LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume XCIX, Issue 125, 27 May 1920, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Under the new regulations governing the transmission of telegrams dealing with lacing, the qu«etion has arisen of the legality of publishing figures before the names of horses showing the order in which they were backed in the .totalisator. The point was referred to the Crown Law Office, and a ruling has been received that the practice has to do with betting, and cannot be allowed. The Telegraph Department announces that in view of this opinion these figures must in future be omitted from telegraphed race reports.

In a letter to Th« Post, "Justice" draws attention to* certain individuate who are defrauding landlords and landladies, usually the latter. The writer say 6 that these, people lease rooms or a house, pay well for a while, and then, when they ha.ye got behind to the extent of £iO to £30, suddenly leave to practice the same trick on some other unsuspecting person. In view of this the writer warns all landlords and landladies to make very Careful inquiries into the characters and references of would-be tenants.

"One thing which I think is specially worthy of consideration at the present time is that of marketing fruit," said Dr. Reakes, Director-General of Agriculture, in ■ addressing the Fruitgrowers' Federation Conference yesterday afternoon. "Owing to the cessation of facilities for (shipment to South America, our export trade has not been able to be developed again this year as one would have liked to see it, and although we got one or two shipments away to England, we still have plenty of fruit in the country. 'I think we are now being afforded an excellent object lesson in the existing methods of marketing fruit in New Zealand." He concluded by saying that if the Department could assist them in any way in devising improved methods, it" would be glad to do so by conferring with representatives of the conference. (Applause.)

"During the war the export of apples ceased oVving to the want of shipping," states the annual report of the Xew Zealand Fruitgrowers' Federation. "This year a commencement was again made, and three steamers supplied space for 34,600 cases of .fruit taken to London. .During the interval since export ceased in 191b, the conditions of the fruit industry, have advanced, and the staiidard. set for export is higher than growers have beun accustomed to; consequently,,-jthere was not as large a demand for sptttfe as was anticipated and provided for.. The regulations have only recently been gazetted, but on account of the practical experience with them in connection with these ftlitial shipments this season growers should be more- ready neXt year to take full advantage of the opportunities for export. The federation has been able to make arrangements for steamers to provide space for c.vpcirt. ant! each advance to bepaid o;i fruit :.# .'■•eonas n.-ime w?a r-hipperl. to that growers vere sble to be repaid all their out-of-pocket espeiisee for packing, shipping, etr.,, Mid received one penay per 1b list for thaiv fruit." ■ . <

A petition to the Mayor and councillors of Miramar is in circulation in Seatoun and Miramar requesting that a poll of the electors be taken on the proposal that the Borough of Miramar be united with the City of Wellington.

The Sheffield Independent refers to Sir James Allen as a man who knows his work, and adds :■ "We want more of the build of Sir James to take responsicilities at Home, and in colonial ami foreign fields, in order that Britain's flag may float as proudly as ever." *

A .young man named Raymond Harper, who resides at Miramar, has been admitted to the Hospital suffering from an accident sustained at Robertson's foundry, oru; of his feet having been crushed by a, roller. He is making good progress towards recovery.

At the annual conference of the Auckland Provincial Farmers' Union the desirability of establishing a working agreement between the Fanners' Union and the industrial unions was emphasised by several speakers. It was,decided that a committee of three members of the union be appointed to inquire intc the .aims and aspirations of industrial unions with a view to bringing about an agreement between the producers from the land and the industrial producers.

Dr. T. A. Jaggar, United States Volcanolofjist at Hawaii, whose valuable work in connection with the study of volcanic activity wag recently described in The- Post, gave a lecture on the subject before the members of the- Philosophical Society last evening. A fine collection of lantern slides was used to illustrate the discourse. Dr. Jaggar also dealt with the apparent effect of solar and lunar influence upon volcanic eruptions. At the conclusion of his lecture he strongly urged the desirability of the study of volcanoes in New Zealand.

The late Hon. R. Kendall Johnston, of Feniton. Court, Devonshire (formerly of Wellington, and a. member of the Legislative Council), who died last' No-, vember, left estate valued at £157,842, net.personalty being £131,931. The testator gives £100 a- year to his late manager, Charles Evans_, £50 to Cecilia Partridge, and, if in his employ at his death, an additional £50; £100 to his gardener, George Eodgers. In 1864 Mr. Johnston was captain of the Cambridge cricket eleven, and his son, Major P. R. Johnston, is the well-known cricketer. The latter served during the war with the 6th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment, and in the middle of 1918 he was'mentioned for valuable war services.

An inquest was held .at Paekakariki by Mr. W. G. Riddell, Coroner, regarding the death of Thomas Morley, a. railway linesman, op Tuesday. Another linesman, who was living with the deceased, stated in his evidence that at 6.40 a.m. on Tuesday he left deceased! in bed after giving him a cup 6f tea. Morley said he would be going into town that day, but would be back at 4 p.m. When witness returned, at 3 p.m. he found Morley lying dead in bed, ■■with a. ballet wound in his head 1 and a Winchester rifle beside him. The tie" ceased • was of a jolly disposition, and' had never given any indication of his intention to commit suicide. Morley was 44 years of age. A vardict was returned that the- deceased committed' auitilde on the 25th instant by shooting him* self through the head.

The treasurer of the Wellington Provincial Farmers' Union (Mr. T. Moss) presented the- annual report at the conference at Feilding yesterday. An increase of 530 financial members was shown, R3 compared -with the previous year. The districts visited by tho provincial organiser mainly accounted for the increase in the membership. The balance-sheet and report were adopted. The report of the Wellington Farmers' Union Defence Fund' was read, giving the amount received from sheep-ownera and the expenditure in connection with, the Sheep-owners' Federation. The re^i port of the mutual fire insurance was cordially received, and satisfaction expressed at the continual progress of the Farmers' Union. The New Zealand 'Cooperative Farmers' Distributing Company submitted its annual report for thei information of members.

The following telegram has been sent by Mr. L. M. Isitt," M.P., to the Prime Minister:—"A Christchurch merchant showed me to-day an invoice of a parcel of English good's landed on 26th April. The price was £31 7s. The Customs Department has charged duty on the present-day value, £41 7s. The merchant asks what possible justification the Government has in charging duty on the present-day value, £10 more than he paid, while he is prohibited from putting his profit on the present-day value. If it is profiteering, to charge on the pre-sent-day value, is not the Government adding to the cost of living and profiteering when it is charging duty on a value the producer does not receive, the merchant does not pay, and the Government, although charging duty on it, refuses to recognise? If putting profit on the present-day value is Wrong, how can a duty on the present-day value be right?"

The report to be presented at the annual meeting of members of the Canterbury Jockey Club, held yesterday, states the committee, in presenting the report and statement of receipts and expenditure for the past season, has again to record that the year's operations were the most successful in the history of the club. The increase in stakes amounted to £1430, as compared with the season 1916-17, when the last full meetings were held. The loss, by fire, of the grandstand during the year, was a most regrettable incident, and a very large sum will be required to rebuild. The rebuilding of the stand has been'postponed owing to the Government refusal to authorise its reconstruction. The delay in installing the Julius totalisator was due to labour, troubles in Australia, but the machine is now arriving, and the work of building the new house will be started immediately.

Though three notices of appeal against the. inclusion of names in tile Military Defaulters' List had been entei'ed for hearing _at the Magistrate's Court yesterday afternoon, but one action was proceeded with, as an appeal Mas withdrawn and the other appellant did not put in an appearance.. Mr. D. G. A. Cooper, S.M., presided, and Lieutenant J. Thomson appeared for tho Department. The appellant. Eric Basil Rawlings, saidl tiiat he had left camp because he had suffered from sciatica, and rheumatism, and had gone to Christchureh in April, 1918. Hearing that the civil police wanted to ' see him, he reportedl himself in February last, and w,i& then brought back to Trentham, and taken before, a court-martial. Asked why lie did not return to camp, he replied that he had not been treated too well. He alleged that he had not been fairly treated at the court-martial, as it was ther stated thai he had not beeh receiving medical treatment while in camp, kieutefrssnt Thomson produced the files relating, to the, case, and said that Enwlings had been found guilty by conrt-marti?! of! having deserted His "'Majesty's forces, and losing by neglect his equipment, and v.713 EBiitenced to a year's hard labour, and placed on the defaulters' list. Tl:<* Magistrate refused the. application.

Signatures have been obtained by thd Kolburn Ratepayers' Association to a! requisition for the establishment' of a milk depot in the district, and it is intended to interview tlm Milk Committee of the City Council on the matter shortly.

The subscribers to the fund inaugurated for the benefit of Captain William Reid, formerly of the Wellington-East-i bourne ferry service, have heartily thanked the Merchant Service Guild for ths excellent results of the efforts made by it on behalf of the fund.. Captain Reid had a paralytia stroke last year, and is still unable to follow his old occupation. His condition, however, hns greatly improved, and hef is able to get about again.

Applications for land under section! 4 of the Discharged Soldiers' Settlement Act, 1915, were approved at yesterday's meeting of the Wellington Land Board as follow :—Section 1, block 1, Whirinaki S.D., S.L., 857 acres, B. F. Mohekey. Section 2s, Taikorea Settlement, L.E.R.L., 120 a lr 23p, James 0. Cameron. Section ss, Taikorea Settlement, L.S.R.L., 101 a3r 9p, S. W, Curr&n. Sections 28 and 29, block 15, Wanganui S.D., L.S.R.L., 200. acres, S.D., R.L., 259 alr sp, John Hadsen.

Mr. Will B. Matheson, of Rongomai, has presented to the -Public Art Gallerr a fine example (lithographic) of the work of Muirhead Bone, whose masterlydrawings are attracting the attention of the Art world at the present time. Tha work in question, together with several other examples f by the . same artist, which have been lent by Mr. Matheson, will bo on°view in the side room of the Art Gallery, Whitmore-street, until the close ofj the present on Saturday next.

A photograph and a ' covering note produced at last night's meeting of the New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association rather discounted the statement ma.<Je some little time ago by Brookes, the tennis player, concerning the unsuitability of weather conditions in New Zealand. The note, from Mr. George Logan, secretary of the Mariborongh. Lawn Tennis Association, stated: "I am forwarding you under separate cover a photo which I took whilst in Sydney last January. Brookes says that New Zealand is no good for a tennis tournal--ment, as the climatic conditions are not favourable. Well, how about thisV" The photo, taken during the Davis Cup contest, Bhowed a portion of the crowd (sheltering from the rain under a mass o of umbrellas. A matter of importance which will engage the attention of the New Zealand Football Association this season is a tour to Australia and New Zealand of an , English team. As a result of the visit to England by Messrs. F. J. Courtney and B. L. Salmon, it is now stated that a first-class amateur team can be obtained to tour the colonies at some future date, but it will need to be financed by. the, Australasian Associations, as the English Association is not in a position to give financial help, its bank balance being largely depleted by various large war donations, vhile there was also a loss on the last South African tour. In. view of this, the New Zealand Council urges that organisation, both in New ■Zealand and Australia, must be perfect. cd. • Two men, Frederick James 'Patching and Samuel M'Donald, alias Cox, were brought before Mr. E. Page, S.M., at the Magistrate's Court- this morning upon a charge of having stolen 19 overcoats, valued at £76, the property of some persons unknown, but on the application of Chief-Detective Ward the accused were remanded to appear again, on 4th June. Bail was allowed in each case in the sum of £200, with sureties of like amount. Mr. A. B. Sievwrighb appeared for M'Donald, and Mr. C. B. O'Donnell for Patching. Alfred Phillips was remanded for a week upon a charge of having stolen two portmanteaux and contents, valued at £19, the property of May Pearse. Annie Murphy, a second offending inebriate, was fined lOe, the alternative being fixed at 48 hours in gaol. Aviation as a business \n civil life in peace time does not offer very bright prospects at present, according to FlightLieutenant Clarence Umbers; Who. has just returned from England after long experience in the Air Force. He considers that aviation is not possible as a recreation except to the very wealthy. Anyone could buy in England numbers of machines at £100, but when it came to running them he would find it cost a small fortune. The result was that, thousands of good war machines were going to waste. Air services were mostly a "wash-out," the London-Paris one being the only successful example. Airships were out of the question on account of their cost. Hanga-rs were a third as expensive as the airship, and five hundred men were needed to land the R34, which had since been sold to America. Lieutenant Umbers left for Dunedin on the Monowai last night to take up his work on the city tramways there once more. ■

Great natural advantages possessed by Kelburn apparently cause residents of that suburb to consider that no effort is required to advance the interests of their district. The Kelburn Ratepayers' Association, at its last meeting, deplored this apathy, and pointed- out that unless the association received the moral anct financial suppprt of residents, the good work done in the past five years would be lost. A strong sub-CQmmittee was sefc up to procure new members, and, failing the success of this effort, a day will be set apart for a special campaign to bring before residents) the interests of the suburb. The meeting decided to write again to the City Council to obtain, if possible, a progress report on the proposed main road to Kelburn, a matter which the council "has kept steadily in view" for nine years. Messrs. Orchiston and Stace were asked to take in hand the beautifying of North-terrace and to. organise a working bee from the residents living near by, to plant the banks with pohutukawas, which' have been presented by the Reserves Committee.

. Woodcote Park Camp, at' Epsom, which was used as a convalescent home for New Zealand soldiers, is now one of the several centres being established! in the country for the treatment of disabled soldiers. At this centreover 1500 men can be accommodated, and a number of huts have been converted into workshops, some of them being fitted with up-to-date machinery for tho teaching of trades. Huts used as sleeping quarters have been so altered that each man will have to himself an elec-trically-lighted room and a floor covered! with linoleum. The place has bean renamed "The Queen Mary Convalescent Centre."