LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Star, Issue 18253, 18 April 1923, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The award under which shearers are working expires on April 30, and steps are now being taken (says a Wellington message) by the shearers, shed hands, machine experts, and crutohcrs to secure a new award, providing for increases in wages for the whole of the industrial districts throughout the dominion. At present shearers are paid 24s per 100, but the Workers’ Union, to which shearers in common with ninny classes of pastoral workers are affiliated, is seeking a rate of 30s per 100, with a 44-hour week. Initial steps are being taken in Marlborough, and a sitting of the Conciliation Council to hear the claims of the workers there will be held at Blenheim on May 22. That portion of tho dispute affecting the Wellington district will be heard by tho Conciliation Council at Wellington on May 29. Tho dates have not vet been fixed for the hearing of disputes in Canterbury, Otago, and tho northern districts. Mr B. W. M’Villy (General Manager of Railways) received deputations at Ashburton yesterday. Ho promised to consider an improvement to the Wednesday service in order to enable farmers to attend tho Addington market, and also the speeding up of the slow trains generally, particularly tho morning train (Timaru to Ashburton). Concerning warning bells at level crossing, Mr M'Villy said that owing to tho peculiar situation at the Tancred street crossing the bell would ring when it was not required. and thus would mislead the people. Tho department was always glad to render tho crossings safer, but most of the accidents were the result of recklessness by motorists. Instead of blaming the railways, they should join in educating the people to he careful. There has just been concluded at Auckland the most sensational sale of city property recorded as far as the price is concerned. The property is the site occupied by Cook’s Soda Fountain and tea rooms in Lower Queen street, near Fort street, with a frontage of 33ft, and running back to Fort street lane. Tho price (taking into consideration tho fact that tho lease had three and a-half years to run) works out at about £47,000, or over £1,420 per foot. The site was purchased some terU years ago as a theatre site for £30,000. The Kalkoura sailed from Auckland for Opua yesterday, after discharging ,tho cargo in No. 4 hold, which was damaged by fire. Eighteen/ hundred bales of wool were more or less damaged, of which 222 bales of loose, charred wool were auctioned, the remainder being reconditioned. Over 3,000 bales were not damaged. One hundred and ninety cases of tallow were undamaged. Of 240 cases of sugar of milk only a few are damaged.

As tho result of representations mado by tho New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board, tho Railway Department has agreed that the concession in freight granted in respect to frozen mutton and lamb may be extended to frozen pork consigned for export—viz., Class “ C,” plus 10 per cent, instead of Class “ C ” plus 40 per cent.

At the Supreme Court at Hamilton the Farmers’ Co-operative Auctioneering Company sued the Waikato Shipping Company, claiming a refund of £4,500 paid in for shares, and also asked for a rectification of the share register by the removal of its name and rescission of the contract to take shares. The defendant company counter-claimed £SOO, being the balance' of the share money allegedly due, and interest at 5 per cent. The plaintiff company stated that it agreed to take up £5,000 worth of shares in the defendant company if given representation on the board of directors of the shipping company, and if an equal number of shares were taken up by the Eaglan and Kawhai settlors. .Subsequently they were informed that the latter shares had been taken up, and so carried out the agreement. They now claimed that the conditions had not been carried out, and so_ asked to be relieved of their responsibility. The Shipping Company claimed that the conditions had been carried out. His Honor said the Auctioneering Company's representative had been an active member of the Shipping Company’s directorate for eighteen months, and apparently was satisfied that the conditions had been carried out. There was no fraud in the present case, and the equities made it impossibly now for the plaintiff company to repudiate its shares. Plaintiffs, therefore, would bo nonsuited, with costs, and judgment would be given for the .Shipping Company on the counter claim.

An official visit to the Mangahao hydroelectric works was paid yesterday by the Minister of Public Works. Interviewed, the Hon. Mr Coates said the work was progressing Cjuito satisfactorily. “As regards the engineering part of the scheme,” ho mentioned, 'those concerned cannot do more than at present. I am satisfied with what I saw, and the department is doing all that is possible to push on the work. We expect to finish about next June. Of course, everybody knows of tho difficulties experienced with the foundations, which will add greatly to the cost and to the time; still, good progress is being made. The concrete works will lie starting in a day or two now, and the same applies at Arapcti. It would be unreasonable to expect that tho undertaking should bo handled any better than it is,* and the men clown there are doing good work. It would be quite possible to waste thousands of pounds on Mangahao, but everything is being done to conserve the cost to a minimum. lam satisfied with what is being done; that, I think, sums up my impressions.”

The question of whether a bell on a cow’s neck constitutes an offence 0£ not in a borough is to bo threshed out at the next sitting of the Magistrate’s Court at Kaitangata (says Hie ‘Leader’). Proceedings against tho owner of the particular cow are being instituted by the Kaitangata Borough Council, to whom complaint was made about the noise of the bell some two months ago.

Between Owaka and Tahakopa no less than twenty saw-mills are operating at the present lime, and the output of sawn timber is very great. A resident of Maclennan slated to a ‘Free Press’ representative that though all these mills are working to their fullest capacity it will bo a good many years yet before the Gatlins bush gets into the “worked out” stage. With the increasing mildness of the winter agriculturists in South Otago are beginning to favor more and more the planting of grain crops in tho autumn to stand the winter and come away early in the spring (says the ‘ Free Press ’). It has also been found that feed crops composed of grass and grass mixtures sown in the autumn give a far better prospect of success than if sowing is delayed until the spring.

“Up-to-date” potatoes, which are looked upon ns exceptionally good “keepers,” are said to be difficult to get in this district this season (says the Clutha ‘Free Press’). Although growers, particularly on Inchclutha, have harvested some remarkably fine crops of potatoes (up to twenty tons to the acre), the proportion of “Uptodates ” is smaller than usual, and £7 lOs on truck at Stirling has been freely offered for them by outside buyers. After an inspection of the Manawatu Gorge road, which is now in process of extensive improvement, the Hon. J. G. Coates (Minister of Public Works) said that, whilst sympathetic with the claims of the Board of Control for £32,000 (having already consented to give £31,000), he must recognise the many requests for other works which were dominion-wide. He admitted that in some instances it was unwise to cut down the expenditure, but there were so many works and so little money. It was no use giving one good road to a country, while thousands of settlers who should have first consideration were being pinched for lack of access. Regarding the suggested toll-gate, he did not think there was any analogy with Eastbourne (Wellington), as the latter was purly a pleasure resort. He hoped that Parliament would support the amendments to the Highway Bill, and would consider the board’s request.—Palmerston North telegram.