LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume XCIX, Issue 121, 22 May 1920, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

,To many of those who recklessly acquired high-priced land with little or no cash the day of reckoning is coming. It is stated (says The Post's Wanganui correspondent)- that quite a- number of summonses have been issued against dairymen along this coast who are unable to meet their interest, and in one case a- foreclosure was made. One authority says that he blamed those responsible for financing these fictitious sales more than the misguided purchasers, who thought fortunes could be made quickly, out of dairying.

The 'Deputy-Mayor of Patea, in wel; coming the delegates to the Taranaki Provincial Conference of Farmers, referred to the importance of farming" in Taranaki. He remarked (telegraphs The Post's correspondent) that 195.000 crates of cheese had been put through the Patea port during the season, the value being £1,350,000. Including frozen meat, the total produce exported through the port, would bo £2,236,951, and it was quite reasonable to suppose that New Plymouth, with the meat works at Waitara and the dairy produce from Moturoa, would exceed that amount.

The hearing of the grocers' assistants' dispute was continued -before the Conciliation Council Yesterday afternoon. No agreement was reached in regard to hours, wages, and holidays, and these matters 'will be referred to the Arbitration Court for decision. The other points in dispute covering general conditions were agreed on.

About 400 immigrants arrived in Auckland by the steamer lonic on Thursday (reports the New Zealand Herald). Of this number 165 were men and women who had been nominated by friends or relatives in the Dominion. The, remaining 240 were sent out under the Imperial Government's overseas settlement scheme. There was a large percentage of farmers and farm-labourers among them. They, for the most part, are married men ,and are keen to get on to the land in New Zealand. They numbered 55, and are destined for different parts of the Dominion, some going to the South Island. Among the others were engineers, surveyors, motor mechanics and engineers, fitters, an electrical engineer, bakers', gardeners, two solicitors, a dentist, nine miners, a builder, a wool merchant and importer, a dentist, .fivs> teachers, two commercial travellers, and a medical practitioner. Fourteen youiig women came to be married to New Zealanders, and, in addition, there ware many domestic helps.

School accommodation at Hataitai is dealt with in the annual report of the Hataitai Municipal Electors' Association. "It is .interesting." slates the committee, "to look back over the records of the association and to find that it is just ten years since your committee requested the Education Department to provide a school at Hataitai. At that period there were no houses, not even a foad, where 'Hohirn-road now is, and the committee of that day requested the Education Board to obtain sufficient ground to provide a school. Year after year went by, and in spite of earnest endeavours on the part of your association, the ground was only purchased at a. comparatively recent date, "and at a figure more than twice what it would have cost in the early days. .During the p;ist year, as a, result of continuous and iictive agitation, additions have been made to the -school, but it is obvious that' in a very short time it will be necessary to ltsve an inf,int school frectcd. This niati-Rr will ?rqnirc the earnest attention of the incoming committee."

Mr. E. Page, S.M., occupied the Bench at the Magistrate's Court this morning. George Robertson Corrigall, for being drunk'in Courtenay-place, and having a previous conviction, was fined 10s. A first offender f»r drunkenness was fined ss. The annual report of the New Zealand Rugby Referees' Association states that, it having been found necessary to reprijit the handbook of rules owing to a shortage of supplies, the president and secretary have revised the rulings and specially cited the instances in which players may appeal for breaches by their opponents. In compiling the new" handbook, the rules have been revised where necessary to' bring them into conformity with the English Union's compilation. Many expressions of appreciation of "The .March of Welcome" have been received by the composer, Miss Medley, of Wellington. The march was recently played in Wellington, and again in Christchurch, by the Royal Marine Band. Admiral Sir Lionel Hakey wrote appreciatively of the composition and asked to be supplied with a. copy of the march when it is published. Miss Medley was helped in the orchestration by Lieutenant Pragnall, of the band of H.M.S. New- Zealand, and by Mr. Bowes, of the Tramways AUlitary Band.

The frequency of stop-work meetings at coal mines, which has a serious effect on tho output of coal, is not showing any signs of abatement, sayi a Piess Association message from Auckland. Tile, latest instance occurrc-d yesterday at the ftotowaru mine, wnich was rendered idle owing to.the miners holding a meeting from 8 a.m. to 10 -a.m. "While the meeting was ir piegreej ilie truckers left the mine, and when the miners returned they were unable: to resume. The stoppage meant the loss of a day's output of 350 tons of coal.

"If. the ultimate prospects hi secondary school teaching were made sufficiently attractive," said Mr. J. Drummond, M.A., while addressing deelgates to the annual conference of the Secondary School Assistants' Association this morning, "a beginner would accept a comparatively low salary and remain permanently in the profession. At present the tendency is in the opposite direction. The beginner can earn more in the first few years of teaching in a secondary school than he can in any oUier profession. In a few years the position is reversed. The higher the pay at the beginning the sooner he leaves the profession, and this accounts for the frequent changes in staff so injurious to the working of a school."

According to evidence given in the Magistrate's Court this morning, a labourer, James Millar, took an overcoat from outside the shop of Hope Bros., Cuba-street, walked inside the shop with it on his arm, and bought two handkerchiefs. The employee who served him was suspicious in regard to the overco"at, and sent for a policeman, and; as the result of the latter's investigation. Millar was arrested. He pleaded guilty to the charge of stealing the coat, and, ir reply to the Magistrate (Mr. iG. Page), said he had four children. According to the police, the accused was under the influence of liquor at the time. The Magistrate fined Millar £10. with .a default alternative of one month's imprisonment, allowing him to pay the amount of the fine at the rate of £1 a month.

The simple fact that the steamer Rosamond arrived at New Plymouth with a cargo of 700 tons of general merchandise from Wellington has caused considerable* scurrying about of consignees and Customs officials (says the Taranaki Herald). This shipment has shown clearly that there is something unsatisfactory in the system of importation as it affects New Plymouth merchants and business people. Transhipments from no less than twentyfour cargoes from overseas were brought by the Rosamond. The earliest of the oversea vessels concerned reported at Wellington on 23rd January, and the latest on U.th May. Therefore some of the goods have been lying at Wellington for nearly four months, and, more important still, a. good proportion of tlie same shipments is still at that port. What the Rosamond brought wa« on!y a portion.

The executive committee of the Wellington Education Board held an inquiry, last evening, following upon a petition from' a. number of householders in the Lyall Bay School district,. asking for the annulling of the recent school committee election. The allegations were that the chairman of the old eomSiittee had refused the meeting the right of nominating a chairman for the meeting,! and had taken the "chair himeelf. Another allocation was that the ballot-papers pro-1 vided by the. old committee were handed out indiscriminately by various" persons, and not by the chairman, who, under the provisions of the Act, should attend to this-matter. It was also stated that, some householders had received more than one ballot-paper. Representatives were present at the meeting last evening, which was not open to the press. Subsequently it was announced that a special meeting of the Education Boa,rd would he held on Monday week, at 4.30 p.m... to receive the report of the executive.

It is undoubtedly the age of the motor, and during his tour of America the City Engineer was impressed with the fact that in some cities the motor had completely displaced the horse. Mr. Morton, is of opinion that it would be vrise for the City Council to consider at an early date the advisability of procuring one or more electric vehicles in order to demonstrate their suitability under local conditions, capable of carrying/ say, three tons and be for use in connection with :the collection or rubbish. It is clear, he says, that petrol vehicles are unsuitable for collecting from door to door owing to the greet consumption of petrol. The electric vehicles consume power only when travelling, and are therefore, from the financial point of view, the most suitable for this class of work. They are somewhat slow on the hills, but reliable, and two such vehicles could be used with great advantage over the flatter portions of the city.

The provision of small rest parks in big cities is thus referred to by the City Engineer (Mr. W. H. Morton) in his report to the City Council: —"Whilst wandering through London' one is constantly meeting with these small places, which during the summer time are rendered very attractive by the foliage of the-trees "and. the manner in which the grass sward? are kept, and one cannothelp thinking such method of treatment affords the most satisfactory means of dealing with such spaces as offering the greatest pleasure and relief after the hum of traffic and the dullness of tho street pavements. 'Other place? differ somewhat in tho matter of providing for rest and recreation, but the general tendency is to follow the practice of the metropolis. The effective manner iij which many portions of Westminster have, been treated compelled admiration. I refer particularly to Hyde' Park Corner and The Mall, both of which for boldness of conception and method of treatment approximate closely to tho splendid examples of. civic ay:; more fi'-3-\ quently met with in Paris."

William Cox, who was seriously injured on , Lambton-quay on Tuesday evening last by.a taxi-cab, which knocked him down as he was creasing the street, is still lying at the Hospital in a critical condition Advice has been received by Mr 3. William Watson, of Wellington-terracfi, that her son, Surgeon-Lieutenant James A. Watson, has been permanently appointed to the Royal Navy. SurgeonLieutenant Watson, who was educated! at Wellington College, went to England! about nine years ago to study medicine, and took his degree in London. Soon! after the war broke out he joined tha Royal Air Force, and was engaged on active duty until some two. and a half years ago, when he was invalided to England with sciatica.

The Back Grant," of the value of £14, lias been awarded by the Royal Geor- / graphical Society to Mr. J. M. Wordie for his scientific work on the Antarctic Expedition of. 1914-1917. On returning to England after the Shackleton Expedition, Mr. Wordie held a commission in the R.F.A. during the war. The' research undertaken by the expedition! was originally planned for a shore party working from a fixed base on land, but it was only in South Georgie that this condition of affairs was fully realised. Mr. Wordio was with the Eudurance party. Charged with the theft of a pair of lady's shoes from one of the Union Company's steamers, a wharf labourer, William Campbell, pleaded guilty before Mr. E. Page, S.M., to-day. According to the police evidence, Campbell was observed by Detective Tricklebank to hive something concealed under his sweater on the. wharf, and investigation had disclosed the shoes. The accused was under the influence of liquor at the time. The police said he had previously borna a good character, and had no convictions against him. A sentence of twenty-one days' imprisonment was passed. After the armistice, Lieut.-Col. I. G. D. Hutchison, M.C. (son of 'Mr. and.Mrs. George Hutchison, Auckland, and Wellington), was Esnt out on a special mission to Archangel and the DvinaVologda fron! (states the Post's London . correspondent). liaving had continuous service in Frenc? throughout the wa.r, Colonel Hutchison found duty in Russia "a mere holiday." Nobody wanted to Ssrht, and nobodji did fight, unless fairly pushed into it. The Bolsheviks—evei] the Red Army—were a variety, and siich as were not secured were promptly "lost in the forest,"'and the others joined our own Russian forces. Colonel Hutchison served with the Irish King's Liverpool, the Royal Engineers, and the Uorth Staffordshire Regiment—is now "disembodied"—i.e., remains, as' a Terriiorici, bttt is free to return to his profession as a mininpr engineer." *

A warning to Maoris was issued by M;\ Justice Chapman in the Supreme Court at Auckland thi* week, when a young Maori named Iwi Hohaea entered "a plea, of guilty to a charge of abducting from her home a- Maori girl under the age of sixteen years. Counsel for the accused stated that the girl's departure from her home was an ordinary case of a Maori boy running away with a Maori girl. Even the police were in some doubt as ■to the girl's age at the time, and it was agreed that she was now over the age of sixteen, at which it was not unusual for Maori girls to be married. Addressing the prisoner, his' Honour said: "I am going to' give consideration to your good character, and the fact that you have served your country, but-1 cannot allow this offence to pass without punishment. You will receive a short sentence of imprisonment. The object of this is to let all Maoris know that this \'"Mng cannot be done. If a man co;- tP before t.he Court for doing what you have done, taking a young girl away from her parents, he comes for punishment. The next man who does so will get a more severe punishment than you. You will be sentenced to three months' hard labour."

The shortage of suitable- manures. which at present exists in the Dominion was commented upon by the president of the Wairarapa branch of the Farmers' Union (Mr. H. Morrison) on Wednesday. It was impossible, he said, to produce' more without fertilisers. In. a district such as this, where the virgin bush had disappeared, the land was producing as much as it would ever do, and fertilising -and top-dressing were absolutely necessary. The Prime Minister had obtained 2300 tons of superphosphate from Australia, but that would not touch the fringe of the problem. LasJ year the Auckland branch of one firm alone had handled 2000 tons. The dairy cow took a very great quantity of nutriment from the soil—nutriment which it was essential to replace. Without manure- even £100 per acre- dairy land "would have to be top-diteseed unless sheep were puton it. The area used for cattle-fattening had been restricted owing to the hig'i prices ruling for dairy produce. Fattening paddocks had been used for milk production, and the surplus cattle had to be fattened on second-class land, which was only useful for that purpose after the application of 'basic slag.

I The behaviour of a man, Joseph Coyle, who while iv a state of intoxication endeavoured to board a tram on the ■wrom* side in Adelaide-road last evening, and used obscene language, necessitated police intervention and his arrest. Coyls came before the Court this morninvr, and pleaded guilty. On his behalf Mr. Treadwell said the circumstances were rather distressing. The defendant was a. patient at the Trentham Military Hospital with a shattered leg and a weak slieart. He had received. a telegram that afternoon saying his . baby had died that morning. He' had had a brandy or two because he felt broken up, and in his physical condition it had affected him in- this way. Mr. Treadwell asked for leniency for Coyle, and that he might be fined instead of imprisoned. The Magistrate, Mr. Page, S.M., said the language used was extremely bad, but there were the distressing circumstances mentioned. 'He ■would inflict a fine of £5, and allow a, fortnight in which to pay it. On the charge of drunkenness Coyle would be fined 10s.

Mr. A. W. But^, president of.the Australian Club, who is leaving New Zealand on an extended tour, was entertained by members of tn"e club this week. During the evening he was presented with "a boomerang, suitably inscribed. In the case against Clarence Hobbo, which was heard early in the week, .Mr. E. Page, S.M., in a judgment delivered this morning, refused tha application for ■an affiliation order.