LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Star, Issue 18020, 14 July 1922, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

In the Magistrate's Court, Wellington,. Ralph Emery Small was charged with the theft of £32 13s 3d, in . his possession aa an officer of the Education Department, and 1 , further, with the theft of five sums of money totalling £2 10s. Hie accused pleaded guilty, and was committed to the Supreme Court for sentence. “M e had no time for an audit,” was the state-ment-made by an officer of the department. “There were times when the accused had some 2,000 accounts of industrial school inmates in his charge, and in v the year h© handled something hko £10,000.”

“Silver birch.from the North Island is the most lasting and durable timber m the dominion,” declared the engineer of the Mahawatn-Ovoua Power Board at a meeting of that body the other day. There were instances, he said, of logs of suver birch having been dag out of swamps in •which they'had been buried for perhaps 400 years, and with 4ft pipe trees growing over them, and then being so dry and well preserved that the wood when split up could !be lit with a match.

A deputation from the National Dairy Association and the South Island Dairy Association waited upon the Minister of Railways yesterday, placing before him the matter of greatly increased freight rates relating bo dairy produce generally, but to butter and cheese in particular, which rates, the deputation maintained, were ISO per cent, in excess of the prewar rates. The Hon. Mr Guthrie promised, to go very fully into the.various points raised "when til© question of the railway "tariff should come on for discussion. The members of the deputation subsequently met a representative of the % aliens steamship companies in conference on the question of similarly reducing' the marine freights. The matter will be further gone into.

A Wellington message announces that the ‘Gazette’ contains regulations for the Note Zealand Royal Naval Reserve, which will be composed of three classes: A: Men who are British-born subjects and who have served for a stated period in tho Royal naval rating in the Royal or dominion navy. 15; Men who are Britishborn subjects 'and who follow tho sea as a profession in ships of tho mercantile marine engaged in New Zealand coastal, Australian, or Pacific Ocean trades or in steam fishing vessels. O: Men who are (British-born .subjects, but belong to neither of the above categories. Class A will be divided into (1) in active service, (2) active reserve.

Hie Court of Appeal concluded yesterday the hearing of argument in the matter of Ayesha Salaman, an infant, a case concerning possession of the child. Mr Jellicoe contended that it was not open to the court, in an order absolute for a writ of habeas corpus, to decide questions of breaches of covenants hi deeds of separation between husband and wife. This, ho said, was what tho Supreme Court had done in the present case. Mr M. Myers, for the respondent, the father of the child, said that the most that could be affected by the appeal was the question of coats, since he contended that a reversal of judgment would not resulQin tha mother recovering custody of the child. The deed of separation between tho parties, by which tho wife had the lawful custody of the child, had, he said, come to an end on the anchastity of the wife, and the husband therefore had' the legal right to the custody of the child in any case. Ho contended that the main consideration for the court was as to what was in the best interests of tho child. The Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout) suggested that both parlies should agree to send the child' to some orphanage or institution; but Mr Myers said he had no authority to agree to such a suggestion. The issue of the writ ot habeas corpus and order made ns to the custody of tho child wore, Mr Myers added, perfectly valid. After Mr Jellicoe had replied the court reserved its decision.

- 'A letter was received at the meeting of the South Otago Hospital Board .yesterday from the clerk of the Bruce County Council, who wrote that he had been directed to ask the board to proceed with, the erection of the cottage hospital at Milton at an early date. It was understood that the board had decided on the site, and that it had been agreed to by the health authorities. If this was correct, the council urged’the immediate construction of the building. Mr A. Rennie moved l —“ That the necessary steps be taken to provide the hospital.” He pointed out that with a hospital at Milton their position with the Otago Board would be much improved. The chairman (Mr A. North) said it was certainly part of their original plan to provide cottage hospitals at Milton and Owaka and a central hospital at Balclutha, and he hoped they had not altered that view. It was a question of how rapidly they could get on with tho work, unless they raised , a loan. As a proof of their earnestness tho Milton site was the first they had bought. Mr Mosley said he was not antagonistic to Milton’s claim, but he felt that they should concentrate on the main hospital. Me moved an amendment accordingly. However, the motion to make the provision asked was canned, there being only the two votes for the amendment. It was agreed to uso tho Owaka plans (which are expected to come to hand any day) if they were suitable for Milton’s requirements. These plans provide for six beds, with emergency accommodation for two more patients.

Five meetings of tho claims section of the Soldiers and Dependents’ Committee were held during tne month of June. Eighty-eight applications were received from returned soldiers, and were considered and dealt with as follow:

Twenty-eight grants were made, totalling £134 5s od, and twenty-seven allowances aggregating at the weekly rate of £SB 0s 2d. were authorised; two loans totalling £250 were granted, adequate security being taken in each case; in. three cases rearrangements were made regarding loans already granted; two mortgages were discharged; fifteen _ applications were declined 1 : consideration of nine was deferred pending further information, and one application was considered and referred to another society, with a recommendation. Applications were considered where the disabilities were not certified to as being due to the soldier’s war service, and assistance was granted where the circumstances were such as warranted this action being taken. Cigarettes, tobacco, and matches were issued during the month to the Dunedin Public Hospital, Seacliff Mental Hospital, and Wakari Sanatorium, the following being a statement of the quantities issued: —500 packets of cigarettes, of pipe tobacco, 6|lb of cigarette tobacco (with tissues), and ■ two dozen packets of matches. There are at present 103 in-patients and 101 out-patients under treatment at the various hospitals in Otago.

A largely-attended meeting of the Caledonian Society of' Southland was held on Tuesday evening, when the proposal to erect a monument to be an enduring reminder of tho great poet of democracy, Robert Bums, in Invercargill, was discussed. The secretary was instructed to secure all information concerning the erection of similar statues throughout tho dominion, and to call a_ meeting at a later date of kindred societies and others interested in all parts of Southland for the purpose of furthering the proposal.

.Anglers in Southland will be interested to learn that the local Acclimatisation Society has already forwarded to the Marine Department, Wellington, lor identification, some fish captured in the vicinity of Lake Te Anau, which they have every reason to believe are of the Atlantic salmon species (states the ‘Southland Times’). Two female fish, one heavy in spawn, and two male fish were captured, and it is reported that there- are a large number frequenting the small streams in the vicinity of the lake. Should the fish be classed as true salmon, then it means a great future for the Waiau River, ns it is only a matter of time when they will become established inhabitants in this river.