NEWS OF THE DAY

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVII, Issue 10810, 28 January 1921, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

A tender at albou.t £26,000 'has been accepted far additions to St. (Helen’s Hospital, Auckland. i The question rxf granting a .bonus or extra payment to members of the staff of the Wellington Hospital and Charitable Aid Board in connection with the increased, cast of living has been held over until the estimates far next year are under consideration. A suggestion of the Wellington Hospital and Charitable Aid Board that the income limit, far those eligible to receive treatment at the St. Helens Hospitals .be raised to £350 per annum, has been approved iby the Minister for Public (Health, and the new arrangement is to come into force lyThe sum of £2500 has been received bv the Wellington Hospital and Charitable Aid. Board from the estate of the late Mr James Powell, Westport. When particulars of this bequest are received, consideration will he given to what steps shall be taken to ‘ perpetuate the name of the generous donor. In the meantime,. the sum has ibeen placed on fixed deposit for. six months. Considerable difficulty is anticipated at Greytown in billeting ‘ the visiting riflemen for the shooting meeting at Papawai nexl? month. Last year the accommodation in the town was taxed to its utmost wi£h only 100 visiting riflemen. This year the visitors will number no fewer than 400. Arrangements are being made to billet privately as many as possible. One of The Klarori representatives on the City Council asked the Mayor at last night’s meeting of the council when .the construction of the swimming hath to be laid down, below the tennis court at the western side of the Karori tunnel would* be put in. hand. Mr Luke replied that the work would be started as soon as sufficient cement came to hand. The scheme introduced ait the beginning of* the month by the medical superintendent and the matron, of the Wellington Hospital, whereby * every member of the nursing staff is granted one dtear day off duty in every month, has met with (the hearty approval of the board. The duties have been so arranged that each nurse will be enabled to be away from the institution for at least 48 hours. Oases”of infectious diseases reported as having occurred in the city and sub-u«nbs--51ui-mg the month of December are as follow, the figures in parenthesis having reference to the previous month: —Scarlet fever, 1 (4); diphtheria., 6 (10); tuberculosis, 22 (10); pneumonia, 7 (14) ; varicella, 3 (2) ; lethar. erne.., 1 (1); opbh. neon 1 (0); trachoma, 1 (O).j hydatids, 1 (0>: totalis, 43 1,41). The notable increase was in tuberculosis, and of these oases thirteen of the patients were domiciled in the city. A hearty vote of thanks has been passed by the Wellington Hospital and Charitable Aid Board to the many generous donors of cheques, gifts, goodis and toys during Christmas, and to the matron, medical and nursing staffs, and others who assisted in decorating tha wards -and helping in the annual festivities. The donations, etc., received amounted to £307 15s 3d, and of this sum there had been expended £237 in .providing toys and extras during Christmas week for the inmates of the hospital and its institutions. The medical superintendent and the matron are to furnish a report as to the beet means of disposing of the balance for the 'benefit of the inmates of the children’s hospital. The principle Of daylight baking was affirmed at the-annual conference of the United Master Bakers’ Association in Auckland, and it was decided to leave the matter in the hands of the incoming executive. It was also resolved that it be a reoommendkiition to the Dominion bakers to abolish the- credit system, bread to be paid for by cash on delivery or by coupons. In this connection the evidence submitted to the conference waq to the effect that the time was fully ripe for taking action. It was decided to leave the executive of the New Zealand Master Bakers’ Association in Auckland, and by request of the southern members, to transfer the executive of the Exhibition Association from Christchurch to Auckland, with a view to hqjldling the next annual exhibition in Auckland. The Gover-nor-General has consented to open the r.ext exhibition if he is in Auckland at the time. The next annual conference will be hleld in Dunedin.

Tlie list, of officiating ministers for 1921, under the Marriage Act, waa gazetted yesterday. Mr F. J. Lysnar, of Gisborne and Waiouru, is at present on a visit to Auckland. The Tahiti, which arrived at Wellington last evening from San Francisco via ports, brought 64 aliens among her passengers. By a notice gazetted yesterday, the Registrar of Incorporated Societies has declared dissolved the Canterbury Central Fund Society (Registered) and “The Mountebanks (Incorporated).” It was notified in yesterday’s “Gazette” that unclaimed property in the hands of the police at the various stations will be sold by public auction if not claimed. The other day t!he country ranger’s horse at Winton (Otago)' was found grazing on the street, and it was promptly taken into custody by the borough ranger. The Postal authorities have received advice that the R.M.S. Sonoma left San Francisco on the 2oth instant for Sydney. She carries 1249 bags of mails for New Zealand, including 970 bags from the United Kingdom. The girl, Gertrude McGrath, who waa brutu.fiy murdered in a house at Laven.dar Bay, North Sydney, on Christmas Eve, was for same time a resident of Wellington. The police are still searching for William Ernest Cooley, who is suspected of the murder. No passengers will be admitted to Samoa without a oeortcifioaite from a medical officer that they have not suffered from measles within sixteen days before the departure of the ship. Passengers from New Zealand may obtain certificates from the Health Department. It is reported that no settlement has yet 'been reached in connection with the dispute over the payment of “dirt money” to boilermakers employed at the Patent Slip. A conference held on Wednesday was unsuccessful. It was hoped that another conference would be arranged yesterday. The statement that the Waterside Workers’ Federation had rejected the offer of a bonne of Id per hour was confirmed yesterday. The employers have not yet decided the nature of thedlr reply to a request for a further conference. It is understood that the reply may be available next week. Among the firearms presented at the Napier police station for registration was a 10-cham'bered revolver. One of the most modern and valuable firearms which, has so far been produced was a sporting piece, which cost £l5O. It was made to the owner’s specifications. There are four separate barrels, in pairs, for field and competition shooting, and the weapon is gold-mounted. The quarterly criminal session of the Supreme Court, WdHrngton district, will be opened at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, and His Honour, Mr Justice Chapman will’ preside. The calendar is a heavy one, no than nineteen persons being indicted on charges ranging from theft to manslaughter. The names off the accused, together with the offences alleged against them, appear under a separate heading Mr J. Read (secretary to the Stationary and Traction Engine-drivers’ and the Timber Workers’ Unions) returned to Wellington yesterday, after an organising trip (up country. Mr Read will be engaged on the enginedrivers’ case in the dispute to be heard before the Conciliation Council at Wellington to-day, at Palmerston North on Monday, at Wanganui on Tuesday, and at Napier on Thursday. * . The city housing superintendent (Mr Robert McKenzie) reported to the City Council last night:—"Since my last report the house on section 15 has been finished and the house on section 6 has been finished outside and a start made on- the inside. The framework of the house on section 14, similar to the, house on section 15 has been erected, and the roof framing is now being fixed. The house on section 5 is now finished inside.” An offer was recently mlade to the City Council’s Finance Committee of a stea/m. trawler for fishing purposes. At the ordinary council meeting last evening the committee intimated that it could not see its way dear to recommand the purchase. The Mayor (Mr J. P. Duke) said that the vessel offered to the council was a wooden one, and he was not in favour of buying a wooden-hulled steamer. The council had approached the Government and had urged that they should import" a couple of trawlers. Now regulations under the Government Acoident Insurance Act, 1908, were gazetted yesterday. The regulations provide that for all policiee effected. or renewed on or" after February Ist, 1921, the rates of premium shill be computed upon the amount spent in wages, and shall be fixed by the commissioner, having regard to the nature of the risk. "Except in certain hazardous occupations, to be from time to time determined by the commissioner, the minimum premium in the case off each policy must not exceed 10s. Mr W. G. Riddell, S.M., delivered itserved judgment in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday in the case in Which H. Nimmo and Sons, ltd. (Mir R. Kennedy), claimed from Mia N. Fieldhouse, a pianoforte teacher in Featherston (Mr F. Wand), the sum off for lepairs and aDtereutions to a piano. The defendant paid £lO into court, end alleged that that was sufficient to satisfy the plaintiff's claim. Evidence off experts and others ware taken at Mas-ter-ton, Feaithenston, and Wellington. Has Worship held that the evidence established that, as alleged by the plaintiff, the defendant had agreed to have the work done for a fixed price off £25, and gave judgment accordingly in favour of the plaintiff for £23, being the contract price of £25 alaimed, less an allowance of £2 agreed upon for tunings procured, together with costs and disbursements amounting to £8 7s 6d. Highly appreciative reference to the work of cthe superintendent of city reserves (Mr J. McKenzie) in the maintenance of the flower beds on the municipal reserves, was made by members of the Oity Council last evening". Councillor J. Thomson said that the bowlers who attended the bowling tournament would be a great source of advertisement to the oity flower beds. One gentleman had expressed the opinion that the begonia house at the Botanical Gardens was better than anything he had ever seen in the British .Isles. Councillor R. A. Wright quoted the opinion of a prominent American visitor that the Wellington public gardens were better than' any of their kind in California. Councillor W. H. Bennett said that the council could best, express its thanks to the superintendent of reserves by providing a new glass-house for exhibition purposes at the Botanical Gardens. Other members pf the council, including the Mayor, expressed great gratification and admiration of Air McKenzie’s good work.