LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume CI, Issue 92, 19 April 1921, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

. At a meeting of the executive standins committee of th,e Jf.Z.K.S.A., held last night, the following motions were unanimously passed:—"That the proprietors of the theatrical andl picture entertainments be respectfully requested to refrain' from performiiKon Arizac Day, so as to be jn accord with the feelinßS of the bereaved anii out of respect to the memory of the fallen." "Tf)at in view of the coming municipal electionsthroughput the Dominion, the various associations throughout the Dominion be requested to adhere to the Jf.?.B.S.A. constitution by refraining from active participation hi municipal politics."

The Prices Investigation Tribunal yesterday fixed, the meat pjjees in Auckland. They show a reduction of about 3d per IK

The Hon. J. G. Coates (Minister of Public Work 6) announced at Auckland yesterday that owing to the financial stringency it has become necessary to arrange for a concentration of Public Works expenditure on those works which were really urgent and essential. As a preliminary step local bodies would be agked to furnish a statement of their balances on authorities for works which had been entrusted tfl them for expenditure. Where any definite commitment had been entered into ;it would be honoured, but the uncommitted balance of authority would be cancelled.

"Cannot children obtain free school books jiovy?" asked a householder of tho Te Aro School district last evening. "They can," answered the Chairman of the committed! "but parents naturally object to the method by which those free books can be obtained. I object to paying for oy-ery book used by"my children in the school, but I object more to the idea of going to the headmaster and Wiying, 'I am too poor to buy this book.' Thsrt fprm has been Hied, te fcil! £he '^r mand for free school booke, and it usw kill** it dMd/'

Gratitude to the municipal autboritio* for the use of library bookfi for the school children w*b expressed at several of the meeting^ of houselwldera hold to elect school committees last evening. "'

The effeote of the drought in Hawkes pay pre being keenly felt (stated; a Press Association message from. Napier yesterday). The country has a parched appearance, and farmers have had to dispose of stock at low prices. In tin southern portion of tlie district and towards the range*, conditipns are move satisfactory. Ths outlook for the winter is apparently r,Qt set gloomy as it might appear, for, according to some authorities, grass will grow in Hawkes Bay at any time after two or three inches of vain, or even if frosts have been experienced. If a fair quantity of rain fills in May it \* conskjpred t,h« there will be no serious shortage of gvaEß. ■

Practice in th,e art of public speaking by members of the Victoria Unii ve'rsity. College Debating Society took place on Saturday evening in the college gymnasium. The question was, "That this house, ha? no cpnfidenoe in the ability of the professors to examine their students." Jtfessra- A- B. CroHer and H. E. Moore supportad, and Messrs. R. A. Tonkin apd P. Martin-Smith opposed the motion. A general discussion followed, and the motion was defeated by si substantial majority.. Mr, D. %•. Smith, LL.M., acted as judge, and pjaced the speakers in the fpllpwingi order : —Mfessrs. Tonkin, Woo 4, Baig, Shoat, Jlartin-Smith.

Good crops of honey appear to have been almost general throughout the Dominion according to reports received by the Director of the Horticultural Division of the Agricultural Department. Of the Wellington district the apiary instructor reports: — "Extracting is just about finished throughout the district, and good crops have been gathered everywhere, excepting in Poverty Bay, The nectar supply has now been completely cut off everywhere. Prices are firm, as reported last month. Beeswax is quoted at 2s per/ lb. Section honey is available at Is 3d per lb. A few lines are already forward for export at th.fr various grading stores,"

A pleasant addition to thermal business of the householders' meeting at the Island Bay Schoo} last night was a- presentation of medals won by scholars. Mr. R,. A. Wijght, M.P., ma'detjhe, presentations, as follow:-—Scholarships: Hazel Rowe. E, K. Ilendrickson, jf. IJill, t. M'Nicoi, S. & Reed. Running: Maqd Steel, D. Craig. Swimming,: ,Jean Bruce, D. Craig.

Reference to the unfailing good work of Mr. H. Sangon, the headmaster of the Muritai School, who is shortly to retire after 16 years in his present position, was made at last night's meeting of householders. The meeting expressed its appreciation of-r. big services, and wished !^fr, Sansqn every happiness in his retirement.

A Timaru Press Association message states th^tho e.xpcutjve qf the South Canterbury Farmers' Union discussed Mr. Bernard Tripp's scheme for the acquisition of a producers' line of steamships, and unanimously approved it. The scheme \vill be discussed on 21st, April in Wellington by the prqducers 1 committee.

Few people are in the habit of making financial grants to private organisations.. If they dg so they usually \yant the fact known. The secretary of the Wellington Philosophical Socjety recently received a very pleasant surprise.. It took the form of a donation of "£lO, and the donor desires that he shall be known as *'X." The money hiay be used for any purpose which the council of the society may consider best.

A speaker at the meeting of the Mount Cook householders last' evening advocated thai portion, of the surplus funds in the hands of the committee should be spent for the purpose of showing sduoational films in .'the schools During the past year several entertainments had been he]d, and, although the charges had l*een light, there had been children—of poor parents—who had been unable to attend: A member of the cflnnnittee stated }n replj that it was not the (iuty of the committee to pro^ vide films,! but was a matter for the education boards. As far as he knew there had been no case where children had been debarred from entertainments through lack of finance.

"Sonic people disapprove of women teachers taking an active part in civip affairs,' 1 statecf Miss K[ E. Cqa4 in the course of an address at the Nfewtown Library iast night. "Men teachers, hp.we.ypr-, are on inujijpipa.l bodies, and hatvfl prpved themselves very good councillors. One is actually Mayor of a large inland town. Why, therefore,, should ■women teachers be cut on from full civic rights ? It would be better for the profesaiqn and better for the .pomm/unity, too, if teachers took a more active part in munioipal government.'-' ( . When it was mentioned in the A\icklan 4 §uPrem* Court on Friday that a prisoner appearing for sentence nad been receiving a vyage of $4 13s. a, week, with which he ha.4 to keep a wife and five children, Mr. Justice Adams asked whether such a wage wag deemed a low one in Auckland. The probation officer, the Rev. F. E. Jeffreys, said that whether or not one might consider it low, he cpu]4 not see how a. man. with a family of five children could live on it. It would be especially difficult to manage in view of the large slice that rent would ta.ke out of it. "In any case, it must be a hand-to-mouth existence," he added. The man in question, a storeman, had been receiving' only £3 13s until a few months ago, when the wage was raised by the Arbitration Court.

"It seems to me that the committee has done so well that it will be able to get wha,teyer it asks frpm the Education JJparcl," remarked Mr. J. Heenan when discussing the balance-sheet at last night's meeting of Eastbourne householders. The Chairman (Mr. T. W. Pi]cher) replied that he had found th»t the board ivaa always willing to help those who would help themselves; it was no good simply going begging.

Despite the fact that the number of students on the roll at Victoria Oolite last year was regarded as abnormal, it seems that when the figures are available there will be shown a,n increase again this yea}'. L*3t year's total, 671, wa-s accounted for to some extent by the return of many soldier-students and the arrival of others, whose studies had been, interrupted or delived by the war, aiid. it was felt to be quite likely that this vpar th,e figures wpulfl remain Btatipnary or, possibly, show a small decrease. The largest classes this year are^ those fo,r philosophy, English, and Latin students.

An incipient outbreak of fire occurred at 3 o'clock on Monday morning in the Pe{>qne Bugbv Football Club's Gymnasium, Tory-street, Peioqe. The fire brigade was called, and soon had the fire extinguished. The damage done totalled £15. The buildiiiff was insured.

The paper shortage has necessitated a drastic reductiqp this year in the size of the New Zealand Official Y«ar Book, a copy of which m just to hand. This fact is referred to in the preface by the editor, Mr. Malcolm Frager (Government Statistician) with obvious disappointment, for it was hoped this year to return to pre-vpar standards. It has not been possible to inolu.de $ny new features, and everything tfoV is jiofc pf current importance has been eliminated. The rsductihn in si^o, and ip the quantity of material, has bpen so cleverly contrived, however, that as an informative medium on affaire of the Dominion, the volume seems to Icise very little of its voiu«, if any.

.Maintenance cases were dealt with by Mr. P. K. Hunt, S.M., in the Magistrate's Court yesterday- Alfred Foster, who had allowed his arrears to amount to £12 12a up tq Bth November, 1920, wag sentenced to a month's imprisonment. For allowing his arrears to amount to £13 Is up to 21st March, 1921. John Gordon was sent to gaol for one month and ordered to pay costsamounting to 21s. The Auckland tramwaymen are seeking an increase in wages of 3d per hour. The existing award 1 expires at the end pf the month. Th,e Chri6tchuroh Tramway Board's revenue for the year was £251,354, ias against £205,989 last year. After meeting all liabilities there remained a credit of £890, whereas last 3 rear there was ai deficiency of £1480, Expenditure during the year iJnder various heads increased as follows:—Traffic, 41 per tent. ; repairs and maintenance, 35 per cpnt.; power, 26 per cent. ; general '$$• penses, 15 per cent.

labour papdidatqa for the School Committee elections in the few cases wh«re| their nominations had been announced, were not very successful in the city and suburban contests— with, the exception of Te Arc, where the Labour ticket was returned. In Wellington South only one candidate out of three was elected' to a committee of nine.

A Press Association oiessage frpm Aiiplfland spates that the Niagara, which sailed on Satarday eyening, carried 3700 cases of appiiw and, 250 case? of pears fo,r Iloiwlni"- •

The residents of Paekakariki ar« shortly to ha',ra^ an oppqrtMnity of deciding by vote whether they will have a high-pressuro water supply provided for that townshjp. The Hutt Cqunty Council has arranged for a poll to be taken on the question on Thursday, 21st inst. The cost of the water supply is estimated at £6000.

A largo number of Maoris passpd through Palmerston North last weekend, en route for Pakipaki (Hawkes Bay), where B^atana, the Maori fqith healer, is to conduct a camp. Ra.tana, was amongst those who were on the toain, and his secretary stated^ t'^ the camp would last about a week.

Tha Hon. D : H. GufJirie stated at Auckland tha,t Mr. Thompson, chjef drajnage engineer, had returned from the United Spates with information and plant that would enable t|ie Government tq carry oqt its d>'iiin3ga schemes in different parts of the Dominion with, expeditiqn, which was quite impossible under the old methods. The report prepared by Mr. Thompson willbe put before Cabinet at the earliest moment, and made public a.« soon as it has been considered. The schemes proposed would benefit Auckland as well as other parts of the Dominion-

The report, of the ImppriaJ Shipping uommittee, of which Sir James Allen is a member, has now bean completed (says The Post's London correspondent, writing on 84th February). The report deals with the .limitations of shipowners' liabjlity by clauses in bills of lading apd v,ith oertain o(.}ier matters relatiiii io bills of lading. All parts of tlje Empire, includijig I^diai were represented | on the Conimittee, Vfhich sat under the chairmanship of Sir Bf. J. M'Kinder, M.P. In due cqureo the report will appear in the form of a WhHe Paper,

Parties who have been oijt deer-stalk-ing at the head of the Waiau, and surT rounding country, state that while there ie plenty of sport, good heads are very hard to sight. . The deer are in poor condition mostly, as the country is overstocked and eftten out. ' A Hanmer sports|rtap recently secured % shapejy 14-poinf«r ' abput-three miles from {.he township up the K,qg£V(:on Valley, anci reports having alsosh,ot four out qf five head of deer in the same locality, conditions being in his favour. The fact that the deer are coming so close down to the township is not altogether an advantage, as they will do much tq destroy tjip beauty of the creeks round, about.

_ "Is it legal for a schpol committee to circulatii a leaflet like the enclosed at a meeting of householders to elect a committee, as wag done by f.he Labour candidates at the Te Aro householders' meeting?" writes a correspondent, "Jlouseholder." It may be stated, in reply, that the jnstanpe mentioned was not a solitary one. l\ is not legal to pay for such a printed circular from the committee fund, but there is no law to prevent individuals printing ans issuing siich circulars. ' In several districts the issue of circulars by putgomg cpjnmifctees was criticised at the meetings pf householders last njght, and the opinjpn was expressed that the practice was probably inadvisable, ' "

Mr. Wj. a. ftid.4f.li. P.M., Conducted gn Iriqiiast yesterday afternoon regarding the death of Mr, Peter Hatton Miller, who was found hanging in a shed at tjie bacl-f of his house in Caroline-street on. Stind^y mQi-nirig. According to tha dVJdepce pf tho widow, deceased had suffered gTeatly from insomnia, and had been in. bad health, being subject for some time to fits of Repression. He had not .left his house for three or foyr weeks, .a.nd for tfie last few nights had not had any sleep. After having spent a bad night, Mr. Miller arose as usual on Sunday morning, and about 11 o'clock Mrs. Miller found him, hanging in ft back shed. The CoToner returned a verdict that Mr. Miller died through, hanging himself while in a fit of temporary 4epr«ssipn.

During general discussion at last night's meeting of the householders of the Muritai School 'district, the I}ev. 0. M. Stent moved a motjon urging the incoming committee to sea that"provision is made for the education of the children nj the etietrjets lying to. the ijorth, of Day's Bay. The Chairman (Mr. T\V. Pilch er) explained that Lowry Bay arid York Bay w«re in the Muritai School district, and that he had learned that it had been suggested that the children ppneevned ah(w(B be taken, to Pet,one. The motion, which the Chairman characterised as iftQzl opportune, wa* carried unanimously.