LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 115, 19 May 1925, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Minister of Education (the Hon. Sir James Parr) is awaiting a report from the Health Department before bringing before Cabinet the question of rescinding the option given to parents of sending their children to school pending the "all clear" signal being given regarding infantile paralysis. New Zealand will not be represented this year in the Davis Cup Lawn Tennis Competitions. This decision was reached at a meeting of the New Zealand Lawn lennis Association last evening in view of the heavy eNpenditure necessary to send a team to Canada, and of the probable small return from such a trip. Mails which left Auckland on tho 14th April via Vancouver arrived in London on the 17th May. According to a Press Association message the Christchurch City Council lastnight decided to recommend the Finance Committee to place £1000 on the estimates to establish a Canterbury court at the Duuedin Exhibition. For the purpose of extending-the municipal housing scheme the Christchurch Uty Council has decided to apply to the Government for a largo grant, says a liess Association message. During discussion at last night's meeting of the council, Councillor D. G. Sullivan M.P., said that it would be just as well to proceed as quickly as possible. Sir Francis Bell was only Prime Minister for the time being. However, he was favourably inclined to the council's application and it would therefore be better to make immediate application for the loan. He moved that immediate application be made for a loan of £50,000 for. housingpurposes in Christchurch. This was carried. Is it necessary that the six-year-old child shouid give evidence at the next trial of Mouat on the charge of murder? The Council of Christian Congregations in Christchurch, decided last night that it could not ask that queston of the Crown Prosecutor, although some of the members wished to (reports the Pres3 Association). Mrs. Eva JRoberts deplored the fact that a girl of six years had given evidence at ■ the recent murder trial. "The child has been associated I with tho Court," she said, "and surrounded by a number, of undesirable characters." • Mrs. Roberts considered that the child would be compelled to appear in Court again, and she wished the council to ask the Crown Prosecutor if it could be avoided. The motion was negatived. Complaint was made to the Minister or Labour (the Hon. G. J. Anderson) by a deputation from the Painters' Federation last evening that although an apprentice committee in the painting 'trade' had been set up at Napier for some considerable time, no meetings were being held, and the federation had failed in all its endeavours to bring about a meeting. Mr. F. Cornwell (federation secretary) said that an officer of the Labour Department had declined to call the committee together, and was administering the Act as far as apprentices were concerned by himself. The Secretary of the Labour Department (Mr. Rowley) said he felt sure the facts were not as stated, and that the position was different. The Minister said he would make inquiry into the matter. Representations were made to the Minister of Labour (the Hon. G. J. Ander-son)-last night by the Painters' Federation for the use of nets below workmen engaged on high scaffoldings to be made compulsory, instead of according to the judgment of the inspectors, as at present.. The secretary of the federation (Mr. h. Cornwell) referred to recent accidents which had occurred, whereby workers had fallen from a considerable, height, in one instance a distance of 30 feet or to a concrete floor, and seriously injured and incapacitated. The Minister asked above what height it was suggested nets should be used; but the speaker said he was not quite prepared to answer the question. Mr. Anderson said he would look into the matter with a view to determining the height.' It would not do, he added, to leave it to the inspectors to say what was too high and what was too low for the use of uet3. . ' A by-product of the credit system, which, though it is the subject of sharp controversy among jurists, is a common instrument in transactions with purchasers who find "terms" preferable to outright buying, was strongly commented upon by Mr. Justice Adams when a case- involving transactions a client of a sewing machine firm had had regarding a machine purchased on a "hire purchase agreement came before him in the bupreme Court at Christchurcli yesterday, ihe transaction, it was alleged for the defence, had been. made by the client, on tho understanding that the machine was hers, whereas" the terms stipulated that until the purchase price was fully paid it belonged to the company. One of the counsel stated that the client was under the impression that the machine was on the same basis ;ls any article obtained on credit, which became the property of the purchaser, who .was liable for the amount and not for the article itself. His Honour, addressing the jury on the subject, remarked that a salesman who had given evidence had not shown that he himself fully understood the agreement,- and it was for tho jury to decide whether the client in those circumstances could be held responsible. He also commented upon the fact that the terms had not been read over or explained. After. going into the law on- the subject of such agreements, the form of which, he mentioned, had been decided in 1895, his Honour remarked: "One feels constrained to say in a case of this kind that when firms are dealing with poor people more or less ignorant, it is incumbent on those persons selling on those terms to see if the person or persons with whom they are dealing fully understand'tho terms "and not take signatures for documents of so important a character, at least as far as the persons signing thorn are concerned, without first seeing that they understand clearly Hint the property of which they are taking possession is not their property, but remains the property of the seller until a certain time. It may be a question for the Legislature to consider whether members of the public unable to protect themselves, through want of education'or opportunity, ought not to bo protected by law." aiarjinret Battcrsby. a. cook, on charges of theft of tho sewing jnach-" inn and false pretences, in that "she obtained a sum of money by representing thai the machine belonged to' her. was ! acquitted;, ~ j

" That the time is now opportune for the Dominion conference to impress upon the authorities the question of establishing half-way houses or convalescent homes for mentally deranged men on, the lines of Ra-Utu (the adjunct to Porirua) ! with the stipulation that such places ! shall be entirely removed from main '• buildings, which have a, very depressing ' effect, and only tend to retard the re- | covery of the patient," was a remit ! from the Wellington branch which was ' carried without discussion at the annual district conference of the Returned Soldiers' Association at Palmerston North, tile chairman (Mr. B. J. Jacobs) stating that the' association had been pressing for it. Optimists are to be found even among litigants. Counsel for the plaintiff in a case which was called in the Christchurch Magistrate's Court on Monday morning stated that his client had not appeared. He had sent a telegram stating :—'Cannot get, down. Please iorward proceeds." "Well," asked the Magistrate, "what are you going to do about it?" "That is what lam asking myself," responded counsel. "You had better settle it," advised the MagiV trate. After counsel for the opposing parties had conferred an adjournment was agreed to. 'The cost of the adjournment (adds the Christchurch "Star' ) was £2 4s. The amount of the claim was £2 Os 6d. A human skull, in a, state of almost perfect preservation, was the discovery made by a student of the Auckland University College last week, during a geological excursion on the West Coast near the mouth of the Waikato River, states the "Star." At the time the discovery was made eleven students were in quest of fossil remains at the foot of a cliff somo fifty feet high, when one of them spied what looked like a big shell about thirty feet up. Upon unearthing the supposed shell the investigator found a complete skull. All the teeth were perfectly preserved, except one that might have been knocked out before the owner died. The place appeared to' be the site of an old landslide, and this offered an explanation of the man's death and of the concealment of the skull until it became gradually revealed by the action of the weather. It is described as a more perfect skull than any at present at the college. The New Plymouth Hospital Board has come to the conclusion, after discussion of the proposal that hospital fees should be increased to 15s per day. that its present fee of 9s 6d per day should remain in force, and that,' in place of the raising of the fee bringing in greater revenue, the probability would be that the amounts collected would fall away. Even those in poor circumstances made- efforts to pay the present fee, remarked the chairman (Mr. • M. Fraser), but were the. fees raised people would be disheartened and would not make the same efforts. The fees paid by friendly society patients would no doubt be raised as well above the 6s 6d at present paid, and, he considered, the board would lose considerable revenue in that direction. He considered that no hard and fast rule should be set up,.but that each hospital should manage its own domestic affairs. A convmittee of six was set up to investigate further. "You can rest assured that there is nothing whatever tile matter with the hoys of Australia and New Zealand today; they are difficult to handle, but they^are clean and are thorough gentlemen." This tribute to the schoolboy was paid by Mr. H. S. Dettniann, headmaster of the Sydney Grammar School, in an address to over 800 members and guests at the Auckland Orphans' Club on Saturday evening, reports the "New Zealand Herald." The schoolboy was of the stuff that Anzacs were''made of, stated Mr. Dettmann. Ho recalled incidents tha.t went to show that the schoolboy had_ pluck and grit. "I had a boy on the 'mat' and was told he was no good," he said. "I gave him a chance and two weeks later that boy was unflinchingly standing up to a terrible beating in the ring. He.had good in him." They had all read of new ideas and new theories on education. Mr. H. G. Wellshad advanced new schemes, but he knew nothing about education. "The right path to education is the path you yourselves trod." (Applause.) Mr. Dettmann went on to say that discipline was absolutely necessary. Real discipline was not inconsistent with real freedom. Discippline was the guarantor of freedom. Success, is reported to be attending the inauguration a week ago of the new system of, through booking of goods on the railway between the North and South Islands. The traffic is averaging over 10 tons per day," mostly in small lots. Goods have already gone forward between Auckland and Napier in the north and Invercargill in the south, while other lots have been sent between Christchurch and Auckland,* Dunedin and Hastings, as well as from and to various stations along the North Island and South Island ■ lines. Allied with the question of goods transit on the railways is that of the new tariff, which is expected to make its appearance very soon. Now that the Railways are out for the utmost possible amount of business and are acting under the stimulus of the best service for the whole of the people, which is the cardinal point in the policy of the Hon. J. G. Coates, it would not be surprising to Bee a development in the method of distributing goods carried by rail, primarily with the object of assisting settlers and others who live far back from country stations. A scheme which it is believed is under consideration is the letting of delivery contracts in certain zones, or areas, under which the Railway Department would be prepared to accept goods for consignment, to practically, any place within reach of the railway. This is one of. the steps contemplated as a means Of counteracting motor competition. The question of where and by whom the flowers for Poppy Day should bo manufactured was discussed at length at the annual district conference of the Returned Soldiers' Association at Palmerston North, it being eventually decided to send on a recommendation to the forthcoming Dominion Conference that the poppies should be made in New Zealand by disabled soldiers, instead of being imported from France as at present Colonel A. H. Herbert (EkeUihuna) said he had just recently returned from a visit to France, and had not seen an ™<> man or woman. .From Metz to the North Sea was a hive of industry the people working fro]n dayli , t j dark. The fields of the Somme and the ipres salient had been ploughed over and, with smaller areas excepted, were all growing crops. The French people were very practical, and were doing well for their country. In the manufacture of popies he did not think that New Zealand's disabled soldiers should be passed over. Citizens of this Dominion bought the flowers in memory of those who had made the supreme sacrifice, not stopping to think, that the flowers were made in France. If, in the future., the poppies were made iii the Dommion by disabled soldiers it would add to their value. In England the flowers were so manufactured. The poppy that New Zealand had been receiving was of very poor quality. " Our duty is to the men who are unable to do ordinary work, and if we can put anything in their way that will help them to earn a Jiviug wo should do so." If the. disabled returned men of the Dominion could not do the work, t.hon employment should be given to the poor I unfortunate, people of England, t

Speaking on the subject of the manu-? tacture of artificial limbs at the district conference of the Returned Soldiers' Association at Palmerston North, Mr W J. Pascoe, of Wellington, mentioned that a British firm would shortly, so he understood, be taking over the factory at WeiWo n , Wltu the proviso th J tJj disabled men who were working there now would have their services retained. thTtl ?•■ these.men had the impression tllat,their services might possibly not be retained after a period of several months, and he moved that the following remit be sent to the Dominion Conference for approval : _" That this conference is strongly of the opinion that the manuacture of artificial limbs in New ZeazT,!,o^ °be controll«d by the New Zealand Government." This was agreed An interesting explanation of the S° .^^ioJidaysatpresen being celebrated in Anglican Churches wo. given by the R«v. tj. V. Kendrick at the memorial service at St. John's liUlp f m ' °? nday- In W67, the tinmi^T en'le> fn Fl'ance <now completely overgrown and overshadowed by the. large industrial town of Lyons) was_ something of a religious centi™ 0n Christmas Evp of that year, BishoD cat edral when a severe earthquake took place, the seat of the disturbance being the then volcanic neighbouring mountains. All the congregation fled, and tlw bishop found himself alone before the altar. He then and there decided to set apart three days for special supplication and prayer, and these have been held ever since, falling immediately before Ascension Day. The Church litanies date from this time also, being anciently recited in procession. A request that the City Council should PU * h6 Sa + n udhlUs at Lya» B*y » order and lease them to the Johnsonville and Karon Golf Clubs for a term of fifteen years, was ma de to the Reserves Committee of the council yesterday afternoon by a deputation representing those clubs It was explained that the two clubs had been forced to vacate their present links, and if they could not secure the sandhills they would have to go further afield for their golf. Speaking on behalf of the m £ ea'an,<l <fOlf Council, the chairman (Mr. R, C. Kirk) said that the council desired to lend its moral support to the proposition that had been put forward by the Johnsonville and ' Karon • Clubs Apart from, the sandhills there was no suitable land for a golf course within 20 miles,of the city Golf had made remarkable progress all over the world 1 here were some 13 courses round Uncago alone, and there people waited from five in the morning in order to get a game. That was only beginning in JNew Zealand. A member of the committee (Councillor M. F. Luckie) said that as far as. he could see there was not the slightest .hope of the request beinc granted, as the sandhills at.Lyall Bay were practically all they had left-for football and cricket grounds. The chairman (Councillor W. J. Thompson) i=aid that the matter raised would be given attention. For some time he had been endeavouring to persuade the City Council to form municipal golf links at Lyall Bay, but financial considerations had barred the way. However, he was. still hopeful that something might be done in that direction. ; _ "India tO:day is suffering from growing pains, and these at times assume very large proportions," said the Rev vaVo ,° ' speakinS at the Auckland I.M.UA., on the problems with which modern India is faced. Mr. Dewick has been actively concerned with Indian social problems for some years, and is at present in New. Zealand on holiday This vast part of the Empire, declared tho speaker, was to-day passing through one ot tho most critical.periods in its history One of the greatest difficulties was that a rapidly, increasing proportion of the community was becoming composed of students graduated from the Indian universities. The Calcutta University alone sponsored no fewer than 26,000- students more than were,found in the whole of tha British Isles. When one came to realise that thousands of gradnates a year were being turned out, the problem was seen to be a ponderous one The sudden absorption of new ideas, newthought, .and Western methods was inclined to turn the Indians' heads. Patriotism was construed by Indians to mean hatred of all but India and Indians, said Mr. Dewick. This racial prejudice was largely due to Briti 6 h methods. Tho colour bar was evident everywhere, on tho railways, in the hotels, and in fact the native was- always held as inferior to the European. The standard of edu. cation in the Indian university compnred favourably with that of 1 the EnrfMi university, and he could say this as an examiner in both. . He had purposely outlined "the seamy side" of the ques "on, said the speaker, but there was also another aspect. While the fact remained that Eneland had bettered conditions, put down tribal wars, and covered the country with a network of railways, the Indian felt strongly that he was not master in his own house. Two great powers for good were the Student Uinstian movement', and the V.M.C A These placed the native on an equal and friendly footing, and gave him to understand that he was really a brother in the concourse of nations. A remarkiible story of a sea monster comes from the Solomons by the Government yacht, which arrived at Suva towards the end of April for her annual overhaul, states the Suva correspondent °f the "Auckland Star." It is one of those stories which are continually bs--11)2 vouched fo>- by ihok* who are affected, but so mucli disbel'eved by the :man in the, street. Yet there is no reason for doubting this tale, as « mauv people were concerned in it, Toward* sunset one day recently a, large party of Solomon natives were entering a passage in the reef among the many deep channels which are so numerous in tho Ki.i Islands. The oaiioo had r early reached shore when one of ihe youngsters who partly comprised the pro-tv cried out in a fear-stricken voice, "Look at that big red thing in front of the boat." Ba fore any investigate could be made tJ:e pro™ of the canoe tipped down and was drawn under the surface, as the canoe plunged to the bottom as if in the clutch of some terrible power of resistless strength. Hp^tily all scrambled for the shore, but when numbers were counted it was four,d that a woman and a child, both of v.norn had been sitting together, were rousing. Overpowered by awe. (he littlo group of terrified natives stood watching, too frightened to do anything Ik about an hour's time, or sr it appeared to them, the canoe came up to t!u» surface, with a piece of tho gun,-ale broken off.. Later, the pieces also camo up There were no signs of teeth on th« eauoe ov on the broken fragment. The break, looked more t as if the piece had simply been broken off by main forcp It wan then r.oticed that the place where the break was the place where the swo missing people had been sitting. They had evidently been the object, of the attack. From beginning to end thero was no trace of the assaila?^, except what the child saw—"a big ied thing." It is believed that it was some huge ray, ns if an octopus soma sign of its tentacles would have been seen, and all the natives are familiar with an octopus. The tragedy is a ccmplete mystery.