NEWS OF THE DAY

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIX, Issue 8782, 11 July 1914, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

Amended regulations under tho Education Act, in regard to the examination and classification of teachers. are published in the “Gazette.” The arrivals iu Now Zealand during the month of May totalled 2812 persons, as compared with 3056 in tho corresponding month of last year, and the departures were 3730, as against 3151. The Chines© immigrants numbered 151 males and 36 females, and the departures of Chinese were 95. In the Magistrate’s Court yesterday, before Mr W. G. Riddell, S.M«, William Lingard, carrying on business as W. Lingard and Co., proceeded against Albert Sylvanus Gollyer for tho sum of £3O for the work, journeys, and attendance of the plaintiff performed for the defendant at his request as a commission agent in the sale of a certain butchery business lately carried on by the defendant at Kilbirnie. The defence set up a nonsuit. Tho case was adjourned till today for legal argument. Mr D. Jackson appeared for plaintiff, and Mr I’11. Putnam for defendant.

“If you all go on drawing water out of Lake Takapuna until the lake can supply no' more, and there is nothing left hut a slimy mudhole, Takapuna will, have an everlasting grievance against you,” said a speaker at a meeting at North Shore, Auckland. Ho referred to the fact that, although the lake belonged to Takapuna, other bodies wore using its waters to such an extent that the level was falling continuously. During June, in spite of the abundance of rain, the level had fallen another inch and a half. He said that it was the lake which had made Takapuna such a, popular resort, and that therefore the water in the lake must bo preserved at all costs.

Mr Cecil Palmer (hon. secretary of the Navy League) protested to a “Times” reporter yesterday against the remarks of Councillor Hislop at Thursday’s City Council meeting. Councillor Hislop is reported to have said that the Navy League was a body organised for political purposes. Tins statement, said Mr Palmer, was quite without foundation. Both in Great Britain and New Zealand there were people of all political parties among the. members. The Navy League had been particularly careful to keep away from politics, and the London executive contained Liberals as well as Conservatives. Mr Palmer suggests that Councillor Hislop may have been thinking of the Imperial Maritime League, formed by Conservatives and now practically out of existence. Last night' in the Town Hall the missionary explorer, Mr Dan Crawford, referred to his first experience of town planning in Central Africa. Ho had with great labour laid out a mile of little pegs preparatory to starting a road, and darkness coming on. had retired to. his hut. Next morning ho found the pegs neatly piled in front of his door. Tho chief of tho village came to him humbly and said, “Sir, thero has boon a great mistake, these pieces of wood cannot growl” (Laughter.) The offending tribesman was set to putting the pegs in line again. When he had finished he cried joyfully, “Why, they’re straight.” The native has no conception of a straight line, and was m the position of the little child that believes that the pressing of a button produces the electric light. Being keenly interested in agricultural matters, Dr R. McNah, while in Sydney recently, paid a round of visits to the various factories occupied with the sterilising of bones and the nreparation of animal manures for the New Zealand market. This work i* done under inspection by representatives of the Dominion Government. “I found everything working splendidly under tho able direction of Mr Laune, he said. “This scheme was started by Mr Duncan when Minister for Agriculture, in 1905. In the following year, little more than 2300 tons of manures were prepared, but now it has become a very Big trade, and some 7300 tons are exported annually. The inspection is to. prevent the possibility of anthrax being introduced to this country. It is a singular thing that there is no inspection by the New South Wales Government of the products of these factories for use in that State. The factories, some of whicn are very large, are divided into two parts; one to prepare the bones and manures for Now Zealand under the rigid inspection required by this country, and the other to prepare them without inspection for Australian use. A small fee of about 2s Cd a ton is charged to the manufacturer and the department so far has been found to pay its way. On inquiry, I found that very few merchants, and stTl fewer of oiir farmers who visit Sydney even know of the existence of these works, which is to bo wondered at when we realise the importance of the inspection to the health and financial prosperity of this country.”-

The First Division of the Court of Appeal will sit at 10-30 a.m. to-day.

Robert Lynch, a barber, was found drowned in the river at Wairoa yesterday, states a Press Association telegram.

Additional regulations made by tho Public Service Commissioner for tho draughtemen’s examination under tbo Lands and Survey Department are gazetted this week. The postal authorities advise that the s.s. Manuka, which left Sydney on Wednesday for Auckland, is bringing Australian mails and also an English mail, via Suez, the Wellington portion of which is due, per Main Trunk express, on Monday afternoon.

Power is given to the Feilding Borough Council by an Order-in-Council gazetted this .week to erect electric lines in the borough and within three miles of the borough boundary in the counties of Oroua, Manawatu, and Kairanga, for lighting, heating, and power purposes.

Three prisoners will appear before His Honour tho Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout) for sentence, in the Supreme Court at 10 o’clock this morning. Their names and offences are:—Jack James Hyams, forgery and uttering; Roland Bill Nelson, theft from a postal packet; Christopher James White, breach of probation order. At yesterday’s sitting of the Plunket Society Conference, Dr Truby King (president of tho society) referred to tho relative amount of good done by insane asylums and Plunket nurses. “Seacliff Asylum," ho said, “cost £175,000. I have a staff of a hundred working, and tho annual cost of tho institution is over £25,000, but 'all these workers do less 'good to the nation and for posterity than a single Plunket nurse doing her duty in tho city of Dunedin.”

“To he burned-by the hands of the common hangman,” was tho sentence passed two hundred years ago by tho House of Lords on Dr Sacheverell’s sermons. A somewhat similar fate was dealt out the other evening to Dr Eleanor Baker’s medioal report on school children, which had been forwarded by the Canterbury Education Board to a South Canterbury School Committee, tho members of which unanimously resolved “That the report bo received and immediately burned." The honorary secretary performed tho function of tho historical hangman.

During the mouth of June the total births in tho four chiof cities and their suburban boroughs amounted to 603, against 572 in May. The deaths in Juno- were 258—an increase of 33 as compared with the previous month. Of the total deaths males contributed 142, females 116. Forty-nine of tho deaths were of children under five years of pge, being 18.99 per cent, of the whole number: 39 of these were under one year of age. There wore 90 deaths of persons of 65 years and upwards, as against 74 in May. The death rates in the ' four centres were: —Wellington 0.78 per 1000, Auckland 0.82, Dunedin 0.88, Christchurch 0.90. With tho price of kauri gum ranging up to £l9O per ton, the industry in the Northern Wairoa district has again assumed a phase of activity (states tho Auckland “Herald”). Settlors in , s man’y localities are receiving as much as £1 per week per man lor the right to dig over their properties. Some diggers are earning as much as £5 per week, but the average winnings approximate £2. The mild winter, combined with the high market rates, has enticed large numbers of Maoris to ro-ongage in the industry, and numerous settlers who possess gum territory are also exploiting their holdings. Grassed areas are, being prospected, and appearances indicate that many years must elapse before all the gum is exhausted. The Hawke's Bay branch of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners lias filed- with tho Clerk of Awards (Mr G. S. Clark) a claim for a dispute to be heard before the Conciliation Council. The demands are for » forty-four-hour week; a minimum ,wago of Is 6d per hour for journeymen carpenters and joiners, and Is a day extra for men on outside jobs who have to give instructions to at least two other men; overtime to be paid at the rato of time and a quarter for the first two hours, time and a half thereafter till 10 p.m., double time from 10 p.m. to 7.30 a.m., and time and a quarter for work done before 7.30 a.m. and commenced after 6 a.m. In respect of apprentices the rates demanded are:—First year ss, second year 10s, third year 15s, fourth year £l, fifth year £1 ss.

When the name of James Grant was called in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday, two claimants ' for'the honour stepped forward, one a youth, and tho other a woolly-headed coloured gentleman. Each looked at the other somewhat bewildered. “Are you James Grant?” queried the clerk of the court of the youth. The lad did not deny the soft impeachment. “You are charged with using obscene language-—began Mr Ward. “No fear, that’snotmo,” responded the youth. Then the coloured individual came into the legal limelight again. “I am James Grant,” he said. The charge was duly read to him, and his admission ofvhaving used the “language” cost him £2, or a fortnight’s holiday upon the Terraco. The lad, whose dilatoriness in’rendenng personal service under the Defence Act was responsible for his appearance, was asked for a sovereign to impress on him his allegiance to his Sovereign. Two days’ soldiering at Alexandria was required of him if he did not feel disposed to pay the money. The publication of statements suggesting the existence in Wellington of a bad type of criminals, connected with recent assaults upon Chinamen, was deprecated by Superintendent Ellison in conversation with a reporter yesterday. ' He stated that there was absolutely no ground for the alarming allegations which had been made. Referring to the affair which occurred in Austin street last Saturday night, the Superintendent regarded it more as a joke than anything else, and as to the incident in a Wallace street shop on Thursday evening he was of the opinion that the Chinaman was not assaulted with any criminal intent. Ha pointed out that there wore a few ’'wasters” in the Mount Cook district who would persist in tormenting helpless Chinese. Respecting recent alleged burglaries, he remarked that they were hardly burglaries, being merely' thefts from dwellings, which in most case- were not occupied; the culprit would bo caught sooner or later. In conclusion, Superintendent Ellison said there was absolutely no cause for alarm; there was no more crime now than was usual at this time of th° year, and alarmist reports only resulted in all kinds of complaints, which, when investigated, proved quite trivial. “The Mount Cook district was never quieter than at present,” was the testimony of Detective-Sergeant Cassells.

The Supreme Court criminal sessions at Wellington will open on -Monday, August 10 th. Tlia Anglican Synod continued its deliberations yesterday. The proceedings were in committee, ■' the Synod dealing with tho question of finance-

Tho “Gazette” this week contains regulations made under section 232 of the Native Land Act, 1909, for tho management and control of native reservations.

For tho supply of 250,000 jarrah sleepers tho Railway Department has accepted the tender of Millar’s W. A. Hardwoods Company, Ltd., at 4s 9jd each.

Sittings of the Commission appointed to inquire into the provisions for landless natives in the South Island will bo held at Picton on Tuesday, July 14th, and at Nelson on Thursday, July 16th. i At the annual conference of the Plunkot Society yesterday it was decided to writo and ask Her Majesty tho Queen, through His Excellency Lord Liverpool, to become patroness of the society. By a proclamation gazetted this week the Wellington district constituted under the Births and Deaths Registration Act is divided into two now districts to be known respectively as tho Wellington district and the Wellington North district. As an indication of tho progress ot the suburbs on tho eastern side of Mount Victoria, it may bo mentioned that no leas than thirty-six building permits were issued by the City Council for Hataitai alone during the month of June. A Press Association telegram from Napier last night recorded the death at Potano of Mr Robert Pullett, tor many years connected with tho Union Steamship Company’s service. Mr Puflett was for tea years manager of the company’s Christchurch branch, and was afterwjards manager at Wellington, and later at Napier, and again at Wellington. The hearing of tho case in which Philip Barrett sued Basil L. Donne and Guy Hoggard for £24, being the value of a boat owned by the plaintiff and alleged to hay© bean lost through carelessness on the part of tho defendants, was concluded before Mr W. G. Riddell, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Judgment was reserved.

To-morrow evening in the old Opera House a meeting will be held, when addresses will be delivered by prominent Labour men, including Messrs R; Semple, A. Rosser, James Thorn, J. Dowgray, W. E. Parry, W. Richr avda, P. H. Hickey, and others. At this meeting reference will be made to the' findings of the Labour Conference at present sitting in Wellington. The Waterside Workers’ Band will play selections, . ' “Yon cannot bring children up like a regiment of soldiers, and it is "useless to try,” remarked Mr F. V. Frazer, S.M., to a defendant at the Auckland Police Court. The magistrate said he believed in disoixiline for children, but it was impossible to bring them up as'if they were in a military barracks. If a child wilfully disobeyed its parents, then, of course, it must be corrected. “You can have firm "discipline for children without being absolutely cruel to them,” remarked His Worship, in conclusion. A social to mark the eve of the conclusion of the United Federation of Labour Conference was held at Young’s Private Hotel last evening. The chair was occupied by Mr J obn Rigg. Among those present wore Messrs Payne, Webb and Robertson. M.P.’s. Apologies for absence were read from Messrs McCombs, and Veitch, M.P.’s, who had proceeded to their homes. An enjoyable programme of musical items was given. Many toasts were honoured, and the evening was brouglß fo a close at a late hour.

A deputation which included the Anglican Bishop of Wellington (Dr Sprott) and the Rev. W. J. Comrio (representing the Presbyterian Church) waited upon the' Hon. J. Allen (Minister for Education) yesterday and asked that the Government should make some superannuation provision for teachers engaged in the Anglican and Presbyterian Maori schools. The Minister intimated that he' could not see his way to grant the request. If ho did so he would practically open, the door for similar requests from all private schools.

When in Sydney recently Dr R. McNab observed that the New Zealand Government Agency there had been removed f rom its central position on the ground floor of a build.ug near the shipping offices, to an oince in the fourth storey of a block almost opposite the Post Office. ‘‘l have my doubts whether the change is a good one,” he said to a "New Zealand Times” representative. “People like the ready access of the ground floor rather than going up four stories in a lift, and the difficulties of advertising on that floor are much greater than on the street level. However, Mr Blow, the, energetic office in charge, does not anticipate that the interests 6i Now Zealand will suffer, hut I have a feeling that it will bo better if the present offioe is not retained permanently.” A conference was held on Wednesday between the executive of the Wharf Labourers’. Union, Mr Bennett (manager of the Maritime Employers’ Association) and Mr W. Pryor, (scoretary of tho Employers* Association) Mr Bennett stated that between 1000 and 1100 inen are to be taken into the new register, and that 48s is to be the weekly minimum wage. The inen are to be in attendance every day, but no method of putting thorn to work has yet been decided on. Tho Harbour Board employees are to bo on the same footing as the others. Cargo and coal workers will bo kept separate as far as possible. These are the features of the scheme which, It is stated, the Wharf Labourers’ Union executive generally approves of. A meeting of the union will he held to discuss the scheme.

Argument was concluded before Mr Justice Husking, in the Supreme Court yesterday morning, on the motion by the defendants for judgment to he entered for the defendants, or for a new trial to be ordered, in the case of Michael Sweeney v. S.dney and Elsio Kirkcaldie, a claim for £5Ol damages for injur.es received tiirouga a collision with the defendants’ motorcar. The jury had returned a verdict on issues and awarded the plaintiff 1 £l5O damages, but it was contended on behalf of the defendants that the trial had not proved that the accident wa s due to the negligence of Mrs Kirkcaldie. Mr C. P. Skerrett, K.C.. with Mr E. K. Kirkcaldie, appeared in support of the motion, which was opposed by Mr A. .Gray, K. 0., who appeared with Mr W. Perry- for the plaintiff. His Honour reserved his decision, ■