LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume XCVIII, Issue 83, 6 October 1919, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

His Excellency the Governor-General has received the following message from Admiral of the Fleet Viscount Jellicoe, on his departure from the Dominion : " On behalf of those on board H.M.S. New Zealand I beg to thank Your Excellency for your very kind message of the Ist of October. On leaving New Zealand I would ask Your Excellency to convey to the people of this great Dominion the deep gratitude of all ranks and ratings of H.M.S. New Zealand foi the magnificent reception which they have accorded to those whose pride it is to man the gift phip of the Dominion. . The warm-hearted hospitality, the true friendliness shown to us, and the manner in which the people have worked to make our stay pleasant, have touched us all very deeply, and we leave these shores with the greatest regret and with the feeling that we leave behind us many real friends."

Mr. G. A. Monk, of Reikiorangi, has decidedl not to be a candidate for Parliamentary honours at the coming General Election. Up to date there are only two aspirants—Mr. W. H. Field, the sitting member, and Mr. J. M'Keraie, a returned soldier, who is standing in the interests of Labour.

A Christchurch Press reporter was informed by Superintendent Dwyer that an individual is at present about Christchurch endeavouring to persuade young women to proceed to America, allegedly to take up evangelistic work. Recently six or seven applications have been received from these would-be evangelists for permits to leave the country, but they have not been granted.

The resumption of the normal railway service has resulted in increased building activity in Hamilton, and bath in the town and suburbs premises and houses are being erected on every hand. During the past three weeks the borough engineer, Mr W. H. Stevens, has issued permits ion buildings estimated to cost over £47,000, which is a record for any one month. ,

The licensing of fish hawkers and shopkeepers was recently recommended to the Auckland City Council by Sanford, Ltd., and the matter was sent on to the Markets Committee of the council to consider? Reporting at last week's meeting of the municipal body, the cSmmittee recommended that' the Minister for Internal Affairs be requested to amend the law to enable hawkers of perishable goods to be licensed. The suggestion was adopted. '

' The necessity of instilling into the youth of New Zealand a love of the sea was emphasised by Acbniral Jellicoe at the Navy League luncheon in Auckland last week. He said that one way of doing this was £0 institute boating amd yachting clubs, and to practise all forms of nautical sports. The community could assist in many ways, including the starting of boating clubs, and the corpora-, tions and harbour boards by constructing small, safe harbours for yachts.' By such means as he ha-d indicated boys would become so used to the sea that they would love it, as all people did who lived on it. .

Shortly after 4 o'clock on Saturday, afternoon, the Fire Brigade received a call to No. 24; Abel Smith-street, where a fire had broken out in a' washhouse to the rear..' The detached outhouse had been converted into a whare, and was occupied by a man named George Shattock. Both washhouse and contents were\ badly damaged. There were no insurances. The fire was caused ,by an explosion of a Primus stove, and in the effort to extinguish the flames Shattack was badly burned about the hands, and had to be admitted to the Hospital, where he is making satisfactory progress. The building was owned by Mr. John Bowler, of Blenheim.

In June next will be held the Lambeth Conference, the Parliament of the Anglican' Church throughout the world. Usually the conference is held1 every seven years, but -owing to the war the gathering which should have taken place in 1918 was postponed; Among those %vho will attend the conference are Bishop Averill, of Auckland ; Bishop Julius, of Christchurch; and Bishop Sedgwick, of Waiapu, representing New , Zealand. Bishop Averill is to sailI'for England . next February, and does not expect to return before the, end of the year. During his absence Archdeacon G. Mac Murray will act as'commissary.

The concluding- remarks of His Excellency the Governor-General at the Or-, phans' jClub on Saturday night convey a characteristic tone, of cheerful optimism. . "I urge you to recollect," he said, "that while work is a necessity, it is a very dull dog who requires no recreation. If you are fond of some hobby which becomes a mania you may rest assured that many of your fellow-ci'eatures will treat you as a lunatic, although probably they have caught a touch of madness in another direction. The New Zealander is fond of every manly sport. Let us do all we can to encourage this instinct, taking a hroad view of the particular inclinations of all. The kill-joy and the prude are not useful adjuncts to our well-being. Thus, with a proper proportion of duty, and play, we can put our hands to the plough, and find that the fields of life are not composed of such hard and unprofitable coil as some would have us think." (Applause.)

Interesting details of the career of Mr. I. W. Raymond, Chairman .of the executive of the New Zealand War Contingent Association, have been forwarded by The Post's London correspondent.-'•• After a strenuous career in politics in Southland, Mr. Raymond' went to England with his family in. 1908. He entered the election campaign of 1910 in the Unionist interest, standing as a candidate for Carlisle. The Liberal majority was reduced from 1260 to 64. Owing to an atback of influenza, Mr. Raymond was unable to stand at the lasfc General Election, when the seat appeared saie. . He joined the National Party, and1 was a member of the first Grand Council. As Chairman of the executive of the War Contingent Association, he was brought into close contact with the New Zealanders in Great Britain, and on the general exodus of the "diggers" to their Home Country, it was suggested •he should return to New Zealand to enter politics here.

Recently Mr. R, A. Wright, M.P., wrote to the Minister of Railways, protesting against the action of the Department in transferring the motor train from the Johnscnville to the Hutt service. The Right Hon. W F. Massey has replied in the following terms :— "In further reply to your letter of 11th September, protesting against the ■withdrawal of the rail motor-car from the Johnsonville line, I ha-ve the honour to inform you that I find, upon inquiry, that the petrol electric motor-car at present being used on the H/utt line was not purchased specially or primarily for use on the Welfington-Johnsonville line. After it was imported and set up it was tested on that line, but was found not to be entirely suitable. Subsequently, a second,, more powerful car of a different type was imported, and this was also tried on the Johnsonville line. Owing, unfortunately, to the war, it has been found impossible to obtain the essential spa/re parts to replace those broken, and, in consequence, this car has been out of use for some time. You may rest assured that the claim 'of the WellingtonJohnsonville suburban line will receive due consideration in connection with the provision of' the necessary train services."

Th.6 whitebait season in Otaki is backward, and so far only' small catches have been recorded.

in connection with the property acquired by the City Council for housing, the Greater Wellington Town-Planning and Municipal Electors' Association has written to the Town Olerk, declaring that it was in favour of the council's housing scheme being available to all boua fide residents of Greater Wellington. .

; On Friday, at a meeting of. the Otaki Licensing Bench, applications for licenses (held over pending improvements) were granted to E Pearcy and; J H. Dudderidge (Telegraph and Family Hotels, Otaki), E. Gardes and Leu Freeman (Family and Whyte's Hotels, Foxton). A conditional license was granted M. J. Soban for the Levin races.

Reserved judgment vtaa delivered by Mr. W. G. Biddell, S.M., last week, regarding a civil claim brought by the Excelsior Laundry Company, Ltd., against Mrs. L. M'Gormack, for the recovery of £17 Os lid for laundry work done. Judgment was given for plaintiff for the amount paid into Court, £6 4s 3d. The defendant was allowed £1 Is costs. Mr. H. E. Anderson appeared for plaintiff and Mr. A. B. Sievwright for defendant.

Members of the staff of the '■ New Zealand' Shipping Company and a representative gathering of shipping people from Christchurch and' Lyttelton, including waterside 'workers, assembled last week to bid farewell to Mr. A.» W. Bennett, who, after having held for several years the position of general manager in the Dominion for the New ZeaIjmd Company, has now .retired. Mr. Bennett, amongst other offices, wae chairman of the Lyttelton Labour Committee.

A Hindu named Soma proceeded against Clarence Moore at the Magistrate's Court last week on an information alleging assault. Soma alleged that Moore had thrown some putrid fruit at him in one of the city fruit marts. The defendant denied the allegation, and stated that Soma, had attempted to make trouble, and had struck him. The information was dismissed. . ' ; '

. At the Dunedln Magistrate's Court last week, Mr. Batholomew, S.M., gave his decision regarding recent charges preferred against watersiders. that; having the use of certain premises, they, used the same as a common gaming-house. The defence raised was that the defendants did pot have "use" 6f the premises within the meaningl that expression had in the Gaming Act, "use" connoting more than mere physical use. The Magistrate upheld this contention, and dismissed the cases. ' . ■":

This year the Navy League is making a special effort, and Nelson Day (21st October) is to be celebrated with more than usual ceremony. In particular, the league is paying—and has for a long time past—special attention to the schools, and the response from the schools and the assistance given by the teachers has been most satisfactory. The schools will be ask«d to fittingly celebrate the day, and it is hoped to have some demonstration in the city, concluding with a patriotic demonstration in the Town Hall.

At a meeting in Cambridge on Wednesday a provisional hydro-electric power board was set up_. ■ A discussion ensued regarding the price of current, which Mr. Short, of the Public Works Department, recently stated would- be £9 per horse power. Mr ; Roche,' 0.E.; who super vised the carrying out of the work at Horahora, assured the board that a charge of £5 per horse power would pay the G-overnm-ent, and. save the people of the Waikato £36,000 per annum. The price is regarded as vitally important to the success of the gene:'»l scheme. Actual steps are to be taken to induce the Minister to fix a reasonable charge.

A keen observer in the United States wiitea as follows ..to a friend in Wellington : —"Well, peace has not come yet, as far as this country is concerned. A worse body for decisions than the United States Senate can hardly be imagined. By the very constitution of the body, it is conservative, and this particular Senate is fairly reactionary. . Its one idea in. life is to object to anything President Wilson does. So far as I can judge, the 'plain people' . want the League ratified, and don't care much about the Treaty, because they think it will not be enforced in detail, any way. Shantung everyone if sorry about, but most, peopk think the matter will be straightened if the League is once in working order."

Further instructions have been issued by General Headquarters with a-view-to securing economy and efficiency throughout the Defence Department. District commanders arid staff are instructed to keep statistical records, to enable extravagances to be detected and economies to be effected. When such returns axe' obtained it is' directed thit they shall not be used perfunctorily, but as the basis for censurei or for action when wasteful,methods are revealed, and for commendation when an officer is found to be energetic and resourceful in securing economy and efficiency. It is emphasised that a tendency to overstaff must be guarded against, as snch results" in the diminished efficiency of each individual; and ' causes a 'waste of mannpower, time, and money Comparisons should be made under the same headings with other Government and commercial -establishments. Instead of erecting some war memorial that would benefit the members of the club only, or enhance the value of the club's property, the committee of the Victoria Bowling' Club has decided to raise the sum "-of £100 in amounts of £1 each from its hundred members, which amount is to be handed over to the Technical .Education Board for the purpose of establishing (with the interest) a £5 bursary annually for a secondyear student. The committee has been advised that such donations carry a £ for £ Government subsidy, so that the action of the club will mean two £5 bursaries annually. The reason for making the bursary applicable only to a second year student (boy or girl) is based on the idea that a student'who goes in for a second year's course "means business," and the bursary would be very handy indeed as an, assistance in the .provision of books and apparatus. , » : The record price-of £6.13s per head wa& received for a pen of fat wethers at the last Levin stock sale. The supply of milk at the various factories in Otaki is from 50 to 75 per cent, higher than at this period last season.