LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume CI, Issue 18, 21 January 1921, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

"A very curious matter has cropped up with regard to the shipment of fruit to. England," writes "Grower" to The Post. "The shipping companies carry 23 cases to the ton from America to New Zealand; 23 cases from Australia to' England; yet our shipping companies insist on only 17 cases to the ton from Ne]w Zealand to London. The American case is almost identical with the New Zeaiand ' standard package. The Australian case is larger than ours. It looks as though the shipping com-, panics are out to retard our fruit export. Why?" Inquiries made of the shipping companies by a representative of The Post go to show that the freight is the same on fruit from Australia per case as on fruit from New Zealand; further, that the sizes of both cases for stowage purposes are about the same. If there is any difference, it is in favour of the Australian case: Without going into, mathematical differences, it* may be said that both New Zealand and Australia, are placed on equal terms by the shipping companies' freights on fruit. In to a question by a Post reporter yesterday, the Prime Minister stated that no action had yet been taken under the power given by Parliament last session to increase the import duty on flour. The power had been taken only ■for the prevention of' dumping, and it would not be used except for that purpose. ..... As reported in last night's' Post, the stewards on the intercolonial steamer Manuka withdrew their notices to leave the ship yesterday afternoon, arid the Manuka was able to sail for Sydney last evening. The men decided to remain on board the vessel as a result of aeonference with Mr. R. T. Bailey, of the Labour Department, who, it is understood, advised the.men that in the event of it being proved that their action was concerted they were liable to a substantial penalty under the War Regulations. When the Manuka sailed .at 11.20 o'clock last night she was only about a dozen stewards short of her complement. The following contracts in connection with the hydro-electric schemes. '. have been let by the Public Works Depart-ment:-^Messrs. P. R.'. Baillie and Co., Ltd., Wellington—soo miles of copper cable for Lake Coleridge, £32,331; and 99 miles of copper cable for the Waikato | power scheme, £5725. National Electrical and Engineering Co., Ltd., Wellington—Transformers for Lake ; Coleridge. £1600; and lightning-arresters for the Waikai'emoana scheme, £775?T~ i The. number of New Zealanders stranded in Sydney as a result of the stewards' strike is still considerable. The position will be relieved to some extent next week. The Moeraki, which left j Sydney yesterday morning for Welling--ton, is bringing '398 passengers, according to a cable message received by the Union Company to-day, and the R.M.S. Tofua is to sail from .the New South Wales port to-morrow morning for Wellington. Ths lattet vessel will also carry a full complement of passengers.. •. During the year 1920 only one fatal colliery accident occurred in the Dominion, the suffered 1, a co-operative miner, being solely responsible for the fall which lulled him, as he neglected .to timber his working place.. The chief inspector, in his report, states that' the death-rate per 1000 persons employed at coal-mining in the Dominion was 0.36, that rate being the lowest for 34 years, and is one-third of the lowest proportion ever attained in the United Kingdom, which . country is more immune from colliery accidents in proportion to Wie number of persons employed than any | foreign country.

The Hutt Valley Horticultural Society held its Sweet Pea and Carnation Show in the King George Theatre, Lower Hutt, yesterday. The- Show was opened by the Mayor, Mr. E. P. .Bifihworth, who made mention of the increasing numer of people who were being attracted to Lower Hutt because of its gardening possibilities. The Show was moderately well attended ' When opening the spring show of the Hataitai Horticultural Society, the putron, Dr. Newman, announced his intention of giving a prize for the best cottage garden. The two judges recently made an inspection of the gardens, and have awarded the orize to Mr W. E. Chisholm, 66, Waipapa-road, who gained the maximum number of points for the three essential qualifications, viz., utility (10 points), neatness and order (5), and beauty (5), The total number of new buildings erected 1 in Sydney city and suburbs last year was 10,015, and the. total exp&nditure for the year was set:down at £9,----273,659.. _ This was the greatest number of buildings erected in any year since the record' one of 1914, when 'th© build--ing boom reached its zenith prior to the outbreak of war. In that year 1 the number of! new buildings erected was 10,546, or only 531 more than had been completed in the year just closed. Because of the lower costs, 'however, the expenditure in 1914 was only £6,775,----548, as compared with £9,273,659 in 1920. Last year's building operations ■showed a; large increase as compared with. the preceding ):ear, when only 5830 new buildings were erected, at an outlay of £4,788,804. One of the most enjoyable evenings of the Dorset Society was held in Dustiii's Rooms this week. , In a progressive five hundred tournament the ladies' prize was won by Miss Lake, and. the gentlemen's prize by Mr. C.H. Dement. Mr. John Day (Gore), who i»ad been attending the council of the New Zealand Bowling Association, was present, and was invited to make a presentation of a wedding gift from the members to Mr. H. D. Poole on his marriage. In presenting the gift, Mr. Day remarked that he, after being married a fortnight, left England and landed in New Zealand forty-nine years ago. Mr. Day, in responding to the toast of his-health, said how pleased he was to be present with his Dorset friends. He hoped to meet, them again on his return. It was his intention to be present at the annual dinner of the London Dorsets the first Monday in May. : Vocal-items wore contributed during the evening. Eecently Mr. W. W. Castle, who' lives at a lonely spot in the vicinity of Lenswood Forest Range (South Australia), met with a terrible experience. With Mrs. Castle and their child he had departed from home on the previous Simday for Adelaide, and had left his son James, aged 19, in charge of the premises; Having been detained in Adelaide Mr. Castle returned home by himself. On his arrival at Lenswood he did not see his son James, and imagined he was away at work. Upon entering his son's bedroom; however, he found the young man's body, fully dressed, and with a hat on the head, lying on the bed dead. A doctor afterwards ascertained that the unfortunate young man had been bitten by a snake, and had died from the effects- several days before being found. The fatal injury had been received on the finger. A 16-year-old .youth, Patrick O'Callaghan, who absconded' from the Weraroa Industrial School in March last, and had engaged in a series of thefts, was recently recaptured at Masterton, and was taken before Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M., at the Wellington Magistrate's Court this morning upon charges of stealing a pea rifle, the property of some person nn-. known, two 'bicycles,- and from a cottage on the Ohau beach. clothing, a rifle, and other goods, valueS at £20, the property, of Samuel _Henry Ramsbottom. The lad did not ; deny his guilt. Chief Detective Ward said that the lad was first' before the Court in 1919, when he was admitted to probation on a charge of haying un- . lawfully converted a horse to his. own. use. In the following year he was convicted of, theft and sent to Weraroa, but absconded and committed the various thefts. "Weraroa is no good to him," said the Magistrate^ "he is sentenced to three years' reformative detention." , Special ticket checkers on the Victorian I railways, popularly known as " the flying gang," have sometimes unpleasant duties, to perform, but. these tare taken as being "all in the day's work." Irregular travellers are frequently caught, and do not take the catching pleasantly. The checker gets the abuse, and for the prosecution and convictior which follow, the revenue benefits. Most of the catches are small fish, who are travelling first class on a second class flbket,' or whc have no ticket at all; but on 13th December last a special checker hooked a big fish\ This was a male passenger travelling between Geelong and Melbourne on a- counterfeit all lines first class ticket. The ticket was confiscated, and the yearly fare, £110, collected from [ the passenger. As the checker displayed considerable keenness in discovering "the fraud, and with a view to stimulating the vigilance of the staff, the Railway Commissioners have decided to reward tho checker with a bonus of £5. Mr. Charles W. Garrard, 8.A., who has been appointed senior inspector of schools for the Auckland education district, ,vice the late Mr. E. X Mulgan, is a native of Nelson, where he was born in 1868. Educated at the Boys' High School, Christchurch, he graduated at Canterbury College, where he was a pupil of Sir Ernest Rutherford. Mr. Garrurd was for twelve months headmaster of the school at Kaiapoi, and then was headmaster at Papanui for nine yea,rs, while for the past fifteen years he has been an inspector at Auckland. While Mr. Mulgan was in England Mr. Garrard acted as chief inspector, and again held that position since' Mr. Mulgan's death. He has been, prominent on the sports /fields, and is. an ex-representative of Canterbury both in cricket and football. At a meeting of the Auckland Education Board, Mr. E. C. Banks presiding; it was unanimously decided to send a letter of congratulation to Mr. Garrard on his appointment. The chairman said Mr. Garrard was the right man for the job, a remark which.was- endorsed by all those present. Although,, according to the figures, of the Commonwealth Statistician, there has been a serious decline in the birthrate in Australia in recent years, the. monthly returns showing the claims made for the maternity allowance continue to reveal a steady increase. The explanation (says the Melbourne Age) will probably be found in the fact that almost all parents now apply for the bonus of £5, whereas a few years ago claims were not so general, applications being limited to those who were in need of the money. That, of course, was the idea which inspired the adoption nf ;the scheme, but latterly it has develojied into a subsidy claimed by all, rich and poor alike. In the six months ended 31st December 73,850 bonuses were paid in the Commonwealth. Compared viith a total of 62,758 for the same period in the preceding year, this suggests a welcome increase in the birthrate,- fcut more, reliable figures are required bafora that conclusion is justified. In the last .six months reviewed 19,380 bonuses were paid in Victoria, 30,062 in New South Wales, 10,759 in Queensland, 6300 in South Australia, 4168 in Western Australia, and 3181 in Tasmania.