LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16157, 19 February 1916, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

A case of an unusual nature was considered by the Claims Board of the Auckland Patriotic Association at its meeting yesterday afternoon. An elderly woman, with a husband 69 years of age, and unable to work, made application for assistance. It appears that she had reared a family of nine sons and daughters, all of whom, with the exception of one son, are fathers and mothers of fairly large families, and unable to contribute to their parents' support. This duty devolved upon the remaining son, who, however, enlisted at the outbreak of the war, and was killed in action. A State pension of IPs per week has been granted, but this amount was, of course, quite inadequate to support the aged couple. The board decided to make a weekly grant, which will ensure that the old people will be comfortably provided for.

The means of inflicting corporal punishment en school children was referred to Jin the judgment given by Mr. F. v. Frazer, S.M., in the Police Court last , night in connection with a charge of ! assault against a teacher. It was stated jin the evidence that a supple-jack cane i was used to inflict punishment on the ' child concerned. Mr. Frazer said that , when he was teaching in Otago the Otago . Education Board insisted upon corporal I punishment being given by means of a I strap. The regulation defined the length, j width, and weight of the strap, and forj bade steps being taken to artificially , harden the leather. The board also in- . sisted upon the use of a punishment register, in which the name of the defaulting (child and the number of strokes inflicted was recorded. This was signed by the I teacher. The register served as a protec- ■ tion to the child and the teacher. Had | such a record been available in the present j case it would have afforded material assistance in determining the extent of punishjment inflicted. He was sorry that the 'system he referred to was not in vogue -n Auckland. The problem of providing accommodation for the surplus of pupils who are at present denied admission to the Girls' Grammar School will not be solved until Wednesday next, when the Board of Governors will hold its regular meeting. In the meantime the matter is in the hands of a committee, which is inquiring as to where the necessary provision can be made. It is possible that a means will be devised of providing extra classrooms close to the main building in Howe Street. Failing that, there is the obvious alternative of utilising the building in Symonds Street just vacated by the boy students. In that case, however, there are practical difficulties to be overcome, owing to the division of the staff. It is possible that next year relief may be obtained by opening a branch lower school at the board's Epsom property. For the present, however, that course is not available, is* the property is in the occupation of a tenant.

The sitting of the Magistrate's Court, over which Mr. E. C. Cut-ten, S.M.! presided, was considerably shortened yesterday morning by the non-appearance of complainants. There were 10 cases involving domestic infelicity, and i n four instances the wife failed to appear. One case was adjourned sine die, one until Monday and two until the afternoon. In one case the husband had been summoned five times, and on each occasion the wife failed to appear. In the two cases adjourned until the afternoon, one was settled by consent and the other was adjourned by arrangement for a week. Two cases in the morning were struck out, but were reinstated in the afternoon and adjournal for seven days.

J The supplement ~, issued ■with this mornI ing's Hkrald contains ; several interest- .' ine articles.' "The ' Individuality of .France" '• is Tohunga's subject, whilst Lieutenant-Colonel A. A. Grace, in ("Turkey's Part," deals with the moral .'.effect of the war on the part of our . enemies. Frank Morton writes on the "Mother of Men," Vacuus Viator on ' "The Two Races of Men," and Elsie K. " Morton deals with " Unremembered Dead." The usual illustrative and , other interesting features are also included . in the supplement. , The new Sunday evening tramcar ser- - vice will be commenced to-morrow night. The time-table will be practically the same as that at present regulating the '- afternoon service. The maximum interval » between any two consecutive cars on the various city and suburban lines will be as follows :—Ponsonby, 7 minutes ; Parnell, 9 minutes; Heme Bay, 10 minutes; Grey Lynn, Mount Albert, Dominion Read and Mount Eden, 12 minutes; Onehunga and Remuera, 15 minutes; Victoria Avenue, > 40 minutes.

The amount of capital which Mr. Paul Hansen has been commissioned by the Takapuna Tramway and Ferry Company to raise is £60,000, of which £50,000 is to be utilised for the electrification of the tram line and £10,000 for the building of a new steamer. It is estimated that with such improvements to its system the company will be able to carry some 2000 passengers an hour from the city to Takapuna, instead of 800 as at present.

The soldiers who arrived in Auckland on February 10 from the Rangiotu camp will return to-morrow, on the expiration of their leave. The men, 150 in number, will travel by the 8.50 p.m. express in. special carriages in the front of the train. That entraining operations may be more easily conducted, the platform will be roped off, and those who are not passengers will remain outside the barricade. On Friday next nearly 600 men of the Tenth Reinforcements will arrive in Auckland from Tauherenikau at 6 a.m., on their final leave. They will leave again by the 8.50 p.m. express on Saturday, March 4.

A new system of electing officer-bearers will be introduced at the forthcoming annual meeting of the Auckland Young Men's Christian Association. Nominations •for the various positions will close one week before the day on which the annual meeting will be held when the names will be submitted to a ballot, to be taken between the hours of 8.30 a.m. and 8 p.m. Mr. J. B. McKinney, the general secretary of the association, explained yesterday that the new system has been adopted to afford an opportunity to members of the association who may be unable to attend the meeting in the evening to record their votes during the day.

The Recruiting Board's circular with regard to the new recruiting scheme was read at a meeting of the One-tree Hill Road Board last evening. Mr. G. W. Hutchinson said he was ashamed of the scheme propounded by the Defence Department when -the country was calling out for conscription. Other local bodies supported the. scheme because they did not wish to embarrass the National Government. He did not think the Department realised that the war was one of commercialism as well as a military one. The chairman, Mr. H. Dobbie, said he was not in favour of the scheme. He did not consider it fair to ask another man to fight for him. Mr. R. B. McDuff said he was of the same opinion. A resolution was passed to - the effect that while not wishing to hamper the Government in their recruiting scheme, the board was unanimously of opinion that the only satisfactory course to pursue was the adoption of conscription.

A cyclist named William Needham, 17 years of age, who resides in Balmoral Road, Mount Eden, collided with a horse and cart in Market Entrance yesterday morning. .He was riding down Wakefield Street when the chain of his bicycle broke, thus causing him to lose control of his machine. When picked up after the accident he was considerably dazed. He was admitted to the hospital, and an examination proved that no bones had "been broken. The patient is reported to bo still suffering from shock. Needham is a mail-sorter at the Chief Post Office.

Liberal as is the accommodation of the new Grammar School at Mount Eden, it is already, in the first week of the school year, fully occupied. Nominally, the school is designed for 600 pupils. In that estimate, however, the space is apportioned on a liberal scale, and the 750 pupils who have been enrolled this week are comfortably provided for. Any greater number, however, will mean crowding.

Eleven claims for assistance came up for hearing at the Claims Board of the Auckland Patriotic Association yesterday afternoon. The Mayor, Mr. J. H. Gunson, presided, and there were also present Messrs. E. Phelan, V. J. Larner, J. F. Ewen, and C. J. Tunks. Relief was granted to nine of the applicants, and the remaining two cases were deferred for further consideration.

' 1 The more water that is. used the less ■ disease we shall have," said Mr. H. M. ' Skeet, Commissioner of Crown Lands, in presiding at a meeting of the Lake Takapuna Board of Control yesterday. He ' said it should be the endeavour of every ' i local body to encourage Deople to use ■ ' water, and local • authorites should have I ', such supplies as to render it unnecessary 11 for any restrictions to be made. A great I many people, he remarked, did not use enough water. Mr. G. Fraser said that on the other hand a great deal of waste was undoubtedly going on. These remark* were ; made during the consideration of the by- * j laws relating to the powers of the board I to prohibit the use of water for other than ' '■ purely domestic uses should the necessity ' , arise. > j Last year's students of the Technical [ 1 College who wish to return to the day ; ' school are required to enrol not later than Monday morning next.

j A public auction was held at the District Lands and Survey Office, Auckland, . yesterday morning, when Section 247 c, of , Rnwene town district, was offered ' for lease. The area of the land in question is 13 perches, and the minimum annual rental is £20. There was only one offer made the lease being secured by Messrs. A. S. Andrews and Sons, of Rawene. An action was set down for hearing i c the Supreme Court yesterday, in which Sarah Williams (Mr. H. H. Ostler) sought to obtain an order against Thomas Williams (Mr. E. C. Blomfield) for specific performance of an agreement, and also claimed £200 for the use and occupation of land. After a conference between the pities, however, an arrangement was : arrived at under which the case was j struck out. .The office-bearers of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce for the coming year have been elected without competition. Mr. Edward Anderson has been re-elected president, and Mr. A. M. Ferguson vicepresident. The vacancies in the council