LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 147, 23 June 1924, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

To-day is the thirtieth anniversary of the birth of the Prince of Wales. Four years have elapsed since the Prince's memorable visit to New Zealand. His Pvoyal Highness arrived in Wellington on the night of sth May, 1920.

"There is a lot in the air about a dissolution," remarked Sir John Luke, M.P., when responding to the toast of "Parliament" at a social evening of th& Karori Rifle Club on Saturday evening, "but God help this country *if we are going to break Parliament up and get more parties than \v e have at the present time. It is one of the saddest things to see a. community setting town against country." "There will be-no dissolution ; you can make your minds quite easy about that," said Mr. R. A. Wright. M.P., at a later stage. "This Parliament is soing to see its way through. In my judgment it is just as well that an election should not take place till the due time. If an election takes place, there would be very little change." A married man, twenty-six years of age, Percy Reginald Sutherland, eraployed as a clerk in the Post and Telegraph Stores, was arrested by Detective Jarrold on Saturday on a charge of forging a post and telegraph voucher for the sum of £20 19s 4d, on behalf of Johnston and Co., of Wellington. He will appear before the Court on Wednesday.

"A Mother of Five" -writes to "The Post": —"I am very glad that somebody has taken up the cause for mothers with push-chairs. Ido not wish to take up too much room in the paper, but I think that the members of any local body which puts such penalities on mothers of families should be called to account. I live half-way to Karori, and have a baby a few months old and another under three years. "Will the Mayor or Tramway Committee please explain how I can do any shopping in town if I am stopped from taking a pram on the tramcars? The Government has provided assistance for bringing out immigrants from England, so why cannot the authorities provide assistance for bringing my two immigrants in from Karori?"

Speaking at Stratford on Friday, the Postmaster-General (tho Hon. j. G. Coates) stated that the surplus of £58,050 earned by the Post Office during the last financial year was the second largest in the history of tho Department. Allowing for the expenditure of £450,000 for wireless and other improvements to the service,-the Department had, said the Minister, closed its accounts for the year with a surplus of over half a million,' despite the reduction in postage and telegraph charges. Although there had been an increase in some directions in the cost of telephone connections, the year was a record one for the number of applications, added Mr. Coates. There were 11,135 new connections during the year —an increase of 47 per cent. Great Britain now agreed that the automatic telephone was the best. The reduction in postage rates was £300,000, and the reduction in overhead expenses £200,000.

For several years there lias been talk of linking up the North and South Islands by telephonic communication, and apparently something definite is now being done. In amplification of the message from Stratford on the subject, published on Saturday, the Postmaster-Gen-eral (the Hon. J. G. Coates) announces that a cable to provide thr.ee telephone and four telegraph channels is to be laid across Cook's Straits'. Mr. Coates adds that it has been his and the Department's ambition that persons in any part of the Dominion may get in touch with their friends or business interests in any other part. The cable to be laid will be the modern four-core continuously loaded type. The latest type of thermionic valve repeaters will be utilised, which will enable people in North Auckland to hear with great "distinctness a ; conversation by telephone from the ■Bluff.

325« "Us sfe^s; Ihursday by the council of the Auckland" Chamber of Commerce. The tnf fie manager stated that a cheap rate had been granted for the carriage of New Zealand fruit, in order to "encourage and develop a local industry This concession had been extended to cover the Cook Islands, which were a dependency of tho Dominion. These circumstances did not. however, apply in connection with Fiji or other Island r^-" al} d the view that there was a differentiation against Fiji fruit was quite erroneous (reports the "New Zealand Herald"). If there were a levelling of the_ rates it would have to be in the direction of depriving new fruit of the benefit of the cheap rate, and not be in he_ direction of reducing tho rate on I'iji fruit.

The E.M.S. Tahiti, which arrived at Wellington this morning from Sydney, brought 66 Chinese. Fifteen of the celestials arc for New Zealand, and the remaining 51 sail with tho Tahiti tomorrow for San Francisco, via Earotonga and Papeete.

The third of the series of salesmanship and business lectures, organised by tV. V.M.C.A., will take place in the associations building to-morrow evening at 3 o'clock, when Mr. J. W. Carry Messrs. Carr and Piper, will deliver a lecture on "Find and Selling Yourself and lour Prospect." These lectures are tree to members of the V.M.C.A.

The financial campaign launched by the Mayor of Dnnedin (Mr. H. "L Tapley) to secure funds and additional annual subscribers for the Plunket Society is now in full swing. An enthnElastic band of men and women collectors has been organised, and the women ara now collecting in the suburban districts and the men in the city. Up to Jrrnn y u(stf tf s the "OtaS° Daily Times") htbOQ had been collected, and the so' ciety hopes that the sum aimed at £10,000, will be fully realised in the in' terests of what is one of the most valuable institutions in the Dominion.

A strong complaint - against the Auckland telephone service was voiced in a letter from a city firm received by the council of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce on Thursday (states the "New Zealand Herald"). The Chief Postmaster, Mr. W. J. Gow, explained that the telephone apparatus in Auckland was quite out of date, and the system was. carrying a- load for which it was never designed. To remedy the situation would entail the installation of expensive apparatus, which would have to be scrapped after the "cut-over" to the automatic system. This was fairly certain to take place in October.

Benefits that .riflemen are to receive were announced by President H T Marshall, of the Karori Rifle Club 'at a social gathering of riflemen on Saturday evening. President Marshall said that the National Rifle Association was to receive an annual cash grant from the Government of £1000; a hundred-mile free railway pass for local associations ; a free grant of ammunition to each rifle association in New Zealand; and that the limit on weekly railway passes for rifle shooting which had been restricted to twelve per member per annum had been removed. With those benefits the president said it was up to the rifle clubs to assist the Defence Department whenever they could.