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Evening Star, Issue 17325, 13 April 1920, Page 4

Housewives may prepare themselves for an announcement by the Dairymen’s Association that the pwee of milk in Dunedin district will be raised by Id per quart on May 1. This is the seasonal rise. Last year it took effect as from April 1. The more important difference, however, is that this season tliere was no summer reduction, so that the Id increase now foretold will be really an increase on last winter’s price. The milkmen say they cannot help it. The cows are "going off” as usual in this late autumn, and on ton of this there is the extraordinary shortage of feed caused by three months’ dry weather.

The Finance Committee of the City Council yesterday considered the question of rates tor the coming year. They recommend that the Hospital rate bo increased from 4jd to 8d in the pound. They further recommend that in their opinion the time has fully arrived when the whole of the requirements of the Hospital should be a charge on the Consolidated Revenue. All the other City rates are on the basis of last year. The other portion of the, estimated deficiency is to be made up by increasing the levy on the trading departments. No business in the Police Court this morning.

The monthly meeting of the Port Chalmers Progressive League was held yesterday evening,, the president (Rev. H. S. Bishop) in the chair. A number of matters of local interest were dealt with. The secretary reported that he had referred the league's resolution in respect to getting an improved telephone service in Port Chalmers to the Postmaster-General,, bnt no reply from the (Minister had yet come to hand. In reference to harbor matters, the rating area proposal was discussed, also tho proposed rebuilding of the Harbor Board’s freezing works at Port Chalmers. The secretary was instructed in respect to the latter to write to the Harbor Board emphasising the fact tint it was vital to the propu* ss and welfare of the Port of Otago that the "board's proposed new freezing works at Port'Chalmers be constructed as soon os possible in order that the works be ready for the ensuing killing season. A short sitting of the Magistrate’s Court was held thiq finorning before Messrs H. E. MoHer and K. M'Lannan, J.P.s._ Judgment by default was given for plaintiff in tho following undefended case:—Moore, Moore, and Nichol v. H. E. Jones (Christchurch), £2 2s, professional services, with ecsts (12s).

The following nominations have been received for positions 4n the Executive Committee of the IStfiedin Returned Soldiers’ Associationj President, Dr T. Harrison; committee—Messrs W. H. Wood, A. J. Foley, C, R. M'Lcan. P. W. Spiers, J. W. Cowie, J. W.. Smeaton, R. P. Jones, J. M’Crac, and E. N Stewart. The annual meeting of the association is to be held on Monday.

Special ‘business to be discussed at the monthly meeting of the Dunedin Manufacturers’ Association this evening will include a proposal for exhibits by manufacturers under the auspices of the association at the forthcoming Winter Show. The executive contemplate taking up a block of space and arranging exhibits among members. The Otago A. and P. Society give every guarantee that all possible facilities will be placed at the disposal of manufacturers, and that any troubles encountered in past years will be eliminated. In particular, it is hoped to do away with the “ cheap jack ” element. Not everyone is mistaken by a golf ball for the green, bub this experience befell a competitor at the Middlemore links in the Easter tournament (relates the Auckland ‘Star’). The player in point was just making a chip shot to the green at the eighth, and had his arms slightly raised. About 160 .yards away another player almost simultaneously played a wooden shot in the direction of the firstmentioned competitor, who felt a tng at his sleeve, but imagined it was caused by the shaft of his club. To his surprise, however, he discovered on lowering his arm‘that a golf ball had found a- new •ha-zaM in his sleeve, and inquiry disclosed the amazing fact that the ball was the one that had just been..played by the distant competitor. A rather remarkable incident occurred also when S. Morpeth was driving from the eleventh. A fine ball had iust commenced its flight when a fantail flew out of some neighboring titree and was struck by it. The bird came fluttering to the ground with a broken wing; but, curiously enough, the ball continued its course and landed on the green. Although unusual, it should he mentioned that several instances are recorded of birds having been, struck by goli balls while on the wing and killed. This particular fantail was taken borne by one of the players with the object of nursing it to a recovery. Mr T. H. Russell was to-day re-elected to represent the combined district of Bruce. Clutha, Mauiototo, and Tuapeka counties on the Otago Harbor Board. His was the only nomination. The Southern Pastoral Lands Commission held their first sitting this morning in the Lands Office at Dunedin. All the members were present except Mr D. Jardine, who sent a telepraphed apology from Palmerston North, and will probably leave Wellington to-night. Mr R. T. Sack! (chairman) formally opened the proceedings, and the conference then definitely fixed the itinerary for Otago and Southland. They leave by the first express tor Invercargill, to-morrow, stay there on Wednesday and Thursday, on Friday travel to Manapouri by cars, and stay there the night; go to Lumsden-on Saturday morning, and to Queenstown on Saturday afternoon, taking evidence on. the Monday; go. to Gore on the Tuesday and stay there for the night, taking evidence on the Tuesday afternoon and on Wednesday morning, if necessary; proceed on Wednesday afteruaap to Waikaia, on Thursday "to Tapanui, and return to Dunedin on Friday, the 23rd. The dates for taking evidence in Dunedin are not yet finally fixed. A preliminary" itinerary for Canterbury was also agreed to, but the dates are left blank in the meantime. Mr A. I). M'Gavock, the eecretary f will accompany the Commission in their travels. The sky gave promise of rain yesterday afternoon, masses of vapor blowing up from the south-west, but the downfall amounted to no more than intermittent sprinklings, and this morning we had the same experience. The countryside is athirst. What it needs is a steady downpour for at least a day.

Mr H. V. Freeman’s letter in last night's paper about the water supply contains these sentences ; “ What will happen to the men who gave tho reporter the information about the Silverstream leaks ?

Scapegoats will have to be 'found—probably married men.” Our reporter, having read the letter, desires to make this statement : “ No men gave me any of the information about leaks. Tho facts set down- are those which came under my personal 'observation. Only one of the corporation men was met during the afternoon, and he said nothing that added to the knowledge gained from sight. As a fact I did ■ not take a note, mental or otherwise, of what he said about the condition of the race—it was nothing more than a few commonplace remarks. If the necessity arises, I shall call as witnesses my two companions on the occasion to testify that the raoekeeper whom we met did not utter one disloyal word. I am concerned that he is not dragged into any discussion that may take place.”'

Nobody can yet say for certain what the price of butter will be when the Imperial arrangement expires at the end• of June, but it "is consoling to have an authoritative assurance that there will not be any shortage of supply in the coming winter. Already we are drawing from the North Island, and it is said that the producers there will retain in the Dominion enough butter to furnish us in the South with all we need. The reserved decision of Mr E. Page, S.M., in the case in which the custodian of the Masterton Club was charged with storing liquor, was given at Masterton yesterday. Mr Page held that the club, being incorporated, did not givo members a legal or equitable interest in the property of the club, and, therefore, they could not store liquor on the premises as though they were in their own homes. As the question of the legality of storing liquor for members in the club in a No license district had not previously been decided, Mr Page expressed the opinion that the question was not free from ditliculty or doubt. lie therefore imposed a fine of only £ls and costs, and fixed security for anneal at this amount, plus £lO 10s.

At a meeting of the executive of the Red Cross at Christchurch the following resolution was carried in reference to the proposal from the Auckland Centre for a home for chronic cases in Auckland : That, in the opinion of this executive, such homos as that proposed, are necessary, but shou.d be established by the Government, and the Red Cross organisation should assist by helping to support the inmates. Ap agreement has been entered into between the Federated Newspaper Proprietors’ Association and the New Zealand Master Printers’ Association on the one part and tlio how Zealand Federated Typographical Association on the other, whereby the following scale of wages shall be paid in the hand section j—ln» the four cities, £5 per' week of 45 hours ; towns with a population of 5,000 or over, £4 I7s 6d ; other places, £4 12s fid. This is a- small fraction under 2s 3d per hour for the citv-com-positor. Apprentices’ .wages are also increased. A boy now starts at £1 per week, and in his sixth year receives £3, instead of 10s and £2 as previously. The agreement dates from April 2. No agreement has been arrived at 4 in the linotype section., but a conference is being held in Wellington this week to endeavor to arrange terms. The Government have decided that school children who visit the nearest centres to SOS the Prince of Wales and cannot (by reason of the train arrangeraets) return | homo the same day, may be granted tickets j permitting them to travel to the centre 1 one day, remain there on the following ! day to see the Prince, and return home on the third day. Only as miuiv chil- I dren as can bo satisfactorily billeted will I bo given tickets, and if the rolling stock available is insufficient to earn- ail such children the number to be taken’ from each school must be fixed by the Education Board. A public meeting was held in the Town Hall, Palmerston, last night, under the auspices of the Otago Expansion League, to discuss the hydro-electric scheme. The Mayor of Palmerston (Mr E. H. Clark) presided. After short addresses had been given bv Messrs A. and W. B. bteef, the following resolntoins were carried : —‘‘That this meeting approves of the proposal to create an electric power board district for Otago, and pledge themselves to assist in circulating the petitions for signatures in the County of Waihemo and the Borough of Palmerston.” “ That the members of the Palmerston Borough Council and Waihemo County Council be elected a committee to supervise the circulation oi the petitions in their respective districts, with power to add to their number.” Tlio retailers in Dunedin have been compelled to raise the price of rice from Sd to 9d per ib. At 8d there was no profit; indeed the selling in small quantities caused the risk of a loss at the present wholesale price. Supplies are short. A grocer who used to buy- about a ton and a-half at a time has now to bo content witip a few bags. In a- Victorian pricelist issued last month the retail price of best rice is quoted at 21b for 13-kl. The difference, presumably, is owing to the tact that ships are not briiigin.g~it across iiom Australia. We note several other items in this Victorian price-list on which the Victorian housewife is at an advantage as compared .with the Dunedin housewife. Vinegar- is one of these; it is Is 4d per gallon in Melbourne and Is 9d here. Salt, too: it is at 71b for 6d in Melbourne, and L'd per lb in Dunedin. Caustic soda is 6d per tin in Melbourne and Is hero. _ Potatoes are very much dearer here, prime quality selling in Dunedm at 71b for Is, whereas in Melbourne the shilling buys 201b.

At the Police Cccrt yesterday afternoon Agnes Henrietta Barrett applied _i ol ' a separation and maintenance order against her husband, Henry Barrett. The Magistrate granted the application, and fixed maintenance at the rate of 255, defendant also having to pay solicitor’s fee (£2 2s). An application was made by James Bichardson for a variation of a maintenance- order against him for 32s 5d per week towards the support of his wife and child. The ground of the application was that the applicant’s wife and child liad gono to live in Enghwul. and the Magistrate held that this was a case in which he saw no reason for varying the order. The application would be declined. The Postmaster-General (Hon. J. 0. Coates) was advised last week that the seaplane which left Auckland for Kaitain, 198 miles to the northward, arrived quite safely with the mails. This is the longest flight undertaken so far in connection with the New Zealand aerial postal service. The New Zealand Refrigerating Company’s works at Burnside are getting choked with .meat. The manager has had to -gradually lessen the:killing. No cattle have been slaughtered since Easter, and j the killing of sheep and lambs has been ■ reduced. At the end or March the.j freezers there contained meat equalling ; 203,000 freight carcasses. A freight -.carcass means 601b. More than half of that meat was in cut carcasses, or the freezers would not have held so much as they did. To cut a carcass in the I middle and tuck one part into the other | was a war expedient to save space in the j stores and on the ships. That practice | is now discontinued, because the Imperial f authorities say that it- spoils the appearI ance of the meat for the market. Belief in the matter of space is expected shortly. The steamer Port Victor is to come here between the 19th and the 24th inst. to I load 19,C00 freight carcasses of beef, I mutton, and lamb ; but her consignment I will represent only about two weeks’ killing, and there is no word yet of another vessel to foiiow, so tho anxiety as to space still exists. While troopship No 60, with the 15th Reinforcements on boai;d, was making the vbyage from Wellington to England abottle containing letters was thrown overboard south of Tasmania. After drifting for years the bottle was picked up by natives at the New Hebrides and given to a missionary, who forwarded the contents to Wellington. One of the letters -stated : “ The boys on troopship 60 are all doing i well considering the rough passage they I have had. Everything first-class. The 15th N.Z.F.A. are ‘pio on,’ especially those of hut 179.—Gunner E-. 8. White, Gunner J. E. Tunnington, and Gunner W. Page.” The New Hebrides are between 2,000 and 2,500 miles from the point at which the bottle was thrown overboard from the troopship.—Wellington P.A. •; telegram.

A case of domestic trouble between man and .wife occupied about three hours’ hearing yesterday in the City Police Court. Theyvife of William Tilbury made application for a separation, maintenance; and guardianship order on the grounds of persistent cruelty. Mr B. S. Irwin appeared for complainant, and Mr A. C. Hanlon for defendant, who denied emphatically the accusation of cruelty. The evidence showed it was perfectly plain that, the parties could not live together, the bone of contention, as is usual in these cases, being the custody of tho .children. After hearing several witnesses on either side, Mr J. R. Bartholomew, S.M., reserved his decision in order to consider evidence which had been taken at blasterton, where the parties lived for several months in a boarding-house.

Mr Paulin’s forecast:—Squally south--west winds, and some rain showers. A large English and Australian mail reached Dunedin this afternoon by tho first express from Christchurch. Tho mail comprised the following :—London, 50 bags; Glasgow, 3 bags; Edinburgh, 3 bags; Liverpool, 3 bags; Svdnev, 9 bags,' 5 hampers; Melbourne, *7 hags, 23 hampers; Adelaide, 1 bag; Brisbane, 2 bags; Hobart, 1 bag. There were also 41 parcel hampers from London and 25 bags and 30 hampers of North Island mails. The steamer Nokotay, which is duo at Dunedin this evening from New York via Panama and Lyttelton, is one of tho United States Shipping Board’s new vessels. She carries 45 of a crew, and has also on board four passengers of French extraction who are returning to Sydney after fighting on the French battlefront. Phe Nokotay left New \ork on February 4, but subsequently having developed engine trouble, had to Ho up at Newport Ncw s from February 10 until the 29th in order to have repairs effected. On her arrival at Panama on March 7 the Marne*, which had to be scuttled on account of an explosion in her case oil cargo, war, blazing furiously about half a mile from the approach to the canal. Shortly before the Nokotay’s arrival there was a landslide in the Culebra Cut, but not of sufficient magnitude to interfere with the passage of the vessel. A number of the Nokotav’s officers were oh active service during the war. Ine chief, Mr Heimerdinger,, served in the destroyer tender Caesar in the Indian Ocean, and later in the American transport Minnesotan, running between New York and France. Mr Cochran, the chief engineer, was on the cargo steamer Piave when nhe ran aground on the Goodwin Sands shortly after the armistice, and became a total loss. Subsequently Mr Cochran took charge of the engine room of the Hamburg-Amerika liner ‘Patricia, 15,000 tons, when sho was handed over by the Gormans under the terms of the armistice. In two days of last week 4.20 in of rain fell in Auckland, which is almost as much as during the first four months of last year. Tho rainfall from January 1 to April 9 in Auckland was 17.52 in, or more than half the total fall during last year. H.M.S Torch, an’eld wooden war vessel of 960 tons, has been sold to enter the Chatham Islands fishing trade, in place of the wrecked steamer Himitangi. When refitted she will carry 700 tons of cargo. The old officers of the Torch could tell stories of many strange and adventurous cruises. When the New Zealand Expedition was proceeding to Samoa, tho little Torch was found snugly moored at the Fiji Islands She line! been up somewhere in the vicinity of New Caledonia when war broke out, and had not heard the momentous news for some time. The commander was taken on hoard one of the New Zealand troopships, and, meeting an old friend, told an amusing story of how he dashed across the Southern Pacific to the nearest haven of refuge! burning a mixture of sand and coal, and steaming full speed at about four knots an hour, with one six-pounder and a couple of antiquated Nordenfeldts trained astern, ready to attack the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau should either of (hose redoubtable German ships show their bows above the horizon. The commander and his crew made merry over the adventure, but it was, nevertheless, a very remarkable feat, and tyoical of the daredevil work of the British Navy. The Government’s proposal that artisans should combine and build homes of their own is not, endorsed by representatives of the Canterbury Labor organisations (wires our Christchurch correspondent). A union official -said to-day that tho scheme fell short of the wishes of the worker proper. The plan was for the Government or the municipal authorities to purchase material first of all, and then empower an executive, representing a number of unions, to go ahead with a definite house-building programme. Any undertaking that leit the business of getting material to small groups of artisans would have little chance of success, because the men would find themselves up against the big contracting firms.

Watson’s No. 10 is a little dearer than most whiskies, hut is worth the money.— [Advt.] Latest in brooches just opened, long shape, beautiful selection of fashionable, colors. See them. You are sure to want one. Price, 3s. Rusbatch and Co., jewellers, George street. —[Advt.] “ White House Dollies’ Hospital.” Variety prams, tricycles, rocking horses, glass, china, hardware. Todd’s, next Plaza. —[Advt,] A meeting of all residents of St. Hilda opposed to amalgamation will be held in the Coronation Hall, St. Hilda, on Thursday next. Use the Brandy youg men enjoyed in France—Mart-ell’s.—[Advt.] The most popular Hotel in Dunedin is the City Hotel. High-class accommodation, liquors par excellence; in fact, everything is of the best.—[Advt.] Blended correctly, aged correctly—Watson’s No. 10 Whisky, clean, soft, mellow.— [Advt,] Members of tho Otago Women’s Club are notified that the lecture on Japan by Miss A. ,C. Anderson is postponed until Wednesday, 21si April. , Dunedin grocers cordially invite all citizens to join city and suburban glee clubs to practise singing appreciation songs of No Rubbing Laundry Help. "Golden Rule” Soap, and the famous Keep Smiling Boot Polish.—[Advt.] A concert will bo given at the Orokonui Home, Waitati, to-morrow evening, Particulars are advertised. Uso the Brandy your men enjoyed in France —Mar toll’s.—[Advt.] No lady should be without Martin’s Apic/ and Steel Pills. Sold by all chemists ami stores throughout Australasia.—[Advt.]