LOCAL AND GENERAL

Grey River Argus, 17 December 1920, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

An Auckland telegram state's that lhorn i s to be executed fer the Pukekawa murder on Monday morning next at 8 o'clock.

It is understood that w heh the headquarters of the Union Company, are** removed from Dunedin to Wellm.rton, the. registered office and ilire-2r.f«rate will remain in Dunedin. • •

The Gazette announces thnt a coroner, deputy-coroner or Justice *o* the Peace, other -than 'a salaried.Stipendiary Magistrate is to receive .-Cii 2f. for each inquest lie holds. l«'onn<-r.]y he recived £J.

No papers v.iH be -published in EngJand on the 25th, 26th. and 2.7 th iust. At last night's meeting of the Grey Hospital and Charitable Aid Board,' Miss H. Kilgour was appointed secretary- • ' . The full details for the holiday railway arrangements on tho .Westland section will be found in an advertisement on our fourth page. Some 50 tons of cement a week arc ! asked for the. Otira tunnel now to hurry up completion. If so much is j used "when available it is not difficult to understand a delay at present. The Westland Hydroelectric Power Board recommends* to Mr. Birks consideration of the following sources of power — Toaroha, Hokitika Gorge, Doctor's Creek, Lake Kanieri, Arahura Eiver, and Kumara water race. At its meeting this week ihc V.'ostx land Land Board upheld the ruling, in force for many years past, that owners of land fronting river beds, had the right to the lease of the riverbeds in front of their property. An Oamaru telegram records the death of Hon. Geo. Jones, M.L.C., at the age of 76. He was M.P. forWaitaki from ISSO to 1886, and entered the Upper House in 1895. He was a leasehold advocate and a musician of xepute. The Secretary of the Nightcaps District Miners' Union , advises miners and workers to keep away from the Nightcaps district for the time being; and not to take any notice ■of the spurious statements appearing, 7590 spurious advertisements • appearing . in the daily papers, as there is considerable unemployment in that district. The late George Jones whose death at Oama-ru yesterday is recorded, besides being an advocate of breaking up big landed estates, was for 50 years associated with journalism. He was also well known as a finished violinist, and for many years he was conductor of the Oamaru Garrison Band, -which was the champion band at one time of the Dominion. At last night's meeting of the Grey i Hospital and Charitable Aid ' Board, the question of insuring tho Secretary and the Treasury was brought up. Mr Williams expressed surprise that neithed had been insured. "We would have been in a fine stew if our 'previous secretary had got off with £1000. instead of £90 wouldn't) we? Mr Hannan replied that this emergency had been covered by a fidelity policy. Dealing with the minimum wage at the Conciliation Council yesterday Mr Martin for the employees said that if after five years in the drapery trade a man was not worth more than £4 4s then the best thine he could do was to g6t out of it. Mr Smith said that £4 4s was too much for » man of 21 years of age. Mr Martin replied that the minimum wage applied to all and it must be remembered that if there •were not a fixed wage there would be no protection for a married man with children. At Hokitika S.M. Court Richard N. B. Birkin manager of the Commercial Hotel, .Kumara, was charged with failure to admit police, without unnecessary delay, and aiding in the commission of an offence, three men who ■were found on the premises during prohibited hours. Mary Birkin was also charged with wilfully obstructing the police, A plea of not guilty was made in, all charges which were heard together. The Magistrate dismissed the cases and advising defendant to be more careful in future. At yesterday's meeting of the Concßiation Council, while the preference clause was being discussed, Mr Smith remarked that it was ridiculous that the employers had ta notify the Secretary of the Union when they engaged a man who was not a member of the Union. If the employer had to question a man as to whether he was a member of the| Union, the next thing that would happen would be that the emplo3 r er would be compelled to ask a mam what was his religion. Mr Martin immediately retorted that a number of employers when engaging a worker asked what was his or Icr religion. At a meeting of the Christchurch Operative Plasterers' Union held at the Trades Hall on Wednesday evening, the matter of the reduced bonus ■was discussed and the following resolution was passed: — "This meeting of plasterers advises all members not to accept wages on a lower scale than is being paid at present namely 2s 6s d. an houT (which includes the 9s bonus awarded by the Arbitration Court on November 1). We consider that the ever-increasing cost of living (which has further burdened the workers since the Court's pronouncement in November) demands proportionate increases in wages. Otherwise we are obtaining a lowered return for our labour." Mr H. C Harley at the Conciliation Council yesterday, said thsft if the award for shop assistants were based on the 1919 Canterbury Award plus the usual increases bonuses the employers, in a few .months would have cause for regret. It was quite evident to everybody that there would shortly "be a big fall in prices and the cost of living. Ml- Martin immedja!tely replied that according to the Government Statisticians figures it appeared prices were increasing not falling. He also quoted a letter in the Christchurch Press of December 14 from Mr H. Routh Secretary N.Z. Federation' of Drapers and Clothiers, showing that the price of drapery was increasing and there was little likelihood of a fall. Mr Martin said this was clear evdence n rebuttal of Mr Harley' s statement. At last; night's meeting of the Gieymouth Hospital and Charitable Aid Board a deputation from -the Greymouth Club, consisting of Mr Perkins and Captain Cox, waited on the Board with reference to a site for an Old Mens* Home in Greymouth. The deputation explained that the site at first proposed was not securable, but 'they were of opinion that the sit* Anotr as the Bailway Reserve could be obtained from the Government. They suggested that the Government be approached to give tnis site as a gift for the establishment of an' Old Mens' Home. Members agreed tnat the suggestion was a good one and it was m\\ • solved on the motion of Mr SkoglunV^ seconded by Mr Cottle fhat the Chairman of the Board.. President of the Oreymonth Old Boys' Club" and the Mayor of Greymouth draft a letter to the Ministetr of Public Health on the. matter and also stressing the point of inducing the Minister to visit GreyJnouth and inspect the site.