Untitled

Evening Star, Issue 22953, 10 May 1938, Page 8

The postal authorities advise that the Wanganella left Sydney on Saturday with°6o bags of Australian mail for Dunedin. The mail should reach the local office on Thursday afternoon. Referring to the lack of humour in some electorates at a Labour meeting last night in the Russell Street Hall, the Rev. E. T. Cox said that Anderson’s Bay was not one. “At a meeting at Maori Hill the other night,” he said, “ a man from Anderson’s Bay conveyed the greetings of the nabobs and multi-millionaires of the Bay to the nabobs and multi-millionaires of Maori Hill.” , “ The Labour Party is promising improvements to the city streets,” Mr W. H. Shepherd informed electors at a meeting in Bums Hall last night. “ There is nothing wonderful in that, I can assure you. It’s a good old chestnut, and 1 think every person who has ever stood for council has . made that promise. And I might as well make it. too,’’ he added, amid laughter.

Some amusement was caused at the Labour candidates’ meeting at Russell Street Hall last night when the chairman announced that there was a shortage of cars for the use of electors on polling day. “Mr Passmore will lend you one,” cried a voice. .

“ The water restrictions are now withdrawn,” stated Cr W. Begg at the City Council meeting last evening, but he immediately added a cautious qualification that they would be reimposed if conditions warranted it. At the present time, he said, the reservoirs held 108,346,000 gallons, or about 75 per cent, of their maximum capacity. The intakes had greatly improved, and the city/more or less had water running to waste, at least as far as Deep Creek was concerned.

“ Two councillors are leaving us tonight,” remarked the mayor (the Rev. E. T. Cox) at the conclusion of last night’s council meeting. -Cr Scott: Only two? (Laughter.) Mr Cox. who explained that he meant # only two were not seeking re-election —Crs F. W. Mitchell and W. W. Batchelor—spoke in appreciation of their services, both in committee and in council. They had not always seen eye to eye, but he knew that they had both given of their best to the city, and he had the highest respect for their characters and work. Or W. A. Scott, adding his appreciation, said: “1 expect that there will be others you will bo saying kind words about soon.” (Laughter.)

The City Council last evening passed a resolution approving of an application to the Local Government Loans Board for its sanction to borrow a third sum of £IOO,OOO for use in housing purposes. A Stuart street ratepayer wrote registering his objections to the scheme, which he Considered the Government’s responsibility. In the course of his address at the St. Kilda Town Hall last night, Mr M. Sdverstone mad© an attack upon the chairman of the Hospital Board (Mr J. W. Dove), who, he said, had claimed to be responsible for the deletion of an offending sentence from a reference given to a domestic who had resigned from the board’s service, whereas it was Mr Silverstone himself who (so he claimed) was responsible. “No man can accuse me of being a liar and get away with it,” said Mr Silverstone, who proceeded to recount the circumstances, addins that the superintendent _at the Hospital had remarked concerning the matter that Mr Silverstone had succeeded where Mr Dove had failed. Mr Justice Kennedy has granted probate in the following estates:— Jane Rennie Reid, widow, of Dunedin; Alexander Henderson Wallace, builder, of Dunedin; Saralx Mai tin, mai’ried woman, of Dunedin; Angus Cameron, shearer, of Sydney; Clara Augusta Elliott, married woman, ■of Lawrence;' P.eter Sim, farmer, of Crookston; Herbert Roland Cayforth, dentist, of Oamaru; David Moyes, stationer, of Milton; Sarah Dobson, widow, of Island Cliff; Carl Henry •August Henke, farmer, of Waihola; Winifred Heffernan, spinster, of Dunedin; John Bain, farmer, of Halfway Bush; Jessie Crust, spinster, of Dunedin; Jessie Borrie, spinster, of Dunedin; James Jeremiah Goodger. farmer, of Dunedin; Samuel Joseph Stevenson, salesman, of Dunedin; Mary M'Diarmid, spinster, of Woodside; Edward Howlison, retired importer, of Dunedin; John Taylor Martin, woollen mills employee, of Oamaru; Vera Gertrude Marshall, spinster, of Earnscleugh; William Guest, merchant, of Balclutha; George Edward Haughton, farmer, of Roxburgh; William Cameron Gall, plumber, of Dunedin; Annie Elizabeth Leedham, widow, of Dunedin; Dora Lumsdon Stuart Stevenson, widow, of Dunedin; John Gordon, farmer, of Heriot. Letters of _ administration have been granted in the estates of George Fiddes, farmer, of Duntroon; Thomas Ryan Carroll, salesman, of Dunedin; William Hay Gilmore, farmer, of Kilmog; John Young, freezing works employee, of Brighton; Bettv Barling, spinster, of Dunedin; Williumina Will Smaill, widow, of_ Mosgiel: Ada Elizabeth Gallichau, spinster, of Dunedin. What’s in a name? The mayor (Rev. E. T. Cox) held at the final meeting of the present council last night that there was certainly a lot in a name when applied to the land recently purchased from the estate of the late P. C. Neill and known as Chingford. He strongly opposed a recommendation from the Reserves Committee that the area be called Tannock Park, because the estate had been known as Chingford for 76 years. “ There are plenty of other parks that will serve to perpetuate Mr Tamiock’s name,” said the Mayor. The committee agreed to reconsider the recommendation. The secretary of the Dunedin Returned Soldiers’ Association acknowledges the following further returns to the Poppy Day fund: —Amount previously acknowledged, £2,472 7s Sd; Naseby, £7 4s 9d; Palmerston R.S. Committee (additional!, £3 0s 3d; Highcliff School, 4s; Portohello R.S. Committee, £7 16s 2d : cash sales, 3s 9d; total, £2,490 16s 7d. During the course of his address to electors in the Burns Hall last night Mr W H, Shepherd stated that two years ago he had suggested that the council should build new municipal baths. This at once drew a question from the roar of the hall: “ Where was the money to come from?” “ That was no trouble,” replied Mr Shepherd, “ we have in the council some of those magicians who can cut a lemon and make ‘ fivers ’ pop out. But believe me when I tell you that if it goes on you will have plenty of reasons to realise you’ are the lemons.”

Crown land in tho Glen'kenich district, extending over 10 acres 2 roods 24 perches, has been gazetted as set aside for' disposal by way of sale or lease to discharged soldiers, under special tenures, in Otago.

“ Do any of you know where the Passmore property is situated?” asked Mr Cox of a group of young men who had been asking questions at his meeting at Russell street last night. “On the top of Flagstaff,” one of them replied. “ There you are,” exclaimed Mr Cox, “ they don’t even know where it it. I don’t suppose they’ve ever been up Flagstaff; they haven’t the energy to climb to the top of Flagstaff!” No one replied to Mr Cox, but it was nevertheless unlucky that he had selected that particular coterie for his charge of inertia. The group was composed mostly of members of the New Zealand Alpine Club, one of whom, with companions, has climbed Mount Cook unescorted by a guide, while the remainder have many mountaineering conquests to their credit. Flagstaff, Whare Flat, and the Silver Peaks locality are really their back-door training ground for the climbing season.

The method of voting at the local elections to be held to-morrow has been a subject of discussion and inquiry. In the city the “ cross ” system is in use—that is, the voter has to mark a cross in the square set opposite the name or names of the candidate or candidates for whom he wishes to vote. This system is known as the positive system, as opposed to the “ strike out ” or negative system, and practice has shown that far fewer informal votes are recorded under the “ cross ” system. If, however, a voter inadvertently strikes out the names of the candidates he does , not favour instead of placing a cross opposite those he Wishes to vote for, it does not necessarily follow that his paper will be informal. What the returning officer takes into account is the intention of the voter, but whatever marks are made on the paper it will be informal if more than the required number of candidates have been selected. An Assocaition message from Hastings says that an offer has been received from the New Zealand Poultry Board to assist those poultry farmers who suffered losses in the recent floods, and the mayor (Mr Maddisou) has requested all such farmers who suffered losses to advise him of particulars so that they can be- forwarded to the board at Wellington.

An empty train which was being shunted on to another line at Port Chalmers yesterday afternoon was derailed, the carriages jumping the points, one of them crossing another line and stopping at the end of the platform at an angle of 90deg to the ‘others oars. The accident occurred when the train—the 4.55 from Dunedin was being taken into the tunnel to shunt on to the export wharf in order to allow the 5.15 train from Dunedin to enter the station. The points are close to the entrance to the tunnel, and it is believed that the smoke in the proximity of the entrance interfered with the view of the signals exchanged between the engine crew and porters. The line was cleared by 10.15 p.m., but in the meantime trains and passengers were despatched from the Mussel Bay station.

Though the Otago Art Society’s sketch exhibition is the best in its history, the support accorded this annual display, housed in the society’s new rooms in the Cromwell Chambers in Dowling street, has been disappointing. However, it is expected that there will be larger attendances before the exhibition closes on Saturday. The sale is reported of Ray J. Dickison’s water colour, ‘ Old Sawmill,’ Waihola. Reference to the Government’s national superannuation scheme was made by Mr John Duncan, New Zealand delegate to the eighty-ninth annual meeting of the A.M.IV Society in Sydney last Friday. “It is not part of my function to question the necessity or otherwise for a national superannuation scheme,” said Mr Duncan, “but it might be of general interest to note that public savings already invested in the Dominion by medium of savings banks, life assurance offices, and friendly societies amount to roughly £123,000,000. Considering that this sum is exclusive altogether of private savings placed in other forms of investment, I hazard the opinion that the voluntary and self-reliant provision that has already been made by our people for future contingencies’is more substantial than may bo generally realised.”-

“ This offender has been here just a few tiroes too many,” said Senior-ser-geant Claasen in the Police Court today, when Sarah Elizabeth Smith (39) pleaded guilty to a charge of drunkenness, having been once previously convicted! of drunkenness within the last six months. The Senior Sergeant said the defendant had 18 previous convictions, 13 of which were for drunkenness. The defendant agreed to take out a prohibition order, and was convicted and discharged.

While the nippiness that has been very noticeable in the air the last two or three days has caused many a person to shiver, there are many others who have smiled their pleasure or have rubbed their hands in gleeful satisfaction. These are the retailers in the clothing trade, who are at last beginning to receive inquiries for winter garments. The unusually mild conditions which have prevailed' for so long have had a very adverse effe9t upon trade and there were some retailers who were doubting if winter would ever arrive and so improve a rather doleful situation. The first frost, registered the nbdit before last, had the result of stimulating business in hot water bottles, and one retailer had a ‘ satisfactory day ” yesterday. No doubt a steady all-round improvement in the sale of winter accessories ■will manifest itself from now on.

Three polls will be taken to-morrow at Port Chalmers —mayor, councillors, and Hospital Board. There are two candidates for mayor, 16 for the 10 vacancies on the council, and two for the vacancy on the Hospital Board. All the (polls will be taken in the Town Hall. Polling commences at 9 a.m. and closes at 7 p.ra. in the case of mayor and councillors, but for the Hospital Board member it will cease at G p.m. in order to coincide with the county election, this poll being conducted by the Waikouaiti County Council.

The postal authorities advise that the air mails despatched on April 18 reached London on Thursday last.

Eye strain —for eye comfort, for better vision, consult Sturmer and Watson Ltd., opticians, 2 Octagon, Dunedin —[Advt.]