LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Star, Issue 18035, 1 August 1922, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Steps are now being taken by the Minister of Lands (tho Hon. D. H. Guthrie) to constitute boards which are to investigate llio position of soldier land settlements. It will be a week or two before the boards arc set up, as thp Minister considers it most important that the best possible men be selected to do the work.

A Wellington telegram states that Ansae Day is not a statutory holiday according to a decision given yesterday afternoon by Mr If. K. Hunt, S.M., in a-case in which the Labor Department proceeded against Cathie and Sons, Ltd., on a charge ot failing to pav wages to women- under twenty-one in their employ on the anniversary ot the landing at Gallipoli. The judgment bolds that. Anzac Day is intended to be observed, as a Sunday, and therefore it is not necessary for the employer to pay wages. I'he f ase was brought by the Labor Department as a test.

An urgent meeting of the executive ot the Amalgamated .Society of Railway Servants has been summoned for to-day and Thursday, in Wellington, to discuss the question of differential- treatment of men in the railway service-with-regard to tho Public Service cut. The feeling in the service is understood to bo running very high, and the position- is .considered serious.

Tlio executive of the. N.Z. Goal Miners’ Federation has been meeting in Wellington during tho last few dayh,- and the. proceedings terminated yesterday.' A number of matters were -discussed, including the recent trouble at the State mine and the dispute at the Ngakawau mine. The annual conference of tho. federation, which usually takes, place in Wellington in July, will this year bo held'about November. Some significance 'may attach to tho next conference, as the muiers will bo duo for a further adjustment in wages in November. Some time ago -there appeared to be a possibility of -tho headquarters _of the Miners’ Federation being shifted from Wellington to the West Coast, but it is staled that the office wili now continue to be located in Wellington. A movement is reported to be on foot for the establishment of a federation of miners on tho West Coast, and a former leading official of the New Zealand Federation is stated to l>o the chief figure behind the project. There is a possibility that the new body, if formed, will have a separate identity from the New Zealand Miners'’ Federation. •

A Palmerston North resident who learned the art of growing tobacco and making tho very best cigars in South America still follows the occupation as a hobby (says the ‘Manawatu Times *). He grows and manufactures a very fine quality of plug tobacco and good cigars, for bis own consumption. His friends appreciate them, and were it not for the restrictions he could make money out of the industry. Ho says this climate is admirably suited for growing high-grade tobaccos. Speaking at Wednesday night’s meeting of tho Wanganui Jockey Club, _ during a discussion on the value of certain properties owned by club, Mr 11. A. Campbell mentioned that bo bad been a land valuer for forty years, and he found it more difficult to value land to-day than at any other time in his experience. There were people of no experience but with plenty of money buying land to-day at a price at which they bad no chance of getting back their money. He had never hesitated to warn people against paying tho inflated prices which had ruled during the war and afterwards; but while those with oxperienco recognised that they could not get tho money out of the land at the ruling prices, there were many others prepar'd! to take the risk and buy at ridiculous prices.—'Wanganui ‘Herald.’

Lost letters, and sometimes “dead lettersj,’ carried in a Sunday coat pocket, are a constant source of trouble. But the * Manawatu Times ’ has learnt of a score of lost telegrams, including a costly cablegram, for despatch which led to the susnension of a telegraph official nearly a hundred miles away from Palmerston North. , After many months it was discovered that tho elevator shute used to carry telegrams from the counter to the telegraph operator on tho upper floor, in passing through the ceiling, was -nnlined. In the space of six inches between tho ceiling and the floor above it lay the missing telegrams. The suspended officer received an apology! A story is told against himself by a local good sort whose adipose matter is accumulating extensively, says tho Gisborne ‘ Times.’ On a recent visit to Auckland lie found himself face to face with a weighing-machine, which, by tho way, was out of order, and, wishing to know the worst, tried his luck, only to find the machine registering three stone. Hi« chagrin was increased by two urchins standing expectantly near, one of whom exclaimed! “ Say, Bill, the bloke’s hollow!” As illustrating the value of Russian currency, the Rev. D. H. Moore, of London, on Thursday night told an Ashburton audience that one of the pastors in Russia recently paid 50,000 roubles as one year’s rent for a five-roomed house in 'Warsaw. This was equal to £5! “ You can have along week-end in Poland for half a crown,” said the lecturer.

The great potential value of the native bush of Now Zealand deeply impressed Mr R. W.' Inder, of the Forest Service of India, who loft Auckland last week for Vancouver, in continuation of an extensive tour of tho dominions. During a six months’ stay in New Zealand ho visited the principal forest areas, and noted the evidence of what he characterised as the past wasteful exploitation of a national property. Ho expressed regret that so much, attention had been paid to exotics and so little to indigenous timbers. Some of these ho considered to ho equal to any in the world, kauri being second only to teak for strength, durability, and general usefulness. In his opinion the Forest Department, though, ably directed, is crippled by not having a, trained staff, no technical education, and no purely scientific development.

.Some long while ago a proposal was put forward (says the Wellington ‘Post’) that a cenotaph should be erected in the proximity of Parliament Grounds, but tho idea lias not yet taken definite shape. Speaking at a meeting of the Wellington R.S.A., tho president (Mr G. Mitchell, M.P.) said that a suggestion had been made that the cenotaph should be placed by a tree inside tho grounds of Parliament. A sum of £l4O .stood to the credit of the cenotaph fund, while the education authorities had raised £2OO. The activities of the education authorities, however, had practically ceased. Mr C. A. L. Treadwell mentioned that the idea of a cenotaph was not popular with many people, and the speaker thought that a suitable memorial would bo the erection of an arch at tho entrance to tho grounds of Parliament. 'This, ]>erhaps, could l bo done within a limit of £IO,OOO. The scheme would ha.vo to be carefully considered, but the speaker thought it would be a good idea to convert “ that hideous old gatepost down at Parliament into a memorial worthy of the city.”

Members of Parliament have been receiving numerous representations during tho week-end from constituents concerning tho Australian tariff treaty. The general opinion among members is that New Zealand has get the best of the bargain. The treaty is favorable to primary producers, but some objections are expected from manufacturers, who have enjoyed freedom from Australian competition, and do not. relish losing it. Miss-'C-onstance Brandon gave two further lantern lectures yesterdav on ‘ Mission Work in Central Africa- dr E. Sincock presided at Burns Hall in the evening. Tho missionary told a powerful story in a thrilling manner. Many phases of mission life received notice,., but the main object seemed to be to impress upon those who heard her narrative and saw her realistic lantern slides that the work should not be allowed to drop back, bat be carried further forward' to greater achievements. :