LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume XCVII, Issue 103, 3 May 1919, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Sir James Allen stated in Dunedin yesterday that the appointment of Sir Thomas Mackenzie as High Commissioner has been extended four months as from April.

In connection with the Anzac Day celebrations in London, at which the New Zealanders were not represented, Sir James Allen cabled to the officer commanding the New Zealand Expeditionaiy Forces in tho United Kingdom, and1 yesterday received the following reply:— "War Office made arrangements for Dominion's march! on 3rd May, at which King George is to be present. The Australians approachedl us at the last moment asking me join the Anzac march. In view of the official march on 3rd May I did not consider it advisable to- have two marches, and the senior officers concurred."

The Full Court was occupied yesterday in hearing a case stated from Auckland on a question of law in tlie case of Beauchamp "VWUesby, who was tried before Mr. Justice Hosking on a charge of having committed an indecent assault on a -lad 13 years of age. The point was whether certain evidence had. been admitted improperly at the hearing and whether a new trial should be ordered. On the Bench were, the Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout), Mr. Justice Edwards, Mr. Justice Chapman, Mr. Justice Sim, and Mr. Justicn ITosking. Sir John Salmond, K.C., represented the Crown, and Mr, A. \V. Bltiir appeared for the priaon; cr, The Court reserved its decision.;

The Secretary of the General PostOffice has been advised that legal time ■has been advanced by one hour in all Turkey from 10th April. -

The proceeds derived by the Soldiers' and Sailors' Hostel from the disposal by art union of the auto-milking machine donated by Messrs. John Chambers and Son was £726 6s. It was announced last evening that Mr. J. R.. Stansell, of Lyall Bay, had given a renewable leasehold at Berhampore for the benefit of the institution.

There is a scarcity of slaughtermen in Southland, and since the commencement of this season the local works have been considerably hSmpered' on account of the shortage. The bad season for feed now., makes the position most serious from a, farming point of view, says the Southland Times. Throughout Southland there are large numbers of sheep and cattle ready for slaughtering, but with the difficulty experienced of obtaining slaughtermen the stock offered cannot be handled.

Mr. T. Lisle, who acted as secretary of Mr. J. P. Luke's election committee, was last night presented with a case of pipes—a mark of appreciation of his excellent and useful work. The presentation was made on behalf of the committee by Mr. John Hutcheson. Mr. Hutcheson spoke in eulogistic terms of the work done by Mr. Lisle and paid a -tribute to his organising abilities. The Mayoral campaign had been a strenuous one, and for. that reason they were all tho more gratified at the success which had been achieved.

News has been received by the Y.M.O.A. that Mr. James Hay'is on his way from London, and will arrive shortly, to fill the position of general secretary at the Wellington office. Mr. Hay, who is a New Zealander and a brother of Mr. S. P. Hay, solicitor, of Wellington, was the first secretary to be sent overseas _by the *New Zealand V.M.C.A. His ;work in Egypt, received the highest recognition gf the military leaders, and he was awarded the Order of the British Empire.

Preparations,for the public receptions fit Generals Russell and Richardson are now well in hand. The local Returned Soldiers' Association intends to also ai--range receptions at the'local club-house for these popular commanders when definite information is obtained as to their movements. The guard-of-honour to General Russell at his reception at the Town. Hall will be composed of returned soldiers. In this issue the secretary of the association is asking for those anxious to take part to immediately hand their names to him. To ensure a smart turn-out special training parades are being arranged for two evenings prior to the reception.

The Recess Committee of the University Senate has decided that returned soldiers applying for provisional registration and taking a course of study for which lectures are not provided at the college to which they are attached, will have their provisional registration confirmed if they, pass a section of their examination at the end of the year. Where facilities for lectures are afforded, the student' must attend classes and sit for the college examinations, and' the Professorial Board is to advise the Senate at the end of the student's first year whether the matriculation should be confirmed. Application has been made to the Judges of the Supreme Court that provisional matriculation should also cover the requirements for the law professional examination, but the Judges have decided that they cannot allow Latin to be waived, and students must pass in that subject to complete the solicitors' general knowledge examination.

General support of the Education Department's proposal that an endeavour should be made to provide at least hot drinks for children taking their lunches to school, was expressed at last night's meeting of the Wellington branch of the New Zealand . Educational Institute. Some members of the branch were at first inclined to laugh- at the proposal, ■but others gave instances, such as Kelburn and Wadestown, where cocoa had been supplied for some time. The Minister's scheme for more elaborate hot meals was deemed impracticable. The chairman (Mr. 0. Haslam) said the Wadestown scheme, under which the children brought their mugs and cocoa to school and kept them in lockers, seemed one which other schools might be wise to adopt. In cases where parents could not afford to provide the necessary ingredients, no doubt. the aid of the school committee could be invoked. Ultimately the meeting decided to inform' the Education Board, from which the circular was forwarded, that it was in sympathy with the request that facilities be provided for giving children coming from a distance hot drinks at lunch time.

Afc the meeting of the Wellington branch, of the New Zealand Educational Institute last night, Mr. 0. Haslam (chairman) reported that, the Managing Committee had considered the matter of junior teachers, and had decided to recommend that junior teachers should tie dispensed with, and that ,all ■ recruits should enter the profession as probationers and should come immediately under the eyes of the Training College authorities. This scheme, it was thought, would result in the young people securing much fairer treatment. Under this scheme central classes would' be established in the city and suburbs and the country districts, and the studies of all probationers would be conducted by special associated teachers who would roporfc to the Training College authorities. After discussion the meeting adopted the report, with minor amendments providing that, where possible, probationers should attend for their instruction at the Training College, and that the pupil teachers dispensed with under the scheme should be replaced by assistants.

"It is with a sense of real thankfulness" (says the editor of the Wellington Church Chronicle), "that one. is able to write of the finances of the Maori Mission. It has been, as everyone knows, a year of heavy personal loss, and it was to be expected that the contributions from the Maori settlements would fall short of what they had been for the last two years. But this inevitable de-. ficiency has been more than made up by the splendid liberality of the Diocese. This has especially been seen in the contributions that have come in for the last three months of the financial year. There .was,for a time ground for anxiety, but happily the event has removed it. Speaking more widely, it cannot but be a deep encouragement to .the Mission staff to notice, as evidence of the increasing interest in the work, the growing amount of the special offertory for the last four years, £270, £317, £350, and £387. And one may feel sure that the Diocese, having moved forward, will not in this respect go back again. It is also another note of fellowship that the Half-Crown Fund, which has realised £97, has had but a slight, if any, effect upon the ' subscriptions and donations ' in the ' contributions through parishes.' These are slightly less than they were last year, but it may be due to a certain variableness that one must always expect."

St. Marie's Church School, Wellington, which was opened in September, 1917, with; 37 pupils, is now attended' by 180 children.

There- were only four candidates, for the nine seats on the Onehnnga Borough Council, and these wero declarod electee. Another elect-ion will ho Jield during the prsent month.

About seventy non-cotnmisßioned officers from the Grammar School and King's College are going to Trenthaci on 12th May to take part in the special course of instruction that has been going on thei-e for some time (says the Auckland Star). Tha course, in which officers and non-commissioned officers of Territorials and Cadets are biking part, concludes on 30th May.

The Customs returns for the port of Auckland during the month of April amounted to £84,826 11s 3d_. The figures for the corresponding period last year are £81,103 12s 10d. the revenue this year thus showing an increase of £3722 18s sd. Beer duties show an increase of £645 14s Bd, the figures being £5934 Is 5d in April, i 919, against £5338 6s 9d in 1918.

Fred Eastergaard, a taxi-cab proprietor, appeared before Captain Hennali and Mr. Salek, J.P.s, yesterday afternoon at the Magistrate's Court, on a charge of excessive driving along Thorndon-quay on the 24th March. Owing 'to the conflicting nature of tho evidence, the charge was dismissed. On a similar: charge, Charles Wadley wos fined £3, with costs 245.

"In view of thfl presence of qualified New Zealand pharmacists of the Expeditionary Forces in Great Britain thatthe British. Pharmaceutical Society be asked to accept the New Zealand qualification for registration, so that our men in Great Britain should' not be handicapped if thoy_ desire to gain experience before returning home."—Text of a motion to be brought before the New Zealand Pharmaceutical Society Conference in. Wellington next week by Mr. Owen, of Christchurch.

An adjournment was made yesterday afternoon in the bankruptcy appeal case before the Court of Appeal to enable written statements of argument to be placed before the Court. Alice R«eves, wife of George Reeves, a. bankrupt, was the appellant, and the Official Assignee in bankruptcy of ttfe property of George Reeves was the respondent. Mr. J. Macgregor appeared for the appellant, and Mr. PI. Gifford Moore for the respondent.

Good work was done by the Fire Brigade last night in. suppressing an outbreak at No. 20, Murphy-street, a tenroomed apartment dwelling, occupied' by Emily Malcolm. Although there was a strong breeze at the time the only damage was to the scrim and curtains of one room. A curtain coming into contact with a lighted candle was responsible for the fire. The contents are covered by insurance in the United Office for £2CO.

A correspondent writes complaining of the danger of overcrowding the Kelburn cable cars, and he. suggests, that when the car's capacity (65) has been reached the issue of tickets should be stopped. The _ management ■ states that the onlypossible result of overcrowding the car is that it will not be able to travel, owing to the excessive weight to be hauled. Before the war arrangements were being made to have the service run by electric power, but the war put a stop to that enterprise. As soon as electric appliances and power are available the change will be made.

.The plea for a. change in the method of allocating degrees to school teachers was made by Mr. P. NY Jackson at "last night's meeting of the Wellington branch of the New: Zealand Educational Institute, when he moved: —"That, since every subject compulsory for a pass in law and even book-keeping counts towards a degree in those ■branches, every subject compulsory for the teachers' certificates count towards a degree in Pedagogy." He urged that teachers who took degrees nowadays were very much in the position in which doctors would be placed if they were called upon to study architecture to qualify for a medical degree. The teaching profession would never be raised to the position it should occupy until a proper degree was instituted. Degrees, he said, should be allocated for proficiency in subjects which the teachers were called upon to teach their classes. On the suggestion of Mr. E. H. Ballachey, the motion was amended to read : "That there be a degree in education, and that the Subjects be those compulsory for teachers' certificates, and, further, that all preview professional examinations for teachers lead up to this degree." The motion, aa amended, was passed,

Numbers of soldiers who have made application for Government assistance in the purchase of homes for themselves have had' their propositions rejected on the ground that the house they selected had the borer in it, states the New Zealand Herald. This subject was touched upon in the course of an interview with Mr. Maxwell, City Building Inspector. Mr. Maxwell said he had direct experience of one rejected proposal through an inspection he made of a suburban property on behalf of a soldier friend. His only interest in the matter was to do his best for his friend, and after. strongly advising him against the purchase of certain properties he went to a house which he found to be built of good sound Umber, but in two places there were clear signs of the borer. The unsound' timber could have been taken out arid replaced by one man in a day, and he advised his soldier friend to get that done, and to purchase the house. Mr. Maxwell said that if this experience was a fair sample of the Government's proceedings he was afraid that very few soldiers would get Government assistance to buy homes for themselves. Of the houses that have been built for, say, ten years, a very small proportion would be found wholly free from borer. Many had been built of very poor timber, especially in suburbs where there was no regular building supervision, and it was absolutely right that soldiers should be warned against purchasing them, but he was convinced that if the Government rejected a property upon every sign of the borer it might as well stop lending altogether. He .was satisfied that the home he had recommended his soldier friend to buy, a which ,was not a new property,, was better Lhan ninetenths of the houses now on the Auckland market. Unfortunately, up to the beginning of the war the best of our timber was exported, and it was not an easy matter to get good, sound building timber.