ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLV, Issue 216, 19 September 1911, Page 2

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

—♦ A strange story comes from St. Clair (says the Otago Daily Times). Mr P. R. Wheeley, the proprietor (if a number of bathing boxes recently erected on St. Clair beach,, states thaton Friday afternoon he was warned: by a youth, whom he did not know, that an attempt was to be made to burn down these sheds. Mr Wheeley ?.t once informed Constable Marshall, in charge of the St. Clair station, of what he had heard, and as evening came on the two ensconced themselves in the bathing sheds. About one o'clock on Saturday morning Mr Wheeley caught sight of two men near the footpath abutting on the beach, and, leaving the constable to watch the sheds, he made a dtetour, and was brought to a standstill by hearing scraps of conversation between two men. One was making a statement that "he didn't think the sheds would burn, anyhow," but was assuredl by the other that with the aid of a bottle of kerosene he had with him a blaze would! soon be started, and they could then easily get away. To this the first speaker replied that "lie didn't know; it was a pretty big risk to run <a chance of getting five years in gaol for a£s note." Mr Wheeley then crept away, end reported what he had heard to Constable Marshall. It was thereupon decided that the constable should keep on the edge of the beach and Mr Wheeley go along the edge of the sandhills. The latter gentleman eventually stumbled' right on the two men, and gave chase. He says he struck one on the back of the neck, ,but that the two then turned and knocked him down and got away. Mr Wheeley asserts that he distinctly saw a bottle—presumably of kerosene!—in one of his assailant's pockets. A watch was also kept by Mr Wheeley and Constable Marshall on Saturday and Sunday nights, but nothing unusual occurred. Mr F. R. Cooke has sent the following letter to Sir J. Gr. Findlay, Minister for Justice, in Wellington:—"Sir,. -~l.was incarcerated! In Lyttelton gaol seven days with hard labor for breaking a city by-law/ While there I discovered that prison reform was a fares and that men were degradedl and punished by a prison system worthy of barbarians, and I wish to inform you that I am heartily ashamed to know that in New Zealand, with our boasted superiority, such a state of affair® exists, and if I can manage io visit Wellington within the next few weeks I trust to have an audience

with you and have a heart-to-heart talk. In the meantime, however, there is: a case of alleged miscarriage of justice in Lyttelton gaol which I ask you, in the name of humanity, to investigate. lam forwarding you the man's own statement, which should receive your immediate attention."

The London correspondent of the Wellington Post says that Maori names seem to trouble the Admiralty. "There is, to be sure,. air H.M.S. Maori in the Navy, but she appears discreetly amongst ia shoal of destroyers which it was found convenient and appropriate to name after warlike tribes in the Empire. When it came to re-naming the battleship New Zealand, in order to bestow1 her name on the Dreadnought which the Dominion is presenting to the Navy, the question arose as to the appropriateness of giving another New Zealand name to the vessel, which possesses several mementoes of her New Zealand association. Sir Joseph Ward suggested 'Rangatira,' but since lie left England the name has apparently worried the Admiralty, and finally overwhelmed them. Hence we find the ex-New Zealand going quietly into commission on August Ist asi H.M.S. Caledonia. Presumably, the gifts she carries will be transferred to the new Dreadnought.'

The steamship companies state that the New Zealand export trade, even for this time of the year, is 'particularly slack. During the last month no cargo steamers left the Dominion for London direct. Only two mail steamers sailed for London during August, and one for Avonmouth. The commodity which has been noticeably short is beef. Owing to the low prices of wheat in Europe compared with tha New Zealand market, shippers, dd nob feel satisfied! in exporting. _ An improvement in conditions will set in about-the end of October, when the cheese and. butter season will commence, and wool will be offering in November.