NEWS AND NOTES.

Grey River Argus, 1 June 1914, Page 2

NEWS AND NOTES.

The homely analogy- of a beer pump was used with humorous, if not usefuJ, effect in the course of an inquest at the Dunedin Mfagi strafe's Court. Counsel was endeavouring- to elicit from a railway signalman a lucid account of the way in which he worked the levers— whether he pushed them or pulled them. "He pulls them, like the levers you see in bars," explain- 1 ed another solicitor, amid laughter. The analogy of the beer-engine was adopted by the first-mentioned counsel, , who, after eliciting a quantity of tech-| nical regarding signals, with reference to the^liberator of the popular beverage, remarked: "I wish we -had a beer pump handy now. This is getting a bit dry." ' ' A union of working jewellers was formed in Christchurch last week and preliminary steps were taken to secure an award on the lines of the agreements entered 1 into between, the Wellington and Dunedin Unions and their employers some weeks back. The I workers in this trade in Auckland also formed a union, and they are now enJedvooinng to secure an award. The .railing of award? ti Chnstchurch and uckland will complete the indus..rnl"organisation of* jewellers in the four centresThere now stands in the vestibule of the freneral post office at Wellington a 'machine which produces two halfpenny post-cards in return for a penny nserted in the slot. As showing how delicate the adjustment of the mechanism is in this machine, it was found to be blocked recently, arid when examined by the inspector it was discoverd that someone had tried to secure postcards by inserting a ten centime piece (a. copper coin just a tiny fraction smaller -in diameter . ithan a pcan\) wh-ch had become jammed in. the first metal shoot. The inspector said .that it was -not unusual to find | half-pennies an the machine througih ' people supposing that if they could get two post-cards for a penny, one would be produced for a haKpenm. ' Until a few years ago if -a person was killed by an accident due to an unlawful negligence or default of his employers, no damages could be ofe-ta.-ied from those responsible for the fatality. But this position has been changed by recent lekislatipn. The point was referred to at Wellington by Mr. Justice Hoskins> in the course jf i case in which the w^dow of a wharf labourer is suing the Union Steam Ship Company for damiqcs His Honour sa*J that under the old let> illation the right to 'recover damages itf WSdB circumstances r>cr • * ed with the death ofthe. victim. Nowaday, however »if a man were killed in such circumstances that, had he lived he could have recovered damages the right to maintain an action for damages passed to certain relatives, inducing, of course, the widow and children. .A record seizure of opium was made by the Fremantle Customs officials on board the Ashburton lately. . The quantity of discovered is not only a Tecord for West - Australia, but is believed to be ,a record for the Commonwealth. The Ashburton arrived .from London via the Cape on; Satur day, the 16th 1 inst. The boarding inspectors' attention was directed to the vessel's engine room. The officers began to shovel coal from portion of the bunkers. What is known as a '"coal pocket" was emptied of its contents without result. Effort were then directed to the port side. The wo,rk of removing the coal — each "pocket" contains about 20 tons — was xtremely «vrdous and occupied some considerable time ; but eventually the task was accomplished. It was here that the sensational discovery was made. Hidden away on the second shelf of the port "pocket" some feet from the lowest

floor of the ship, the' officers discovered 491 i-lb. tins of drug and iolb. of crude opium. The^drug is variously estimated to he valued .at from ,£1 to 3os per ounce, and so the total value of the seizure .would, be considerably over .£SOOO. ihe captajn and officers of the Ashburton deny all knowledge of the drug, as also do the crew, a numoer of whom are ' Chinese. The Customs officials are deserving 1 of great pra.se for tKe commendable thoroughness with which they carried { through their work of search once their suspicions' 'were aroused. On the fol-l lowmgvmorning they were stiill at work searching every possible nook where rti was cons-dered' probable that further supplies of the prohibited article might be secreted. The opium has been lodged in Has (Majesty's warehouse, and will eventually be destroyed. After performing evolutions over ' Hobson's Bay, at the landing- of the Governor-General last week, Lieutenant' Harrison, of the Commonwealth Aviation Corps, took Major Whyte as a passenger for a journey of over 200 males. The v last 110" miles of the journey were put past witliout a stop. The engine performed ?n great style, and I the machine travelled over 60 miles pr hour,. Major \Vhyte dropped a dispatch'into Queenscliff forts -when passing over them. Up to what age is it desirable that children shoud be '■maintained in an orphanage ?- This interesting question is >no\y being- considered by the Wellington. Presbytery, and there is Tepcurted to be some divers'ty of opinion among members 'of' the, mmistrv. For instaace. some maintain that a child should be released when he or she reaches the age of, say , fourteen Others oppose this idea, and the opposition includes the Rev, Dr. Gibb. "If we let" the ch<ldren~'go early," he argues; "it is possible that all the good we have done will be undone. When, the boys '.are older they can 'be put to various tiades and occupations, \ -1 their earning^ w««ld more than compensate for' J 'the raonuj spent in their upkeep. If we can, let us keep the boyb until they are nineteen or tw.enty, and thus '^.ave them from any pernicious influences."