LOCAL AND GENERAL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LII, Issue 113, 17 May 1918, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

I A witness in a case at the Weir I lington Magistrate's Court said he knew he had been intoxicated the pre- ' vious night when he woke up in the ! morning a nd found that he was in bed with his boots and trousers on. I •One/-, an airman routes in the ; Westminster Gazette, a Hun landed { by mistake in one of our aerodromes jin a mist. Being' suspicious, he sent ' hi s observer to investigate. xie disj covered his error before his observer i returned, and flew off, leaving his comj rade i n the lurch to be made a prisoner ' After flying 50 odd miles in the mist, Jie danded in another aerodrome, only this time to be captured himself. Later in the day _ the Hun pilot and Hun observer were introduced to each other, and h e had the joy of | listening to their remarks., which sur- ' passed i n eloquence the glowing cadj ertces of the majestic "Hymn of Hate."

\ A point of some interest was raen- | tioned By counsel in the course of proj ceedings at the Magistrate's Court in t Oisborne with reference to the' Money- ! Lenders Act. He said that the New j Zealand Act is extremely wide and i among its provisions is one that even when a transaction has been closed and I the- money-lender paid Id full, the borj rower had a right to come into court j and have the transaction re-opened, j ",If the magistrate sees fit," he added, j "he may order th<» money-lender to rej pay the borrower all interest on premj :mn charges in excess o* the rate of 10 { per cent." j _ i What haDpene-d to frie man who Ind / his talent in the earth was well drilled ivjto our minds when we were boys. The first example of it in actual practical life in these days occurred in England only a little while since. An Englishfarmer about .six weeks ago was brought nn under the new agricultural regulations for no other offence than that of the man in the parable. He had a farm of 200 acres, which he had held for 30 yeans, and the crime of which -h« wa.= corvicted was simply neglect. He was not cultivating his land as the law demanded : he was ordered to pay a fine of £lO., and £SO more in special costs, and, better still he was directed to vacate the farm within 14 days.

Commenting on the scarcity of textbooks at the last meeting' of -trie victoria College Council, professor Hunter said that at present, in his olas.<=«* he was iising text-booko many of which are fifteen vears old.

Striking evidence of the reduced purchasing power of money is provided by the Government Statistician in his monthly abstract. Wellington still holds the unenviable distinction of being the dearest of the .New Zealand cities. According to the statistics the purchasing power of the sovereign showed a further decline in the March quarter of the current year. If the average purchasing power of the sovereign expended on foodstuffs in the period 190913 is taken as representing 20s, the average worth of the sovereign in March, 1918, for the four cities, was 13s 3£d. The four cities compare as follows :■ — Auckland, 28s 7d; Wellington, 29s 3£d; Christchurch, 275. 6id; Dunedin, 28s s|d; in the cosWof goods which could be bought in 1909-13 for £l.

An American dispaf-tch says : America's hens are "mobilized,*' and are now doing a very effective "bit" to win the war. Following the stretch of mild weather the hens have suddenly contributed 300,000,000 egg.s during the week, and a large part of this number has been rushed into the large cities, thus making it easy for people to give up'wheat, flour, 'etc., for shipment to the Allies. The price of fresh eirgs dropped Is 3d a dozen in two days.

The Marconi International Code Company, Ltd., are issuing a new code svstem which appears likely to revolutionize both wireless telegraphy and cabling Not only) does it cany the art of nrevity to a fine point, but it appears to provide the elements of an international language. By the use of the same coae Tetters for words of identical meaning in languages foreign correspondents. it' is claimed, can code aod de-code messages without the necessity of translation. The new code is likely. to supercede the "condensers" and "code reducers" now in use, as being cheaper and more adaptable than any of them, while it, affords special facilities for the .accurate transmission of figures; and can be adapted readily for .confidential messages.

I Mr Daniels, the Secretary of the United States Navy, has commended Benjamin H. Groves, the gunner's mate of the armed guard, aboard the American steamer Nyanza, for the successful running fight with a German submarine for two and a half hours on January 15. The report of the commanding officer says:—"After a number of shots had fallen short, the submarine. get range, and hit the Nyanza five times. One shot passed through the gun platform, the wooden shelter house and iron deck, breaking the deck beam and passing out through the other side of the ship. One shot exploded -in the arriied guards' messroqm, wrecking it. ' The submariJ* had our range again at the same time as the Nyianza had her range. The Nyanza fired four shots nuicklv, causing the submarine to come broadside keel" over. The submarine suddenly disappeared."

The Hon. G. W. Russell stated today £h"at, the number, of. .soldiers now in mental hospitals in the Dominion is 52.—■ Wellington Press Association wire.

A motion requesting banks in the city to arrange that during Christmas, New Year, and Easter holidays they be opened for a brief period to receive deposits only is to be moved by Mr. HH. Miller at the next meeting of tne council of the "Wellington Central Chamber of Commerce.

Owing to changes in the staff at the Sumner aGsworks, there was no supply of gas on Saturday night. The late gas manager has gone into camp, and the assistant* manager has resigned. Business people (says Lyttelton Times) were at their wit's end) to know that to do, and used hurricane lamps, candles, and any other substitutes they could find. Where residents were dependent on gas rings and gas stoves the situation was very exasperating. The defect was remedied on Sunday.

A very much distressed lady called on the manager of the 'Grand Theatre in Christchurch last Saturday, and stated that while she was attending a performance on Friday evening she hau dropped some bank notes—two £1 notes and a ten-shilling note, to be exact. She wanted to know if anything had been seen of the money. The manager said that no find had been reported, but, along with the lady, he decided to make an examination of the morning's sweepings. This was done, and the notes, very much trampled and discoloured, were found and restored to the delighted claimant.

The white pine industry was considered at the last meeting of the National Efficiency Board, and certain conclusions were come to which will in due course be submited to the Government. It will be remembered that this question formed the subject of a recent conference at which representatives of sawmillers, butter-box makers and coopers, and of the dairying and meat-freezing industries were present The .Efficiency Board's recommendations have been drawn up after full consideration of the information furnished at the conference-

! . i A meeting of the Nelson Poultry ; Association was held at Opie's rooms J last evening, when there was a lair j attendance. A demonstration of Bantams was given by Mr J. Hockey, an old breeder and judge of these birds. , Old English Game Bantams in all the . .different colours, and Black. Hose- | combs, were penned, and in handling | them the lecturer was extremely in- j structive in his remarks, which cover- j ed every point and detail. At the i close of an interesting evening,, Mr j Hockey was accorded a vote o. j thanks. > At the monthly meeting of the Wai- 5 taki High School Board a brief re- j port from the rector demonstrated the I popularity and th e widespread fame oi [ tTip. Waita.ki Boys' High" School (say* j a Press Association telegram frorrt j Camaru). Mr Milner, after mention- , ins that of this year's boarder 100 came from the North Island. added . "Three boarders came from Australia,. £w r o' from the Philippine Islands (one j of them being- head boy of the school j this year) and I have a definite appli- ; cation for entry for 1919 from. Rho- t desia. Next term a boy enters from Babaul, New Guinea." i On e of the strange meetings -which ' the war has broughib about j recently' in France (says the New Zea- \ land Herald). An Auckland boy. who j is a. gunner in a New. Zealand, battery, j •was'struck-in the thigh by a~machinegun bullet, which remained embedded in the flesh. Bv. chance he was sent to a Canadian field' hospital. An X-ray examination was necessary to locate the bullet, and -when the gunner was on the table the operator, having noticed his name on the list, astounded him ' by remarking in -a slow drawl. "Ever been to ." mentioning a Maori place name? "I was horn fthere." said the gnnne'v "We 1 !. I srness we're cousins." said the Canadian, and cousins they proved to be. The New Zert lander's' branch of ?the fnmilv came here over fifty years aeo, and he knew as little about his Canadian relations as the Canadian knew about his. , But it was .left to the wheel of chance to bring the two men together in the X-ray room of a field hospital in prance

on e of the crew of .the transport that arrived at Auckland on Tuesday (says the Star) is a New Zealand jockey, R. Donovan, of Auckland, who was on the Wairuna, \vhe n sne v<«sa captured a day* or two out from New Zealand by the Wolf. Mr Donov&'ii was the chief cook on the Wairuna, and after being aboard the Wolf for some, months was transferred to the Spanish steamer Igotz Mendi, another of the raider's victims. The Igc-tz Mendi was wrecked, and Donovan was one of the survivors who were cast ashore in Denmark, whence they subsequently travelled to England.

The demise of Mr H. H. Metcalfe marked the death of the second consulting engineer retained by the Gisboroe Borough 'Council. in connection wiEK water augmentation and sewerages and electrical extension, schemes recently undertaken. The first, Mr F. J. Fenn, electrical engineer, of Auckland, was drowned whilst bathing in the Waikato River a few weeks ago.

Mr F. M. B. Fisher, at last reports, was lecturing throughout the United Kingdom, under the auspices of the British 'Empire Producers' Organisa-' tion. He lectures on Imperial trade and industrial problems, illustrating his remarks 'by exhibition of cinema films of the overseas Dominions' industries and scenery. Sir Edward Oarson, in referring to Mr 'Fisher's capabilities for the work he has undertaken, stated at a meeting of the .Royal Colonial Institute:—"iMr Fisher has one advantage over all Englishmen Scotsmen, and Irishmen who venture tn speak upon Imperial trade —he is not weighed down by any of the old party prejudices. He knows, nothing about them, and cares less. He is the pure wine from overseas."

I Addressing the Grand Jury at the criminal sittings of the Supreme Court J at iNiew Plymouth, his Honour the Ohief Justice (Sir Pobert Stout) re- | ferred to a case in which several { Maoris were charged with taking part '. in a riot. His Honour said he desired i co state for the information of Justices of the Peace who may not be fully < aware of the law, and for the public j generally, that it was the duty of a J.P. to read the Riot Act in the ea£>c ! of such a disturbance, and' if anyone was found continuing the riot within an hour after the reading of the pi'ooiamation, such person rendered him- ■ pelf liable to serious punishment un- | der the law, and if under such cirj cumstancep anyone taking part in a i riot wa? ki T led tfcp responsibility was •• hi.<? own. If a J.P. had been, present ,' on -the occasion in question lie was j orobably unaware of the law on the j point. It -Tvas» not only that he could r*=a<J the Act, but it was his duty i f.o it, and' to c; \ upon th,e peopla to disperse, .

Apparently 'his Honour Mr Justice ' Edwards does not share the belief held < by some folks that a publican- is not an altogether desirable person. 3?leetting reference war> made to the subject during the hearing- of a case atf the Supreme Court at Wellington on i Wednesday (says the Post). "Counsel I | would api:ai I'iiMy have you believe," j \ said his Honour to the jury, "that |

every publican wKo comes into this Court is prepared to commit perjury. I do not think this is so, as from the way they "oehave I believe myself that the majority of them are decent men." "I may also believe," added his Hon-

our smilingly-, "that thev are quite prepared to believe that the clock was slightly different from what it really was on a certain occasion.