LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume C, Issue 85, 7 October 1920, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Postal authorities advise that the Wairuna sailed on the 2nd instant from Sail Francisco for Auckland. She carries 651 parcel receptacles and 76 bags of ordinary ma.il matter for New Zealand.

As a contribution towards solving the domestic problem, the Cooked Food Delivery Company, Ltd., of Dunedih, has been formed. The capital is £1000, into 1000 shares of £1 each, and the objects are to provide and conduct restaurants, refreshments rooms, reading- and writing rooms, telephones, clubs' stores, lockers, safe deposits, and other conveniences for the sake of customers; also to carry on business of cooking, supplying, and delivering meals, provisions, and food.

Tha land on the river bank immediately north of Melling Bridge, Lower- Hutt, which is owned by the Government and! is controlled by the Minister of Lands, is being seriously threatened by erosion. If this land is washed away the approach to the bridge will be menaced, and also a large area> of Government land to the south, controlled by the Post and Telegraph Dpnartment. The Hutt River Board <tnd the Lower Hutt Borough. Council have approached the Govern-, ment, offering to pay one-third of the cost of protective works. This offer the Government has rejected, and as the land is not paying rates, either to the board 1 or the council, these bodies are not inclined to spend money in protecting it. The overseer reported to the. River Boni'd last evening that the' danger was increasing, and more land was being carried away. No action was taken by the board.

The Chairman of the Hutt River Board stated last evening that by the death of the secretary. JMv. W. C. Cnfi, the board had lost a 'very valuable servant, and on his motion it was .decided tr. forward to the widiw and family an eajsvession of einceje. sympathy.

The Government Astronomer has received the following report of a' brilliant meteor seen on Tuesday night:—A brilliant meteor was observed at about 7.40. Seen from Kelburn, it appeared to move in jerks until near the south-west horizon, when it burst in flamo, issuing bril-liantly-coloured eparks. When disappearing from view three sparks came between the observer and the horizon.

G. Tortonsen. Limited, states the Mercantile Gazette, has been registered as a private company. Tho office is at Palmerston North. Capital: £8000 in £1 shares, £4000 fully paid up class No. 1, and £4000 class No. 2. Subscribers: Palmerston North"—John Bett 500 (1), 1500 (2) ; A. Tortonsen 1500 (1), 1500 (2); A. E. 'Bennett 500 (1), 500 (2); A. B. Dalziell 500 (1), 500 (2) ; E. H. B. Bett 1000 (1). Objects,: Sawmillers and timber merchants. -

Answering a question by Mr. E. J. Howard (Christchureh South) in the House of Representatives yesterday, the Minister of Labour (Sir William Herries) eaid that he was informed by the Department that the printing trade award was held up so as to obtain the opinion of the Crown Law Office on a provision it contained which was believed to be ultra vires. It was hoped to have this settled in a day or two, and he would be pleased to expedite the issue of the award.

A petition from Syrians resident in tho Dominion that tho law should be altered so that they should not be classified as Asiatics was yesterday reported upon by the M to Z Petitions Committee, of .the House of Representatives, which recommended that it bo referred to the Government for consideration. The Leader of the Opposition (Mr. T. M. Wilford) strongly supported the petition, emphasising that the Syrians had always struggled to be free from Turkish rale, and during the war had served with the Allied forces.

At the Lyttelton Police Court yesterday, Thomas Dooherty, a fireman on the Wahine, appeared on three charges of theft of clothing on Monday during the trip between Wellington and Lyttelton. He pleaded guilty. Mr. M'Carthy,S.M., said it had got to a pretty state now that the railways, ships, and wharves were no longer safe places for anyone to leave iuggage or other goods. He had already stated that fines were no longer applicable, and accused would be sentenced to three months' imprisonment with hard labour on each charge, the last two sentences to be concurrent.

The Defence Committee of the House of Kepresentatives, reporting yesterday on the petition of holdars of the New Zealand Cross (praying that the name of Henry Charles William Wrigg be removed from the list of holders of the New Zealand Cross, and that the decoration be recalled from him), recommended that, in view of the conflicting decisions that had been arrived at by various committees, the Government institute a special inquiry by a Supreme Court Judge, or other competent tribunal, to examine the whole of the documentary evidence, and hear witnesses on both sides.

Hobarfc is to be the meeting place of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science next year, on sth January. A wido variety of subjects will be considered, ranging from astronomy to mental science. ' Among leading N<pr Zealand representatives will be Professors Hight, of' Canterbury, and W. N. Benson, of Otago. The hon. secretary for New Zealand, Professor Coleridge Farr, warns those who are likely I to visit Hobart for the meetings to make arrangements for accommodation, as it is sure to be fully taxed in January, and to communicate with him on this subject at once.

A general slump in retail prices, following a. similar fall in the United States, -was noticed by Mr. E. A. Tanner, a Wellington merchant, recently returned. Mr, Tanner was unable to say whether there was to be a continued fall or whether the slump was temporary. But for profiteering and industrial troubles England's commercial recovery would be much more rapid. Profiteering and labour troubles were intimately related. Previous to the drop in prices traders had to take what quantities of goods they could obtain, and travellers were few and far between. But now goods appeared to be readily obtainable, and travellers were- intensely keen on getting business.

The value that is placed on fruit stands in the city -was fully exemplified yesterday afternoon, when the Corporation Inspector (Mr. J. Doyle) put up for auction sixteen stands for three months' tenancy. It was noticeable that the Hindus were more concerned in bidding against one another for the lease of the more attractive locations than in endeavouring to beat Europeans for a place. The result was that the sum of £239 15s was realised, and that the highest price paid by a Hindu for a stand was £30 ss, and by a European £13. It is interesting to note that before the council went in for the stand system the highest xevenue collected for hawkers' licenses was £20.

Frank E. Oakes appeared before Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M., in the Magistrate's Court yesterday, charged with having forged the names of five discharged soldiera to : orders on various shopkeepers for the supply of civilian clothing. ChiefDetective Ward prosecuted, and Mr. C. B. O'Donnell appeared for the accused, who pleaded guilty Accused was employed in the Defence Office, and issued warrante for the supply of clothing to discharged soldiers. The names of the soldiers, said Chief-Detective Ward, were correctly given* though the men themselves did not sign the receipts, and the men had not in either of the five cases received the clothing. In each case the v&rrant for civilian clothing was of the value of five guineas. It was stated in evidence that Oakes had been frank about the matter since the first inquiries were made, had done all that was possible to assist the authorities, and had offered to make restitution. Accused, it was added, was a Main Body^ man, with 'four years and nine months' service. Accused was committed to the Supreme Court for sentence. A record produce cargo to be shipped from Taranaki by one steamer is now on board the 0. and D. liner Port Paris, which is making New Plymouth the only port of call in the Dominion. The ve&-> sel (says a Press Association message) has been in port for about a fortnight, and' has loaded 90,130 freight carcases of meat and 12,500 crates of cheese, valued at nearly £250,000, and coming from all parts of Taranaki. Oversea. liners are loading at New Plymouth regularly now, but. the Port Pirie is the first to make it the only port of call and the final port. The event was marked by a function under the auspices of the Taranaki Chamber of Comerce yesterdffy, at which the officers of the vessel (the largest to visit Not Plymouth) were guests. Speakers .emphasised the significance of this event, in the history o£ the port, and mentioned that efforts were now being made to inaugurate, a, direct cargo service from England, tho first direct vessel being due next week. In • the course of his reply,, Captain. West snid that, the harbour woulr 1 become the most important port- of tha West Coast of the North Island, and expressed his approval of the plans for big improvements now being carried ouS.

The Coroner's inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of A. T. Maile, of Kelbirn, who died in the Hospital from injuries received from being Knocked down by a motor-car in Cour-lanay-place, will be continued' at 10 a.m. to-morrow, when Mr. J. S. Evans, S.M., will view the locality and: ask the witnesses to indicate the positions of the parties when the accident occurred.

Amongst the passengers who arrived in Auckland from Sydney this week was Captain Hewett, who i» on six months' leave of absence. Captain Hewett is a New Zealander. He joined the Royal Air Force five years ago and saw fighting in France and Flanders. He was promoted to captain on the field, and was awarded the French Croix de Guerre with palms. After the armistice he was posted' to India, where he served through, the recent frontier fighting. His wife and son reside in Auckland.

Baldness in men is attributed to the general practice of clean shaving among men by " Austen Glendower," who writes to The Post on the subject. The correspondent sends his reasons for this theory at too great a length ior publication in full. He offers no medical,opiniop oh the subject, however. If it be true, as he contends, " that at no period of the world's history have there been so many bald-headed men/ he brings forward no scientific evidence of the fact.

A very satisfactory response was made to the appeal for contributions to the fund inaugurated for the benefit of Captain William Reid, formerly master of the harbour ferry steamer Duchess, who suffered a paralytic stroke last year and has not been able to work since. The sum of £850 was collected. A portion of it was devotad to the purchase of a, house for the captain and his family, and the balance of the money has been lodged with the Public Trustee. A report to this effect will be presented at the final meeting of subscribers to be held to-morrow evening.

"Canterbury is being denuded of the best of its young men, because higher wages are being paid in the North Island, 1' declared Mr. H. Hunter, at the sitting of the Conciliation Council in Christohurch. Mr. Goss differed. There were as good men in Christchurch as in any place in '.the North Island. Quite apart from the matter of wages, however, there were other inducements that drew men to the North I.'iland. Wages could not be considered higher in the North when. the higher cast of living there was taken into consideration. Mr. Hunter claimed that uarpenters were paid 3s 6d an hour in Wellington. Mr. Goss denied this. In any case, he said, living was much dearer in Wellington.

The arrangement that recently was. made by the Minister for "Education. (Hon. C. J. Parr) for temporary exchanges of school teachers between New Zealand and British Columbia, has -received effect in the Auckland Education Board's district. Two Auckland teachers, Miss E. M. Harper, of the Auckland Normal School staff, and Miss E. Roche, of the Hamilton East School, have gone to Vancouver, where they are temporarily taking uj) positions in one of tne largest schools in that city. These positions nave been vacated for the time being by Miss Bigney and Miss Frame, who have arrived in Auckland and assumed their new* duties, the former at. the Normal School and the latter at the Hamilton East School. The duration of the exchange of teachers, which has been arranged in connection with the "Hands Across the Sea" movement, will be about twelve months.

Writing to his brother, G. Davidson, the New Zealand sprinter, give 3 interesting details of the experiences of the New Zealand Olympic team. The New Zealanders, he intimates, were up against an exceptional proposition, in that they were only eight days off the boat before the sports .-started, and had the greatest difficulty in getting accommodation and tha sort of food they were accustomed to. It was not until a couple of days before tha competitions that they managed to get the food question settled. Meantime, other competitors had had some weeks of training on the spot. Nearly ten weeks on the boat and a week ashore was a proposition that was too big a handicap for the New Zealanders, and he thought the representative* -would have had a better chance had New Zealand combined with Australia. Discussing the prospects, Davidson remarked that- on the training form shown there seemed little chance for the running and swimming competitors 'from Maoriland. He himself contracted a cold just before the sports. The American swimmers.he described aa wonderfully fast, and likely to carry everything before'them, while Thomson, of Canada, was doing rec.rrd times over the hurdles. O£ his perfn.in ancps in the 100 metres, Davidson states that he was second in Jho first Tound (won by inches), and third to Paddock (America), in the second round. He concludes: "Paddock won the 100 and 200 metres at the Inter-Allied Games in Paris. Fancy getting within a yard of him without training! I ran in the 200 metres later, but the.Yanks were in too good trim for me."