LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Star, Issue 18048, 16 August 1922, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The cruiser Chatham lefi Auckland yesterday morning on a to the Pacific Islands and, Australia, After gunnery and torpedo practice in the gulf she will pay short visits to the Bay of Islands, Whangaroa, and Maunganui. She is due at Suva on August 27, Lautoka on August 31, New Hebrides on October 1, Noumea on October 6, Jervois Bay and New South Wales on October 16, and Sydney on October 29. She will I’oavo for New Zealand on November 10. A Wellington message announces that the" Public Works Board lias accepted the tender of the Fletcher Construction Company of £11,943 for the erection of the Dunedin automatic telephone exchange. Tenders are also to be invited for the erection of a new main exchange for Wellington, which will cost in the vicinity of £50,000. When these buildings are complete both the Wellington and Dunedin telephone systems will be entirely automatic.

. The quarterly meeting of the Congregational Sunday School Union of Otago was held last evening at Ravensbourne. The Ravensbourno teachers entertained representatives of all the Congregational S.S. teachers at tea, and later the Ravensbourno Congregational choir, led by Mr W. R. Don, with Miss Jack at the organ, rendered several anthems in a creditable manner. Mr W. R. Sinclair (president) occupied the chair at the business meeting. The subject of the essay in connection with the annual examination was discussed, ‘The Story of Daniel’ (as told_in the first three chapters of Daniel) being decided upon. It was decided that all members of Bible classes, irrespective of age, be eligible for the essay competition. A series of catechism questions submitted by the Rev. I, Sarginson was adopted. A minute recording .warm appreciation of the services rendered by Mr E. E. - Wilkinson as secretary for many years was adopted. A paper on ‘ Order and Worship in the Sunday School,’ contributed by Mr John Reid, 8.A., was read by .Air Jos. Abernethy. After discussion a cordial vote of thanks' to Air Reid was carried. Further hospitality by the Ravcnsbourne teachers brought the meeting to a close. The manner in which some people impose on others was demonstrated by a case which has just come to light at Wanganui (states' an exchange). A woman with two children applied at the board’s office for charitable aid, and after a pitiful tale had been told assistance' was promptly given. ■ It was subsequently discovered that the recipient of assistance'” had borrowed the children for the occasion.

One can imagine the chagrin of a bridal party .who, on leaving Wanganui for Wellington, were /accosted by a railway porter: “Here, what’s that you’ve got?’’ The suspicious object referred to (states the Wanganui ‘ Chronicle ’) was nothing more than a nicely-framed photograph about 18in by 12in, and on being advised to this effect the porter continued : “ You can’t take that with you, that’s furniture, unless you pay for it.’’ It cost the travelling party 4s for permission to carry the picture by train, and one can only conclude that it would be cheaper to have presentation' pictures framed at their destination or restrict the size of the photographs. One Westport paper announced a “scoop 11 recently by declaring that wreckage from the lost steamer Kairald had been found off Birchfield. Its local Cuutemporary waxed humorous about the alleged 1 sensation, and inserted the following paragraph:—“The Alystery Solved.— Captain Sawyer, coming from Kararaea by the s.s. Nile yesterday, steamed close up to the object of curiosity in the sea opposite Birchfield in anticipation of striking a treasure ship with fabulous wealth stored in its hold, but found to his utter disappointment that the mystery was nothing more or less than a tree above the water.' The reply of the other journal was to this effect; “The idea that it is a snag, not a wreck, is absurd, as snags that we have seen have no doors with braes hinges or Baltic timber attached to them. A gentleman who called at this office yesterday stated that the vessel can be plainly seen from the train, and we advise those persons who have snags on the brain to go to the scene and view the wreck.”

As an indication of the absolute infallibility of finger-print evidence, Senior-ser-geant E. W. Dinnie, the New Zealand expert, explained to the jury in the Supremo Court at Wellington before the Chief Ji’stice (Sir Robert Stout) that nine points oi resemblance in finger prints were more than sufficient to establish a person’s identity. In the particular case under discussion against the accused, Cooksou. expert evidence alleged the discovery of seventy-five points of resemblance between the finger prints of the accused and the finger prints found on a oouplo of glass mugs, alleged to have been handled by the accused. The odds against finding any two persons possessing as many asseventyflve points of finger-print similarity, sard the expert, were no less than 9,000 billions to one. As there were, pointed out His Honor,' only about 1,600 millions of persons in the world at present, it must necessarily be quite a number of years yet before the world's population would 'be large enough to afford an opportunity to prove the expert’s figures. Woman-haters who do not object to solitude might find Walpole Island, near New Caledonia, a place to their liking, for, according to Mr T. G. Bryant, who is visiting Auckland after spending two years on the island, no women are allowed there. Purely a coral formation, Walpole Island rises sheer out of the sea about 280 ft. and its area is 530 acres. Mr Bryant has been employed as analyst by a New Zealand company which works the guano- deposits there. There are only four white men on the staff. In the work of extracting the guano from a. series of depressions on the top of the and drying, milling, and bagging it, eighty kanakas, twenty-five Japanese, and about a dozen Javanese are engaged. None of the original natives are on the island, Mr Bryant states, and he has heard it said that the last of them were taken away in a canoe to Mare Island, the most southerly island of the Loyalty Group, about twenty years ago. There are some large monoliths on the island, which Mr. Bryant considers must have been erected by the old natives. . Frequently skeletons arc found in caves.- Vegetables grow wonderfully well on the island, particularly the “comola,” which is the kanaka name for the kumara. The climate is remarkably even, and the temperature was never above 90aeg or below 60deg during the period of Mr Bryant’s residence. Last February an. epidemic of influenza was experienced on the island. There were forty cases among the kanakas, Japanese, and Javanese. Seven patients died. A very pleasant evening was spent last night by the Mornington Presbyterian Literary Society, when a paper on Barrie and readings from his works were given by Mrs ■ Trotter. Her rendering_ of the “'braid Scots” parts was effective and pleasing. Miss Kate Teller assisted with a reading. In proposing a vote of thanks to Mrs Trotter, the chairman, Mr G. Stuart Thomson, spoke of the lovable nature of Barrie, and of his great address when installed Lord Rector of St. Andrew s University, which added! to the high position'he holds in literary circles. In the course of his Budget speech last night, Mr Massey said : As a large portion of our revenue, especially the laud and income tax, does not come in until the end of each financial year, special arrange, ments have to be made to meet current requirements when the expenditure is in excess of receipts. In the year just ended Treasury bills amounting in the aggregate to £1,155,453 were issued in anticipation of ordinary revenue and loan moneys, upon receipt of which they were duly redeemed. The rates of interest varied from to 6 per cent. No Treasury bills were outstanding at March 31, nor have any been issued since, although, for the reason stated, it will probably bo necessary to anticipate receipts in this manner before March 31 next.' By the use of Treasury bills in preference to the sale of Imperial securities held by the different investment accounts a saving of at least £93,000 was effected, as Imperial 5 per cent, stock purchased at £95 was quoted at much lower price when the bills were floated.