LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume CI, Issue 19, 22 January 1921, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

An Order-in-Council issued last night prescribes the following fees for private ietter7box.es:—At places where there, is a postman's delivery—For boxes of the usual .size, £1 10s per annum;' for larger sized boxes, £3 per, annum. To persons residing beyond the limits.of the postman's delivery,,, or to persons at places where there is nw postman's delivery— For boxes ,of the usual size, 10s per annum; for larger sized boxes, £1 per annum.

The following cablegram, has been received by,the Prime Minister from Lord Milner, the retiring Secretary of State i for'the Colonies:—"lt is with great regret, rthat I sever my official connection with the Dominions, and especially with New Zealand, with which relations have always been so easy and cordial. But I myself stand in immediate need of relief from all official duties. I wish to thank you personally most warmly for all your kindness and for your confidence in'me. —(Signed) Milner." ■ •

■ _ Some persons are reducing the cost of living—or the cost of building—in away which will relieve them of further anxiety in the matter for six months or morerr-acooi-ding to the view taken by the Magistrate. Timber merchants and building contractors say that the method rediscovered by these persons is to visit tho timber yards and buildings in course of 'const motion and take such material as they want. Some of tho merchants who have suffered by this practice have found it %iecessary to engage the services of night-watchmen, co that''the thieves may not have it all <their own way.

Young "women are not offering for training for the nursing profession in such numbers as before the war,.owing to the greater opportunity afforded girls in other occupations (states the Auck-, land Herald). The medical' superintendent of the Auckland Hospital (Dr. C. E. Maguire), in his annual report, states that most of the hospitals in the Dominion are suffering on this account. Fortunately the number offering for the Auckland institution has up to the pre-sent-been sufficient for its needs, and there has been no need to advertise for probationer nurses as some other hospitals have had to do. It has been suggested that some hospitals may have to employ male nurses in some of the male wards. The Auckland board on Tuesday expressed the hope that this would never ba necessary. '■'.-•.'

"I believe the day will come," said Sir Thomas Mackenzie, speaking at the meeting of the Canterbury Branch of the Eoyal Colonial Institute, ''when this country will have to depend on its own strong arm for its, own • defence. You have alluded to the people who are willing to come to New Zealand. We could get 100,000 persons, the pick of the Old Land, to come out here and settle if we had ships enough and if the organisation for their receipt, working in unison with their' shipment from the Old Country, was sufficiently widely established. We could make room for them easily, and we ehould endeavour to establish a selfreliant policy, not to sever our connection with the Old Country, but'to provide for a system of defence in the future. This land is too good to take any* risks with—(applause)—and our civilisation is of the highest order, and benefits are extended to our people which are riot extended to any other part of the world. lam deeply impressed with the importance of working in harmony with the English-speaking Americans. -I hadan opportunity during a five weeks', visit of learning something of the spirit of America., and I can assure you that the feeling, of kindlineso to the people of' Britain or of the pvjople, of the,southern seas is Most cordial; but there are sections who wish the destruction of Great Britain and are now t-owing—surrepti-tiously and cunningly—statements that are meant tio sever the cordiality that exists. We must pay no attention to that. It would be unfair to our friends in America to pay too much attention to it; and it is essential to us, therefore, that we should get on with the people .of the United States, because I believe that in the hands of Britain and America rests the peace and prospei-ity of th& civilisation of the whole world."

Further representations have been made to the* Prime Minister [ and theMinister of Health in support of the request for extensive additions to the Otago Medioal School. The cost of the extensions is estimated at abciut £70,000. Mr. Massey and Mr. Parr expect to visit Diinedin early next monfch, and will then, go into the details of the matter.

It is announced by Bishop Brodie that it has been decided, for purposes of administration, to ' concentrate the Marist Fathers in .Canterbury and Wellington diocesan districts. This now departure means the transfer from Greymouth of the , .Rev. Fathers M'Grath, Aubrey, and La Oroix, and the Rev. Father. Sullivan from Hokitika. ■ '.. ■

." Clothing and boots were the only v cheap goods to be had in England: wheii we left," said an immigrant who arrived in Auckland this week (reports the Herald). "You could not buy good steak under 2s Bdi or 3s a lb. ~ Sugar was 16d a lb, butter'4s 6d a lb, ,and bread.ls 6d a 41b loaf. It was simply awful, and while we did not like leaving the Old Country, we felt it was'a good place to be out of in the meantime."

Efforts have been made by the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce to"'inaugurate a regular steamship service from English ports to New Plymouth. ,A merchant in that town 1 states that London advices indicate that there! are no prospects whatever of such' direct service being inaugurated until importers are prepared to guarantee that sufficient cargo will be forthcoming, the ; tonnage required being approximately 1000 tons per ship.. - .-- . . ■ '

-There was a big blaze of paint and turpentine at Jackson and Co.'s factory,; in Wingfield-street yesterday afternoon," but the Fire Brigade arrivijd promptly, and did good .work, confining the fire to one part of the building, which has brick walls and a concrete roof, and was not seriously damaged/ About 1.00 barrels of colouring and two drums of turpentine, were destroyed. The fire started by the boiling over of some varnish which was' being "fused." .

Referring to our article in the editorial columns of: The Post, impressing upon employers the necessity of assisting returned soldiers to. find work, -a correspondent ("Volunteer") .urges that the Government is as much to blame as private employers. The correspondent states that many men who a:re over the retiring a^e are kept at work, and the heads ..of some of the' Departments do riot phow that practical interest in seeing that men who have been, on active service are given a chance.

Baconers are selling in .the Thames Valley district at 6d per lb, the lowest price for years, writes the Morrinsville correspondent of the Auckland Herald. The price not long ago was lf.d. Bacon has been 2s per lb in the retail shops at Morrinsville for some time. past,, but is it understood that there is. likely tobe an appreciable drop "in the retail price before long, and that bacon will be cheaper than it was before the war. One shopkeeper in iMorrinsvillo said that the bacon factories had been \ trying to get rid of large quantities of bacon since before Christmas. Sides of bacon have been sold lately by farmers at Is 3d per ,Ib.

A pupil of \Waitaki High School, Oamaru, Master George Tancred; ' has won a cadetship at the Jervois Bay Naval Training College for the Royal .Australian Navy. 'In the case of New Zealand candidates, Australian parentage is : an indispensable condition. Master Tancred. proceeded from "Waitaki .to Brisbane a short time ago to sit for the preliminary examination, at which over 500 candidates, representing the. whole of Australia, competed. Eighty were selected for the final tests at Sydney, and the searching medical examination reduced theseto sixty. As only three naval cadetships were available, the literary and viva, voce examinations made^ a final selection of three candidates, "as follow :-~Tancred (New Zealand), Gatacre ■ (Queensland), and Clark' (New South Wales): Master Tancred is a son of Mr. G .H. L. Tan"cred, of- Wakapiiaka, Nelson,, whose family have been connected with; the Imperial services/for generations.'

The recent discussion' at the -University Senate in reference to the Workers' Education Association's classes was referred to at a meeting of the Wellington District Council, W.E.A., held last night. The. following motions, were passed :—(1) "That the council.; strottglj" resents the lrnjlistifiabl'e attack made by the Chancellor and some members of the University Senate, which conveys to the public the idea that, the W.E.A. has been carrying on a revolufcionai'v propaganda, instead, of performing the educational work for which it has been formed." (2) "That the council welcomes the appointment by the Senate of a. committee of inquiry .into : the way in which the funds granted by < the university for W.E.A. purposes are : being used, and as the inaccurate statijments about the W.E.A. will do harm to that organisation, urges that the coirimittea should be set up.at once; and rejiiort at an early date." ,' ■.

The ways of the. small boy arc hard: to foresee. • A^ number of youngsters have been granted licenses to fish in Victoria,- Lake, Hagley Park (states the Christohurch Sun), and the -methods adopted by some 'of them came under the nofcioe of the council of the Canterbury Acclimatisation, Society at its last meeting. One member stated that boys were in the habit of . "speeding-up" sport by scattering bread on the surfaoe of .the- water, j Another said that he had- noticed 1, one evening, that soon® boys were throwing something into the lake, and, on investigating, he found that they were feeding the fish, while another boy, who had provided himself with a line and a number of hooks] was trying to foul-hook them. A third member remarked that, while this sort of thing did not do much harm *in the late, the hoys might use the same, methods later on in the rivers "If they can foul-hook the fish in Victoria Lake they .can us something," said th© chairman, amidst laughter. *Ifc was decided' to take steps to prevent such'practices in future.' J ■ \ ■

The utmost success was achieved by the team of twelve senior cadets from No. 32 Company, Wellington Group Area, at the Christchurch military tournament. Their performance in annexing the aggregate honours was particularly good, for they represented only one company, and met not only the model platoon of Christchurch,. but the best senior cadet representatives that city could muster. They won the rifle exercises competition with a score of 85 points, Christchurch Boys' High School being runnorsup with 66 points, and were second in the route-march. The Wellington toys had little difficulty in annexing the tennis championship, and they won all the field athletic events, except . the Ijigh jump and relay race, for which "ihey tied for first place. They also won the cricket match ph. the first innings, and defeated Christchurch in the Association football match by seven goals to oiie. The. high-diving competition was won( by 32 Company, Corporal Robbie being the "star" performer. The shooting match was won by Christchurch, who had the pick of the whole cadet battalions. In a report to the group officer at Wellington, Lieutenant Miles, who, with Sur-geant-Major Scott, was in charge of the team, states that the behaviour and discipline of the lads wera excellent.

The postal authorities hive been' advised that the s.s. Moeraki left Sydney at. 11 a.m. on the 20th instant for Wellington. . She carries 210 bags of mails, / including-three bags from Africa and seven bags from San Francisco. . Regulations governing the employment and payment of itinerant country teachers appear in last night's Gazette. The same issue contains regulations for the grading of teachers. .'.'/.. At tlra Magistrate's Court at Ohrisfc'church yesterday, Adam \Morrison Batray, a postal clerk, pleaded guilty to the theft of a postal packet containing £5, and was committed to the Supreme Court for sentence. ' . \ '■'. .

Permission has been given the Auckland City Council, to raise £500,000 at a rate of interest' not exceeding 5£ per cent, for the purpose of extensions to. the city electrical station. .'• /

A suggestion made by the New Zealand Returned Soldiers' Association that Field-Marshal Earl Haig should; be invited to visit.New Zealand at the conclusion of his stay in South Africa is to be considered by Cabinet at the earliest opportunity. ' ■■.■.* ■

information has been ! received that mines have been xeported off the south coast of' New South Wales, and mariners are instructed to keep a good look out when in the locality, and, if mines are seen, to report the fact by wireless telegraphy to the harbourmaster at the next-port of call.

Thirty-one resignations of teachers were accepted this week by the Otago Education Board. " Where are: they all going?" inquired the chairman, Mi-. J. Wallace. • " Some are to be married, some are going to the North.'lsland, and more than 'half are changing to other positions,',' replied the secretary. '

Under amended regulations issued last night bands may be formed in connection with the New Zealand Military Forces as follows :—Mounted Rifles, 0119 for each regiment; Artillery, one in'each district; Infantry, one for each battalion; Senior Oadets, on© at the headquarters of each group.. The strength of each band will' be j thirty-five, exclusive of the bandmaster, consisting of twenty-five members of military age and ten supernumeraries of any 'age, providing that the latter are efficient musicians. No extra allowanc&.or pay will be made from Government funds for bands, or in respect of men acting as bandsmen/

A few days ago a rather serious disturbance occurred .in Manners-street, when three ships' stewards put up a Big fight Against the police, in the presence of a crowd of two or three hundred persons, who watched, but offered no assistance. . On the contrary, at least one person,. Jame? Herbert Carr, a boxer oE some parts, is alleged by the police to have encouraged the stewards in their resistance. He was taken before Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M.,<at the Magistrate's Court this morning, upon a charge of having incited one of the three fighters to resist the police. He denied the charge flatly, but the evidence was against him, and he was ordered to pay a fine of £5 or to go to gaol for a month. . !>■

At last Tuesday's meeting of the. City Council, Councillor J. Burns, in supporting the motion" for ■ the setting up of a, committee of inquiry into, the tramway management, complained of the treatment of the residents of Northland and Karori under the new scale d£ fares. Councillor Burns stated that the western district was already penalised in paying on short-length sections. The average length 'of the fourth, fifth,'-and sixth sections,' on which.the increased fares are charged, is about 80 chains. On the Karori liria it is about 58$ chains. "* Miramar to Cour-tenay-place is 433 chains, which is four sections, with, an average length of 108 chains. All other outlying districts have longer sections than Karori, whose average length is only 79 chains. This, said the ! councillor^" is, one of,'the matters which the committee of inquiry, might give some attentionto.

Capital expenditure of the Auckland Hospital Board formed the subject of a letter received tirom the Director-General of Hospitals, Dr." T. H. A. vValintine, read/at the board's meeting. Dr. Valintine suggested that the board should not! commit itself to any capital expenditure unless it could see its. way clear to obtain the necessary, funds to meet such outlay. He' stated that the raising of loans .was at present. {^.difficult undertaking, and 'it \vas understood that the Public Trustee was fully committed for the time being, therefore-it could not be taken' as a certainty that funds could! be obtained from that office. The chairman, Mr. W. Wallace*'stated that .this information appeared rather strange in view: of the circular the board had had Jefore it aj a previous meeting. ' The. rst and most important matter that must receive the attention of the board was that of extending the nurses' home. The chairman's /suggestion to deter consideration of the question was agreed tij.

The action/ of the Government in decreeing comriulsory closing at 6 p.m., for all shops, irrespective of whether they employ-labour or not, ■was strongly condemned by Councillor Wise at a meeting of the Riccarton Borough Council (states the Lyttelton Times). 1 He suggested that the council should write to the Government condemining its action. Councillor George, while supporting Councillor Wise in principle, that'll was no use writing to the Prime Minister, now that, -•the .legislation had been enacted. What the^cbuicil should do/was to join the agi- . tatlon which was being organised for the repeal of;■.this,legislation. The Government had tried everything that any body of men could try and they had miserably failed in every job they had attempted. Every thing they had' attempted to regulate they had spoiled. There was no more feason why a man employing thirty hands should be compelled to close his ■' shop than a shopkeeper, employing no labour. It was destructive of part of a man's liberty to say when he must open and shut his shop. The "crux of the whole question was that some men could nor discharge ytheir duty to their employees,' and the little men had to knuckle down to the big men, because some of them were dishonest. ; Councillor Stokes said that there should.be more rigid inspec--tion of shops not employing labour. It was such shops that were evading the lawi The inspector did not inspect the shops which should be inspected. He strongly advocate, compulsory closing. After further discussion a motion to the effect that the council should urge the Government to amend the law -to'- permit any person not employing labour to closa his shop when he thought fit lapsed for want of a seconder. ':