LOCAL AND GENERAL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 7 June 1927, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Tlie thoroughness with which the apple is now worked over and utilised by some manufacturers makes it comparable with the packing-house pig that leaves only a futile squeal. The apple is not transformed into such a variety of products as the pig, but all are useful, and when the last of the series has been made hardly a smell is left. In many of the apple-using factories tlie apples are first pressed to produce cider, which may bo sold as such or may be manufactured into vinegar. After thoroughly pressing the pomace is treated with hot. water to remove the pectin, which, after purification, is sold ,n either liquid or solid form to manufacturers of jellies and similar products and to housewives. The much-wasted and squeezed residue is dried, ground, and sold as cattle feed.

In strong contrast to the majority of race meetings held in the Dominion during the present- season, the tolalisator turnover at Ellerslie on King’s Birthday showed’an increase of £12,218 compared with the Great Northern Hurdles race d:iv of twelve months ago. The respective figures were £92,707 and £80,489. The principal event,, the Croat Northern Hurdles, saw ino less than £516,049 invested on tlie machine. The Great Northern meeting is always regarded as ranking with tho most popular racing fixtures in the Dominion, and Friday’s attendance was estimated at, 30,000, which is claimed to he a record for the winter meeting.

Ninety-nine people died of heart disease in New Zealand during April. No other- one disease claimed so many, though cancer swept away 64, twenty of whom lived in Auckland. 'Thirty-six New Zealanders died of old age, Tuberculosis resulted in 32 deaths, and accidents accounted for 21.

“Don't- wash vonr dirty linen in public,’ - was tlie advice given to dairymen bv llis Excellency the Governor-General, Sir Charles Fergusson, when he touched bn matters affecting the export of butter arid cheese in his speech at the Waikato Winter Show the other afternoon. His Excellency deprecated tho practice of writing letters to the newspapers in order to ventilate fancied grievances. It should always he remembered that tb" arguments used in New Zealand, tor this Otiose or that, were liable to be noticed at Horne. Those arguments might he used against the Dominion, or twisted in such a way that the effect would he harmful to the producer's of New Zen land (Applause). Infants’ cream wool bootees and infantees, 1/6 to 2/6 at McKay's.* For infants! Cream wool matinee coals and frocks, daintily finished from 7/6 at- McKay’s.*

Alfred Gould announces details of an auction sale to he held at Alotueka next Monday at 12.30 p.rn., in the estate of the late Mr Henry Saunders. Children’s woolly sets, comprising coats, caps and legginettes. cream and colours from 22/6 at McKay s.* Emms' Motors are advertising a revised service for the com.ng season. Their mid-dav ear and also weekly lorry service will prove a great benefit both to the local residents and tourists, giving a« it does a surer means of transport between thee* olao*-

The Mayor (Mr Moffatt) states that fie rang tip Mr Norderi ashing what the Charge would be for the use of the Theatre Royal for a public meeting to discuss the Rocks road question. Mr Norden replied that as tho question was of such importance he would make no

charge for the use of the theatre. It is proposed to hold the meeting early next week. The date will be duly adve.rtis-

Speedboat racing is a sport very popular with the public of Wanganui, and on the summer Saturday afternoons hundreds line tho banks of the river to watch the curling foam and clouds of spray sent up by the speedy craft. Next season, says the “Chronicle,” new interest is likely to be added by the presence of several outboard motor boats. These are small hydroplanes similar in type to the familiar racing boats, and though tho motors, which are carried over the stern, are rarely more powerful than about five horsepower, a speed of up to 25 miles an hour can lie obtained. Several members of the Wanganui Motor Roat Club contemplate building these craft, which, though not as powerful as their faster elder sisters, have the advantage of being much cheaper to build and more economical in upkeep.

In the Police Court at Palmerston North, Basil Trevor Wood, 18, pleaded guilty to breaking find entering the dwelling-houses of P. C. Toms arid P>. K. Kelsby at Tiritea and stealing therefrom various articles. He was commit, ted to the. Supreme Court at Wellington for sentence. —Press Association.

Ah Chong, aged GO, formerly employ ed as a cook al the Occidental Hotel burned down at Palmerston North, who was found with opium in his possession when the Wellington police raided a Haining street boardinghouse last night, was to-day fined £lO for being in possession of uncustomed goods.—Press Association.

The campaign of economy instituted by Commissioner W. B. Mcllveney in the police force has swept by the board privileges that have been enjoyed by the service for more years than the oldest member of it can remember. These include free railway travelling during holidays; not even excursion fares arc now allowed. No rewards are to be given for convictions in difficult licensing or gaming cases. No detective in fu turn will he. sent to Australia to escort an accused person back to the Domiu ion. Only constables will be so sent and they must travel steerage and not saloon. 'Members of the force have been warned not to play football. Constables called to attend football and other athletic meetings must do so in uniform. Clubs must now pay 10/- for the service of each constable. ’ Pay while on sick leave will be strictly enforced in future: Under five years’ service, one month’s pay; over five and under ton years, two months; over ten years, pay for three months only. Instead of the police going out in a launch to search a ship in mid-stream the police have now to wait until she berths at the wharf. The old system of hours has been revised by the commissioner, with the result that a constable now works 16 hours every alternate 24 hours, and receives the other 24 hours in a 48-hour period free. This has proved hard upon married men. Previously shift duties were changed at longer intervals. In 1900 the cost per head of the population of Now Zealand was 2/103 per policeman. Last financial year tho cost per head was 5/9j,, due to increased wages and other circumstances.

The signalling system at the new railway yards at Auckland will he the most extensive to- be installed in the Dominion (stales the “Now Zealand Herald”), ft will be of the. automatic three-colour type, and from one central box the operator will be able to trace (he movements of trains on the interlocked sidings in the yard by means of an illuminated colour diagram. As scon as a train enters a siding a coloured lamp on the diagram will indicate that the siding is occupied. In conformity with 'modern signalling practice. there will be rio necessity for the signalman to actually observe any' train during his work. Tn fact, if tho signal box were placed in the heart of the, station building (he position would be as clear as though the box were in full view of the trains. In the station yard there will be no fewer than 201 signal lamps. These will be operated automatically by electric track circuits, the illumination and extinction of the lights being done by the movements of the trains. On Thursday, Mr E. Casey, divisional superintendent, said that the system that was to be installed was regarded in the railway world as being the most effective and safest that could possibly be adopted. An auxiliary stand-by plant would be provided to keep the system in operation in case of interruption in the supply of power from the city. The passage last year of the Family Allowances Bill is briefly discussed in the current issue of the “Public Service Journal,” which states that the measure was enacted, no doubt more to honour Mr Coates’s electioneering promises than with any heart-whole intention of endeavouring to- improve the economic condition of the worker on an average wage. “When the Bill first came before Parliament,” the journal slates, “tho executive committee had high hopes of improvements being effected in the course of the various stages of the measure that would have resulted in benefits falling to the happy lot of many Public servants in tho lower grades of the classification list. The Act, when it was finally placed on the Statute Book, afforded a clear indication that the measure was indeed a sop to Cerberus, and the hopes of the executive committee were scattered at a single blow far and wide. There appeared to be riot reason in the beginning why the maximum salary or earnings of a family man should not bo increased beyond £209 a year. The friends of the proposal confidently thought this maximum was more to test' Parliamentary feeling than for,,any oilier purpose. Hopes were entertained of the maximum being raised to an amount somewhere in (he region of £3OO, and painful indeed were the sensations of those who had ardently desired the advent of the measure tn realise before the Bill had progressed very far that the Government had no intention of benefiting anyone if they could possibly avoid doing

A return of the immigrants who entered New Zealand during the four months ended in April shows that ost of a total of 5201, 32 were non-European, 5 Chinese and 13 Indians.

'the superintendent of the Wanganui gaol, Air Ching, recently remembered that, he had been told, some 25 years ago, the relics of the Rutland Stockade were stored in a loft at the. gaol and he made an investigation. In the loft he found four sels of leg-irons, two lamps, which were used over tlie doors of the stockade, some padlocks and a few bolls and other odds and ends. Permission was obtained by Air filing- from the Controller-General of Prisons, and these interesting relics of old Wanganui’s stormy days will he deposited in tho museum. There is a small building at the gaol which originally stood in the stockade. In the Supreme Court at Wellington on the application of Mr 1). Stewart, bis Honour Air Justice McGregor granted probate of the will of Alice Ellen Harford, late of Nelson, to Herbert Newport, of Richmond, erne of the executors named in the will. Cream wool shawls in honeycomb, fancy wool, arid silk knits from 19/5, at McKay’s.*

Tho complete figures in respect of the clothing industry for the year enuc-d 31st March, 1926, present a brighter picture of this industry than lias been seen for a number of years. Notwithstanding the huge volume of articles of clothing brought into the. Dominion, and the. keenness of the competition among local manufacturers, the. statistics atford ample evidence of a general expansion in toe clothing industry as a whole. In quite a few instances manufacturers reported “flourishing conditions,” while “improved conditions” was quite a common remark. In a consideration of the conditions of (his industry it. should be borne, in mind that sudden changes in fashion, competition from abroad, and the relatively large number of factories, would generally ensure erratic states of business as between various factories from time to time. Relatively more complaints from manufacturers anent tho conditions of the industry are therefore a more or less permanent feature, of the clothing industry, as compared with other industries. Altogether materials costing £1,346,685 were worked upon in the clothing industry during the year, to produce articles of a total value of £2,515,280. _ Tho actual value added to the materials operated upon in the , manufacturing processes was therefore £1,168,595. (lie highest vet recorded for ibis industry. Compared with the figure for 1924-25, it shows an increase of £79,827, or 8 per cent.

At the Magistrate’s Court yesterday, Mr T. E. Maun sell delivered judgment in an adjourned case Luigi Zanderigo and others v. James Teddy. The parties involved were members of the Donato entertainment company which played in Nelson earlier in. the year. The facts of tho case, were reported in “The Mail” some months ago'. Plaintiffs, who had been sacked by defendant without notice, claimed for wages in lieu of notice, and for car hire in respect of vehicles 'owned by them and used by the company. Teddy (Donato) counterclaimed for various small amounts he had spent on plaintiffs’ cars. Judgment was given for plaintiffs on the claim for £39, with costs £7 18s 6d; and for defendants on the counter-claim for £3 0s 6d, with costs £1 Bs.

The farmer is frequently accused of spending more of his timo off the farm than is good for his prosperity. However, even if this is the case, there are notable exceptions. One of the party of Canterbury farmers who visited Otago during last week after a residence of 54 years in Canterbury, saw Dunedin for the first time, and it was in the southern city that he saw a'steamer for the second time. “Times have been too bad,” he told a newspaper man, “to trip about much, and it is only this last year or two that, one has been able to get ahead of it.” The general experience is more the other way, and apparently this farmer’s long-sustained industry is meeting with its reward. Needless to add, few enjoyed all that was to be seen more than he did. Expenditure on food constitutes somewhat less than two-fifths of the,expenditure of the average household, says the Government Statistician,* in giving a report on retail prices for April. All in-, dex numbers snow decreases when compared witli those for April, 1926. Groceries have fallen by 11 points, mainly due to the reduction in trie charges for flour, and dairy produce shows a 73point decrease, owing to heavy reduction in butter prices. Meat is 116 points lower, due to a continued and marked drop in the prices of meat. The index number for the combined food groups was, in April, 60 points less than that for April ; 1926. Statistics regarding the retail prices of clothing, drapery, footwear and'miscellaneous items of- family expenditure, when combined with the indexes for food, rent, fuel and light, represent 87 per cent of the average household, expenditure. The resultant all-group 9 index is 61.9 per cent above that for duly, 1914. It now takes on the average, to purchase what- could be bought for 20/- in that month.

The railway authorities have received a request to arrange a visit of Marlborough farmers to Canterbury. This will entail motor transport for a portion of the journey, but it is anticipated that but little difficulty will be experienced in that respect. ’The request has been just received and the railway authorities have not yet had time to go into details, but are giving the matter consideration.

Fourteen industrial disturbances occurred in New Zealand during the first three months of 1927, fifteen firms being involved. Workers affected tnumbered 993. The total duration of the disturbances was 40 days, the average duration of each disturbance being 2.86. The approximate loss in wages was £2212. There were three disputes in (lie mealfreezing industry, involving 260 workers, the average duration of each disturbance being five days. The workers lost approximately £144. The biggest loss was entailed in two coal-mining disturbances, about £IB3O being the Government Statistician’s computation as to loss. In all, 452 workers were affected. .Seven disturbances took place in connection with shipping and cargoworking, 258 workers being implicated. The loss in wages was £204.

An appeal for assistance towards the completion of a memorial of Bishop Selwyn in England has been received by Bishop West-Watson, states the “Church News.” Miss Selwyn, whose father was a canon of Gloucester Cathedral, built Holly Rush Church on- t-lie borders of the three counties of Worcester, Hereford and Gloucester, as a memorial of Bishop Selwyn.’s work as first bishop of New Zealand, 1845-1867, out being unable (o overcome the difficulties of founding a parish in connection with it, had (o be content to make it a chapel of ease, as which it was dedicated on 3rd November, 1869. Mr W. A. Roberts in 1906 revived Miss Selwyn’s scheme, and at last in 1912 succeeded in having Holly Bush constituted a parish church. But another £IBO is required in order to bring the endowment up to £350 per annum, and a further £SOO to enlarge the chancel. A parish hall costing £460 has been built, and a vicarage costing £2825 was fin - ishod in September last.

An illustration of the success that has been attained in. the general endeavour to prolong the life of the individual is shown by the figures of the age-group, 80 years and over, in 1877 and in 1926, states the Government Statistician. Whereas in 1877 only .42 deaths were recorded at ages 80 and over, equal to approximately 1 per cent of the total, the corresponding figure for 1926 increased to 1749, or 15 per cent of the total deaths.

Administration of the estates rfi (be following deceased, persons in tlie Nelson district, has hern accepted by the Public Trustee during the month'of May, 1927; Edward James Cannier, of Ariki, Alurchison, farmer; Alan Henry Collins, of i inmama, Tnkaka, school-teacher ; David Conghlan, of Nelson, labourer: George. Henry Kidsori. of Tui, fanner; Ellen Farquhnr Salisbury, of Pokororo, widow; Susan J'-relin Rest Young, of Wakefield, widow.

It is notified that the premises of members of the Softgorwls Association will remain open all day, on Thursday next.

By special arrangement Reuter’s world lerviee in addition to other special •'oure.es of information is used in the ■wnpilntion of cue oversea invJligence published in this issue, and ail rights therein in A-i-n-alin and N««r Z«»>«.od are reserved