LOCAL AND GENERAL

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 2 November 1926, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Seven petitions in bankruptcy were tiled in North Taranaki during October, the same number having been recorded in the corresponding month last year (states an exchange). In September there were six petitions. Since the beginning of the year 44 petitions have been filed, an increase of one over the similar period of 1925. A scheme of considerable magniture was outlined by Mr Eustace Lane in an address before the Napier Chamber of Commerce (says the Hawke’s Bay Herald). Briefly’, the object of Mr Lane’s agitation is the formation of a company to construct a railway to open up the country between Napier and Rotorua, to establish fertiliser works, and to construct a deep-water harbour at Port Ahuriri.

The small wooden ketch Kiatea was stranded on a reef oft' Brown Island in the Haurald Gulf on Sunday night when on route from Coroiqandel to Auckland with a cargo of shingle. A representative of the owners visited the vessel yesterday and reported that she was not extensively damaged. The cargo was being .jettisoned and the Harbour Board fire-float had been engaged to pump out the water, and it was hoped to tow her to Auckland. The Kiatea, which is a vessel of twenty tons, and is carrying a crow of three, has had an unlucky career, being badly damaged in November, 1924, through an explosion ,of benzine. ■,

The motor-drivers and garage employees engaged in passenger transport throughout New Zealand have filed claims for a Dominion industrial award, and a conciliation sitting is to be held at Wellington on November 3. The principal claims are for a 48-hour working week of six days for drivers, and a 44-hour week for garage hands; drivers’ wages £5 os per week for 7-seater cars, £5 10s for vehicles with seating capacity of 8 to 15 passengers, £5 15s for vehicles with seating capacity of 16 to’ 25 passengers, and £6 for vehicles carrying more than 25 passengers. The wages claimed for drivers of service cars and special cars engaged on country runs are £6 per week, and those in respect to taxi-drivers and garage employees are £5 5s per week.

Colin Leighton, lately in business as an auctioneer in Stratford, was arrested by Detective Meikleiohn at Stratford yesterday (states the Post). He was afterwards brought before Mr R. W. Tate, S.M., in the Police Court, where he was charged that, on or about March 23, 1926, being an auctioneer in business in Stratford, he did fraudulently omit to pay the sum of £22 7s 6d, being the balance of the proceeds of one piano, one sewing machine, and a Quantity of furniture sold by auction, to Rose Alma Oyston. a person entitled thereto. Detective Meiklejohn prosecuted, and Mr R. R. Tyrer appeared for accused, who was remanded to apnea rat Stratford on November 11. Mr Tyrer, in aoplying for bail, drew attention to tbe fact that Leighton, who had been in Wellington, returned to Stratford immediately he found these proceedings were to be taken against him. The application was granted, bail being fixed at accused £2OO and two sureties of £IOO each.

Fresh regulations relating ito the retail sale of coal are proposed to be brought into effect by the Government from January 1 next. They provide that coal shall be sold retail only in certain stipulated quantities. Coal merchants are protesting to the Government on the ground that the regulations, if brought into effect, will increase the retail priee. The proposed regulations are under the Weights and Measures Act, 1925, and they provide, inter alia, that “no person shall sell by retail any coal in any quantity other than 141 b, 281 b, 561 b, ' lcwt, .14 evvt, or multiples of lewt net weight.” Under present conditions retail merchants sell coal by the bag of 18'6 2-31 b, 12 ’of which go to the ton. The suggested regulations would not hamper them so far as ton, half-ton and quar-ter.-ton lots go, but they would prohibit the sale by the bag of TB6 2-31 b. The. nearest approach to the tilled bag would bo a llewt lot of 1681 b. A collision occurred yesterday at the intersection of Argyle and High streets between a gig and a motor car. The gig was driven by a lady in the direction of the park. The car was coming into High street along Argyle street from the direction of .the Sontli road. The ear turned suddenly, and its left hand front mudguard struck the left hand wheel of the gig, overturning the horse vehicle. The horse was brought down, but struggled to its feet and galloped as far as the park, trailing the gig on the hub of the wheel. The lady driver of the gig was thrown out by the impact. A passer-by inquired if slie were hurt, and she replied in the negative. The bolting horse was stopped near the nark without doing further damage. The gig was not seriously damaged, and a workman who was near at hand stated that the driver, when the vehicle, was righted. drove away in it. As regards the motor car. the only apparent damage was a dent in the front mudguard. The motor driver nicked up the lady and drove her as far as' her gig.

The Salvation Army self-denial Dominion campaign is reported in an exchange to have resulted in the collection of £42,119, a slightly smaller amount than last year. Provincial results in round figures are as l’oilow. Auckland province, £10,392; Canterbury and Westland provinces, £7382; Otago and Southland, £7780; Marlborough, Nelson, and portion of Wellington province south of Levin and Pahiatua, £6279; Hawke’s Bay, Poverty Bay, Taranaki, Manawatu, and King Country, £10,286. Returns from individual corps in the Central North Division, which includes Taranaki, King Country, Hawke’s Bay, PovertyMay. and Manawatu, and having headquarters at Palmerston North, are as follows: Aramoho, £211; Dannevirke, £sso'; Eltham, £350; Feilding, £452; Gisborne, £1753; Hastings, £700; Hawera. £500; Inglewood. £232; M'arton, £450; Napier, £608; New Plymouth, £325; Norse wood, £128; Pahiatua, £265; Palmerston North, £500; Patea, £321; Jlaetihi, £152; Stratford, £34-2; Taihape, £300; Taumarunui, £200; Terrace End, £99 10s; Waipukurau, £450; Waitara, £226 10s; Wfinganui, £1063 16s; Woodville, £126 14s. The self-denial moneys are used for the Army’s social, missionary, and rescue work

Children like Wade’s Worm Figs. Safe and certain remedy for worms; no bad after-effects. —2

. By sixteen votes to three, ratepayers in the Huiroa and Douglas districts yesterday approved the proposal of the Taranaki Electric 'Power Board to raise a loan .of £IO,OOO for the reticulation of that area.

The tender of 'Mr. A. Boon. (£1940) for the erection of a gymnasium at the New Plymouth Boys’ High School was accepted at a special meeting of the High School Board of Governors yesterday (says the News). The dimensions of the building will be 114 ft bv 50ft.,

Great 'interest- is being taken in the .shop to ,be .held in Mr. Collins’ Buildings, Union Street, Hawera, on Saturday next, for the Fennell Scholarship ' Fund. The country-people have been particularly generous with promises of all kinds of goods. Competitions of various kinds are being held. .Anyone desirous of assisting are asked to communicate with Mrs M. J. Goodson, ’phone 340. The Big Tree petrol concern, repre sented by Messrs A. S. Paterson and Co., have now permanently allocated a 750 gallon tank lorry to Hawera. The machine arrived on Sunday morning. The headquarters in Taranaki for Big Tree is New Plymouth. The establishment of a distribution unit in Hawera may be the forerunner of further development of the petrol business in this centre.

The Government lias received a cablegram from the High Commissioner (Sir James Parr) announcing that the British Fellowship for Research in Tropical Medicine is calling: applications in tlie Dominion for a fellowship, with a salary of £IOOO a year, for five years. Passage out and back, if the research is made in the tropics, with allowance, if necessary, for laboratory expenses, will be paid.—Christchurch Press.

Consternation was caused in Cambridge, says. an exchange, by the discovery that n pupil of the district high school had found a number of detonators and distributed them to his classmates, the children being innocent of the deadly nature of the small gifts. An investigation resulted in the recovery of eighteen detonators. One lad was using one as a pencil cover, and another boy had been chewing his detonator, the case showing unmistakable teeth marks. Warnings were promptly issued. The Wellington civic clean up has been completed (says the EveningPost) , the total amount of refuse col leeted being between 3000 and 4000 cubic yards. It was estimated that the work would occupy thirteen days, but actually, so great was the volume of refuse put out, the collection took seventeen days-of hard £oing. The money collected, it is understood, is not nearly sufficient to cover the cost, but is sufficient, together with the council’s grant, to bring out quite a satisfactory bal-ance-sheet. In past years the clean-up has cost the city approximately £IOOO, but this year’s figure, notwithstanding the greater amount collected and the necessarily slower working on account of the house-to-house inspection, is considerably under the £IOOO mark.

At a tecent meeting in North Auckland it was unanimously resolved to form a club to be styled the Whangarei Swordfish and Mako Club (says the Northern Advocate). It was resolved that the Minister of Marine be requested to prohibit as much as possible the practice of killing fish by use of dynamite or other explosives and by powerdrawn nets. The Harbour Board is to be asked to instal a small crane with block and tackle for weighing the fish. The president announced his. intention of presenting a full-mounted, heavy tanikaha rod to the fisherman catching the first swordfish on the Whangarei fishing grounds, which are to be shown on a map which the secretary undertook to prepa~''

Several suggestions for making the film censorship more strict were made at the child welfare conference at Auckland last Thursday. Mr. C. J. Tunics said that in view of the great influence of the films on children, a board, with representatives of the teaching profession, would be better than a single censor. Mr. EL C. Cutten, S./M., said he was in favour of a board which should have the right t<> reject a film entirely on the ground that its exhibition would be against the public interest. The board should not have to give reasons for its action. It was hard to raise objections to some films on the ground that specific incidents were obnoxious, but everyone knew that the same films in their total effect were against the public interest. A motion was carried advocating a board with power to reject any film. A strange case of mistaken identity has just come under the notice of the Auckland Star. In a Christmas annual for 3924 there was a striking picture of old Mita’ Taupopoki, who used to figure in every Maori gathering down at Botorua, being a sort of hereditary host. The old chap was shown in “full rig.” after the pakelia style, top • hat and all. The other day the Star received a letter from a inan in England saying that an uncle of his had gone out to New Zealand many.years ago and all trace of him had been lost. The photograph of Mita exactly like the writer’s uncle, even to the manner of grasping his walking stick, that the family concluded that the .picture was that of the long-lost one, and they accounted for his Maori name by surmising that he had forsaken his European ways sand had thrown in his lot with the natives. Old Mita, however, was a Maori through and through, with a lineage going ba&k hundreds of years, and proud of his race.

Changes which have been made in the regulations for the Public Service Entrance, Senior National Scholarship, and. intermediate examinations involve soane slight rearrangement of the compulsory group of subjects, and the revision of the syllabus in order to bring them into, line with, what is regarded as necessary in the up-to-date treatment of the several-subjects. While a few subjects which are very ■seldom offered for examination are being dropped, history is being made compulsory, and certain new .subjects are being added to the optional group. 'The amendments aim at bringing, the three examinations more closely into line with each other, and a consequent advantage to teachers should result. The scheme is framed to cover a more liberal, course of education, since bright boys taking courses other than classical courses*will secure equal advantage with the rest, and. in particular, small country secondary schools, district high schools, and technical schools will be assisted by being enabled to develop courses suited' to their environment and needs. The. wide choice of subjects, says the Wellington Evening Post, including some of a. practical nature. should be of advantage to tho/s-e candidates who do not have the opportunity of attending a. secondary .school. Apart, from the more liberal conditions with, regard to optional subjects, there remains a sufficiently complete body of compulsory subjects to ensure that the candidates selected will have the qualifications needed by them in taking up cadetehins in t-lie public service. The changes will first- affect the examinations of November, 1927.