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Evening Star, Issue 17536, 16 December 1920, Page 6

An Auckland message announces that the execution of Thorn, the Pukekawa murderer, has been fixed for Monday next, December 20, at 8 a.m. Speaking yesterday afternoon at the annual meeting of the Red Cross Society, the president (Rev. V. G. Bryan King) said that special mention was due to the Otago Motor Club for the way it had provided drives for the men in the society’s homes, and also the men in the hospitals. The club had done this not only when asked, hut without being asked. The consideration shown was of consequence, when one remembered what the upkeep of a car cost nowadays; and that when a proprietor took out his car for long drives it meant depriving himself and his family of the use of the car. * Mr W. Pels wrote to the meeting of the Board of Governors of the King Edward Technical College yesterday afternoon offering a gift of an enamelling oven. As he understood that the board now controlled the School of Art, _ and that no doubt they had students who went in for enamelling, be hoped the oven would be of nse to them. The offer was accepted with thanks.

, The following Dunedin candidates were successful at vie November examination by the Pharmacy Board of New Zealand -. —Section A; P. J. B. Marchant, G. Banks, H. E. Freed, L. J. Lindsay, ami A. O. Monro. Section B t H, Dolphin, L. M Mill an, H. D. Oddie, and W. F. S. Pollock. Section 0: A. E. S. Hanan, L. R. De Castro, and H. A. White. After a spell of over two years Alfred Seiler, Gilgandra’s record bone-breaker, has added another point to his score, making a total of 43 broken bones. This time he was knocked over by a cow, breaking his kneecap (says Sydney ‘Sun’). The feature about the present accident is that he is still at work. He says that he is extremely busy at his trade, and if he consults a doctor it means three weeks in 'bed. .Tile kneecap is now in three pieces, and the only effect it seems to have on him is that be has to drag his leg along. As a matter of fact, 1 he never comd bend it properly, owing to numerous breaks. Local M.P.s and members of the dental profession conferred in private yesterday about the Government’s school dental scheme. The disputed issues were fully discussed, and after a later conference among the M.P.s themselves it was decided that Mr T. K. Sidey draft a telegram embodying the views of the meeting and forward it to the Minister (the Horn C. J, Parr), suggesting that another conference Ibe arranged between himself, Mr Hunter, and the New Zealand Dental Association. The conference was attended by the Hons. - J. MacGregor and M. Cohen, M.L.C.S, Messrs C. E. Statham J. M. Dickson, E. Kellett, T, K. Sidey’ Downie Stewart, and J. Horn, M.P.s’ Mr T/A. Hunter (chief Government dental officer), and Messrs O. Davies. F. Armstrong, and H. D, W. Brewer (Dtmedin dentists). Dr Pickerill being indisposed, was unable to be present. ° The shortage of newsprint paper has resulted in two companies having been organised in Florida to manufacture pulp from native saw grass. There are millions of acres 'of this grass in Florida, which were regarded as useless for agricultural purposes. The, grass, it is stated, grows as rapidly as seaweed, and cutting seems only to stimulate its progress. Some of the .first pulp made from this material has been forwarded from Florida to a paper manufacturing company at Hoosac Falls. _ If an annual crop of grass capable of - "being converted into paper has been discovered, then the question of future supplies will be definitely get tied. 1

- Mr Paulin communicated the following forecast at 1.30 p.m, :—Strong N.E. to S-E- winds, and heavy rain on the east coast.

Ernest Albert Goldstone, a fireman from the steamer lonic, came to town yesterday and got drunk. ’While in that state he visited a small store at the corner of St. Andrew and Castle streets, kept by W. J. Duff, and created trouble. Between the time ho entered the shop and demanded a match and the time a policeman arrived and took him to the police station, Goldstone managed to pile ,up enough evidence to justify the laying of three charges against him —drunkenness, obscene language, and committing mischief Jby wilfully damaging a shop window. He pleaded guilty to all _ three charges this morning, and the Magistrate (Mr Widdowson) inflicted fines of 10s, 40s, and 20s respectively, and ordered him to pay 35s as well, this being the value of the window glass. Alternatives.amounting to three weeks’ imprisonment were made. It is understood that when the Union Steam Ship Company shifts its head quarters to Wellington the registered office and the directors will remain in Dunedin, tho birthplace of the company. When Sir James Mills (then Mr Mills) wont from Dunedin to the Old Country in 1874 he was manager of the Harbor Steam Company, which owned three vessels—the Maori, tho Bruce, and tho Beautiful Star. Acting partly on behalf of the Harbor Steam Company and partly on behalf of British capitalists, Mr Mills ordered the building of tho Hawea and Tempo, and a scheme for amalgamation took practical shape hv the end of 1874. This was the formation of the Union Company, the name being chosen because it really did mean the uniting ox interests. The review of the bonus has apparently placed the ironmasters of Christchurch in a predicament. It was stated at a meeting of the association yesterday that many had been paying out since November 1 on the 9s basis. It was decided that the over-payment should be adjusted by paymg Is 4d per week, or one-third of a penny per hour, for the remainder of the six months, or until tho over-payment is balanced. It was also resolved that credits be made to customers’ accounts as from November 1 for any extra charges made on account of the (bonus.

Large parcels of butter are being forwarded to Dunedin for shipment to England for the Imperial Government, and supplies are so heavy that the cool store near the Victoria wharf has become congested. The position t is accentuated through the difficulty in getting sufficient transport to the north for shipment to the Home market. Mr G. A. Lamb (secretary of the South Island Dairy Association) stated _ to-day that the Overseas Shipping Committee had kindly granted an additional allotment of space for butter in the lonic, how loading at Port Chalmers, in order to relieve the position until the arrival of the Orari next week. The latter vessel will lift 5.0G0 boxes of butter and 1,500 crates of cheese at this port for the United Kingdom. The Choral Society repeated, at His Majesty s Theatre last night, the concert which gave such pleasure on Tuesday evening. There was a very large audience. A party of boys and girls were forced to spend Sunday evening on Motutapu Island_ (Auckland). They were returning home in the launch Mona, owned by Mr A. Hines, of Onehunga, when slight'damage was sustained by the keel. The boat was beached at Motutapu and the keel repaired. The party arrived hack in Auckland at 10 o’clock next morning none the worse for their experience. At the half-yearly meeting of the shareholders of the Bank of New Zealand last week Mr William Watson, one of the directors, mentioned that to meet increased family expenses the board had authorised the payment of a bonus to the less highly-paid officers in The grades above the “ scale,” which applies to the junior members of the staff. It is understood that the bonus is 10 per cent, of the annual salary, and is being paid to all members of the staff whose salaries are between £2BO and £650, and also to those young married men who are still on the “ scale ” which ends at £270. Already the margarine industry has been enormously, stimulated by the" price of butter (says the ‘Taranaki Herald’). According to ‘ Weddel’s Eeview,’ the supplies of margarine in Britain increased from 197,000 tons in 1914-15 to 360,000 tons in 1919-20.

The ‘Wairarapa Star’ says: “A prospective purchaser from Greytown went iiito a Masterton shop the other day and priced a chair, which was quoted at 105s. Going further up the line on other business, he called at a shop in Pahiatua and bought a similar chair for 455.” Some 150,000 acres of land in the Hawke’s Bay, Nelson, Taranaki, and Auckland districts will shortly he available for soldier settlement. Between now and March nest the Hon. D, H. Guthrie, Minister of Lands, anticipates that he will have ready for subdivision sis or eight properties suitable for grazing, dairying, and mised farming. Says the Carterton paperi “A Carrington dairy farmer recently sent twelve calfskins to Wellington for public auction. His return showed that ten were sold at an average of 2s each. Later he received three twopenny stamps, which he was informed, represented the gross proceeds of two cut skins unsold at auction. Killing calves is not the paying proposition it was last year, and yet the price of leather goods keeps up!” It has been found desirable by the Australian Eepatriation Commissioners to . severely restrict the meaning of the word | ‘‘ fiancee ” to persons who are “ soldiers’ intended brides.” Apparently (says the ‘Age ’) “ love matches ” were made on the other side not only by the male members of the A.1.F., but by several Anstra.li.in military nurses, some of whom have applied for free passages for their prospective husbands. The authorities take the view that if a man is in the position to support a wife he should well bo able to pay his own steamship fare ; and for . that reason they have stipulated, as indicated above, that the word “ fiancee ” must have a “ female ” significance only. The necessity is not obvious, since “ fiancee ” is feminine.