LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 32, 7 February 1923, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The chairman of the Post. and Telegraph Committee (Mr. A. Mackenzie) detailed to yesterday's meeting of the Council of the Chamber of Commercethe latest negotiations in respect to the new schedule of telephone rates. After some discussion the meeting plkced on rec6rd its regret at the 1 necessity for increased rates', but generally approved of the proposals, tTußting that the time would not be far distant when the Department would be able" te reduce the proposed charges.

The' project that has"- been' outlined in Wellington for the introduction of BntrsTi capital and additional suitable population" into the Dominion was strongly commended by the Empire Trade and Development Committee in a report to the council of the' Chamber of Commerce" yesterday. Jhe committee stated that it had no hesitation in reporting decidedly in favour of the scheme". It hot only recommended the council: to. endorse ' the. idea, but expressed the opinion that the matter was' of such' vital importance to the Dominion, and the present conditions ruling in Greaft-Britain we're* so opportune for its consummation,, that the council shbiild 1 actively interest its members in fostering' in every" way it? successful accomplislttn'eri't. Mr. J. T. Martin thought it would be Hopeless to expect English capitalists to' invest laVge sums in New Zealand so'long as company income taxes sio large*. The report was adopted after brief discussion.

■ The recent-seamen's: trouble is the subject of-some remarks in the latest issue of tha New Zealand Employers' Federation "Industrial 1 Bulletin." "The whole trouble'," the m.aga'zine states, "could have been avoided if common-sense opinion in the union had asserted itself. ; It, began in a stupid sort of way. Apparently some elements in the union thought the owners could be stampeded by a bit of bluffing,. The bluff was put up and promptly called. Having started Something/ whoever was responsible for tfte' bluff- suddenly lost control of the situation, and the thing went on by its own momentum. The union was now prepared to accept the new award. Was there nobody in the union with sufficient intellect to have foreseen such a r'esiilt 1 arid to emphasise the danger? That was_ the thing that' aimazed the public, winch, .from. the. very first, was able, to visualise 7 the backfire of the bluff."

A statement was made by the' chairman, of the Wellington Rugby Union (Mr. J. Prende'ville) at last night's meeting of the management committee that "the aiiSricial" results of last season's 1 operators were; as far as could' be judged, very" sa&sfactdvy. The preliminary bal-ance-sheet indicated that the profit would tie about £700:

'Gun practice will take; place on Friday and Saturday from Fort Dorset and Fort Ballance, where the members of the- 15th Battery, New Zealand Garrison Artillery, aTe encamped for a week's training. The. shoot will be a big one, and the battery is meanwhile working hard in preparation, practising the different duties assiduously. ■ The targets will be towed as usual- by "the Ja'riie Sed.don, and the guris used will be! twb ■ sir-inch (100 pounders). The firing will take place at ranges of between 10,000 and 11,000 yards.

An accident in connection with which timely action averted. serious consequences occurred on the' paddle-steamer Wh~EiEat"ere at i&cMand oii Sunday evening. The steamer had-, been. on-.,an excursion to Katoau Island, and as: she was about- to berth" at the Norffiern Company's wharf, ,-i winch was set in motion for .mooring operations. The right-hand drum, which was not required to haul the. rope 1, caught the" overcoat of a little girl 1 sifting near 1 by,' arid as it whirled round, threatened to pull" Her oh to the machindrj\ The girl. cried 1 out and' a man'.s timely command to stop tte. winch averted injury to .the child. The, coat was badly cut by the revolving drum.

Tli'e bbiste'rbus wiiid which swept Palm'erston' North on Friday accounted for sbin's mildly thrilling incidents. A lady, with a baby in' her'laf), was" driving & horse and gig' along Fitzherbe'rt streefi when the animal stopped and refused, to move -any further. Efforts were made to induce the horse to proceed, and several minutes- elapsed, dimns; which it at-t-emnted^ to swine round with its back to the wind, before it could be induced to face" tfie'.full force' of the gale". A further incident, in Which sev&ral pedestrians' .participated, occurred At the corner of . Broad' street t and the Square^ states the" "Manawatu Standard." .A boy, carrying an office book, was riding a bicycle. On turning round into Broad street the force of the wind carried the book out of his .hand.. The dismay of the boy was great, for a num.ber of bank notes went scurrying along the street before the wind. They had evidehtly been' .placed between the leaves .of the book for safety';' and it looked as thoilKh' sortie qi . the, nionev would be lost. ; Passers-by joined in the ebase and gathered .in the elusive notes, which were restored to.the boy.

The attack made by the Journal of the American Medical Association upon M. Ooiie and his auto-suggesffon healing methods calls forth a protest from!' a correspondent, "Ilex," who writes to "The Post" protesting agaJiist the ass'oiia'tion's iin'pHc'afibn' th'&i th'.e medical proj fesiion lias a monopoly' of the means of curing disease. "Is man," writes the corregpoMdent., "ft), .cbncjuSr space, fly iii the air Jjke a bird, discover how to .do things that a century ago would have been.thought beyond.the bounds.of wildest, possibility, and yet tike the aSmS old pills' and ch'tfiflical mixtures in the elxperim'em'al manner that he does' today? No, the ability to cure .disease must give' Way in tHe course of time 1 to the' ability to keep oneself always in ijfeaitn. - . . .M. Cou'eis aitempting to the ._. world, something for c nothing, snd the licensed purveyors of that something, who attempt to claim a monopoly, ai'e snarling with, b'itfcef invective. The healing powers of the spirit ■ are to-day and will ever. remain niore sure, and more lasting than the surgeon's knife, the bottled' 'dope and the combined brains of- every nießicai association the world has ever seen."

An u'riusiial rush, which ai. one 1 stag© lbolced as though it fiiigh't devitop' into a riotj,' occurred eafly this morning before the doors were opened at the commencement pf Messrs. Ja-mes Smith's sale. J Litending shoppers had begun to assemble as early as 6.30 a.m., and at ft quarter to 9 it was estimated that tfee crowd ndntb'ferfed Well ov<Sr a th6risaild, the bSrgain-hun'ters being clo'seiy fie'rded. togettei-, arid fofinirig a loh'g ii-regutar, <Jue'le- . JjQst tjefoje 9 o'clock,'iHe advertised tiriie for the openl--ing of the" dooTs; the pressure from the year of the crowd became so great that the shoppers who were packed a.gainst the entrance were forced, through. the doorsj.which gave way. The glass plates were srriastied, 1 and one \Vomati received injuries which necessitated her removal for medical itttentioh. The crowd su'rg^ efl iiiio the .sh6p, eight or nine atte'ildants whw tiki bfeeta told, off to regulate tlie (faffib being knocked aside life^i mhepins.. In the iusli several women were knocked" down, and trampled ripon, but fortunately without siiffeHrig" serious injury. WKeii.the cfowd had Been distributed aiiQ order w,as restored, the doors were closed, and th'ojfe waiting gute"icle , were admitted at intervals. Barricades li:id to be erected at various points inside tha shoo.

.No bill was returned by the Grand Jury at the Supreme Court yesterday in the case' of Edith Mary Armstrong, against whom there was a charge of manslaughter. . •

Suggestions _ were made in a letter from the Civic League read at yesterday's meeting of the council of the Chamber .of Commerce that the Chamber should co-operate in the selection of candidates for the bienniaj municipal elections. The council decided to take no action.

"In the old days we used to get three moderate meals and Stive to church on Sunday in the same old cart .tliat took the milk away and the manure round the farm," remarked a farmer at Wanganiii. the other day. "To-day,-nearly everybody, has a motor-car, but if the slump" had lasted a Bit. longer they would all have been back to" the old cart of forty years ago "

The total school membership of the Wellington: bralnch of the Navy League for 1922 was- 3852: Wellington College had the largest number of members' with 520: OtKer local schools . were—lslaM Bay 310, Terrace Sch'qol 237,' Girls' College 207, Mount' Cook: (boys) 200,.. Scots Collegs. 176, Newtown 168, Lyall BSy 152, Wellesley College 108, Te Ato 76, Eawri' 72, Petoiel West 72, Cnifton House .62, Marsden 57, Mount G66R (girls) 52, EaiAboiirrie 40, Miramar South 38; Psforfe Main 31, Clyde Quay 31, Brooklyn Eohsb"24", Keftror Normal-22; Worser Bay 15, Upper Hutt 10, St. Ma'rTc's B.

Strong arguments in support of bud selection wereSgivsa by Mi. James Bbyd in the course of his remarks at the meeting of the Canterbury Fruitgrowers', .Association on Saturday, night. Mr. Boyd said that, in California, no nurseryman would offer for sale any line of trees unless it Had' a pedigree behind it. Bud wood propagated from specially selected bees lad revolutionised the citrus fruit businera, and ,citr.is orchards" that' had been unprofitable had been made payable propositions f.iinply through scientific bud selection, work. The necessity for bud selection had been proved. to be as great in respect of stone and pip fruit. Referring to what has been done in the_ Roxburgh district in the matter of bud' selection, Mr. Boyd' said that he was glad that New Zealand was waking up, and was taking definite action in this important matter.

"It has long been recognised", that our present high taxation is hampering the expansion and prosperity of the Dominion, and it is obvious that the only way in which this burden can be relieved" is to reduce Government expenditure, which has grown out of all reason," says the annual report of the Welfare League. "It is to be hoped that the new Parliament will get to work in a practical and; energetic manner to cope with the whole problem. We venture to emphasise that no matter how flourishing the country is, the evil of wasteful public expenditure 1 is jtfst as great. It is no excuse for high taxation to say 'the country can afiord it,' so long as the' revenue' thus raised is wastefully spent. We mention this point because we regret to say that we have seen more than one newspaper say that the question of taxation will not be such a burning one if times improve. "Unnecessary taxation is always unsound."

The Hon. George Fowlds, of Auckland, the,special representative in New Zealand of Rotary International, besides attending, the. meetings of the University Senate at Dunediri, found time to interest" a' number' of the' city's leading citizens in the ideas and principles of Rotary—the result being that in response to a circular letter a most representative gathering af business, men' .met in the 'Chamber of Commerce last Wednesday afternoon Sir George Fenwick occupied the chair. It was unanimously decided to form a Rotary Club in Dune'din. The following officers and directors were appointed for 1923 :—President, Sir George Fen wick; vice-president, Mr. Sr Soiomonr KvO.; honv secretary, Mr. M. W. , t Johnisoi; treasurer, Mr.. Peter Barr; directors, Messrs. Thomas Somervjlle, James Brown, j\ M. Shortt, and E. H. Lough. .

The experiences of a railway pa«sengeT securing a" sleeping berffii at Auckland on the Main Trunk train were.told by him to a "New Zealand Herald" representative. He stated that on Thursday he applied at the booking office for a 1 berth on Friday evening's train. He was told that no berth was then available, but was invited to call again. On going back on Friday he was definitely informed that no berth was obtainable for that evening. Making an inquiry regarding^ Sunday's express' he was told that a berth" on that train could not be guaranteed. Again he was invited to. call again on Saturday morning. On calling at 8.30 a.m. on Saturday he states that he found that he was still too early to pet "fixed up." . A couple of Hours later he made a further call, and on this occasion a. berth.was allotted to him. "Four calls to .get a sleeper ticket,'' said the werir'y traveller. "There is no need to make further comment." He added that" he'was'treated with the greatest civility by the clerk? on each occasion.

"Is it necessary iot a butcher to'wrap up every string of sausages and each pound of steak, or may.he just cast a few joints in the basket and leave it to the cave of the delivery lad?" That is a problem which will be thougllb out fot a" day or tWo by Mr. Wyverti Wilsbn, S.M., of Ohristchurch, states 4 <Solsres^orident. The problem was b'rOugW aboUt in tKis 1 wajy: The 1 Inspector of Public Health (Richard ..James M'Kenziej proceeded against G. F. Eobinson for" unlawfully" ~seiidiiig for'catrritrge" for sale a portion of a; dressed carcass of an animal ifom which the natural covering had been remoyecf ■ without. haying it enclosed in d. clean fe'cept&cle' or effvet, SO' that it' Would- be maintained in a clean and wholesome condition. The informant said that on 4th December he 1 sa'^ an' enSployee of defend-Snt' with some joints of meat in a basket without any covering over them. . The Magistrate remarked that while he appreciated the fact that meat delivered by basket was .open to the dust, he 1 did not think the regulation' was intended to cover snob, deliveries, but' rather tht carriage... of .carcasses fr'oih',. say.,, the abattoirs to the butchers before it was sold to the public. He* would therefofi reserve^ his decision.

"I feet quite certain that at some future day wer irnirft' hstie a weatherreporting station on Sunday Island (Keririadecs) f because it lie's in the palth of many tropical storms that affect our wlFStfieF, ais3 particularly^ 6onc?fn the Hawkes Bay district," writes the Director of the, Dominion Meteorological Office (Mr. D. C. Bates) in an article published in the last issue of the "Jbttrnal of Scienfce aiid Technology.". "There are," he aade, "clfear proof* of this in the records of the' expedition of 1908." Mi-. Bate's subnidfe weather comparisons at the date mentfdned in" su'ppprt of his statement,- aiid. continues :— "The relatiori, therefore, between the Isla'ncf weaflief aiid that' of fUTe D'omiiiion is one .that gives New Zealand in'dica: tio'ns of special value for ocean forecast, as well as to the? island- itself. It ia to b_e_remembered. that the Meteorological Office of this Dominion broadcasts ocean vte&thkr forecasts froitt Awaritiij in tfie extreme'north of New Zealand; dhd we need information from the .seas. as a basis for .these forecasts.". It is mentioned^ that although the island is fertile in parts and the climate genial, no one has .permaneittly_settled on Sitfiday Islaiitf since the Belf family left there in 1914.

Maize crops throughout the Bay of Plenty district are making great fieadlway, states a Tauranga correspondent. la some paddocks the average height of stalks is 10ft, and .they are carrying two and even three cobs. Some cobs mear sure 20iii long.- The indications are for a record yield. Lucerne crops have r<P turned a prolific yield this season. Sines the spring four crops have been harvested off. some staids. Lucerne does very well in this district and every year sees it coming into more favour with, dairymen. Turnip arid swede crops are looking exceptionally well. All oats and haycrops have been' harvested- and the bulk stacked in g6od condition. Grass is abundant everywhere arid it is anticipated' that farmers throughout' the 'whole district will have a very good season.

Preparations" are" being made" for tK3 renewal of the tram' tra'cktf in Willis street. When this work .is finished the whole of the lines between Kent terrace a"nd the railway station will have beeu reiiewea. The gangs' are at; present working on the renewal of the tracks at tha junction of Courtetfay place and Kent ■ te-fra'ce!.

Three- small boys" had' an exciting" experience in the bay last evening. They were playing oh a punt off Pipitea Wharf when the craft broke adrift in the heavy north-westerly.. Pieces of wood used' as'paddles proved ineffective, .and one lad dived over with a rope and attempted to tow the punt back. Constable Ispister a.nd y several Harbour Board ..employees went out in a boatj and" towed the punt back to safety. None of the 1 lads was any the worse, except that the on© who dived in waß somewhat chilled.

A' total of thir'ty-lhreb accidents occurred in connection- with the Christ church tramways during the month of December, reports the "Press." Six of these were a result of people alighting from moving cars, and twenty^orie weW due to collisions with motor-cars and other vehicles. The remaining six accidents were due to \arious other causes^ The-ch-airman (Mr. D. Sykes), at Moatday's meeting o? the Tramway Board, referred to" the large number of collisions, and said that many of them were due to reckless driving on the part of motorists.

"Iff yo-u'r isstie of last Saturday there is a report of the inquest held on the death of the late Mr. Lodge, who met his death at Day's Bay by diving from, the wfi'arT af .low tide," wrife's'Mr. JT B. Finlay, secretary of St. John Ambulance Association. "Nurse Coogan, who rendered aid, gave evidence and expressed regret that in such a place as Day's Bay there was no first-aid outfit. I think' the public should know thai; there is a St. John Ambulance 1 Association first-did outfit in the charge of the lessee (Mr. Timmins) of the pavilion; who has bqth knowledge and much interest in first-aid work. Mr. Timrnins supplied Nurse Coogan with ail requisites asked for, which, in this sad cane, were beyond the regular outfit, out of hi 3 own household supplies."

A mean theft was described by SeniorDetective Lewis at the Magistrate's Court to-day, when a young man named Lyall Gordon White, alias Frank James Holmes, appeared before Mr. E. ±*age, S.M., on a charge of stealing £3 18s in' money, the property of the Salvation Army. The Senior-Detective explained that on 33rd January White visited the Salvation Army Home in Buckle atreet and asked for some breakfast. Hewas given a meal, and returned in the even-' irig with a request for a bed. While the" officer was away making the necessary arrangements, White stole the money and disappeared. Mr. P. L«vi pointed out that the relatives of the young man wer« of the opinion that drink was the root of the trouble. The Magistrate ordered that White be detained for reformative purposes for a period not exoeedinjj twelve months.

The charge of threepence made by the* Postal Department for clearing dutiable parcels was the subject of a brief discussion at yesterday's meeting of the Chamber of Commerce. Afber thi charge had been criticised by two c* three speakers, the Chief Postmaster (Mr. H. D. Grocott) said that the change was made in order to recoup tb* extra expenses involved in the preparation of dutiable parcels for Customs ex*! animation. The Department considered the charge was justifiable in. view of the service rendered Mr. A. Mackenzie referred to "these irritating little increases that get the back of the coin-' mefcial community up." Everything could not be taken lying down. Other members ■ expressed appreciation of the facilities offered by the Postal Department, arid the matter dropped when the chairman remarked' that the Chamber' should not take" too much notice of small charges made by the Department with the object of recouping itself.

"A Very da-ngerbus movement has been on foot to induce the Public' servants ift certain Departments to ally themselves to an avowedly revolutionary organisation —the Alliance of Labour —and a special attack wag' made on the P. and T. Officers' Association.," states the executive of the Weilfare Laague in its afmual report. "We need not enlarge on the gravity of this- attempt to Wing" our public utilities under the control of sin organisation whose declared aim is to' introduce Soviet We into this count!*' and • secure' the 1- control, of ril public %r I private activities by the workers tfrj§ operate them. ApaTt from this, how-, ever," the' league' maintains tli'fft thi 'PtibJ lie Service should 1 not be allowed to link itself up with any brganisation formed for, sectional-purposes-; it should- be entirely free to carry on the public utilities ' without risk of becomin .'. involved in purely sectional disputes, in the case of the Post and Tejegraph Association a ballot de'cla'rec? for the alliance, and the league worked up such public opposition to the proposal that it has remained in and ( apnear? .to Have' been dropped. We feel it our duty, however, to, warn our' members that it may revive again, in which case it must be fouefht vigorously, and 'it iS to be hoped that tEe Government will legislate in the' direction of making 6uchj alliance impossible."