LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17853, 6 August 1921, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

The Chelsea sugar refining works, -which nave been closed for some daiys, owing to a shortage of raw sugar, will resume operations some time on Monday. The Rona is now due with between 4000 and 5000 tons of from Fiji, and it is expected that she will arrive at Chelsea early on Monday morning.

Eight Dew applications for work were received by the Government Labotu Bureau yesterday, from men who hav« been rendered idle as a result of the exist ing economic conditions. A total of 4C applications has lieen received since • Monday, and half that number have bac positions found for them by the bureau. A majority of the men placed in private employment are engaged in farm work. An amendment to the regulations under the Discharged Soldiers' Settlement Act, 1915, is announced in the Gazette. In addition to giving ordinary soldier lessees the privilege of getting remission 0 r postponement of their rents by application to the Land Board, the amended regulations now allow those men who have taken up or selected lands opened up under the Bush and Swamp Act under the deferred payment system, the privilege of applying for remission or postponement of payment of interest on their puichase money. Under the deferred payment svstem the so.dier pays 5 per cent, per annum on the capital value, and also interest at 5 per cent, on the unpaid purchase money. I rider the former regulations the remi's sion or postponement of interest payment* was not. permitted. About ;.;0 officers and non-commissioned officers of the territorial and senior cadet forces, who have been attending a course lof instruction at Narrow Neck this week, | *''!, rpak carap 'o-day. A number of the . -V< .O. s will S it shortly fnr their Erst commission examination, and the officers for their further promotion examinations. A petition in bankiuptcy has been filed by William Benjamin Cox. fanner, of Auckland, and formerly of Wliangarei. jlhe fitst meeting of < red'jtors w;l! be" 5 held .on Monday, August 15. A resident of N'orthrote, Mr. William Wilson, mri wjth an accent at the I Northcote ferry tee at 5.15 p.m. yesterj day, through being caught between a ! ferry boat and the wharf. He. received an j abrasion to his head. After haying I studies inserted by the medical staff at

I the Auckland Hospital ho was able to pro- | | ceed to his home. Another iu cident .ase , : was admitted to the Auckland Hospital | , j ye>terday afternoon. A 13 year old bov I , Thomas Pollock, of Pukekohe Hill, was , | bn.,i K ht i„ suffering from a compound i -fracture of (he left leg. His injurv was' . r.tcivcd while attempting to catch a'horse. ' 1 When the warship Irresistible was | mineo! and sunk during the bombardmenti of the Dardanelles in Marcli. 1915, the! story was told of William ('. Burrows, , who lost his life through going below at the last moment to save the ship's cat. His mother, who lives in Auckland, rereived his gratuity vesterdav, the sum being £6. Mr. F. X. Bartram, MP. Grey Lynn : has written to the naval secretary in Wellington asking how this sum has been arrived at as being the gratuity due to a man Who gave his life while serving at sea in the late war. He has also asked to he furnished with further particulars of the rase. The statement of the number of pheasants liberated by the Auckland Acclima- j tisation Society i n 1921, recently pub- ' lished. did not take into account an alio-! cation nf 250 birds, which brought the: total to 835 for the year. The extra 250 were liberated as follows: —Paeroa, 20: j Kine Country. 20: Otorohanga ' 20Thames. 20: Tuakau. 15: Eden -Wai" takere Ranges—ls; Huntly. 20: Tauma j runui, 30: Pakakura. 25:" Ohinewai, 20; Morrinsville. 20; Roto o-rangi, 25 : The bread most commonly used in Dunedin was somewhat severely criticised by Professor Strong in the course of a lecture that she gave to the Women's Citizens' Association on "The Art of I Spending." She declared that it is wet ' and soggy and not sufficiently baked to j dry the moisture out of it. "You have j a law," she said, "requiring the bread to be up to a certain standard weight. and the weight is made up with water." She explained why when the, bread is j moist it is much more difficult to digest ! than when it crumbles as it should. Her reference to the extreme difficulty of getting brown bread -was somewhat discounted by the testimony of a lady later on, who said she had constantly used it for many years, and that her baker assured her brown bread was always to be had for the asking. The deputation from the Otago District .Returned Soldiers' Association that waited on the Hon. D. H. Guthrie on the occasion of his recent visit to Dun- I edin mentioned to the Minister that a j number of soldier settlers in North Otago I had insufficient winter feed for their | stock, and were under the necessity of railing feed from other districts. "The Minister promised to favourably consider the deputation's request that free railage be granted in such cases, and it is understood, in consequence 'of a ' further communication from the association, and after inquiries by officers of | the department, the Minister has given authority for feed to be carried free by rail in the cases brought under his notice. '• The country that will be the first I to experience a revival j n industry and ! commerce will be the on e that can reduce the cost of production to the point which will enable it to offer its goods at prices the world can afford to pay," said Mr. I ' , M. A. Carr, in an address to the Wei- ' ' | hngton Chamber of Commerce "Tomv i ' : mind, it is useless to think that prices ' | can come back to pre-war level—it is ' ! doubtful if, in all the circumstances such ! ' ; an event is either possible or desirable ■ '' I 4 vV fa !' "? P" o6 * must be gradual, and ; | this will be possible by a reduction in I j profits, a reduction in wages, and such , increased efficiency and production as will ) still greatly lessen costs; and if this can ; 1 bo effected it will still leave a fair re- ! ' ward for labour and a fair return on I ', capital.'' I

"I think the Government is deserving ' of a pat on the back as far as its sugar J contracts are concerned," said Mr. H S ! Hart, at a meeting of the Wellington Cen- j tral Chamber of Commerce this week. Ho I briefly reviewed the report of the Board ! of Trade's sugar operations. To him it seemed that the board and the Government had done very well indeed. Perhaps some member of the chamber would move a motion congratulating the Government upon its sugar activities over a period of six years. The chamber might also suggest that the time was now ripe for all trade restrictions to be removerl. Nobody was prepared to adopt the suggestion, "which accordingly lapsed. The New Zealand postage on postcards circulars, unsealed letters, and certain other articles is ljd. People who post such things find themselves unable to buy lid stamps, and when large numbers are dealt with the attachment of two or three stamps to each becomes laborious, especially as the " Victory " issue is remarkable for its size. Three halfpenny ' Victory stamps make a strip 4;j n long by an inch wide. It is explained officially that owing to the last change made in the postage rates there is a large stock of penny and halfpenny " Victory stamps, for which the ordinary demand is greatly reduced. In order that these shall not be wasted, postal officers have been instructed to sell two halfpenny stamps when a penny one is asked for and either a penny and a halfpenny or three halfpenny stamps for a penny "half penny. The labour of attaching 'stamps is. of course, easily reduced by using some kind of " mechanical licker,'" even if it is only a wet rag. If postal matter is despatched in large quantities, of 240 or over a permit can be obtained under which postage can bo paid in a lump sum without the use of adhesive stamps