LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 104, 29 October 1925, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Because there will be great pressure on "The Post's" space on Saturday, several features that should appear on that day will bo published■ to-morrow instead.

An unfortunate mistake regarding the size of tho windows to be erected in St. Mary's Cathedral in memory of the late Bishop Ncligan was reported by Archdeacon Mac Murray on llshalf of tho Memorial Committee at tho Diocesan Synod in Auckland. Measurements had been taken with great care, but when the windows, said the Archdeacon, arrived, it was discovered they were 15iu too long. The mistake was "not noticed until just a week before the commencement of Synod, when arrangements for tho windows were being made. ]fc was hoped that with slight alteru- | tions to the leadlights and the window frame it would be possible, to erect the windows in the position originally proposed.

The total number of students attending tho art school and evening school classes of tho WellingtonTechnical College as at 10th October was 2291. This is an increase of 124 on the figures for tho previous year.

A member of the staff of the New Zealand pavilion at Wembley is Mr. M. J. ■Keardon, well known in 'Labour circles. -In a letter to a friend he said (reports tho 'Xytlelton Times") : "You may lie surprised to hear that tho agitation in favour of -Empire products is beginning to show signs of life. If that surmise is correct, I think New Zealand stands (o gain as much as any other Dominion, it not more. I feel that our credit is very. high, not only from sentimental reasons, but also because tho British people believe that we are making practical efforts to keep our standard of quality in foodstuffs as high as possible. Tho number of people, even in the Labour movement, who arc beginning to veer towards preference is growing. I think that, while the protectionist policy will not bo accepted for some time, there will be very htllo opposition (except from the case-hardened Freetrader.) to preference treatment within the Empire. Tins, in my opinion, is largely due to tho efforts of the Dominions and their displays at Wembley." '

Tho • nineteen English public school boys who arrived at Auckland yesterday by tho Suffolk were a merry lot, ready for anything that New Zealand might offer (states "The Post's" corns They had all coma out under the scheme whereby such lads arc placed on farms for a year or two in order to gain experience before taking up land on their own account; All but two of the party had no idea what part of tho Dominion they were going to, or who their farmer-employers were to be. That will be settled when they reach Wellington. The boys were not personally conducted to New Zealand, but ono of their number, an undergraduate of New College, Oxford, was elected prefect, or head, of the party. They got on happily with tho other third-class passengers, who were mostly of tho artisan class! On the voyage they produced a reconstructed version of the comedy, "Lord Richard in the Pantry," taking the female as welfe as the male parts. One was found to have distinct gifts as a comedian.. .Some of them also took part in a rcvuo which was got up by other passengers. They cheerfully admitted inexperience of farm life, and ono even volunteered that ho much preferred walking to riding a. horse, but all of them were happy about tho future. It was a fair assumption that they should do quite as well as tho others now at work on farms all over the .Dominion.

Three of the cases lo be tried in the Supremo Court at Auckland, this week aru charges of. manslaughter against drivers rjf motor vehicles, arising out'of deaths o£ pedestrians. In his charge to the grand jury (states "Tho Post's" con-res-pondent), Mr. Justice Reed vsaid the very fine roads provided by the Auckland City Council seemed to be an inducement to a certiiiu class of motorists to drive at an excessive speed. There could be no question, as far as this was concerned, that a large number of motorists drove a great deal too fast, greatly to tho danger of tho public. Something would have to be done to stop the practice. His Honour added that in making these- remarks ho was not referring particularly to. the cases awaiting trial. In concluding its labours the grand jury made the following presentment to Mr. Justice Hcrdman, who was then presiding :-—"Following the direction of Mr. Justico Eeed, the grand jury, which is composed chiefly of motorists, agreed with his Honour's condemnation of the practice of tho speeding of many drivers of motor-vehicles, and respectfully urges that strong representations be.made to the proper authorities to put a slop to such practices. l.|"uriher, the grand jury draws attention (0 the present dangers of children using iiinin highways, in Hie use of trollies, mid in tin' playing of games, football, enekcil. and so mi."

A Kpociiil iiurcliiis(> of Old l^loanlv Liii.Mi llnckiihack 'I'nwols ilk Kirki/aldiiand Sliiins. 1,1.1. Onr-lhircl off usual priciis. 'rii.-n- arc. only 20 dozon n£ lli.'so bcniilil'iil tovvi-l.s. ji'ikl you will be wise In Ki'i- ilipim I'iirlv.—Ad'vt.

Jack .■Hid .lill went, up l,!u: hiit lo fetch ;i, bm.-ki.-l, of \v;il (.'!■; .lark ko|>(, lo his feel, fur lio lli.mght, of Ilio In-ak of "l'rii-c"s" i.i I'ollmv .-ifti.-r. All kid.li.-s 1,, v.; (lii.l, delirious rnrdi.-il ni.iiSe willi I'jioc'.s Ooiu-en-Inile.l I'.c.vnages. Ti-v (lavuiiivil Uraii^c K,.lii .-in.! llavmiivd 'l.imt-a. They arc ..Mil, mi their own. Is bd Iml tlo makes 7> ;;allnti.*. ' All ;;!■,„•<>;■,: M .|| j L . St« Uuit xmm Ml "l'riuu.'a..'.WAU.vt.

Tho Mayor of Lower Hutt (Mr. W. T. Strand) forecasted last evening the formation of a water board to deal with the question of water supplies for the Hutt Valley and Wellington from the upper reaches of the Hutt River.

There was a sharp frost at Karori and other suburbs last night—a .rather unusual occurrence so late in the year. A Press Association message from Christchurch states that % degrees of frost yesterday morning played havoc with tho early potato, bean, tomato, and cucumber crops.

Remark was made by the chairman of the Harbour Board (Mr. M. Cohen) last evening of tho very satisfactory condition of tho board's sinking fund account, the total funds now standing at £359,664 His lid, against a total loan indebtedness of £1,150,300. In 1907. the sinking funds and reserve stood .at £!Ki,000; to-day they amounted to £u7!),881.

On board tho liner Rotorua, which is expected at Wellington on Saturday morning from Home, is the band of the Second Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, which is on its way to the Dimediu Exhibition. The party comprises 39 members, including four pipers. The Piotonm is bringing 81 first-class and 359 third-class passengers, details of whom appear in the shipping columns of this issue. •

Since the beginning oE the year, stated the chairman of the Harbour Board (Mr. M. Cohen) last evening, 180,000 tons of spoil has been pumped into the area to be reclaimed at Thorndon. He characterised the work done by the seawall contractor (Mr. C. F. Pulley) as splendid, and remarked upon the steady and rapid prosecution of the work. He also mentioned that the erection of hydraulic cranes upon Pipitea wharf was proceeding very satisfactorily.

"Is this Government a Christian Government or a pagan Government?" asked the Rev. Clyde Car at tiie North Canterbury Hospital Board meeting yesterday. He referred to the refusal of the Government to grant a subsidy on funds raised for the erection of a nurses' memorial chapel. The Government stated that subsidies could be granted only for buildings essential to the welfare of patients. The board decided to write to the Government asking whether the board itself could make a contribution.

Sir Trilby King, during tho inauguration of Health Week in Sydney a few weeks ago, said that parents of to-day were forgetting the lessons of the war, which proved that 50 per cent, of the manhood of the State was unlit for active service. They were paying more attention to scholastic attainments than to proper food, ventilation, and clothing of children. Proper care of the child, he said, would obviate the expenses of mental hospitals, gaols, a-nd industrial homes.

The "street beautiful" is the- ambition of the Lower Hutt Borough Council, which, last evening, approved an important innovation, so far as the district is concerned, in the formation of a street in a new subdivision, which is in the locality of the Waiwetu Stream, along which, when cleaned, it is proposed to reserve land for "a walk." The plan of a proposed street, which will run down the stream, provides for a seveuteen-feet footpath on either side, with a, comparatively narrow asphalt roadway with a special gutter and low kerbing. The principal feature, however, is that about eleven feet .of the footpaths next the properties will be grassed, and will have an avenue of trees, and it is proposed to request the owners of property abutting on thesepaths to keep in order the grass and the trees. ' The idea is, of course, not new, but is adopted in America and many other towns in the Dominion, notably Christchurch. Councillor E. Waldie, of Lower Hutt, laid claim to having pioneered the idea in Christchurch, and he, and indeed all the councillors, heartily approved the scheme, and hoped it would have a valuable educative effect in the borough.

A paper upon "The Birds of Boss Dependency" was read by Mr. E. T. Fcrrar, of Captain. Scott's First Antarctic Expedition,- at the annual general meeting of the Wellington Philosophical Society last night. The speaker explaiued how tho distribution of the various birds was controlled by climatic conditions, and that as the Antarctic regions were approached comparatively unknown species appeared. These were described in turn, according to distribution rather than according to their zoological relationship. Lantern slides of skua-gulis. and penguins among their icy surroundings were shown- in order to illustrate the lecture. It was explained that penguins were, and always had been, confined to the Southern Hemisphere. Fossilised bones of penguins, which were not very different from those belonging to living penguins, had been found in mid-territory strata, and all penguins were descended from birds that could fly. A penguin's flipper was not an undeveloped limb, but rather a transformed wing, which agreed m all essentials with that of a flying bird. Only two species of penguin, the Adelic and the Emperor, properly belonged to the Eoss Dependency, though the King penguin, which bred on Macquario Island, made use of parts of li'oss territory. Of these two, tho Adelie was the more- primitive, and was small, when compared with his 6ft Midceuc relative. The speaker said he owed much of what. lie had said to the companionship he had enjoyed with tho late Dr. E. A. Wilson during tho three years' cruise of tho Discovery. In concluding Ms address, he expressed the hope that the Boss Dependency would ba declared a bird sanctuary.