LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14144, 20 August 1909, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

A labourer named Michael Crowan sustained serious injuries in the railway yards at Newmarket early yesterday afternoon, owing to a mishap occurring to a machine near which- he was working. Crowan was removed to the hospital, where he was found to be suffering from injuries to his back, three fractured ribs, and, it is feared, internal injuries.

The wheels of justice have revolved slowly since the commencement of the criminal sittings of the Supreme Court, on Monday. The first day was occupied in hearing a charge of assault and causing actual bodily harm against a prisoner, who was discharged, while on the second day a Northern settler stood his trial, and was acquitted, upon charges of cattle-stealing and horse-stealing. On Tuesday afternoon the Owhata fires case, involving a charge of arson, was commenced, and it was not until last evening that the jury returned a verdict.

Human birds of prey are very numerous in Auckland at present, according to some statements made by Detective McMahon in a vagrancy case, at the Police

Court yesterday. It was stated that despite the attempts at cleansing work by the police, the town was infested with vagrants, v. ho, going about in pairs, would mark out a possible victim in the shape of a person who would be in such a condition of insobriety that he would have but hazy recollections of his assailants, and would be able to give next to no information to the police afterwards. They would ask the man for Is, and if he

generously acceded to their request, would demand of him more. If he refused, he would be knocked down, and his pockets rifled, his assailants, owing to the facts above-mentioned, escaping scot free. The police, however, were determined to cleanse the town of these creatures, despite the many rebuffs and difficulties they had encountered. The Bench said they were quite determined to back up the police in the matter, and marked this by sentencing the accused to 12 months' imprisonment, despite his vehement protestations. In sentencing another man to a like term of enforced residence at Mount Eden, the Bench remarked that at the present time, and for some considerable time past, there had been a great deal of robbery and roguery going on in the city. There was hardly a day that the press was not recording some crime or other. The Bench were determined to put down the present state of things with a strong hand by making a practical example of. the accused.

To take a back seat is a request that seldom comes from the judicial Bench to a member of the Bar, yet this was the course adopted by Mr. Justice Edwards yesterday, when His Honor had occasion to reprove Mr. J. R. Lundon for interrupting- his examination of the prisoner, for whom the Auckland barrister was appearing. "Behave yourself, Mr. Lundon," said the judge, "and don't interrupt when I'm questioning the witness. Get further back. You're too near to the jury." The Crown solicitor quietly suggested to his learned friend, "that he should take a seat at the table to the rear, but Mr. Lundon replied, "No, not without His Honor's consent," and he straightway asked for permission. This was readily given, and during the remainder of the hearing, opposing counsel were separated by a sufficient barrier.

Several owners of dogs, who had failed to register the canine creatures, were brought up before Messrs. F. H. Pickering and H. A. Gordon, justices of the peace, at the Police Court yesterday. Some of the defendants had satisfactory explanations to make as to . the nonregistration, and escaped without penalty, but the great majority were mulcted in a fine of 5s and costs in each case.

Matters in connection with the proposed Grey Lynn school were discussed at a meeting of the Newton Schools Committee on Wednesday night. A letter received from the secretary of the Auckland Education Board . stated with reference to. acquisition of a site for the proposed school, that the Board had forwarded the necessary documents to the Under-Secretary: for Public Works, with a request that the Order-in-Council authorising the Board to take certain land under the Public Works Act be published as early as possible. The committee resolved to forward a copy of the Board's letter, together with an accompanying letter, to the Minister for Education, pointing .out the great delay there had been in connection with the erection of the new school, and urging upon the Minister the necessity for its speedy completion.

There is an experimental aviator at Gisborne, according to the Times. The journal, in question states that recently Mr. Paul Fishback made an experimental trial with a model aeroplane. There was a fair wind, and although the experiment was not a complete success* he anticipates being able shortly to have a two horsepower motor and an additional plane above the two main , ones, which at present he is working on. Should the experiment prove successful, Mr. Fishback contemplates building an aeroplane with sufficient power to carry two men and travel at a speed of 25 miles an hour.

The Newton Schools Committee, at its meeting on Wednesday evening, decided to compliment the Auckland Education Board on the stand it took with regard to the health of the children in the public schools, and fully endorsed the : remarks of the chairman, as reported in the daily papers of August 6. The committee considered that the time had arrived when the State should give more attention to the physical education of the children, the teeth, eyesight, and hearing being of special importance, and pledged itself to support the Board of Education in trying to bring about this much needed reform. In pursuance of this determination, it was decided to communicate with the Minister for Education on the subject. •

Inquiries made by a reporter on Monday from various ladies at the head of charitable and other organisations in Christchurch, revealed a sentiment of decided pessimism in regard to the prospects of the future generation. "What the girls of the present day are coming to," one lady exclaimed, "I'm sure I don't know. Why, some of them that pass through our home here cannot even cook a potato!" To the feminine mind nothing possibly could be worse or more hopeless. The attractiveness of factory life— freedom, the 1 short hours and the good wagesis blamed for lack of knowledge in the domestic arts disclosed by the young women nowadays, and it is felt that the fact of parents neglecting to make the homes sufficiently attractive is responsible for the late hours and "gadding" that have become so pronounced a characteristic of the weaker sex during late years.

The Auckland sittings of the Police Commission will commence in the Su-

preme" Court Buildings on Tuesday, August 24, at 10.30 a.m. Any person desiring to give evidence in regard to matters coming within the scope of the Commission is requested to communicate with the secretary (Mr. J. D. Gray), care of the Inspector of Police, Auckland.

It was alleged at a meeting of the Horo\riienua County Council on Saturday that the Wellington Hospital was more expensively run than any other in New Zealand. To this statement the Hon. C. M. Luke, chairman of the Hospital Trustees, gave a direct denial on Tuesday. " The Wellington Hospital," he said, "costs less per patient than any other large hospital in New Zealand. I do not know what item the members of the County Council are referring to, unless it is the . proposed . fever hospital, which is to be discussed by local bodies' representatives this week."

t Among the correspondence' that canst. j before the Advisory Board of the New • : ! Zealand Employers' Federation, at their' \ meeting this week at Wellington, was on« from the executive of the Auckland Em- I plovers' Association with regard to relief | work for the unemployed. The writers ' were strongly of the opinion that the rate 1 of • wages offeree! should lie substantially f loss than those ruling under awards for : the particular class of work required to I be performed, otherwise the tendency would be to attract workers from coun- ' I try districts, and probably from places • I outside New Zealand to centres where re- i lief works were being conducted. Obvi- 1 ously this would be very undesirable. The "' I Advisory Board endorsed the letter, and . £ decided to ask the Auckland Association § to forward a remit on the subject to the •' I annual meeting of the federation. |

The manager of Burnham Industrial School, Mr. T. Archey, told a reporter at ; Christchurch the other day a rather amusing anecdote. The windows in the school [ dormitories are made up of very small square panes, and one.of the boj-6 of the 1 : school, who had escaped, told Mr. Archey, on returning after being recaptured, that he had made his exit through one of these windows. " I didn't believe him," said Mr. Archey, "so he gave me a practical demonstration by wriggling through one of the window-frames which happened to have no glass in it. When he got outside he; made another bolt for freedom, and got away." Mr. Archey added that the lad was" again captured and brought hack to the school. '

The question whether there is any pre*, pect of the teaching of elementary agriculture being made a more outstanding subject in the educational system was ; brought before the Hon. G. Fowlds, Minister for Education, at C'hristchuTch. Mr.' Fowlds replied that there was no immedi- ■ ate prospect of a change being made in this connection. It was his opinion that: in some of tho schools quite as much Was • bein"' done as it • was possible to do inprimary school work, without seriously in-. terfering with the general education for: which the primary school was mainly intended. The only thing that was wanted; was to get the present eystem more generally extended, and that could only be dona by giving the teachers an opportunity to i secure the training which was necessary for them before they could give instruction. He hoped to see all tho training colleges doing something in that direction. The district high schools had already been circularised, with a view of their adopting a definite programme providing for agricultural education. As they were 'very; largely situated in farming communities;! the Department • took the view that the; should have a bias towards agriculture or dairying. ,

In the course of an interview in Gisborne, Mr. W. Miller, inspector of the Agricultural Department, said he did not. pretend to say that the Department's methods of dealing with the rabbit question were perfect. There were far-too] many rabbits in New Zealand, and satisfactory progress had not been ; made considering the many years they had Wen; battled with and the improved methods of getting rid of them now in vogue. Un- = fortunately, in some districts, they; had become a commercial product, and; there would be greater hope of getting rid ol them altogether if there was no financial return from them at all, wither in regard to skins or carcases for freezing.

A good indication of the dryness of the present season in North Canterbury is the fact that the employees of the ManSevilla and' Rangiora Road Board had no brok*& time from rain during the five weeks end« ed on Friday of last week, the date of the Board's meeting. Mr. James Buckley, road contractor, stated that during his 30 years' experience of road work in ' the" W northern district of Canterbury such- a' long spell of fine weather at this time of the year has never before occurred.

Mr. S. Turner, F.R.G.S., who is farni. liarly known in Taranaki as the Napoleon of the .butter trade, speaking to an inter- - viewer on the subject of moisture in New Zealand butter this season, said he considered that greater danger existed in the "fishiness" which had been rather pro- , nounced in the past. year. "Fishiness," he said, "is the main thing the factories have to consider. It will pay them to go to any expense to discover the cause and have it remedied." Some people think it is due to too much moisture, but after careful inquiry he was inclined to think it is nob water at all, because New Zealand, on last year's showing, with the exception of just two or three cases, is not putting too much water in the butter at all. But in the two or three cases the excess was probably due to inexperienced use of the combined churn. If every manager aims at 13 per cent., he ought to get the desired -'result. It is, of course, better to have 2 per cent, less than £ per cent, r over tha 16 limit. ' ■;'

It is understood that Mr. F. F. Hockley, i ; a well-known Hunterville settler and jabpresent chairman of the Kiwitea County Council, will be a candidate for the Rangitikei seat which has been rendered vacant by the death of Mr. A. E. Remington. Mr. Hockley is an Oppositionist. Mr. G. Hutchison, ex-M.P., also an Opposition--ist, has already announced himself, whilst ■ a third supporter of the same party, Mr. Joblin, of Pohonui, near Hunterville, may: also enter the lists. The Government candidate will probably be Mr. Meldrum, of Hunterville. Mr. Smith, of Taihape (Independent), who ran Mr. Remington; very closely at the last election, may not be a candidate on this occasion.

Farmers all round Dargaville are speaking highly of the season. A Hoanga resident stated that in his portion of the district fully 60 per cent, of lambs had so far been obtained, and he hoped that he would be able to supply local butchers with early lambs about the middle of September. He anticipated a very heavy crop of wool this season; in fact, he would not be surprised if sheep yielded lib of wool per sheep more this season than last.

At a meeting of the committee of : the Christchurch branch of the National Defence League at Christchurch on Monday, the secretary reported that he had written| to the Mayors of a number of district towns, with* the object of arranging public meetings to'discuss the Defence Leagues programme, and that favourable reph« had been received. Speakers would go from . Christchurch shortly on a lecturing - tour, for the purpose of creating * nth M asm on defence matter*: Between 4W and 500 names had been enrolled during the past live weeks. Nearly 200 lists bad been put in circulation, 20 heads of departments and of large commercial fir» s had been personally interviewed, and ■»> all cases th platform of the league baa been approved, and influence promised to induce enrolment of members. Numerous subscription..') towards the general f«"dhad been received, and, speaking g^ er ally, the prospects of the Canterbury branch were in every way satisfactory. V ■ • ' Avnst, champion sculler of the world, leaves for Sydney shortly. He intends seeing Pearce and Day row for Hit *»■•»■ pionship of Australia*