LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 90, 13 October 1922, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Steps are t6 ,be taken ,by the . City Council to have that portion of Point Halswell road between Shelly Bay and' Scorching Bay defined and transferred to the Corporation.

"Many farms have four mortgages on them, but in Taranaki some of them have ten, and that is . about all they have on them," stated Mr. H. E. Holland at the Town Hall last evening.

The Maranui Life-saving Club has decided to purchase a life-boat for pati'ol work at Lya.ll Bay. It is estimated that the boat will cost £75. A committee is to be organised in connection with the raising of the money.

The City Council approved last night of an application from the Welliri(|ton Cricket Association for a reduction from £1_ to 15s in the charge made for the preparation of/ junior ■wickets for the coming season":

The Minister of Finance was asked by Mr. G. Witty (Biccarton) yesterday whether he would remit the death duty paid on insurance secured for the benefit of children. Mr. Massey replied that the point had not been discussed so far, but he would be very glad to look into the matter and ccc if anything' could be done this session.

Suggestions that the Government intends to interfere in some way with the pensions of epidemic widows were mentioned in the House of Representatives yesterday by Mr. P. Fraser (Wellington Central). "It is news to ma that there is any proposal to' interfere with the pensions you speak of," replied the Minister. "We made an alteration so far as widowers were concerned, butfthat is the only alteration that has .taken place."

The very sharp angle at which Woodward street junctions with The. Terrace makes --ike corner one of the most awkward in the city for traffic to negotiate. Some time ago the City Council decided to widen the street at that point in order to provide more turning space, and last night authority was given for a sum to be placed on next year's estimates to cover the cost of the proposed alterations in front of the Wellington Club's premises, provided that the footpath on the western side of the road is made sft wide instead of 6ft.

Pia'ns drawn up in connection with the erection of storage accommodation and the extension of lavatories at the Basin Reserve were approved by the City Council hist evening, avid it was decided that tenders should be called, for the work. The improvements are to be carried out in brick; the chairman of the Reserves Committee (Councillor J. Thompaon), Councillor L. M'Kenzie. the City Engineer,, and the Director, of Parks were authorised to work out the details piirl (,n.lm nil neGPRfWy nteps fen' imt-tittiS tb,Q wovk. in baud immediatgly...

. The tramways manager was»authorised by the City Council last evening to acquire additional land at Onepu road for car-shed extension purposes.

Trawling is prohibited within certain specified limits in Peloroub, Sound, Queen Charlotte Sound, and Tory Channel. A/notice in the .""Gazette" defines --the prohibited area.'

Conveniences for the use / of tramway employees and the general public are to be constructed by the City Council at Waitoa road, Hataitai, at a cost of £330. Half the amount is to be charged to the tramways account and half to the loan for public conveniences.

In order to train a nucleus of permanent personnel in the use of military wireless equipment, a wireless installation has been set up at Alexandra Barracks, Wellington. It is proposed to set up : a similar wireless set at Auckland for the same purpose, and the work is' now being pushed on.

The need for the institution of a sanitary service at Khandallah was recently impressed upon the city Works Committee by the Khandallah Progress Association. The City Council decided last night to inform the association that no suitable site has yet been discovered, but that the problem is still receiving attention.

Mr. N. Honeycombe, on his retirement from the position of overseer of * the Sydney "Daily Telegraph." composing room, was presented by the general manager with a wallet of notes on behalf of the various departments. Mr. Honeycombe is returning'to Auckland, to take up a position with the- "New Zealand Herald."

Objection to the impending changeover to the new ■ standard of 230 volts in the city's electricity supply has been lodged by the Khandallah Progress Association, which fails to see that any better advantages can be secured' for the amount of, money involved. A reply has been forwarded, stating the reasons for the change, and explaining that it was only decided upon after expert advice had been' obtained.

Brief reference to the construction of the new tunnel to the, eastern suburbs waSj made in the report submitted to the City Council last night by the works committee. The committee • reported that it had appointed Councillors W. H. Bennett, 'Thompson, and Burns to cone fer with representatives from the Hataitai Electors' Association and to peri|pe the association's plans and specifications for _ the proposed new tunnel to the eastern suburbs.

Speaking at the Wellington Boxing Association supper on Wednesday,. Mr. E. A. Dawson, manager of the New Zealand boxing team, which returned from Australia yesterday, stated thai it was unfortunate that New Zealand was not financially able •to send over a larger team. He was certain that Cann, of Wanganui, would have easily secured the Australasian bantam championship had he been included in the team. He stressed the necessity of doing something to send a good man or two to the Olympic games, and have him or them properly trained.

The nuisance caused at Oriental Bay through high winds blowing up clouds of dust was referred to by Councillor W. J. Gaudin at last night's meeting of the City Council. Ho asked that something should be done to prevent the nuisance. The Mayor (Mr.~R. A. Wright, M.P.) said he had noticed the trouble, and he proposed to ask the City Engineer to lay the dust with water-carts. Councillor T. Forsyth suggested that the road should bo sprayed with -tar. The Mayor said he would like, to see all the roads in the city tar-macadamised. He would refer the suggestion' to the City Engineer.

In rectifying a misstatement in the report of his address to the Rotary Club on Tuesday, Mr. Justice Chapman writes: "I did not claim that my father and Mr. Reyihs published tly>. first paper issued in British North America, but that they published the first daily paper there. That was the 'Montreal Daily Advertiser.'- There were already in existence ■ several papers published three times in each week. As to New Zealand", the same Mr. Revang published the first number of his paper in 'London and the second on the beach at Britannia, where Petone now stantls. He had come put by the Adelaide, arrivine in April, 1841,"" '

As the danger of plague infection from ■Australia is not yet past, 'the City Council is going to make an announcement urging the public to take steps to keep down the rat nuisance. The council has decided, however? to discontinue the free distribution of rat poison. The Mayor (Mr. R. A. Wright, M.P.), replying' to Councillor P. Fraser, M.P., said there was no cause for alarm about the prevalence of plague in the Dominion. Many people in the city who had volunteered assistance on a previous occasipit had. signified their willingness to help again if necessary, and all the machinery \yas ready. The disease was fast dying out, and if ■ there was any danger the Health Department would advise immediately.

The Wellington Lawn Tennis Association has asked the City Council for the use, of about ten acres of land at Miramar for the purpose of forming tennis courts. The Reserves Committee recommended the council last night to grant the request, and proposed that the lease be for 25 years, the rental for the first five years to be fixed nominally at £25 per annum, and after that at £<bout £100 per annum. The recommendation received general support, and was adopted" after a brief discussion, during which several councillors congratulated the committee upon' endeavouring to provide for the needs of tennis players in the city,

"I am receiving a good many applications for the services of the school dental nurses," said ■ the Hon. '0. J. Parr in the House of Representatives yesterday in/reply, to a question by Mr. R. P. Hudscgi (Motueka). There were about thirty nurses who would be available for appointment throughout New Zealand to attend to the teeth of the school children at the beginning of next year, and he had received to date some 70 applications from various districts. Mr. Hunter, who was in charge of the training of the nurses, was at present drafting a list of the centres, city and 1 country, to which it was proposed to send a nurse. Until that report was received he (the Minister) was unable tS say where the nurses would be stationed. With regard to the particular request of Mr. Hudson for a nurse at Murchison, he could say he knew it was a centre at which it seemed advisable that a nurse should be placed, but he could make no definite statement.

According to a, statement made by Mayor (Mr. R. A. Wright,. M.'P.) at last night's meeting of the City Council, the staff of the Corporation ia averse to joining the Local Bodies' Officers' Guild. Councillor C. H. Chapman mentioned that a circular had gone roucd the staff asking whether the members were desirous of joining the guild. He wanted to know whether the circular had lieen sanctioned by the Finance Committee. The Mayor replied in the affirmative, and stated that the council had never taken up the attitude that the staff must not join the guild. All it had done was" to say that it • did not think the staff ..should join, but that was not a binding decision. It bad ultimately been decided that the stalt should be allowed to express its opinion on the matter. "The expression 'of opinion i« tj.ipltlpcHy against joining," remarked Mr. Wright in. cojjstusign,'