LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume XCIX, Issue 137, 10 June 1920, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

"Owing to the shortage of paper the strictest economy is to be observed in the use of paper ia all offices of the Defence Department," states a General Headquarters instruction. "Written, communications are to be avoided unless absolutely necessary, and personal interviews between staff and- Departmental officers should take the place of written minutes M'henever possible. Full-sized memo, forms are not to be used when a half-sized form would be sufficient. Old Army forms are to be utilised in offices for many purposes where foolscap has previously been used, and for this purpose the Ordnance Department will issue supplies of obsolete forms to all concerned. Special care must be taken to limit the use of envelopes in despatching memoranda and letters to one address; one envelope is not to be used for each communication, but as many let. ters or memoranda as possible should be sent tinder one cover. Printing will be reduced to a minimum. The supply of the New Zealand Army List is temporarily suspended, and an abridged list will be periodically issued in lieu. Copies of orders and circulars which are now circulated in large numbers are to be reduced to a minimum, and the lists showing to whom such copies are issued will be carefully revised with a view to their restriction. All demands for Army formed official paper, and stationery are to be reduced to a minimum by all concerned."

To-day ia the fourteenth anniversary of the death of the late Rt. Hon. R. J. Seddon.

"I don't ears what Government is in power so long as it is loyal," said Mr. G. Mitchell, M.P., at the annual meeting of the Brooklyn Miniature Rifle Club last evening.

Regarding the meaning of the word "Moeraki," about which inquiry was recently made by- a correspondent, Mr. H. A. Ross writes to say that the correct interpretation is "Tranquil Heavens," or "Serene quietness," as applied to the sky.

A letter was read at the Returned Soldiers' Association last evening from Mr. H. Dyson and four others, stating that a meeting would be held this evening at the Trades Hall, Vivian-street, with the object of forming a Tenants' Protection League, and inviting returned soldiers to attend.

Approval has been given by the Minister of Public Health to additions and alterations to institutions in the Wairarapa Hospital .District as follow: — Erection of a case-isolation block of seven single-bed wards, with administrative block, etc., also widening verandah of the scarlet-fever ward to lift., and glassing in ends; estimated cost, £3455.

"The housing conditions are deplorable, and unless we give the people, decent places in which to live, they will not be contented. Houses can be sold over the heads of tenants at the will of any speculator. I say that it is wrong that there should be trafficking in houses any more than there should be trafficking in food."—Mr. G. Mitchell, M.P., at the annual meeting of the Brooklyn Miniature Rifle Club last evening.

A youth named Daniel John Donovan, aged 19, was rabbit shooting on his uncle's farm at Putaruru, Auckland, on Monday when his gun was accidentally discharged, and he received the full charge in the side of ihs face, the shot badly tearing his mouth and nose, and destroying one eye. He was admitted to the Waikato Hospital unconscious, but has since regained consciousness. It is believed that he caught the trigger in his clothes.

A Tecent decision of the Prisons Department is that in future prisoners shall not be employed at tree-planting. It is considered that- prison labour may be better employed on the prison farms in work which will give the men training in an occupation useful to them after discharge. The tree-planting camps are often costly to maintain with only a, few prisoners, and the Forestry Department will be able to get the' work done as quickly and economically with free labour.

At the commencement of the year Mr. Hope Gibbons offered to the Government his property at Wanganui for use as a St. Helens Hospital. The offer has been accepted, and steps are now being taken to establish the institution. Minor alterations are being carried out, and it is hoped that at an early date it will be possible to open the institution. Through the generosity of Mr. Hope Gibbons a long-desired need at Wanganui has been supplied, as a St. Helens Hospital for Wanganui has been a proposal that has been previously mooted for some years.

The annual report of the New Zealand Hereford Cattle Breeders' Association discloses an excellent financial position. The income for the year exceeded the 'expenditure by £120 8s 9d, while the accumulated funds of the association at 31st March laet stood at £1003 10s lid. The number of registered herds was now 120. The last Herd Book published contained an entry of 671 bulls and 2339 cows and heifers. The report includes the following :—"Your council has had under consideration during the year the question of advertising our cattle in overseas markets, and a sub-committee was set up to specially deal with this matter, but, owing to lack of shipping facilities, it has been impossible'to make a start with a scheme. However a as soon as space is available, a commencement will be made to bring the Herefords of the Dominion to the notice of breeders in North and South America."

Educational bodies in Auckland recently protested to the Hon. C. J. Pair, Minister of Education, against the practice of sending delinquent children who ■are inmates of receiving or probationary homes to' the public schools for their education. It was argued that the influence of these delinquents upon their companions was apt to be'harmful. The Minister has conferred with the head of the special schools branch of the Department, and has decided that where thero is complaint, delinquent children shall be taught in the homes, and not sent to the public school. Instructions are being given for the appointment of a house-master to the Auckland Probationary Home. This will not apply to little ones who have become wards of the State through no fault of their own; for example, those who became orphans during the epidemic. The majority of thsse children are jiow boarded out in suitable private homes, and it is the desire of the Department that neither they nor the children "whose parents are blameworthy should be treated differently from other children, but that they should bs given equai chances in every way.

Messrs. Dansey-and Gavey, light railway experts, of Auckland, have received a communication from the Tongan Government, with a view to constructing a light railway system throughout Tonga.

Practically every local body in the Hawkes Bay district has passed motions against the Government using the Josiah Howard bequest to found an agricultural college at Levin instead of -within Hawkes Bay, the testator having been, a resident of Tikekino. The Napier Thirty Thousand Club has now received a, letter from Mr. Massey, stating that the income derivable from the estate is not sufficient to meet the expenses of carrying on a-first-class institute, and. tljat he would be quite prepared to give young men from Hawkes Bay the first claim on the accommodation and instruction provided at the institute. This concession is regarded in some quarters, as an indication that H&wkes Buy ha* « claim for the sollsgs ta ba mtU>A i» &h« dittgiet.

Ia the case of I. and R. Moii«y v. Maoky, Logan, Caldivell, and Co., with reference to the use of a trade mark, heard at the Supreme Court yesterday, the Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout) reserved decision,

Permission has been granted by the Defence Department for service patients dn sanatoria to retain their greatcoats while in sanatoria and upon discharge. Any service patients in sanatoria who have already handed in their greatcoats will be issued with another in replacement on application through the officer-in-charge of the institution.

It was stated some time ago that the Petone Technical School was making a new departure in inaugurating a. series of popular lectures to which students, intending students, and the publio generally were to be invited. The first of the series have now been arranged, and Mr. Bakewell, senior inspector, will shortly lecture upon the subject of "The Importance of Education to Toung Men and Women." ' •

Papers on "Fossils of the Mt. Radiant Sub-division, Karamea," and "Notes on the Stratigraphy and Palaeontology of the Coal-measures of the Greymouth and Westport Districts" were read by Mr. P. G Morgan at a meeting of the geological section of the Wellington Philosophioal Society last evening. A number of interesting geological specimens were, exhibited, and an instructive discussion 1 took place.

A telegram from Wanganui reporting the Chief Justice's remarks in sentencing C. B. Mackay for attempted murder made him say that it was an impulsive act, and he is so reported in one of the Wanganui papers, but not in the other. His Honour wishes to say (states a Press Association telegram) that what he really said was that it was not an impulsive act, basing his opinion on the fact that Mackay had placed a pistol in Cresswell's hand after he shot him.

Mr. James Henry Hayr, an old and well-known resident of Auckland, died at his residence in Kingsland this week, at the age of 86 years. Mr. Hayr arrived in Auckland with his parents when he was nine years of age, and later took up farming near Onehunga, retiring about 35 years ago. He is survived by four married daughters and two sons, all of whom reside in Auckland, the elder /son being Mr. H. H. Hayr, secretary to the Avondale Jockey Club.

A Press Association message from Christchurch states :—At a meeting of the committee of the proposed industrial exhibition, a communication was received from the Prime Minister* stating that the Government, after giving full consideration to the proposal, could, take no action at present in the matter of assisting the exhibition. It was decided to send copies of the Prime Minister's letter to the committees in other centres, asking if they were in favour of meeting Christchurch. delegates in Wellington to consider the Government's attitude, and approach the Government in the matter.

The Canterbury Chamber of Commerce held a meeting on Monday, when a. letter was received from the Prime Minister stating, in reply to a question about a paragraph appearing in the newspapers some time ago, that members of Parliament had been granted free steamer passages by the' Union Company to Wellington, that the paragraph was correct. The following resolution has been forwarded to the Primo Minister:—"That this council views with the strongest disapprobation and regreT the Prime Minister's application to the Union Steam Ship Company for free passes for members of the Legislature when travelling between Wellington and Lyttelton, and affirms the principle that under no circumstances should any member of the Legislature as such be placed under a private and personal obligation to the proprietor or proprietors of any private business carried on in New Zealand, and that the proper travelling expenses of all members of Parliament should, as representatives of the whole Dominion, be paid from the Consolidated Fund."

"Much ado about nothing" might well be written about two cases which occupied considerable time at the sitting of the Upper Hutt Court, befora Mr. E. Page, S.M., yesterday, and which, incidentally, evidenced the folly of the division of control by local authorities in the district. In one of the cases the burlesque was further heightened by the fact that the local constable, who is also clerk of the Court,' had to call himself as defendant and read' to himself the information. In the first case the Upper Town Board (Mr. 0. Mazengarb) proceeded against A. E. Salisbury for nonregistration of a dog—the fee was ss— the allegation being that defendant was liable, as the- dog was constantly on the premises occupied by him. The defence was that: (1) The dog was not owned by him, but by his brother; and (2) tne premises in question were not owned by him but by his mother. In connection with the first line of defence, ii> was alleged that the brother, who lived next door, but just,outside the Town Board district, and in'the county, had paid th» fee to the county ranger, the amount in the case of the county being only 2s 6d. The law in the case of registration is that only one registration is necessary, and that the owner must register either in the district in which be resides or where he carries on his business. Ownership may be presumed where it is proved that the dog remains for a given period on certain premises. This case was adjourned until the nest sitting of the Court, when the brother will be separately summoned. Tn the other case id a similar offence against Constable Le Fevre, the defence was somewhat similar, it being alleged by defendant, who has been at Upper Hutt for a little over six months, that a registration made in the Hutt County before he took up his permanent abode in Upper Hutt, was sufficient. Argument largely centred round whether defendant was at the time of registration resident in. the county. Defendant cited a caee which, he alleged, gave authority to dog-owners to register outside their district. Mr. Mazengarb quoted on his side a large number of authorities in support of his contention. Decision was reserved. It wfis unofficially stated m the Court that the whole question arose through jealousy between officials of the two bodies.

The Wellington Eeturned Soldiers' Association last evening passed a motion (the members standing) conveying the depest sympathy to the relatives of the late Mr. F. Dunkeley, a returned soldier who was drowned in the recent floods on the Main Trunk line, while in performance of his duty.

Messrs. H. Dyson and A. L. Monteith will represent the Wellington branch at the annual conference of the New Zealand United Storemen's Federation at Christchurch to-morrow.