LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 1562, 18 June 1920, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Due acknowledgment of a number of further I'.M.C.A. contributions will be made in the course of the next few days. In every defended criminal case heard in the Supreme Court al Napier this week, a verdict of :iot guilty was returned. A meeting of the Manawatu School Committees' Association will be held at the Borough Council Chambers on Monday next, at 7.30 p.m. Mr Justice Pirn remarked hi the Supreme Court at Napier that Maoris seemed to supply rather a large proportion of tlic criminals in that district. Several of the young ladies with whom the Prince of Wales danc« d while in Auckland, have been the recipients of autograph photographs of his Royal Highness. A short, sharp shock of earthquake was felt in Palmerston Nortli about "< o'clock yesterday morning. Shocks were also felt in Wanganui, Carterton, Masterton and Wellington. Patrick Joseph Flannagan, a wellknown figure in New Plymouth, was charged at the Court yesterday on ) 4 counts with having made bets in public places in New Plymouth and other Taranaki towns. The hearing has been adjourned. At the Timaru Magistrate's Court yesterday Sidney Wilkes, billiardroom keeper at Pareora, was convicted and tined £SO for illicit sales of beer. The conviction was brought about by the visits of a strange ' or,stable, in plain clothes. Demonstrations of truit tree priming will be given by Mr I. W. Whelan, Government Orchard Instructor, <»n Monday next, on the properties of Messrs P. llanlon, Raumai (10 a.m.), and G. 11. Gallop, Bunnythorpe (2 p.m.) All interested are Invited to attend. Present weather indications are for easterly breezes backing to fresin ning northerlies, and cloudy to oxereast conditions, with scattered and drizzling rain probable, especially in the northern and southernmost districts. The barometer is low with ;>. falling tendency. Fifteen Hindus and sb: Chinese arrived from Vancouver by the Niagara yesterday, and they will undergo the educational test on Weduesday. The total number of Chinese who have arrived here since the beginning of the year is 371'. In the same, period 153 Hindus have landed in Auckland.

At the New Plymouth Magistrate's Court yesterday George Payne, a farmer, of Mokau, North Taranaki. was committed for trial on a charge of having stolen 19 sheep valued 'at £32 1/, the property of a neighbour. The evidence alleged that the accused had cut off the earmarks from the sheep, but on some of them there were left evidences of identincatioa.

To establish the.jiaper-maKing industry on the West Coast, was one of the questions brought before the Parliamentary party which is now on tour. There are large tracts of timber country between Otira and the Coast, which are suitable for paper manufacture, and in view of the present world shortage, it was urged that the Government should assist in the development of the industry.

The paper to be read to-night at the Soldiers' Club by Mr J. C. Anderson, of Wellington, under the auspices of the Philosophical Society on "Bird Song- and New Zealand Son;; Birds," ought surelv to appeal to every inhabitant of "God's Own Country," enabling him, as it doubtless will, more fully to understand and appreciate ono of the many benefits bestowed by a bounteous Nature on this favoured land.

Tcstei-day the visiting Parliamentarians attended the official opening - of the new coal mine at Dobson, about live miles from Greymouth, on the main railway line. Mr J. D. Lynch, who is developing the mine, stated that the seam had been probed for 580 feet. It was hoped that this mine would ultimately prove the biggest and best in the Dominion. Provision had been made by the Company id share prolits, also the employees would have direct representation in the control of the Company's affairs.

The chairman stated at tin- Wanganui Education Board meeting on Wednesday that the Minister, in a new Bill, would probably take power to acquire sites for school purposes at the Government valuation. A m< ruber remarked that sucn a measure would not meet with the approval of persons who were in the habit of asking excessive prices when land was required for school purposes. Thr- chairman, in reply, stated that, (lie Hoard might be able to get some bargains. He instanced a case o: variation in prices at Castlecliff, where land was valued by the Government at £1 f) !><:■ acre, and £7OO had been asked.

Among the exhibits made )>y soldier hospital patients for the forthcoming Palmerstou North Winter Show will be a quantity of tweet: woven at the King George V. Military Hospital. Rotorua. The cloth is the work of Privates Burton and Dickinson. who have become very proficient in this work, and intend taking it up permanently on their discharge from hospital. Private Burton is unable lo carry on his pre-war occupation through contracting paralysis in the leys as the result of a wound in the head. Thanks to the efforts of the vocational training branch of the Defence department such men as these an- being provided with interesting and profitable means of earning - their livinu. The Government has deeiUed to introduce during - the conrnnu session a Bill to increase the salaries of members of the House of Representatives and the Legislative Council. The most interesting new feature will be the 1 provision of a superannuation fund available to aged members who 'nave at least three Parliaments' work to their credit. Present indications are that the 1 Lower House salary will be increased from £3OO to £4OO. with an additional amount, yet to i>* ascertained, which will provide supcralinuation privileges. Tin I'pper House members arc likely to gel a ilOlt rise to £3OO. The measure, too. is naturally sure of a popular reception in Parliament, for the ground was orepared last session, when all parties supported the Prime Minister's motion recommending the new Parliament to take the question o! salaries and superannuation into consideration, "as the present honorarium or member.- is quite insufficient to enable them to live in reasonable comfort, and is not commensurate with their legislative responsibilities." Knitting Wools in scarce sluices, Wedgewood. Heathers, Pawn-, also White 3-ply and Wheeling. Tie C. M. Ross Co., Ltd.. hav t jus: received small consignment of best Kngiish Knitting Wools.* For children's hacklne cor.sr&s, Woods' Great Peppermint Cure, 1/9, *2/9.

( Kenneth Newlands and Anthony Howley, who were acquitted by a Supreme Court jury at Timaru, of taking part in raids on Chinese fruit shops in April, were convicted by the Magistrate on other charges conneet- - d with the raids and each fined £5 ; ad costs. The bazaar held in the Oddfellows* Wall for the purpose of raising money 10 augment the building fund of the proposed new Cuba Street Methoj Uist Church, concluded last night. : 'throughout the duration of the bazaar ; excellent business was done and the i funds will benefit to a considerable • extent. i j Mr Charles Stark, formerly of tin; ; V/airarapa, writing to the "Age" from j America, states that the milking ma- ; -.nine patented by Mr Norman Davsh, ;of Carterton, has been taken up by j "he De Laval Separator Company, and :s meeting with great success. "The j American farmer," adds Mr Stark, "doesn't know much about milking j machines yet. He is just about where ! 'he New Zealand farmer was eight or : '«:n years ago." j The shortage of kerosene supplies I in Auckland at present is so acute as r Jiractically to constitute a famine. j Some shopkeepers are absolutely t without stocks, and others are ration- ' :ng kerosene by the pint. The posij lion is being keenly felt in the country -listriots, where farmers largely dej pend on kerosene for lighting. A | heavy demand for candles is one rej suit, and supplies of candles also are very limited. Importers of kerosene j anticipate that the shortage will con- ' tinue throughout the winter months. j An Auckland policeman arrested. •.ouis von Einem at 6.25 o'clock yes- ; terday morning, as he was allegedly | getting out of a showcase in the pret raises of Whit combe and Tombs. The policeman found in his pocket four j fountain pens, valued at £7 10/, which jhe admitted he had stolen. A search of accused's lodgings discovered an . ssortment of goods, much of which j s alleged to have been stolen. The | t,oo(]s were conveyed to the station in two motor vehicles. Einem was brought before the Court and remand- ! Ed for a week. i j The work in connection with the inj stallation of an automatic telephone I system in Palmerston North is going | steadily ahead. As it involves a tre--neridous amount of detail and there jis considerable difficulty in securing j labour progress is necessarily slow. j '"he mam cables are now laid and the work of making connection to subi scribers is being proceeded with. The : ftings at the local Post Office are i well on the way to completion. It is •t-nticipated that it will be another Twelve months or so before the sysI cm will come into operation. Reference was made in a cabled news message, from Australia on Monday to the possibility of New Zealand. meat being imported into Australia. The Prime Minister was yesterday risked "whether he had heard anything of the scheme. Mr Massey said that he had not. The meat in New Zealand cold stores belonged to the ■'imperial Government, and he had no doubt that if the people of Australia wanted meat the Government would be willing to sell as much as Australia could take, but he was afraid that nothing would come of the proposal. ■He understood that meat was still Being shipped from Australia. The generous action of the New Zealand Refrigerating Company, in purchasing a sports ground for its employees at a cost of over £IOOO. was warmly commended by Mr W. A. Veitch, M.P.. speaking as a representative of Labour at a social gathering in Wanganui. "I am afraid," continued Mr Veiteh, "that we do not attach sufficient importance to the social .side of life. We want to get together more, and I believe it is a really wise action on behalf of the company to spend this considerable sum of money in the manner it proposes doing. This action will be highly appreciated by all sports. The sporting spirit does more good than all the howling in the 1 world."

A fitting- gift, worthy of its recipient, is an inkstand made to the order of the citizens of Dunedin, to be presented to Sir James Allen in London. The inkstand is a fine example of the jeweller's art, and is now to be seen in the window of the makers. The stand, or desk companion, is a handsome piece of workmanship, the base being ISin by 14in of New Zealand mahogany, the bevelled edges being carved in true Maori fashion. At the back edge of the stand is a serviceable clock mounted in a block «if rough greenstone, and in front of the clock is an inlaid greenstone tiki, on one side of which is a paper weight in the form of a solid silver kiwi mounted on a greenstone base, and on the other side a carved greenstone receptacle for nibs. Parallel with each side is a greenstone paper knife and a greenstone envelope opener. Below and on each side of the tiki are glass inkwells, the tops of which are inlaid with greenstone. On the near side is a stand containing pens and a pencil of greenstone and gold. The inscription plate, which is of gold, is at the foot, and on which is engraved: "To Hon. James Allen, K.C.8., from the citizens of Dunedin. April, 1920." The letters "N.Z.," carved out of kowhai, occupy positions on each side of the inscription plate. Altogether a. better gift could not have been thought of, as it is serviceable as well as ornamental. —Dunedin "Star."