LOCAL-AND GENERAL

Evening Star, Issue 17919, 15 March 1922, Page 2

LOCAL-AND GENERAL

Though no arrest lias been made in connection with tho Milton railway station robbery, the police are understood to have :'jv" clue." Last week a hut on tho main road at Te Ilouka was entered, and linger : .prints subsequently taken apparently establish a direct connection with the Milton robbery. Tho prints suggest that tho temporary occupant of the hut was Lionel Plunket, tho one-armed prisoner who escaped from Dunedin Gaol soma months ago , in company with Allan Aitcheson." Two young men, Stanley Roy Mont'gomefio and Harry Hampton, were arrested at Now Plymouth yesterday charged with stealing at Auckland a motor car, the property of Arthur Lowo, of Epsom. Other charges axe pending. Delegates representing the brewery workers of all tho principal centres of the Dominion met at Wellington " yostofday and discussed the,' formation of a federation embracing . the various unions. Wr B Martin (Auckland) was elected chairman of the., mooting. The conference unanimously decided that a federation should bo formed covering the brewery, aerated water, and related trades, and a set of rules drafted. The present union, it is stated, comprises about a third of the workers in tho trade, approximately 1,000 members. .Steps are to be taken to organise tho whole of the workers throughout the Dominion. The offices oE tho federation will be located' for Urn next two years at Christchureh. Mr Li. A. Brown (Christchureh) was appointed president, with Mr R. W. Walker (Christchurch) secretary. The distinction ot having collected all rates levied in the last two years is the very satisfactory record, of the New Plymouth borough. Tho rates struck for the two years, 1918-19 and 1919-20, totalled £84,281 10s lOd. " It is a mistake to buy second-hand building material, timber included," said, the engineer nt tho Wanganui County Council's last meeting. Ho mentioned that new material was dropping all the time, and seconds-hand etuff often realised as much aa new, The practice of transferring school teachers from one school to another has been condemned by tho Petoue High School Committee. The chairman, Mr M. O. Silbery, remarked that frequent changing of teachers was no good to tho pupils, and tended to impair their efficiency. It was noticeable that they no sooner procured' the services "of a good teacher than •she was transferred elsewhere. He moved —" That the Wellington Education Board be notified that the committee strongly objected to this practice, as it was doing no good, and would have an influence, no doubt, upon the attendances." Another speaker said that apparently the Education Board was violating its own rules, which stated' 1 that no teacher should bo ■transferred for at least twelve months after commencing with a school. The motion was carried. Tho necessity for a rule for traffic meeting at cross roads was emphasised by Mr W. R. M'Kean, S.M., in giving judgment in an Auckland action arising out of a Collision (reports the ' Herald ). "I am of opinion," ho said, "that at cross-roads of equal importance a driver should give way to a 'vehicle approaching from the left, and pass behind, and that when turning to his right into a side road he should observe the same rule. In the case of traffic entering a main road from a side road, a custom is growing of giving way to vehicles on the main road, whether approaching from the right or from the left. An ideal rule would ,not admit an exception in favor of main road traffic, but tho main road rule is one that seems to he recognised in England, and, moreover, is one that has received judicial recognition in Scotland. It may be quite a useful rule where there is no question as to which of two loads is the main road." " It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good " is an old proverb which holds good in the case of at least some enterprises which have been held up on account of the financial stringency. As evidence of the truth of this, an engineering expert told a Gipborne 'Times' reporter that in the last twelve months or so cement, as quoted to him, had fallen from £l2 to £6 a ton, while iron had declined 25 to 50 per cent.

The Estimates show that over £60,000 | has been embezzled by dishonest Government officials during the past ten years, and Mr W. T. JennWs, M.P., asked _ the Government, as the result of the Te Kuiti defalcations, whether it w<nild consider the advisability of investigating the present, system of'Government auditing. Mr Jennings ha 3 received word that the matter is receiving the attention of the Cabinet. In discussing trade matters with a local builder at Wanganui, he mentioned t.o a •'Herald' representative that, following the ffi.ll in the price of bricks and cement, a fall in the price of timber was anticipated. The trado was very quiet in town, and there was a large number of carpenters and builders' laborers out of -work. lie believed, however, that thero woula be plenty of work available when money conditions became easier. A dramatic development in Scotland Yard's hunt for a gang of confidence tricksters, who, in 1921, carried out a fraud involving £25,000, is recorded by tho ' Daily Chronicle* London detectives arrived in Dublin and took over John Bernard, whom the Irish police arrested ab Carlisle pier, Kingstown, when about to board the mail boat. Bernard is an Australian, and is thirty-five years of age. He has had a romantic career. Ho had been staying at a fashion.iblo hotel in Dublin, where, it was alleged he and a confederate fleeced wealthy people. Tho men also played split ace and Anzac' poker on tho racecourse. When five others of the gang were sentenced last year Bernard was in France. Later ho went to Italy, Spain, and Portugal, but the Irish police recognised him from a description, and so arrested hirn. "It appears to mo to bo a mistaken policy to do mow tha.i try to teach backward . children—subnormal children—as much of tho three ll.'s as possible," said Dr H. .A. Davies, senior school medical ofiicer, in a report to the Auckland Education Board, "and as they will never be more than tho hewers of wood and drawers of water keeping them at school often in standards far it: advance of what , they should be in only retards those children with it high mental'capacity, and upon whom the State will depend for its welfare. A great deal more coull be done in organising school lunches, toothbrush drill, etc., if the teachers timo was not so tilled up. In addition. I understand, the s 'hools are under-staffed and the classes far too big. The work of the school nurses, often under difficult and trying conditions, is most satisfactory. They are persistent in their efforts to persuade parents to take their children for treatment, and frequently accompany children to tho hospital when.the mother is unable to do so, The work at Myers School is of the very best, and children with defective speech have been cured or improved, to the delight and surprise of the parents. It is regretted that tho school is unable to cope with the great amount of work which confronts it, and, of course, it. is able to deal with a case only here and there of those living outside tho «ity." Within a short time the Paris police will keep up communication with headquarters ...by' wireless telephone when they are pursuing wrongdoers by motor car; while in -.■tho'spring an air police force will be on duty in the sky. According to tho present plans'of M. Leullier, the Prefect of Police, the two ordinary motor cars of the Surete will first be.equipped with wireless telephones, a portable outfit being available for the use of officials. .'; A few weeks ago Don Luigi Giovannetti, 'parish priest of tho village of Calvola, Italy, had a quarrel with Mario Pasini, a peasant, who.tilled a plot of land on his property. Some days later, while the priest knelt before the altar saying Mass, Pasini entered tho church and fired at the priest with a rimtgun, wounding him, amid the terror of the congregation. Later gave himself up to the goliee,