LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 14, 17 July 1923, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

: Mr. Hubert L. Nathan, in, a statement sent to "The Post," referring to the report of. the sale of the business of -Messrs. W. M. Bannatyue and Co., Ltd . to Messrs. T. and W. Young, contradicts the- statement as supplied to this paper that he was not joint managing director of the vendor, company with Sir Harold beanchaliip. Tlie'points raised in the above statement were submitted by Mr. Nathan to Mr. C. P. Skerrett, lv.G., who verifies them in the following opinion:—"Under the articles of asso ciation of W. M. ..Bannatyne and Co., wnt J?arold Beauchamp and Mr. Walter I. Nathan, your father, were appointed permanent directors and joint managing directors of the company. You, on the death of your father, were, pursuant to the articles of association, appointed a permanent director jointly wrth Sir Harold Beaiichamp. In mv opimon, the effect of the articles of association v.-as that, upon the death of either Sir Harold Beauchamp or Mr \\. I. ■Nathan, the office of both as joint managing directors camo to an end, and the directors of the company were then authorised and at liberty to appoint a. managing director or directors. Upon the death of Mr. W. I. Nathan no.steps were taken to appoint a managing director, and you and Sii' Harold Beau- ■ champ continued, I understand, to act under that title. It is clear, therefore, that yon_ were a permanent director jointly with Sir Harold Beauchamp Apparently after the death of your father there was lio managing director of the company, but it is difficult to distinguish between the powers and authorities of a permanent director and a manasino- di rectos." . ° °

i ? eah"S ,} vlth the housing legislation before Parliament this session, the Prime Minister declared in the House of Representatives this morning that he would Muse to have anything to do with speculators, for whom he had no time.- The Leader of the Opposition: " How will you stop it?" The Prime Minister: I will refuse to build houses unless I am satisfied that speculators have got nothing to do with them." He did not intend to allow speculators to make money out of tlie country, or out of the people who wanted to huild houses "

■ t e/ terday adorned a grant of £30,000 for thfe new . Girls' High Scbool in Wellington. The -. grant is made to. build the first section of a £7°o 000WhlCh 'S estimated t0 c^t

Advice has been received in acclimatisation circles . in Wanganui that the * ishenes Department intends to make an immediate start with the stocking of the Wanganui- Biver with. Atlantic salmon. A quarter of a million ova. have been procured at Lake Te Anau, arid these' are to be conveyed to the hatchery on the upper reaches of the river. It' is considered the experiment should be a success, as the Wanganui River has the necessary qualification of being snow fed and no obstruction fpr the run of the silver horde to and from the sea.

In tho Police Court at Dunedin yesterday, the first case was heard under the uew regulations requiring the purchaser of opossum skins to have a statement and certificate from the vendors certifying to the number and nature of the skins and that they had been killed in a district which had ah open, season prevailing.,at;,the. time.; . Edward Keni, nelly., the buyer, was charged, and admitted his failure to comply with the regulations, it'being explained that he was not aware of them. Nominal penaltieg of 20s and,' costs and 10s with costs were imposed in respect to the charges,' of which there were three.

An increase in the basic price of tar to Is per gallon by the Pe.tohe and Hutt Lighting Board to the Petone Borough Council was. the cause of a discussion by the Petone Council last evening on the merits of tar and asphalt for streetbinding purposes. The engineer expressferl the opinion it might be fouiid move economical to use sdrne other prepared material rather than tar. Crud« tar seemed to lose its properties, arid heeded renewing each year, "while-other-tnaterials might not need renewing for five years. It is proposed to lay permanent surfaces on several of. the borough streets during the coming summer, including the continuation of Jackson street to the pipe bridge. ■

, The Petone. Borough sanitary inspector took exoeptiorj in his'- report to his council last evening' of the statement alleged to have been made by the Lower Hutt sanitary inspector that Petone had a large number of diphtheria cases. This was, he said, absolutely contrary to fact, and it ,was statements of this nature which caused, unnecessary alarm and uneasiness to parents. He had yet _to learn that- the number of cases of diphtheria in Petohe was any concern of the Hutt Borough sanitary inspector. The Petone Council decided to communicate with the Lower Hutt Council on the question. ■ The report showed that the total number of cases in the past six months was thirteen, which, in view of the large,'school population, was not large, and gave no cause for alarm. ■ ■ '. \ .......

The winds of Wellington, in the early days and to-day,.. were . referred to iii passing by Mr. Herbert Baillie in his address on. the beginnings of the port, under the auspices of the WE A the good points: of the wind and the''bad and.. m respect of' the advantages Mr. Baillie quoted from some lines written by Bishop Sehvyn away back in 1848 .'No one can speak of the healthfillness pt New Zealand till he has visited the restless breezes of Port Nicholson, where malaria is no more to be feared than on the top of Ch'imb'orazq, and where active habits of industry and enterprise are evidently favoured by the elastic tone and perpetual motion of the atmosphere. If I am not mistaken, no fog can ever linger long over Wellington, to deaden the intellectual faculties of its inhabitants. They will not always reason right, or be unanimous in opinion but there will always be activity, of thought and promptness of action in this battle■field of the north-west and south-east winds And yet so many complain about the mere dust nuisance. .

Audited accounts for Welcome Week nave yet to be completed, but sufficient returns are now to hand to show that tlio financial result will be on the right side, and that, thanks to the great success of the motor show, the generosity of the Racing Club, and the large attendance at functions in the Town Hall there will be a little to carry forward for the Carnival Week to be held towards the end of January. When the scheme was first mooted a canvass of business people was made with the object of gelting together a guarantee fund of £2000 and a sum of ,£I4OO was actually guaranteed, but as the week has turned out, the chairman of the executive, Mr. D. J. M'Gowan s has stated, no call will hi made upon guarantors. Moreover, the experience gained was a great asset and the executive hoped to provide more attractions and new ideas for tlio summer carnival, which would include Anniversary Day, 22hd January. The sale of art union tickets will be continued for some little time, as the public drawing is iiot to take place till 18th August or thereabouts) when a big jazz night will be held in the, Town' Hall. The meeting of the carnival executive .committee has been postponed until the end of the week, on account of the secretary, Mr. G. Mitchell, having contracted influenza.

Thb value of the buildings for. which permits have been issued in Petone since April amounts to £11,688, and the fees collected to £41 ss. . . •

Spurious coins have made their appearance in Hamilton. There were two florin pieces of this nature handed in at a local bank last week.

Under the new Health regulations, all persons who expose second-hand clothing for sale are required to.have same ii? spected by the- locnl health officer, and disinfected to his satisfaction. The regulation will apply to clothing disposed oi at j amble sales.

A verdict of death from heart-failure was returned by the Coroner (Mr. F. K. Hunt,'S.M.) to-day, at the inquest regarding tlie death of an elderly maii named David Dickie, who was found dead in bed at his home at Ngahauranga on Monday morning.

During shunting operations at Lyttelton yesterday seven railway trucks* having- too much way on jumped the buffers on number %,' wharf and fell into the harbour, states a Press Association message. Until they are salvaged, vessels will only be allowed to uee one side of the wharf.

The Central Bowling Club, Petorie, which leases a portion of the local recreation ground, has showji a commendable spirit in an offer to the Borough Council to beautify the stop bank at the- roar of its grounds by tlie planting of shrubs and flowers. The offer of the club was accepted by the -council last night.

An earthquake was experienced at Damievirke at 7.7 o'clock on Saturday evening- last. The direction was west to east, and the shock, which was felt by persons in movement, caused suspended articles, to sway. There was then a general shaking and quivering, which ended abruptly in a sharp' jerk. The earthquake was recorded as a local shock on both seismograph instruments at Wellington at seven and a-half' minutes past 7 on Saturday evening. 1 , .

As evidence of the cosmopolitan character of some of New Zealand's immigrants, it was stated at the annual 'meeting of the Wellington Auxiliary of the British and Foreign Bible Society last evening that Scriptures in the following languages had been circulated in New Zealand during th o last year:—Panjabi, Marathi, Gujarati, Urdu, Japanese, Cantonese, We'nli, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Maori, and Esperanto.

The Federal Government continues to dole out £5 notes to parents who care to apply, for them. In this haphazard fashion £686.905 of public moiiev was distributed during the year ended 30th June. Those who have ' studied the question of reducing the infantile rate, and of providing for the decent accommodation and adequate care of mothers, declares the "Age," find material fo<; reflection in the figures. For that amount of money, wisely spent, how much better results could be achieved? The returns for the year show that 137,----381 applications for the bonus were approved; compared, with 137,748 for the previous twelve months.

The complaint which the Otago Importers and Shippers' Association forwarded to the Railway Department retarding the -sorting of tinplate out of a recent vessel discharging at Port Chalmers was again mentioned at a meeting of the association last week; On further investigation it was found that in this instance there was no other tinplate except .for. this particular firm-in■ the-.truck showing the inequity of the charge of Is 10d per tori, which was made for sorting. A member of the ,association wrote reearding vessels discharging'their cargoes at iort Chalmers, stating ■ that it w.as almost impossible to sret the Railway Department to recognise any claims whatsoever, although in many instances they had given the ship a clean receipt for packages which showed signs of having been tampered-with (reports the Dunedin star '). It was resolved that a reply be sent stating .that the association was doniu- its utmost to see that all cargoes were landed at Dunedin wharf, but the "association required the assistance .of every importer, both great and small in the matter.

A warning that young men should not regard lightly the terms of probation fixed by the Supreme Court, was issued by Mr. E. Page, S.M., to-day, when a youth appeared before him on' a. charge of committing a breach of his order. It was explained by Mr. A. B. Sievwright, who said that he had been instructed by the accused s mother, that the youth had devoted himself co closely to his work tnat he had neglected to report. There had been no determined attempt to evade the supervision of the Probation Officer, lhe Probation Officer (Mr. T. P. Mills) said that the youth had been granted pro bation in March 1522 on a charge of stealins opium from "Victoria College. He had had a good deal of trouble in keepins him up to the mark. He had not made his restitution payments regularly, nor had he fulfilled his obligation of reporting. He had warned accused several times, but under the circumstances he would be satisfied if he were convicted and ordered to come up for sentence when called lipori. In intimating his intention to convict, the accused, and order him to come up for sentence'when called upon, the Mhjristrate said that lie did not want accused to .be under any misunderstanding as to the terms of probation imposed by the Supreme Court, and if he did not comply with them he would direct Mr. Mills to brine him before the Court again and have him sentenced.

Not_smce the winter of 1903, when 20deg. of frost were registered, has such severe, frost been experienced in this district as •we haye had over the last j™ -Mights ..(states the Lake Wakatipu on '" Tlle therm°meter has read 12 —20deg. of frost—for three consecutive nights, and in spite of the sunshine each day there has been no thaw whatever. Residents have been seriously hampered for the want of water, as in practically every household the. tale of frozen pipes and taps has been the same.. High pressure systems no longer exist as far as supplies of hot water are concerned, and many residents of the Eastern terrace have been entirely dependent. on snow for their daih- requirements of water. .Liquids.such as milk and ink are frozen, while even eggs are not immune from the ministrations of Jack Frost. A hen's ecrs which a "Mail" representative was shown last week was crocked from point to point, and the contents' were a solid lump of ice. The severe frost has taken toll of clocks in. Queens town and outlying districts. Presumably, the oil which lubricates the works has become con■srealed.'ivith the result that several "Big Bens' arid their smaller brothers no longer, tell - the - time o' day. At the fiueenstown" Post Office only one clock remains on duty. Some idea of the severity of the frosts that have been experienced in the Lake County Hospital Way be .gauged by the following report received by the Hospital Board from the matron o f the Lake County Hospital,: "We have hnd some very severe frosts, indeed, and things here are in a bad way. All the" water pines are, burst, and in some cases pieces of pipes and taps blown clean away. The ess-.engine is now frozen, and. although we have tried all moans to keep it voinj:. we are now compelled to use lamps and candles. This moniinsr .ill the heaters in both wards are burst beyond repair, although there. v;as a tire left on at nieht for safety. These heaters are cast-iron, and some have huge, pieces blown out of them. The wards are intensely cold, and it is a dreadful business trying to keep the patients warm." <»

Hawk's feet, representing 8000 birds, were received by the Auckland Acclimatisiation Society "during June, at a cost of £200. "I think som e of these felbws must breed hawks," said one member of the council, at a meeting last week.

The average weekly consumption of water in Petone during the last month was 2,545,000 gallons, being 50,000 gallons less than the average for the same period last year. The engineer reported last evening- that the supplementary water supply was now practically ready. Arrangements have been made by West Coast local body representatives lor celebrations at Groymonth on the day the Otira tunnel opens, says a Press Association, message. It has been decided to ask Sir Joseph Ward, MrG. vV .Forbes, M.P. . for Hurunui, Mr. J. O Brien, M.P. for Westland, and Mr. H. Holland, M.P. for Buller, to be present. During a discussion .-it '.lie Gl.iiFtclmrch Presbytery on Wednesday on the question of chaplains' visits to'patients in hospital, one of the ministers said that if all patients had been visited as lie liad while in hospital, there would be no need to appoint a chaplain for the work. "We ministers must be looked upon as something better than the average man, or :as particularly hard cases, said the speaker. "One day no • liiwe.v thaii seven ministers visited me m tho- hospital. Well I survived that, and when I got better—" Here (reports the Press) the speaker's further remarks were lost in the '.aur-hter ot his fellow members of the Presbytery. ' . . j

Private information is received in Duriedin to the effect that the missionary schooner Southern Cross .recently ''reported on returning f rom a cru j S e "i n the Aew Hebrides, that British traders had been 'getting even" with the French m regard to the recruiting of black labour by breaking the law, also that • the schooner s permit to visit the Island at will was thereafter withdrawn; she being allowed only to go so far and then return (states the "Star"). The mission authorities connect the two facts, and regard the limitation of the Southern Cross s movements as a hint to refrain rom reporting ouch breaches of the law. but the common belief is that the denial is merely formal and -official and not convincing.

When Walter Albert Rice was charged at the Magistrate's Court this morning with being ah idle and disorderly person he expressed the opinion that' it was pretty'hard if the police would riot let a man look for work for a fortnight after Ins arrival from Australia, at least. "I .just arrdve a fortnight- ago," he said, ''and I've been trying hard to get a j o b. if your Worship will ■ only give me a chance I'll get out of the town to-day." Two detectives called by the police did not give Price a Very good character, stating that he had been knocking about town for some weeks, cjdgiug for drinks and donig.no work. When arrested le had only one penny in his possession ilr.,E. Page, 5.M.," said he *ould give Price a chance, and would order him to come tip for sentence when called upon, provided he get work at once "How long will_ you give hie to get work?" asked Price. "You said you could get it to-day," was .the Magistrate's brief reply.

To be suddenly dispossessed of three pounds and a flask of brandy was the experience last night of a woman who occupies a room in a house in Jessie street. Returnin<? from work;she left the money and the liquor in her room, while she went, downstairs. When she visited her, room, again it appeared that a very slick -magician had been at work, for her money and liquor had disappeared. A visit to the Police Station set the machinery of the 'law in. motion, and before long the finger of suspicion was pointing; steadily, and surely at a. small man, Patrick Joseph M'Grath, who lived in a room just opposite that occupied' by the lady in question. M'Grath readily admitted his guilt, and showed the police where he had secreted the money. He was not able, however, to show where the brandy had srone. M'Grath had no explanation to. offer when he appeared before Mr. E.. Pase, S.M"., at the" Magistrate's Court to-day, and in. view 'of previous convictions for theft, he was sent to gaol for a month with hard labour.

The behaviour of the Otago University students during this year's capping carnival celebrations lias been beyond reproach (remarks the Dunedin "Star"). A large number of the students visited the Princess Theatre, and the- relationship between them and the management was most cordial. They did hot in any way mar the performance, and their presence was welcome. At the end of the first part the visitors formed upon the stage aild sang several choruses. One of the students played-the accompaniments, and tlieir items were thoroughly enjoyed. The Maori footballers, who were present, appreciated the visit of the students, and the latter, oh recognising ■ their dusky brothers, greeted them with the stirring haka that is so well known to support-1 ers of the' Otago University and the Otago Boys' High School. A hearty round of applause announced the conclusion of the haka; and the Maoris responded with an equally inspiring outburst. When the revue was in progress, George Storey, the comedian, paid his res-peats to: a striking • impersonation of himself. In one of the boxes'; stood Ins very image according to his stage make-up. Some excellent, . mimicry followed, and the-comedian, takin" it'all in good spirit, remarked : "He's hiy son." Laughter and applause expressed the audience's approval of the addition to the programme, and the" student and the. comedian later appeared together on the stage, where, a pleasing interlude was presented. The students mingled with the. revue company in the finale. On no occasion did they intrude where their'presence was not "desired, and it was a happy and highly amused audience that left the theatre at the close of the performance. Councillor A. G. Steffensen has been granted leave of absence by the Petonc Borough; Council for two months on account of illness.