmillers some little embarrassment, says the Auckland Star. A representative of the Star elicited an expression of opinion on the matter from Mr. W. B. Leyland, of the Leyland-O'Brien Timber Co. Ltd., Mr. Leyland said that if it were decided to put an export duty on wjiite pine, which was chiefly exported to Australia,» Australia might pay the export duty imposed, but was it not more than likely that Australia, would retaliate by placing a duty on Australian hardwoods, of which we are large importers, and the largest, • probably, the Government. Further, if the extra duty prohibited the export of white pine there would be no return cargos for timber vessels, and the freight on the timber we import would be increased. Only from 10 to 40 per cent, of the log was used for butterbox making in New Zealand, whilst the Australians would purchase the whole of the log, down to 2in and liri. To prohibit the export would mean ruin to the sawmillers who had invested their capital in the business under existing conditions, and the heavy local rates that have to be paid, etc., were not at all helpful to conservation of the supplies.

The first of Thomas A. Edison's "invisible ships" to go to Baltimore dropped anchor off quarantine (says an American paper). It is a new ship of British register, and has just been completed after the original plans 1 by Mr. Edison. As she appears m the harbour the freighter looks like any of the other boats at anchor. _ The towering masts 1, with their massive derrick booms, form the chief feature of the invisible plan, for they are hinged at the deck. When the vessel' is entering the waters infested by U-boats these masts are lowered to the deck in such a manner that they extend along each side near the/rail. The smokestack is removed, and any breaks left in. the top lines aro boarded so thai the line is straight. In her neutral colours thoship can scarcely be detected on the horizon. The decks are low, and in the danger zone hard coal is burned so that there is no tell-tale trail of smoke.

At the meeting of the Dunedin City Council last week (says the Otago Daily Times), Dr. Macdonald, in lamenting the lack of name-fertility and national sentiment evinced by Scotsmen in the council, with regard to renaming certain streets necessitated by amalgamation, said he had heard that Walker-street, Edinburgh, after which Walker-street, Dunedin, had been named, was a corrupt form of Watling-street. This Wat-, ling,-Watlin, or Walking-street was the namo of the great Boman road leading from Yorkshire along the X'bthians to the northern slope of tho Edinburgh Castle rock, and thence northwards to the wall of Antoninus, near to Cramond or Grangemouth. If such were the case what ancient and glorious historic assofiations, he asked, had been destroyed y changing that far-famed name into the present name of Carroll-street!

It is stated that the run of salmon has been observed in the Ahuriri River, a tributary of the Waitala, about 12 miles above Kurow. As this is so (says the Waimate Advertiser), the fish must have swum deep in midstream to have escaped notice at Glenavy and Redcliff, where anglers have been watching.

The successful season experienced by fruitgrowers in the Auckland district this year, notwithstanding the prevalence of pests in the form of black spot and brown rot, is {says the New Zealand Herald) an indication of the potentialities of the industry. The suitability of the Auckland province for the profitable raising of a wide variety of orchard products^ hap been advocated for many years, and the experience of orchardists who have improved on the old haphazard methods of fruitgrowing and marketing has amply justified the claim. Enquiries made from orchardists and prominent people engaged in the wholesale fruit trade of Auckland, however, point to the necessity for better organisation in respect to supplying the markets that are open for the many varieties of fruit that are grown. In recent years_ considerable additional areas of land in the Auckland district have been planted with fruit trees, and these are gradually coming into bearing. A largely-increased supply of fruit within the next few seasons is assured, and the question of finding suitable markets and the provision of storage and other facilities is regarded as being of the highest importance.

A feature about the British dependencies in the Pacific that has several times been remarked upon is the wonderful way in which the inhabitants have responded to the call to duty. There has been no /need for the stimulus of' recruiting agencies. In most of these outposts of Empire there is scarcely an eligible man left. This is the case in Papua and the Solomon Islands, and in Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands. Lord Howe Island, with a population of less than a hundred, who lead arc Arcadian life, has set a splendid example. Nine of the young men —that is, the whole of those eligible for active service—have gone to the front, and one has made the supreme sacrifice. The islanders ara naturally proud of the patriotic record established. By reason of its being east of the 154 th meridian of east longitude, the limit of the jurisdiction of the Governor of 1 New South Wales, Lord Howe Island is especially mentioned in the Constitution Act as a dependency of the State, though 1 it lies, as a tiny speck on the broad bosom of the Pacific, over 400 miles away.

Sufferers from heartburn and sick headache should take every day Sharland's Magnesia. An agreeable, safe, and pure aperient. Always full strength, because freshly made in the Dominion. Superior to imported Magnesia in quality and . value. Large bottle costs, one shilling. 'Be sure you get Sharland'a.—• Advt.