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Evening Star, Issue 17226, 16 December 1919, Page 6

In order to enable the employees (many of whom will be called on for night duty in connection with our display of the election results) to participate in the haK--1? Jt has boen Mewled to publish the Evening Stir' at aa easier hour tomorrow than usual. We are informed that a strong " bear " movement in tho oats market h°as originated in Auckland. It began with a strange _ silence, evidently to convey tho impression that the northerners Wanted nothing from Otago. Then came offers from Auckland to resell the oats that are due to that place from Dunedin in December. Our informant say 3 that tho few Otago farmers who still hold oats would do well advised to hang on in the meantime, since to make any offerings would be playing into tho hands of the attempt to demoralise the market. Complaints are made by tho contractor for the erection of premises for- the Wilson Malt Extract Company, at the junction of Ward and Hanover streets, as to repeated acts of mischief. In tho early stages of the work material was stolen, and -now that the roof is on the annoyance continues. A fortnight ago someone entered by a skylight and pulled out the malthoid in the cement floor, besides stealing the lead from the ridging. Lest night a, young fellow wearing rubber shoes got in by an upper doorway, clambered' along a ibeam, thence by a storey-pest descended to the floor and (picked up parts of tho peen cement. Tho police have the matter in hand, and, though thev say nc&hing, we think they may bs able" to male© something of the tracks the offender left behind him.

A large Australian mail ex the Moerati reached Dunedin this afternoon by the first express from Christ-church. The mail comprised nine bags and nine hampers from Sydney, 13 bags and ono hamper from Melbourne, two bags from Adelaide, two bags from Brisbane, and one Hao- from' Hobart. It is expected that the next English, mail to reach New Zealand will be by the Niagara, which is due at Auckland on Thursday morning from Vancouver and way porta. The Dunedin portion should come to hand on Saturday evening.

The Melbourne City Council have been taught a wholesome lesson—viz., that public opinion will not permit the passing over of a man who has "don© his bit in the trendies " When his qualifications for a vacant berth are equal to those of any other candidate. The occasion was the appointment of a highly-salaried city solicitor vice Mr J. C. Stewart, deceased. From out of a formidable list of applicants the council, acting on the recommendation of their Appointments' Committee, selected Messrs Hedderwick, Fookes,_ and Alston. Thereupon much, public indignation was expressed, and the Soldiers and Sailors' Imperial League, together with the Soldiers' Fathers' Association, sent in indignant protests, which were backed up whole-heartedly by the Press. The council could not stand up before thLs storm, and gracefully gave way, executing a "volte-face." with tha result that General R. £, Elliott (who served with distinction in the A.1.F.) was given the post. He had recently joined tho legal firm of Lynch and McDonald. He received 18 votes; Derham, Robertson, and Daham coming next with 8.

In conveying to the members of the Dunedin Bar this morning the Christmas greetings of the Bench, Mr Widdowson, b.M., took occasion to say that the gratifying feature of the year was the return of the members of the Bar who had served the Empire at the front. He enumerated the Dunedin members—Messrs J. B. Callan, W. Downie Stewart, J. M. Paterson, A. C. Stephens, C. L. Calvert, F B and H. S. Adams, H. Wj- : Bundle, A. E. Irwin, and G. Gallaway, *ahd conveyed his congratulations to them. Suitable replies, reciprocating the good wishes expressed, were made by Messrs B. S. Irwin and J. B. Callan..

Mr Paulin advised, afc 2 p m. to-day t South-east and north-east winds; fine tfar 'io nouirsk • 'ty® see 'F 8 - a good show now m the Dunedin Botanic G<ardens. J KIP" ?-Statliam, on Monday moraine, sent the following telegram to the Prinie Minister:—' Purchasers under agreements workers' dwellings, Windle settlement much licensed «t notice from department increasing weekly instalments to meet extra Sro insurance. Amount of these instalments was fixed by their agreements to cover principal, interest, and fire insurance. _ Proposed increase causing great dissatisfaction hove, and no doubt all over Dominion, It seems to me .the present provisions re application of fire insurance moneys is inequitable, and I. think the whole malttw should be investigated. I .that the demand for extra pavment should be suspended for, eay, one month to permit of such investicationa. Please reply." °

Wo learn that arrangements have been niado by Knox Church session to invite Dr Ronald M'lntyre, Professor of Theology, . St. Andrew's University, Sydney, to_ fill the pulpit for two months. Dr M'lntyre ia recognised as one of the outstanding preachers of the Commonwealth. He received great honors for what he did in connection with recruiting and patriotic work during the war. He was chairman of the Recruiting Committee in. Sydney. It ia expected tnat Dr M'lntyre will be m Dunedin in the middle of January, and preach his first sermon on the 18th.

Our Christchureh correspondent -telegraphs:—William Neculai Clausen alias Johnston, a Dane, and described as a dangerous criminal, who may use fireaims, escaped from the Paparua prison shortly before noon on Saturday. The police are scouring the country, but io far no trace of the escapee has been reEorted. Clausen was serving terms of ve years for burglary at Timaru, and of one year for escaping from custody, the sentences being cumulative. In August, 1918, he was tried in Christchureh for an Ashburton burglary, but was acquitted. The escapee is 50 years of-age, and of medium build. He stands sft 6|in high, and has a fresh complexion, with blue eyes. His hair is fair, turning grey, and he has "4 R.L." or "4 K.L." tattooed on the right arm. When he escaped he was wearing the prison garb of white trousers apd brown coat. Clausen has neither beard nor moustache, but he carried a few days' "growth" on Saturday night. By occupation Clausen was a wharf laborer, and for years before his conviction he had been acting in South Canterbury as a " soapbox" orator on behalf of Socialism. He took a very active part in the 1912 strike, but his activities in connection therewith were not relished by his party and afterwards lie did not enjoy the confide!g:e of the leaders of social democracy in South Canterbury. Speaking at last night's meeting of the Council ore tie Chamber- of Commerce Mr T. Somerville said that ho had come to the conclusion, that there was a real necessity for the question of the shipping facilities of the port being taken into serious consideration, bo that any statements made to shipping companies in regard to the want of facilities could be proved up to the hilt. They wanted a committee of shrewd, tactful business men to go into the whole matter, and act as an advisory committee. The President (Mr Waters) later eaid it was a question whether they should set up a apecial committee to go into the matter of coastal aud oversea shipping, or whether they should leave it to the executive. In regard to oversea shipping there was a grave feeling amongst shippers that this port was not getting a fair deal compared with other ports. Then, bo far as coastal shipping was concerned, the means of communication between Dunedin, Wellington, and Auckland had dwindled away to •about one boat a month. It was d&cided to refer the matter to the council's executive- for consideration.

At the conclusion of the ordinary business at last night's meeting of the St. Kilda Borough Council, Cr *Boy<j, on behalf of himself and the other councillors, wished the Mayor (Mr A. D. Edgar) the compliments of the season, and referred with pleasure to the fact that Mrs Edgar had recovered from her recent illness. On Cr Do-vo's motion a -veto of thanks was passed to the Town Clerk (Mr J. B. Dick), the assistant town clerk (Mr W. M'Ara), and the borough employees. The Mayor, -in re-ply, thanked the councillors for their felicitations, and referred to tho harmony v;ith ■which the council's affairs had always be-sn conducted. Ho also thanked tho Props for their fair and accurate reports of the council's deliberations, and -wished tho reporters the compliments of the season. The Otago Head Masters' Association recently passed the following resolution: "That this association place on record their high appreciation of the valuable services rendered to the cause of the Navy League by Mr Charles Darling during his many years of assiduous and unremitting work as secretary of the Dunedin branch."

On Sunday evening Trinity Methodist Church was well filled, when the Rev. M. A. Rugby Pratt discoursed on 'The Ministry of Music,' and the church choir rendered a selection of specially chosen items. Tha service opened, with Mozart's fine anthem, 'Glorious is Thv Name,' which was splendidly rendered by the choir of almost 50 voices. The choir also gave a remarkably good rendering of Dudley Buck' 3 ' Hymn to Music,' the balance of voices being very true. Mr Harre sang with fine feeling the recitative andi aria 'Lord Godi of Abraham,' from the oratorio ' Elijah,' and Miss Daphne Stokes gave a very reverent rendering of Brigg's eolo 'Hold Thou My Hand. 1 The choir were conducted by Mr S. Lawn, who has raised this musical combination to a hiah standard. Miss Hartley presided at the organ, and played appropriate voluntaries. The address of Mr Pratt was based upon the text "They ministered in music." Ho referred to the value of music as the handmaid of religion, ;>'ui drew varied lessons from his test, which held tho attention of tha large ccngTogatien throughout tho service The only business before the Magistrate in tho City Police Court this mormriig was an application for maintanance, guardianship, and separation orders, which, however, were struck out by consent. Yesterday morning, wires our Christchurch, correspondent, Captain Ewsn Dickson, chief of the Canterbury Aviation Company's staff, loft for tho south by motor car in company with Mr C. W. Hervey, secretary of the company, to plan an aeroplane tour as far as Gore and Invercargill. This tour will be undertaken in the new year with the company 1 ! machines, which are due in Now Zealand on December 24. Passengers vyll be carried from centre to centre and stunting displays and passenger " flips" will be given at the end of each stage. The organ that was ordered somo time a.go, in England, for the Anglican Cathedral in Dunedin was at the time expected to arrive before this. It has not yet come to hand, and apparently is not shipped. At anv rate it is an open secret that the general increase in cost has brought from the buildeTs a demand for a considerably higher price than was at first mentioned, and we understand they are now about £5,000. The position is awkward and somewhat -involved, and meantime there is nothing for it but to go on with the old instrument.

To prevent what is known as jury squaring, _ the Solicitor-General of Victoria (Mr Robinson) has introduced in the Legislative Council a Bill to amend the Juries Act, 1919. The principal alterations suggested are that the sheriff will not post a notice in his office intimating the time and place when he will draw from the ballot-box the names of the persons to be summoned as jurors. If the proposed amendment is carried, the sheriff may merely appoint a time and place in the presence of one or more of his officers for the ballot. Another clause in the Bill provides that the addresses of persons are not to bo called out in panels for criminal cases. It is also proposed to repeal section 55 of the existing Act, which directs the sheriff to keep a panel in his office and deliver it to any persons on payment of 2s. By tho suggested alterations to the existing law it is believed that more secrecy will surround the selection of juries, thus making it almost im possible for jury-squaring to be carried out.

In connection with the representations made to him during his recent visit to Southland regarding the restrictions on space for the shipping of hardwood poles from Australia, needed for extending the tramways, the Prime Minister has tele-' graphed the result of his investigations. The telegram sets cut that the application is one of many sjmEur that have had to be declined owing to tho imperative need to utilise all available tonnage for the carriage of coal from Newcastle. All the applications are being recorded, and it is hoped to give some measure of relief early in the New Year if the shipping position becomes easier. But in the meantime the situation is such that the Government cannot afford to sacrifice any space ur A. H. Mackrell stated, when Mr Massey s communication came before the Town Council, that the work of the electricity department x was being held up because of the shortage, of poles. Orders had heen placed for four or'five hundred.

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Watson's No. 10 is a little dearer fflan most whiskies, but is worth the money.— [Advt.] J