LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 111, 11 May 1923, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

There have been heavy floods in the Orongorongo Biver—the heaviest remembered by those who know the locality— during the recent, heavy rains, and, as might have been expected, the tunnelling work in connection with the water 'supply has been interrupted. Mr. R; Semple, leader of the co-operative workers, stated this morning that the work stopped on Wednesday, owing to the flood having interfered with the weir, so that the power supply was cut off.l Nothinp can be done till the river goes down, but, if it remains fine, a start should be made again on* Monday or Tuesday. In the meantime the men have come to their homes in Wellington. Work at.the Wainui end of the tunnel has not been interrupted.

Commenting favourably on the New Zealand loan terms, an authority in Dunedin stated that history was repeating itself, for, .after all big wars money became cheap ior many years. B»iei vine to high overdraft charges by banlca, this informant stated that the cheapening of money for general purposes would force the banks to reduce these, and news of the Joyi would ease money throughout the Dominions.

The total population of the Dominion of New Zealand and mandated territory on 31st March last is estimated by the Government Statistician at 1,376,840. The population of New Zealand proper (exclusive of Maoris) is given as 1,271,750, while the number of Maoris is set down as 53,460.

It is well known among anglers that the moki. is one of the hardest fish in New Zealand waters to catch upon a line, remarks the "New Zealand Herald. 1' Recently at Pukerua several large moki were seen swimming in the channels between the rocks, and a lady, in simple guilelessness, attempted to catch one of. these largo fish by njeans of a stout line, to which she attached a bent hairpin baited with the contents of a sausage roll. Surely optimism has no wider bounds than this.

Warm appreciation of the Mayor's consent to tender members of the New Zealand Soccer team to tour Australia a civic farewell prior to their going on board the Marama on Friday next was expressed at the meeting of the N.Z.J.A. last evening. The chairman remarked that civic welcomes had been given touring teams many times, previously, and were rightly looked upon by both visitors .and New Zealand players and officials as an honour and a compliment, but, as far as his memory carried him, a civic farewell was something rather new.

Cabinet yesterday agreed to a grant for the purchase of a site for a new echdol at Lyall Bay. In making the announcement last evening, the Minister of Education, the Hon. C. J. Parr, said: "At present, there is overcrowding at the Lyall By School, and a hall is being rented by the Education Department for the overflow attendance. A proposal has been made by the Education Board to the Government as to the purchase of a new site in a suitable locality and the erection of a new school to accommodate about 400 children. The initial grant for the purchase of the site has been authorised, . and the Education Board can now take the matter up."

The quarterly meeting oi the Public Service Superannuation Board was held at the'board room, Wellington, yesterday, Mr. H. A. Huggins presiding. Thirty-six contributors retired under section 35 of the Act by reason of age or length of service were granted allowances .of a total of £7479 per annum, and seven contributors retired as medically unfit were granted allowances totalling £492 per annum. The board re fused to grant an allowance in one case, and in two cases consideration was postponed. Two contributors retired from the Police Force as medically unfit by reason of injuries received whilst on duty were granted additional allowances under section 29 of the Amendment Act of. 1909. Seventeen widows and .sixteen children were granted the statutory allowances amounting to £514 per annum. In consequence of retirements under section 35 of the Act, accrued compensation to the amount of £6926 became a liability of the Superannuation Fund, and a corresponding relief to the Consolidated Fund.

"Should a married man wear a wedding ring?" This question exercised the minds of delegates at the Retail Jewellers' Conference in Sydney recently. Although it created more .or legs humour, the _ fact was not overlooked that the institution of such a custom- would benefit trade. It was agreed that ladies 'would not treat the matter as a joke. It was an ancient custom that should be revived. "No man," said one speaker, "could refuse the gift of a ring from his bride. Besides, it would have a good moral effect." Another delegate declared that the motion did not' go far enough. "If a poor married man has to wear a ring on his left hand, why should not a single man wear one on his right hand, and show that he is still on the market? Why should the married man bo penalised?"

"Next- time it is the turn of Christchurch to have the industrial exhibition, it will be necessary t° erect a special building," said Mr. W. J. Jenkin, at a meeting of the committee members of the Canterbury Industrial Association. The barracks, which had been used for the exhibition in December of last year, would be altogether too small. ,It was absolutely necessary for the manufacturers to keep before the public constantly the merits of New Zea-land-made productions, and exhibitions and industries weeks would help materially in that endeavour, and should therefore be encouraged,' reports the "Sun." The Canterbury Association Kad protested to the Government against the lifting of the embargo on the importation of German-made goods, and had received an assurance that the interests of the New Zealand manufacturers would be safeguarded in the framing of the regulations.

The offence of printing a circular without having on it his name and address was pleaded guilty to by Walter John Carman, printer, at the Magistrate's Court this morning. Defendant issued a circular whitih was a notice calling a meeting of Mr. R. A. Wright's supporters to hear him address them m furtherance of his campaign for the Mayoralty. Mr. H. H. Cornish, tor defendant, said the case was more technical than anything. The standing instructions were to imprint the firm's name on all printed matter. In the rush of. work this was overlooked. The circular was certainly not of the character against which the legislation was directed. Mr. Page, S.M., said th« case was certainly one of oversight. The Act was mandatory, and the minimum fine was fixed at £5. This was a heavy fine for the case, but he had no alternative. He could not reconimsud the Department to upaefc the Statute by remitting Ui« fiafc

"There are more graves of missionaries and Christian leader*, for the size of the country and the number of missionaries, in Korea than in an» other country in the world," stated Commissioner Hoggard during a, leoture at Dunedin.

Another serious apcident occurred on the Wellington wharves yesterday. Norman Muir, fifth engineer of the overseas steamer Hurunui, when coming ashore, slipped on the gangway and fell a distance of fifteen feet. The Hospital reported to-day that his condition had improved. He suffered sever© injuries to the head. ' v

"There is hardly a phase of modern life into which the influence of advertising has not entered." remarked Mr. W. Appleton in an.address to the V.M.C.A. Luncheon Club yesterday. "Automobile manufacturers probajjly "have done more to secure good roads;for the farmer than have the combined commissioners throughout the land."

In the Magistrate's Court at Timarii yeeteiday fines and costs amounting to £147 Os lOd were inflicted by Mr. E. D. .Mosley, S.M., in a oase in which James Lewis Baxter, hotelkeeper, pleaded guilty to charges of failing to furnish an income tax return and on' three charges of furnishing false retwns,

The Victoria University College graduates for the year' were entertained at luncheon yesterday. There was a large attendance, including a number of the professorial staff. Mr. H. F. O'Leary proposed the toast "Victoria College," which was responded to by the chair-' man of the College Council, Mr. P. Levi. The toast of "The Graduates of the Year" was proposed by Mr. A. Fair, and responded to by Mr. H. M'Cormick.

"It pays to advertisel' is an old adage that has lost none of its truth with the passing of time. In an address on advertising yesterday, Mr. W. Appleton stated that it,, was a force for the wider and quicker dissemination of information. Advertising also tended to male* all customers into connoisseurs. It had been a great free correspondence school in merchandising. People without taste had been educated into taste by advertising , campaigns in music, furniture, wall coverings, architecture, clothes, and an endless number of things.

Eleven luncheons were held by th» New Zealand Club last year, and the total number of members on the club's list at the close of the year, exclusive of honorary members ana those absent from New Zealand, was 309. A further eleven members were elected on Ist May, 1923. The financial statement shows a credit balance of £52 7s. The guests entertained were:—Sir John Sal-' niond, K.C., Mr. D. F. Wilber, Right Hon. S. Sastri, Major E. A. Belcher, Dr. L. Lincoln Witt, tommissionei Booth-Tucker, Mr. E. W. Dalton, Mr. Allan Wilkie, Hon< Sir Francis Bell, K.C., Professor G. H. Knibbs, Captain A. E. W. Thorn**, and Mr. N. Elmilie, His Majesty's Trado Commissioner

In Korea a boy may be 40 years old atid a man a quarter of that age. This was one of the peculiarities of the Korean customs mentioned by Commissioner Hoggard in the course of his lecture at Dunedin, reports the "Otago Daily Times." ( He explained that an unmarried male wore his hair hanging down his baclc until he got marriedwhen it "wag "bobbed," and kept to gether on the top of his head with a silver pin. A man with his ha> worn long was addressed as a boy, no matter what his age, and the youngest boy who had taken unto himself a wife was addressed with the fullest respect.

That the demand for land is still unsatisfied, so long as the price is right, was demonstrated beyond doubt on Wednesday afternoon, states the "Manawatu Daily Times," when the wellknown. M'Kelvie Flock Houae Estate, o f 3300 acres, was offered at public auction. Tlie Town Hall, Bulls, was crowded, between 600 and 700 persons being present from all parts of the North Island. The property had been in the M'Kelvie family for seventy years, and was well and favourably known. It had been subdivided in 34 sections, ranging m area from 16 to 461 acres, and all except eight sections were sold at prices ranging from £8 to £63 5s per acre, the sale realising just on £60,000.

Arrangements are being made by Defence General Headquarters for judging the efficiency of senior cadet units in order to decide the holder of the Campbell Statuette. This handsome silver trophy has been donated by Colonel G. F. C. Campbell with a view to securing improvement in the operations of cadet units outside the secondary, schools, the test to include drill, musketry, and physical recreational training. The Government cannot see its way to agree to the centralisation of the units, which are stationed at Auckland, Wellington, and Nelson, as the expense would probably amount to between £500 and £700, but a board of three headquarters officers is to visit the three districts to judge the efficiency of the cadets, and dates are now being arranged. It is hoped that parents and employers will do their best to enable the boys to parade ac required. The statuette will be held by the winning unit for one year.

"Preparations for £h» first jubilee of Canterbury College are now almost complete," states the April issue of the college "Review." ''Everyone will grant that the jubilee celebrations should be conducted on a scale worthy of the fifty years of gradual progress and remarkable achievement which now form the history of the college From the days when lectures in Arta were delivered in the Public Library aiid the lectures in Science in a. small Oddfellows' Hall in Lichfiald street, to the present days of an imposing block of buildings with finely equipped laboratories and large class rooms, there is a great span <)f progress which only the earliest students can fully appreciate. As reference to the Jubilee History will show, progress has been steady. The every-day incitdents of college life have in the light of history gone to make a wonderful record which has won for Canterbury College a. worthy place among universities. To-day the college is . flourishing as it has not done before—a fact which cannot fail to strike the jubilee visitor who is a graduate of the C.U.C."

With dramatic suddenness eighty police constables, under the supervision of the chief of the traffic branch, made a of Melbourne traffic on 24th April, at 7.45 a.m. Motorists and moßr. cyclists had not been subjected to the street inquisition for about two years, says the "Age," and consequently they were unprepared for the morning's happening. Seven of the principal entrances leading to the city were blocked, namely, Queen's bridge, Prince* bridge, Wellington parade and Spring street, Nicholson and Victbria- streets, Lygon and Victoria streets, Madeline and Victoria streets, and Elizabeth, andl Victoria streets. Motorists and cyclists, with as little ceremony aB possible, were peremptorily commanded to produce their licenses, and in the majority of cases they did so with good-will. Those who could not produce a license had their names taken, and were ordered to report with a, license, provided they had one, at the traffic office within seven days. If they do not a prosecution will follow. The traffic inspector stated after the inspection that the raid had gone off without a hitch, and very few motorists had escaped the police net. There would always be a few who would escape detection, but the results -had exceeded their expectations. Alto, gsther 3000 persons had been hailed durins the raid by the jjolice.

Formal recognition of the appointment of Mr. Li Kwang Hing as Consul for the Republic of China at Wellington is contained in last night's " Gazette."

Swansea, the big industrial town in Wales, haß just' terminated a bieau war.' The price was reduced from. 8d per four-pound loaf delivered; but the bakers conferred, and the price was raised to B£d, or id under the general price 'in England" and Waies of 9d for two 21b loaves.

The trial of Peter M'Pherson, a tailor at Kilbirnie, on a charge of receiving a quantity of serge and tweed, knowing the same to have been dishonestly obtained, was concluded at the Supreme Court yesterday afternoon. After a retirement of two hours, the jury, of which Mr. Andrew Hunter, was the foreman, returned with a verdict of not guilty, and the prisoner, for whom Mr. H. F., O'Leary appeared, was discharged.

The Auckland Co-operative Egg Society has ruceived from Messrs. A. J. Mills and. Co.. London, agents, a report ■ on a. shipment of eons pulp to London. The writers say that the quality cave satisfaction, and some clients thought it better than Chinese pulp, which holds tli« trade there. Messrs. Mills and- Co. ask if the society is able to contract for delivery from September to January. The Ferguson-M'Arthur incident of the Watereide-Thwtle Soccer match on the Basin Reserve last year has at last been settled up. Some little time ago Ferguson and his club (Waterside) anproached the Wellington Football 1 Association, with a request that Ferguson's suspension, until the end of the present playing season, should be lifted, the chief reasons given being that the sentence was unduly harsh and that Ferguson had struck M'Arthur under very great provocation. The Wellington Association recommended that the suspension should be removed as from the end of June, and the matter came before the New Zealand. Association last evening. Mr. H. Graves remarked that he had been the mover of the resolution that Ferguson's suspension should hold till the end of 1923, but at that time he had no idea of the amount of publicity that ■would be given the case to the consequent considerable discomfiture of Ferguson. His offence had been a very serious one, and h# «till considered that the W.F.A. had not acted too harshly in dealing with the player as it did. but, in view of the .wide publicity given the caße. he thought that the suspension should be lifted. •Mr. H. Yeoman seconded the proposal made by Mr. Graves, and several speaker* expxeased thoir agreement■.with the mover and seconder. The suspension will b« lifted as from Ist July.

Some interesting details of the, ancient Jains, an Indian sect occupying the village at Mount Abu, in Agra and Oudh, were supplied by a recent visitor to India to a "Thjiaru Post" reporter this week. -These singular peopls have a dread of killing or eating any creature which lives or has lived. Strict adherence to this policy has caused them not to enter into trades which deal with, the fur, »kin, or other product of breathing creatures, and has even led to their giving up agriculture because, of their 'fear that the plough or spade will endanger the lives of worms. Skin irritants, such as fleas, are not destroyed, but are handled- with great consideration, and members of the sect, with quite human zeal for self-preservation, carefully place them on "-inanimate things, where they can continue their campaigns without annoyance to nersons. No clothing which contains leather is worn by the sect, as the cow and pig are considered sacred, and eggs will not be eaten because of the dormant life within them. The Jains ars mostly engaged in money-lending, and are reputed to-be very wealthy.

Complaint ,Is made by "Registered Plumber," of Eastbourne, in a lettor U>

"Tha Post," thai, in certain places, such as Day's Bay aud Eastbourne, which have been gazetted as districts in which, sanitary plumbing is to be done by plumbers registered under the Plumbers Registration Act, 1912, a large amount of work is allowed to be done by those who are not so registered. He "quotes thg definition, given in the Act, of sanitary plumbing:—(l) The fixing, repairing, or disconnecting of any bath, sink, washtub, water-closet, or" other sanitary fitting, or appliance, or of any fittings or accessories connected therewith, but not the fixing, repairing, or disconnecting a gas or electrical water-heater: (M) the fixing, repairing, removing, or disconnecting of. any trap, waste, or soil pipe, ventilation pipe, or shaft, or overflow pipe connected with or accessory to any sanitary fitting or appliance, or drain, or sewer; (3) the fixing, repairing, removing, or disconnecting of any water supply pipes to any sanitary fitting or appliance. The Act also provides for the infliction of substantial penalties where sanitary plumbing is carried out in breach of the Act. The writer, in emphasising his protest, says : "Surely there is a grave menace to public health involved, to say nothing of the injustice suffered by duly registered plumbers, who, in order to enjoy the protection allegedly provided by the Plumbers Registration Act, are compelled to pay an annual license fee."

The institution of the Rev. H. E. K. Pry, as vicar of St. Mark's, Wellington, will takfe place on 3rd June. The new vicar is expected' to arrive in Wellington by the lonic on 27th May.