LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Star, Issue 17958, 3 May 1922, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

At the last returned soldiers’ 'ball in Napier a dancer lost his overcoat and a scarf from tho cloak room. Ho obtained judgment for their value against the committee which ran the ball. An appeal has been, lodged against the decision, and it should bo heard at tho June session of tho Supremo Court in Napier. If tho appeal fails tho missing coat will have cost tho committee £22 15s.

Still another explanation of the discovery of tho tuatara liztiW at Plimmerton la given ns (says the ‘ Manawatu Times’). In 1881 Mr James Hugh, well •known in Palmerston and Feilding, liad a small colony of them. Prom time to time ono or another escaped, and was not recaptured. Ono ho named Dr Tanner, after tho fasting doctor of those days, because it refused all nourishment for eight months. Mr Hugh was a jowoller, and was pestered by Maoris, whom he did not understand or trust. The Maori had a superstitions horror of all creeping things, and this knowledge prompted the naturalist to establish tho small zoo in ins shop. It was effective.

Work at tho Kaitangata mine was very slack last week (says tho ‘ Free Press ’). Tho men on day shift succeeded in getting two days in, while their more unfortunate brethren on the afternoon shift got only ono shift in. Things have been ve r y hard lately, and between tho high cost of living and tho frequent cessation of work many have been finding it a very hard tussfo to make ends meet.

“There is a tendency in men (o prefer tho old wav of doing things,_ however obsolete and ineffective it may ho,” declared Mr H. H. Cornish, M.A., in his Community Club lecture to the Ist Battalion, Wellington Regiment. “Education has not escaped tho influence of this tendency. Thero have at times been great revolts in the educational world against this deadening spirit of conservatism,_ the greatest being the renaissance or rebirth of learning in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, when tho writings of the old Greek and Latin authors were, eo to speak, rediscovered, and through them tho culture mf the old world was passed into tho lifo_of the new. Another such revolt is going on now in our own time, as the result of which science, the new knowledge, is coming into its own, and wrestling from the study of language and words the monopoly they have so long enjoyed.’' Strong gales were encountered ly_ the Anchor "Company’s new steamer Titoki on her maiden voyage from Glasgow to New Zealand, Tho "vessel sailed from Glasgow on February 24, and called at Cristobel to hunker before passing through tho Panama Canal on March 25. She crossed the Equator on March 29, and had moderate S.E. trades to Pitcairn Island, and afterwards continuous N.N.W. to IV. gales, with heavy sens, until April 26, when fine weather set in. The Titoki'arrived at Nelson on Friday morning last. Captain M'Arfchur, who piloted the Titoki cut, stated that tho route via Panama to New Zealand is very suitable for vessels under 1,000 tons, as tho distance is about 1,500 miles shorter than the Capo of Good Hope route. Any vessel taking tho Panama route was in fine tropical’ weather for a greater part of the voyage. Bunker coal and stores can ho obtained at a very reasonable price at Panama Canal zone. Tho scale of charges whereby the South Otago Hospital Board is going to charge inmates of tho local hospital 7s 6d per day is receiving a great deal of hostile com. ment in Kaitangata (writes tho Kaitangata correspondent of the ‘Free Press’). Quito a number of people are asking the questions: Why should such a charge bs made? Has the board forgotten that the people here built the hospital for their own use? Over 95 per cent, of those who are likely to become inmates of the local 1 hospital pay the doctor whether they are at home or in the hospital, so tho board cannot bring forward ns a, sane argument in its favor that it has to pay doctor’s expenses. Then, again, the greater part of the population also fays for chemists’ dues either through tho mine fr the friendly societies. The charge is extortionate, and thb South Otago Board should reconsider its decision before it enforces the charges to patients in the Kaitangata Hospital. At one time people thought that public hospitals were built for the convenience of those who could not afford the higher charges ruling for attention in a private hospital. Now, however, with tho South Otago Board following hard in tho wake of tho Otago Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, it will not make any material difference financially whether they go to the public hospital or a private institution.

The wills of deceased persona that filter day by day through the Probate Office reveal an interesting range in human temperament and outlook (.-.ays tho Melbourne ‘Age’). >Some testators, realising, apparently, that death literally ends nil material things and interests, confine their last will and testament to a plain statement of the broad disposition of their property. They leave those benefiting to do what they like with what comes to them. Other testators' seem to find it difficult to tnisf; the beneficiaries with the undisputed disposition of their inheritance, and they make all sorts of provisions safeguarding the proper use of tho inheritance and its snhscqnc-.it disposition to succeeding generations. Still others, maintaining an intensive grip on things to' tho last, leave explicit directions on matters that other testators would consider, perhaps, too material. For instance, James Kirby Page, late of Hambledon street, Albert Park, retired wood merchant (who died last February worth. £3,801), after disposing of the _ various items of his furniture to his relatives and. friends—his walnut bedroom suite to a lady friend at Brighton, bis Winger sewing machine to a lady friend in Launceston !T.), and £SO to a male friend in West Portland, “in consideration of_ his taking care of my dog Toby,” left directions that ho should 1 bo buried in the Brighton Cemetery, and that a_ tombstone be placed on his grave and coping around it “ at a cost not exceeding £50.”

At a meeting of the Wellington City Council Cr S. H. Underwood asked the mayor (who had just been deprecating the manner in which tho council had “ outrun the constable ”) how much money was outstanding in rates for the past year—the year ended March 31—and whether there wore any owing over £IOO. The mayor (Mr B. A. Wright) said 1 that he had not looked into the figures lately, but at the end of tho year there had been over £20,000 outstanding. Ho had spoken to the rate collector about these outstanding rates, and understood that some had paid up in tho meantime. On the other hand, there were sorno who had asked for time, owing to the money stringency that existed.

The Dunedin branch of tho Coro High School Ex-pupils’ Association held its annual meeting in tho Waratab. Tea- Rooms on Monday evening, Air H. Tl. Domigan presiding.' The secretary’s report showed a branch roll number of between fifty and sixty, tho reduction from last year being explained by tho largo exodus of students lost December. It was decided to hold a, reunion dance in Juno or July, and an endeavor will bo made to arrange a social evening in tho early spring. A proposal from the parent -association in Gore that the school’s war memorial should take the form of an entrance gateway to the now. hostel grounds was endorsed,, and members were urged to contribute to the memorial fund without delay. An appeal was made for greater support of the school’s magazine ‘Knra-Awa,’ and it was staled that a canvass for' .subscriptions would be undertaken. Office-bearers for the ensuing year were elected as follow : President, Mr H. R. Domigan; vicepresident, Miss L. Lawson, 8.A.; secretary, Miss J. Wright, St. Margaret’s College: assistant secretary, Mr H. W. Roddy; conunittco—Masses R. Blatkio, G. M'Lood. and R. Smith; Messrs G- S. Smith, T. M. M‘Donald, and J. K. Hall.