LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Star, Issue 18119, 8 November 1922, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Mr T. Scott presided at the monthly meeting of the Dunedin Horticultural Society last evening. It was decided to hold the Summer Show on Wednesday, December 6. The judges appointed were Mr H. Clarke for roses. Hr John Whyte for pot plants and cut flowere, Mr W. Kxfer for sweet peas, and Mr F. 11. HoEingworth for fruit and vegetables. A. meeting of Wellington citizens -was held Igst night to consider the question of the erection of a Wellington memorial to the 1,7C0 men of the city and suburbs ■who fell in the Groat War. A committee decided to make an appeal for funds and also to gather all the information possible regarding the site and nature of the memorial. The first appeaj is to be made on Armistice Day. The Prime Minister had said (it was reported) that no decision had been arrived at regarding the national war memorial, but it was stated that the soldiers were in favor of a memorial or cenotaph, not memorial gates or a building of utility. The meeting expressed the opinion that the debt due to those who had fa!fen had not been paid, and hoped that action would soon ho taken. Arrangements for the day wore then proceeded with. “ In Central Otago the Government has brought the irrigation scheme to fruition,” said the Hon. 0. J. .Anderson at his meeting at Gore on Monday night. “Some years ago Dr Hyde told me that the Central would be a dairying district in time to come. I thought then it was hardly possible this would eventuate, but from what I have seen recently, after the water has been turned on to the land, I.am satisfied that in a few years Central Otago will be either an important dairying district or a locality in which the holdings are small and producing an enormously greater amount of fruit than to-day." The meeting of the West Harbor Council la.st evening was attended by the mayor (Mr H. E. Moll ex), and Crs J. Fraser, A. Robertson,' A. Smith, J. T. Downes, C. French. •J. Robb, and A. Barker. Apologies for absence were received from Crs F. Mitchell, S. T. Bolton, and T. Harridge. Mi’ J. W. Muuro, M.P., wrote advising that he had been linaWe to persuade the Minister of Public Works to allocate more than £ICO £ for £ to the borough. It was decided to thank Mr Mnnro for his efforts. Formal letters were received from the Public Works Department advising that an Order in Council had been gazetted) exempting portion of Grant street from the provisions of section 117, Public Works Act, 1908. The Otago Hospital Board advised that the levy on the council for the year ending March 31, 1923, was £4.19 16s 2d. Of this £174 10a 2d had been paid, leaving a debit balance of £245 6s. The Finance Committee reported that the debit balance to date was £428 15s lOd. Accounts passed for payment amounted to £l4B Is Id.

Sir Geo. Fenwick presided yesterday afternoon at a meeting of the committee of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The president expressed the opinion that, in view of the fact that the Gun Club had issued Its programme, in which there was no mention of live pigeon shooting, they should send a letter to it congratulating it on the absence of live pigeon matches from its programme. Mr Morris said he thought it would be a very wise thing to send such a letter. He would move in that direction. The motion, which was seconded by Mr Kilpatrick, was carried unanimously. The chairman explained that Mr Craig (the society’s inspector) was not present, as ho was engaged In collecting funf?s at present. Mr Morris stated that Dir Craig had mot with a gratifying measure of success in the Kelso district. Mr Duncan (assistant inspector) reported having visited various districts in Southland. He had cautioned four’ men for working horses with open sores, one for overloading two horses, and one for ill-treating a horse. Une horse had been destroyed. Ho had collected .money from forty-two subscribers, including ten new members. Accounts amounting to £l3 5s 4d Wei’s passed for payment. It was decided to instruct the inspector to make inqumea~into two cases in which allegations of cruelty to animals were made.

A WeEington message states that 800 members of the Wellington Waterside Workers’ Union decided to take a ballot on the rotary scheme tentatively agreed upon by the union executive and the employers of waterside labor to provide a more equitable distribution of work.

Tho departmental return furnished weekly to tho Hon. Mi' Anderson, Mint isfccr of Labor, shows tgat last week there were only 900 names registered with Ilia labor bureaus of the dominion. _ "This proves,” said tlie Minister at his Goto meeting, “that the unemployed difficulty is passing .way, and I consider that uiVp few months there will bo no unemployed at alt In Now Zealand.”

Mrs Hiett presided at the meeting _of | the W.C.T.U. yesterday. Tho gathering largely took the form of a prayer meeting j —prayer for the workers in tho Proiiibi-1 tian campaign, prayer for the success of i the Dr Armor mission, and prayer for j those who cannot withstand the tempta- 1 tion of strong drink. Mrs Macourt, of Sydney, was welcomed, to the mooting. Members spoke in appreciative terms of the late Mrs Macgeorgo, and a resolution was passed with reference to her good work for many years in the temperance cause, all present standing in silence when the motion was put. Subsequently all the members went to the railway station to welcome Dr Armor, and on the lady stepping on tho platform the members gathered pa’ound her, and, holding the American flag over her head, sang with marked enthusiasm ‘New Zealand’s Going Dry.’ Dr Armor wairmjy thanked the gathering for the cordial reception accorded to her—a reception that heartened, her, cheered her, and inspired her to even greater effort than she had hitherto put forth. As Dr Armor entered' her motor car the gathering sang “All Round tho World the Ribbon White is Twined.” During her stay in Dunedin Dr Armor will be tho guest of Mrs Bowie, London street. An idea of the extensive character of tho forthcoming Dominion Industrial Exhibition in Christchurch is obtained from tho architect’s plans, which provide for 70,000 ft of floor space. Tins immense floor will bo divided by avenues and named after various Governors of New Zealand.

A Masterton resident who hatched eighty-five young ducks in an incubator woke up a morning or two later to find, them dead (states the ' Wairarapa News'). A ferret or rat had evidently got in amonsrst them and created great havoc, chewing off the logs of the little birds. Some which were thus mutilated were still alive.

Mr. Theo. Murray, Edendate, was fishing on tho Wyndha’ii River last Friday and Saturday, and secured a basket of fifty fish weighing 44ib. Mr Gregory, South Wyndham, wqa also successful in obtaining thirty-one fish last Fid day from the same river, which is in good order for fly fishing at present, and the trout arc in splendid condition.—Mataura ‘Ensign.’

Sonie_ candid criticism was levelled at the junior members of the railway service by at a recent meeting at Ashburton to discuss railway facilities (states tho ‘Guardian’). The chairman (Mr W. T. Lill) eaid the department could be, spoken to very strongly on several’ mutters, but there was one thing in par ticular that called for pretty straight - talk. “ It is thought that persona who go into tho railway service are supposed to bo civil servants, and if they can’t bp civil they must go somewhere else. There is a certain class of man in the railway service who is the essence of incivility. The senior men are all right, but the majority of tho juniors, well, they simply make mo boil.” At a later stage Mr Lull described tho “uncivil juniors” as “whipper-snap-pers and hits of rats,” who would not do or tell a customer what he wanted; “They don’t try to make nil th© business they can (as everyone should do); they simply don’t care a rap.”