LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Star, Issue 20634, 6 November 1930, Page 3

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Fire late last night destroyed a twostoried building in which the Central Command Defence Forces have been housed at Palmerston North since 1 The building, which was originally a dwelling, was erected many years ago, and the (lames spread rapidly amongst the dry timbers, it is practically a total loss, it is understood that the records were saved. .Six New Zealanders, who arc desirous of joining the Royal Air Force on short service commissions, have been recommended by the Director of Air Services (Wing-commander Grant-Dalton) They are .1, W. Burgess (Wellington), B. Tcviotdale (Wanganui), J. L. Armstrong (Dannovirke). B. W. Hobbs (Christchurch). J. Hdclleslon (Helensville), and R. Colebrook. Those who intend going to England to join the Air Force are advised to communicate with the Director of Air Services and undergo a preliminary examination, thus lessening the risk of being turned down when they reach England The building permits issued in the larger centres of live dominion during September (says a Press Association message from Wellington) show n decrease of '2(5.;} per cent., as compared with September, 1929. During the same period the number of authorisations for new dwellings declined by 41 per cent. Taking the figures for the nine months the total permits are fewer by 21.3 per cent., and the permits for new dwellings by 29.5 per cent, than the similar totals for the corresponding period of 1929. The decline in tho number for new dwellings was greatest in Auckland (02.4 per cent.), followed by Christchurch (25.8 per cent.), Wellington (20.4 per cent.), and Dimodin (1.8 per cent). The decrease for tho other centres was 14.7 per cent.

Reserved judgment was given by Mr H. P. Lawry in the case in Christchurch (says a, Press Association telegram) in which Archibald Kennedy and Joseph James Meldnun, printers, of Dunedin, were charged with printing a programme for the test match, Britain v. New Zealand, at Lancaster Park, on July 5, without a license from tho New Zealand Rugby Union. The magistrate said he was satisfied that what was printed by the defendants purported to bo a programme of tho match. However, the charge was not so serious as it might Ivave been, as it was only printing and not publishing. He fined the defendants £2.

The first regular aerial passenger service to bo conducted in Now Zealand has been opened between New Plymouth and Wellington by Taranaki Airways. Tests ami trial flights were carried out during the past fortnight, and tho service was definitely inaugurated by tho company’s pilot, Squadron-leader G. A. G. Cowper, who landed at Rongotai with a passenger. Two Do Souter machines are to be used, and in the meantime one return trip per week is planned. Tho service will bo extended as the traffic warrants it. Extensive trials made recently have shown that the trip between Now Plymouth and Wellington can be made regularly in two hours, and the timetables have been worked out on this basis. The first passenger trip was actually made a fortnight ago, but the sesrvice was opened yesterday. The machines will take off from the Bell Block aerodrome at New Plymouth, and the Rongotai aerodrome will be used in Wellington. Landings will be made at tho Hawera and Wanganui aerodromes, and at Marten. Each machine carries two passengers and a pilot. The first passenger to bo carried on the inauguration of the regular service was Mr R. IT. Horner, solicitor, of Hawera. TT.j public accounts issued in a supplementary gazette last night disclose that the revenue for the six months amounted to £9,057,880, compared with £10,1(39,347 for the corresponding period of last year. The expenditure amounted to £12,237,467, compared with £11,816,300 for tho corresponding six months of last year. Expenditure I under tho heading permanent appropriations amounted to £8,591,569 (compared with £8,157,534), and under annual appropriations £3,645,907 (compared with £3,688,766). These figures are identical with those contained in tho statement made by tho ActingPrime Minister (Mr Ransom) during the second reading of tho Appropriation Bill in the House of Representatives, and Mr Ransom intimated last night that tho review of tho position which ho made on that occasion, when it was pointedi’out that the figures were based on preliminary calculations, applies to the present situation. Arrested in the act of opening a banking account with a portion of the money from the sale of a number of Wellington City Council debentures, Victor Alfred Smith told tho detectives that tho bonds had been given to him by an old man shortly before his death. Whether this was so or whether, as the police alleged, the debentures were stolen, was tho question which a jury was asked to decide in tho Supremo Court at Wellington. The jury failed to come io an agreement, and a new trial was ordered. Smith pleaded not guilty to the theft of thirteen debentures, each valued at £IOO, with interest coupons attached, tho whole being valued at £1,322, the property of tike executor of tho estate of tho lato Martin Burn. Eor tho Crown it was contended that Burn, who was a bachelor, was a very frugal and temperate man, careful and saving almost to the extent of meanness, and that it was inconceivable that ho would part with the debentures, which represented his life’s savings. A. statement was read in which the accused said that a fortnight or three weeks prior to his donth tho deceased handed him a sealed envelope and implied that it was a gilt for services rendered. A few days after the death of Burn tho accused received from his solicitors an opinion that the gift was a valid one and that he had a good title against the representative of the estate.