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Evening Star, Issue 21054, 17 March 1932, Page 10

The police have been asked by the Benevolent Committee of the Hospital Board to take action against one of the men who applied for relief on account of being unemployed, and who were found to bo in employment. The following recommendation is made to the Hospital'Board by the Finance Committee: —“In future, Hospital maintenance accounts placed in the hands of the solicitors for collection be charged for at a percentage.” Containing a protest against any further wage cuts, and seeking the chamber’s aid in opposing such cuts, a letter from tho Gisborne section of the Public Service Association was received at yesterday’s meeting of the Gisborne Chamber of Commerce. The letter contended that the cuts would have a widespread and disastrous effect on business generally, and any further reduction in the wages of Civil servants would mean that any sum up to £2,000,000 would lie withdrawn from circulation. The letter urged that a protest to the Government was essential in the interests of all engaged in business. Members of the chamber expressed sympathy with tho Public Servants, but decided that the matter was outside tho province of the chamber. The position was that either wages should be cut down, or the staffs of the various departments reduced. Reference to a recent attempt to blow tho safe in the Hamilton Borough ofiico was made in a case in which Charles Barclay Dewar, aged 57, pleaded not guilty to a breach of his probationary license. The police stated that Dewar was released from gaol on January 14. He admitted being in possession with his brother of an explosive which was concealed at Frankton. After the attempt on the offices the accused’s brother found that the explosive had disappeared. No explanation was given, and the police submitted that the accused, who was a convicted safeblower, was in unlawful possession of an explosive. Sentencing Dewar to two months’ imprisonment, Mr Wyvern Wilson, S.M., said the position was ridiculously inverted in such cases. After a judge had sentenced a man ho was released earlier by the Prisons Board on certain conditions. If ho did not fulfil the conditions, his punishment was left to a magistrate or justices, who had to determine how long the man should serve.

Staff changes likely to take place as a result of the transfer of the former Eastprn Extension cable from Wellington to Auckland are- not yet announced. It is expected (says a Tress Association telegram) that the full Wellington staff of twenty-four, including sixteen operators, cannot all be absorbed. The cable which is to be changed still contains sections of tho first trans-Tasman cable laid in 1876.

The following message has been received from the Secretary of the General Tost Office:—The following broadcast by Tutuilla radio was received tonight;—“ Forty-foot open boat and eight Samoan fiishermen lost at sea since Friday, ' March 11, from southwestern side of Tutuilla. All ships are requested to keep a look-out for them, and if sighted report to tho Governor of American Samoa.”

Tho expected filling ow Arapuni Lake will be commenced next Wednesday or Thursday. The filling will take from five to nine days, according to whether there is rain or not. After that (says a Tress Association telegram from Hamilton) four or five days will be required to dry out the machinery, so that power should be available by the end of the month, a month ahead of schedule.

The cases of infantile paralysis notified for the week ended March 14 totalled twelve. Of these.(says a Press Association message from Wellington) i eight were in the Canterbury health district, two in Central Wellington, one in Otago, and one in the WanganuiHorowhenua district. No deaths were reported. The New Zealand Council of the Royal Life Saving Society decided last night to allot the 1933 championships to the Manawatu Head Centre, and the 1934 championships to Auckland. It was decided to ask all the head centres to take steps to see that the beaches are not loft unguarded on account of the competitions. The Police Court sat for a few minutes under Mr J. R. Bartholomew, S.M., this morning in order to deal with two cases of drunkenness. A first offender was fined 12s 6d, in default twenty-four hours’ imprisonment. Hugh Alexander Kennedy, who has had two previous convictions within the last six mouths, was fined 20s, in default three days’ imprisonment, a prohibition order to be taken out against him. To the Hospital Board, the Finance Committee is making the following recommendations :—“No levy for capital expenditure be made for the coming year, and the same procedure lie adopted as: for the current year; subject to the Government allocations being of a similar amount to the current year, the maintenance levy for the year 1932-33 be the same as for the year 1931-32.” As a result of private advico received by the Minister of Health (states a Wellington Press Association message) to the effect that an outbreak of small pox has occurred at Vancouver, the port health officers throughout New Zealand have been instructed to keep a strict watch upon vessels arriving in the dominion from Canada. During a discussion at the meeting of the High Schools’ Board yesterday several letters that have appeared in the newspapers were the subject of reference, one member showing that he had a poor opinion of the mentality of these and other correspondents. “It is always the cranks who write to the papers,” was his comment. Quantities of cabbages are now being sent from the civic garden at Opoho to the mayor’s depot. A cutting is made every week. The potatoes grown there are all dug and eaten. A great crop of winter greens is coming on. Over the last few races of fat sheep at the Burnside sales yesterday early prices were barely maintained, especially in the ewe section, where a drop of 2s a head was noticeable. Wethers all through sold at opening rates. A specially prime truck of half-breds from the Puketoi Station drew the attention of the buyers, and was keenly competed for, bringing up to 19s 3d. A truck from Messrs M'Kee Bros., Clinton, sold up to 19a. With the exception of a very small lot of secondary quality the yarding of fat lambs was of extra heavy and primes. The butchers took away most of the light-weights at a slight reduction. on last week’s prices, but prime and heavy stuff was keenly competed for by exporters, and showed an advance of from Is to ]s 6d a bead on late rates. Several consignments from Central Otago brought from IGs 6d fo 19s 3d, and light-weights sold from 11s to 13s 6d. In some cases schedule rates were exceeded by the butchers.

Writers are not agreed as to the dato and place of St. Patrick’s birth. There is some evidence that ho was born on the estuary of tiro Clyde, near Dumbarton. His father was a Roman farmer named Calpurnicus; his mother, Goiichessa, was of British origin. When sixteen years of ago ho was carried off by pirates. Escaping from his servitude, ho became a monk at Tours, was ordained a priest by St. Germain, and was entrusted by Pope Celestine 1. with the conversion of Ireland. He is said,to'have founded 365 churches, consecrated 450 bishops, and personally baptised 12,000 converts. He died at Saul, near Downpatrick. The date of Ids death was, according to some authorities, Match 17, 40J, others giving 460 as the year. Though not the nearest to us of the four British national saints in point of time —St. Andrew’s death is supposed to have been about 62 or between that and 70, St. George’s demise is given at 303, St. Patrick comes next in chronological order, and David !.■ (otherwise St. David) lived from 1084 to 1153—tho Irish saint has the greatest popularity nowadays the world over, and is the best known, perhaps by reason of his ‘ Confessions ’ and the studies of biographers. Dunedin to-day kept the universal bank holiday, and’ many of our citizens sported green _ buttonholes. To-night the concert which is now an established celebration is to be in His Majesty’s Theatre. The strenuous feat of Christchurch’s Labour Mayor, Mr Sullivan, who did some hard travelling to reach Wellington for the crucial division on the Arbitration Act amendment on Tuesday evening, after presiding at. the council meeting in Christchurch till late on Monday night, has been emulated by another Labour mayor, Mr D. W. Coleman, Gisborne. He also had to attend to his mayoral duties in his town, but had urgent necessity to bo in the House on Wednesday for further discussion of the arbitration legislation; therefore he took an aeroplane from Gisborne to Hastings, leaving his home at 6.45 on Wednesday morning and catching the Wellington express at Hastings. This enabled him to_ enter the House late that afternoon in time to vote against tire closure motion.—Parliamentary correspondent. Inconstant weather having lessened tho number of surfers at St. Clair, the pavilion there is now open only at week-ends and on the days that are assuredly warm and sunshiny. There is no call for continuous service. Town dwellers do not go out to tho pavilion in numbers, and most of the local residents who indulge in a frolic amongst the breakers do their disrobing at home, this coming about from the fact that they start the season much earlier than tho official opening day and they have got into the habit of going down to the water ready for a jump in without more ceremony than throwing off an outer wrap.

Commander R. Ramsbotham and Lieutenant - commander Hammer,sley Johnston, of H.M.S. Laburnum, returned the Harbour Board’s call this morning, and later paid their respects to the mayor (Mr R. S. Black) at the Town Hall. The sloop was coaling today, in all 120 tons being taken on board. To-night the captain and some of the officers will attend the R.N.V.E. drill, while to-morrow some of the officers will be taken by car to watch a field battery shooting. At present half the ship’s company is being granted allnight leave, and one-quarter leave till midnight. The officers and men are renewing old friendships and also making new acquaintances, and are being entertained privately.

The committee of tho Manufacturers’ Association has decided that “ Made in New Zealand” week in Dunedin this year will be from May 18-25 (inclusive). Each year the week has increased in size and importance, and it has always been a huge success and tho hearty co-operation of the members of the retail trades is highly appreciated by the manufacturers, who realise that without this co-operation their own efforts would fall short. In view of the acuteness of the unemployment problem and the fact that many of our factories are not working full time, the appeal to “buy New Zealand made” goods is' more insistent than ever at present. Retailers are asked to communicate with the organiser of the Manufacturers’ Association should they wish to be linked up with the movement. 1

Dahlias arc now the most attractive feature of the outdoor plants in the Dunedin Botanic Gardens. Their keenest rivals are the begonias, of which two types are seen—the short and sturdy ones in the open beds, these being very bright and definite as to colour, and the tender sorts, shown under glass, which are likened to young belles in a ballroom. To-day Mr Tannock’s men were taking the orchids from the nursery into their house. They have come on well, the lady’s slipper variety leading the way. The novelty in the glasshouses for a while will be the Chinese lantern plants. A few of these were seen here for the first time last autumn. Notv there aro over fifty plants. 'Die growth is like that of the Capo gooseberry except for the reddish colour.

The report that the Australian Mutual Provident Society intends taking legal action to recover from tho Waitcmata Electric Power Board interest allegedly short paid by the board in terms of the New South Wales Interest Reduction Act of 1931 was referred ycterday to tho secretary of the hoard, who said the hoard was not aware that any such action was being taken. Tho board had been paying tho society oil per cent, on a loan of £200,000 domiciled in Sydney, the payments of £5,750 being made to Sydney every half-year. In accordance with legal advice the .last half-yearly payment was reduced to, £4,455, representing a saving of £2,590 a year. Die Australian Mutual Provident Society has now advised the hoard that it cannot accept smaller payment in settlement of the interest instalment due. It has been advised by counsel .in Sydney that tho Waitemata Electric Power Board’s debentures domiciled in Sydney are not subject to any interest reduction under the New South. Wales law.— Auckland correspondent. Apart from tho passiug of the short title of the Arbitration Amendment Bill in committee, the House again yesterday made no real progress with the Arbitration Amendment. This was partly due to the introduction, at 8 o’clock, of the Mortgagors and Tenants’ Belief Bill, a debate on the provisions of which was promptly inaugurated by the Opposition and sustained until 11 p.m., when the Government presented its first amendment to the Arbitration Bill, a proposed new clause which provides for the appointment of additional conciliation commissioners. This enabled Labour speakers to develop a new line of argument, which was stressed until the arrival of the midnight adjournment, with the “commissioner” amendment still in process of introduction, The net result of the day’s sitting was the introduction of a Bill and the" passage of one clause—-the short title—of the Arbitration Amendment. A Christchurch Association message states that lire destroyed Clarkes’ Ltd, Confectionery Factory in Harman street, Spreydon, early this morning. The damage is estimated at over £4,000, including the loss of expensive machinery and stocks. Tho building covered a quarter-acre.

The Central Licensing Authority under the Transport Act concluded its Dunedin sitting yesterday afternoon. The Dunedin City Corporation applied for a license for a service from Dunedin to Waipori. The chairman (Colonel S. S. Allen) said that this case had been set doivn for Thursday, hut the evidence available would he heard and decision reserved to allow any opposition to come in before Thursday. Mr G. A. Lewin (town clerk) said that this was purely an observation trip. Decision was reserved. The hoard will sit in Christchurch to-morrow. Save your eyes. Be wise and consult W. V. Stumer (optician, 2 Octagon), thus conserving good vision for old age.—[Advt.] Gold wanted in large or small quantities; bring your, old jewellery along, valued by expert jewellers and highest prices given.—Ferguson Ltd., jewellers, 45 George street.—[Advt.] Tho Dunedin Specialist Young Bird Show will be held in the Victoria Hall and Fullers’ Hall to-morrow and Saturday. Largo entries have been received in tbo poultry class, and exceptionally good entries in tbo canary, pigeon, and children’s sections, also in the cooking classes. At the Palais Uansaut, Concert Chamber, this Saturday the newly augmented Savonia Dance Band will make its first appearance. Tho “ Palais ” also advertises a. reduction in admission prices.