NEWS OF THE DAY

New Zealand Times, Volume XLI, Issue 9506, 14 November 1916, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

At a well-attended nesting of supporters of the Returned Soldiers’ Club House Society, held last evening, the Mayor (Mr J. P. Luke) presiding, it was > decided to launch a scheme to raise the sum of £SOOO lor the society.

The president of the 'Ladies’ Auxiliary, Mr C. Chilton, who is in Wellington for & few days, has handed the treasurer of the National Y.M.C.A. Committee, Mr D. A. Fwen, a cheque for £6OO for a Y.M.C.A. hutment, to be erected in France.

During the passage of the Manuka from Sydney to Wellington on Friday, while one of the officers was testing a log which was being towed as usual astern of the vessel, a shark or some large fish bit the log propeller clean off. A tooth of the fish was found embedded in the lino. The “float,” as the missing portion of the log is known, is made of brass and weighs about 21bs. At the Carterton Magistrate’s Court the other day, a Maori, at_ the end of the hearing of a case against him, stated to the magistrate; “I say, what about my expenses; I borrow tp money to come here.’’ “I can’t help that,” replied the magistrate, “you’U have to pay that back yourself,” “Oh, well,” came the resigned reply from the wily native, “there’s no harm to ask; just thought I might catch something.” A representative meeting of temperance workers and sympathisers was held last evening in the Alliance rooms, to consider what steps should be taken to assist the New Zealand Alliance in its new campaign for f> o’clock closing. It was reported that there was widespread dissatisfaction with the attitude of the Legislature in rejecting, during last session, the wish of 100,000 petitioners for 6 o’clock closing of liquor _ bars during the war period. Committees were formed to work the different electorates on the organised campaign lines formulated by the central body.

A meeting of the health committee of the City Council was held yesterday afternoon, when Mr H. A. Ward, secretary of the Farmers’ Supply Association,' addressed the committee upon various phases of the milk supply question. He illustrated his discourse with a number of milk samples, and in the course of his remarks advocated the establishment of a clearing-house for the more efficient distribution of milk. After his explanation, Mr Ward,- in company with Mr P. E. Petherick, waited upon tho committee, and laid before the meeting various matters in relation to the supply of milk. He pointed out the unsatisfactory arrangements which obtained at the present time in regard to the milk vendors and the condition of the milk. With commendable industry and eminent success. Constable Skinner, of Napier, has brought out a “Digest of Selected 'English and New- Zealand Cases bearing on the Criminal and Licensing Laws,’’ published by the authority of the Hon. the Minister in Charge of the Police Department, and the Commissioner of Police, with an appropriate and encouraging foreword from the Solicitor-General. For the police constable whose present duties are so multifarious and who must frequently construe crabbed statutes on Hunted notice and in emergencies, a digest of the cases interpreting the Acts which he helps to administer, and which apply practically the principles of law of which he is supposed to be cognisant, is absolutely indispensable. The proofs for the work were examined by the Crown Law Office. The references to the cases cited in the digest are abundant, the “Police Gazette’’ reference being given in every instance. VI! the decisions 5 cited are good working cases, and the note of each contains a precise and correct statement of the facts. The work is not onlv of assistance to police officers, bur also to legal practitioners and hotelkeepers: the last-named will find the obscurities of the Licensing Acts considerably illuminated by this handy little volume of 83 pages, including a comprehensive index and table of cases. The price is 7s 6d. We strongly recommend the work, and congratulate the painstaking compiler.

The death at Featherston Camp of Private M. D. Minogue, of B Company, 20th Reinforcements, is now certified as being due to cerebro-spinal meningitis. The Postal authorities advise that the mails which left New Zealand on September 21st via Australia arrived in London on the night of the 9th instant.

The Petone Borough Council, on the suggestion of Mr J. H. Jackson, has decided to open a fund for the purpose oF'erecung a suitable memorial to fallen soldiers.

The members of the Royal Dramatic and Comedy Company, which opens in “■Madame X’’ at the Grand Opera House on Saturday, arrived from . Sydney by the Manuka yesterday. During the past eight months, permits for the erection ot buildings at Petone have been issued by the council to the value of £3BSo, on which tees amounting to £l3 15a Cd have been paid- 1

The Railway Department has informed the Petone Borough Council, in reply to a request that the afternoon train to the Wairarapa he timed to stop at Petone. that the decision already arrived at could not be departed from.

It was reported at the meeting of the Lower Hutt Borough Council last night that there are at present five houses in course of erection, in the borough. During the past month five houses had been connected with the water mains, and throe house sewerage drains had been laid and hydraulically tested. In reporting to the Petone Council respecting an application for a reduction in the price of gas to large consumers, the borough engineer (Mr A. Cowie) said that onlv about seven consumers would be afiected- To givo a reduction of tcnpqnce per thousand cubic feet would mean a loss in revenue to the council of £5 or £6 per month.

It was stated at the Petone Borough Council meeting last night that it would cost £7OOO to divert the creeks that flood portions of" Petono during heavy rains. The Mayor said that’ it would require a loan to carry out the work. It was resolved to ask the works committee to report on the subject and to procure further estimates of the cost if necessary. As much of the flood water comes from Hnggin s Gully, in the Hutt borough, it was decided to call upon the. Hutt Borough Council to remedy the matter.

A communication received at the meeting of the Lower Hutt Borough Council last night from the secretary of the Education Department advised that borough councils had been excluded from participation in the Government subsidy to Jpublio libraries. The Mayor (Mr H. Baldwin) strongly deprecated ihis action, and contended that such, a source of education should not be hampered by such Governmental action. Other councillors; concurred with this view, and it was resolved to forward a -letter of protest to the Minister for Education. The Manuka arrived from Sydney about 7.30 last evening, after a somowhai stormy voyage. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday there was a strong south-east wind, with a rough sea; and on Sunday it rained most of the day. Altogether with the exception of yesterday, it was a had weather trip. The delay in the arrival of the vessel was due, however, not to the weather, hut to the tact that she was short of coal ard went slow for the first three days. The Manuka carried ia CMrese. and the purser seated J -hat it was not correct that any of them were “contacts” wrth a small-pox case as had been rumoured.

The Island Bay Surf and Life-Saving Club had a very silficessful opening of the season on Saturday afternoon. The president, Mr W. H. Coy, in declaring tho season open, mentioned that there were many members at the front. He suggested improvements to the beach, and said that any improvements would be gilt-edged securities. He said that Island Bay was one of the safest swimming resorts in and about Wellington, and urged all parents to educate their children in the art of swimming. A 100 yards back-stroke race for members resulted:—R. Anderson, I; W. H. Wakelin, 2. Members also gave a demonstration of life-saving.

A short sitting of the Bankruptcy Court was held yesterday, before the Chief Justice. On the application of Mr A. W. Blair, Arthur Eley Waugh, who became insolvent in February, 1907, was granted his discharge. Mr Blair also applied for the discharge of Henry Edward Manning, builder. The report of the Official Assignee was unfavourable, it being represented that Manning was inclined to treat his insolvency as a joke. The .bankrupt was put in the box, and denied this. His Honour decided to allow a discharge on 5s in 'the £1 being paid on proved debts. The application of Harry Vivian Gazzard was adjourned until Saturday. The returns of tHe Wellington municipal abattoir for the'month of October show a decrease in the number of ■stock slaughtered as compared with the same month last year. The number of cows dealt with was 103, of which ■5 were condemned; bullocks numbered 543, with 10 rejected. The sheep slaughtered numbered 4600, of which only"l6 were condemned, and 422 lambs and 83 calves were put through, none being condemned. Of 57 p:gs handled, only 2 were clkssod as unfit. The foes received from stock slaughtered at the abattoir totalled £146 13s 3d, an increase of £3 3s 6jd on the previous month. Meat export companies paid another £93 Sis 3d, while the sale of offal and runners realised £149 15s Bd. and cleaning tripe £32 16s. The total sum was £415 7 S 7d. being an increase or £3 10,3 10Id on the previous month, and a decrease of £33 ISs 5d on the same month of last year. The appearance of a waterspout immediately behind the camp at Treritham created much interest among the troops and visitors to the camp yesterday afternoon. There were three_ peals of thunder, and fairly hpavy rain fell for a while, but it was quite local, as half a mile away from the camp the weather was fine. Colonel Gibbon was addressing the 19th Reinforcements at the time, hut all eyes were turned to the hills at the back of the rifle range, where the unusual spectacle of a waterspout was to be seen. Storm' clouds bad gathered, and the waterspout was noticed to rise above the hills in the fashion of a serpent wriggling along the ground. Every outline of the mass of water was visible to the eye, being thrown out distinct and clear against a background of inky clouds and with the sun shining from the opposite direction. There was a peal of thunder, and the waterspout as it rose higher and higher gradually turned on its back, shedding copious draughts of water the while, until it finally whirled round like a Catherine wheel end hurst among the hills.

The Wanganui River Trust has decided to curtail all expenditure till such time as the Trust is placed in a proper financial position. An analysis of the water that is supplied to Petone residents shows that it is of good quality, and contains a certain amount of salt. Traces of organic debris are also apparent.

The Mayor of Petone (Mr J. W. McBwanl has presented two scats to the borough council for the use Si the citizens visiting the beach. The seats have been placed in position on the esplanade. ‘Tf the council is so hard up that it cannot give relief to residents whoso properties are periodically flooded,” said Councillor Gaynor at the meeting of the Petone Council last night, “the residents would ao doubt help to dig a drain, by forming a working bee.”

To date the sum of £56,987 Is lOd has been expended on the Petone sewerage drainage system. Of the total, wages accounted for £23,260 11s Id, material £15,393 6s 9d, cartage £2209 los lOd, electrical plant £B4ll 10s 6d, interest and sinking fund £3085 10s 2d; while the pumping section No. 1 cost £OBSI 4s 9cl. section No. 2 £H,679 Xls Bd, section No. 3 £4550 11b 4d, and section No. 4 £2177 19s sd. .

The Lower Hutt Borough Council recently carried out considerable improvements in Fraser street, on which is situated the Lower Hutt Bowling and Tennis Club’s property. At the meeting of the council last night, an offer was received from tho club to plant an avenue of trees along Fraser stx-eet, provided that the council supplied the necessary ■ material for protection of tho young' trees. It was unanimously decided to accept the off nr.

An explosion took place on a railway dining-car at Mercer early on Friday morning. The car-is one of those used in connection with the Rotorua express, and which is left at Mercer over-night. When the attendant lit the gas-stove in the morning a loud explosion occurred. The windows of the car were smashed and the door of the oven of the stove was broken. The attendant, who was uninjured, had a remarkable escape. The cause of the explosion is unknown.

According to Sydney papers to band recently, Les Darcy, Australia’s champion boxer, has been missing since October 26th. ,He was set down to meet Chip, the American boxer, • at Melbourne, on Monday but evidently he had not been found, as the result of the contest has not been announced. Daroy came of age on October 31st, and was liable to respond to the call-to-arms proclamation for home defence. Rumours were current a few weeks ago that Darcy intended to leave for America, but h© denied any such intention. Since then ho has not been seen and ho has made no response to the publicity evoked by bis absence. There were rumours that Darcy had. shipped for Chile;

A report upon the expenditure on various works in the borough of Lower Hutt from April Ist to October 31st of this year, was submitted to a meeting of the council last night, and showed only four items to have slightly 1 exceeded the estimate. Amongst the chief items are the following, the amount ■of the estimate still unexpended being sjjown. .is, parentheses;— Street -rfl.»intpp;ani(;e, rJhl^l> sg4. i: ,Ms lOd (£475 4s 2d); Main road metalling, £240 4s 9d (£lO9 15s 3d); kerbing and channelling, £2Bl 2s 4d (£lOl 12s 3d); waterworks working expenses, £516 9s 8d (£132 10s 4d); street lighting, £323 5s 9d (£297 6s 3d); water main, Marsden street, £155 12s Id (£2 2s lid); maintenance western sewers, £B4 6s (£63 15s): maintenance eastern sewers, £lO5 3s Sd (£52 16s 9(1). The Chief Justice yesterday, delivered judgment in the case of the Hawke’s Bay River■ Board r. William J ohn Garrick, involving the right of the Board to protect a stop-bank and willow plantations alongside the Ngaroa river. These works were erected by Sir William Russell, the owner of a property adjoining the river, hut were afterwards maintained by the board upon its constitution. It was held by Sir Robert Stout that the stopbank ana plantations were protective works vested in the board,; notwithstanding that the defendant’s land transfer title did not show the right of the board to deal with them. At the hearing of the case, Mr C. P. Skerrett, K.C., with him Mr Bproule, appeared for the River Board, and Mr Lusk for the defendant.

Reference was made by tho Mayoi of Petone last night to the rates of pay for members of the Motor Boat Patrol Service. The Minister for Defence had said that the question was one for the Imperial authorities, but arrangements had been made for allowances for the wives and children of married men. The Mayor said that any Minister who attempted to place the burden on the Imperial Government should be ashamed of himself. The naval service was most important, and as single men would be serving New Zealand equally well in the patrol service as in the army, there should be no distinction in pay. To ask them to accept 2s per day was absurd, and quite unfair, as many of these men had dependents as well as the married men. Councillor Cox said that to ask men to fight for the country for 2s per day was a crime. The Government is to be communicated with again regard ing the 1 question. Tho action of the Lower Hutt Borough Council in moving for the provision of a late train from Lower Hutt to Wellington culminated last night in the receipt of a letter from ihe district traffic manager (Mr Brenner), stating that it had been decided •o accede to the council’s request. As x result of a tally of passengers taken m the 10.30 p.m. train to Wellington on October 18th, it was found that ol 14 passengers arriving at Laxnbton Station, 15 did not intend to use >rams. The balance who did were distributed as follows; Newtown 7, Is’and Bay 3, LyaU Bay 3, Botanical Gardens 4, Oriental Bay 3, Brooklyn 2, Wallace street 1, Aro street 3, A drailar tally taken on October 25th -.bowed that of 30 passengers arriving at Wellington, 12 did not intend to use the trams. Those who used tho .rams were as follow: Newtown 7. Miramar 2, Botanical Gardens 2, Oriental Ray 2, Brooklyn 3, Wallace street 2. It could thus be. seen that the late running of the train would cause considerable inconvenience. The Railway Department, however, intend'd to give a trial of a late train on Wednesday nights, leaving Lower Hutt at 11 p.m. The hist running would be on Wednesday, December 6th. The council resolved to forward a letter .of thanks to the department tor haring acceded to the request. Donnelly’s Hair Restorer—A Hair tonic for dry and oily hair. Chemists, stores, hairdressers. 2s 6d. •