NEWS OF THE DAY

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 11177, 5 April 1922, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

When the Navy League met yesterday the lion, secretary reported;’ that at Martinborough the Hon. O. J. Parr (Minister for Education) had presented a flag to the school on behalf of the Navy League, and also gave a patriotic address to the children. The hon, secretary had visited Carterton 6choo] and addressed the various classes.

In regard to the proposed conference between representative business men and the Commissioner of Taxes on the question of taxation, the “Rangitiikei Advocate” learns that the Dominion president of the Farmers’ Union (Mr W. J. Poison) has acted on the suggestion of Mr E. Newman, M.P., and appointed two delegates.

Mr A. O’Brien, secretary to the Opunake Power Board,' has received word that the effort to raise a further loan for the Opunake hydro-electric scheme lias been successful, the sum of £24,000 having been granted by tho Public Tiustee. A sum of £7700 will be kept out of this loan to wipe out the original loan already‘expended on the works.

Addressing the Southland branch of tho N.Z.E.1., Mr J. C. Smith said that there was no doulbt that the children of to-day were too muoh. on the street, or if not on the street at the pictures. What the Young Citizens’ League wanted to-do was to substitute something that would take the place of those amusements. He was of the opinion that the children of to-day speut too much time at the piotures.

On Monday afternoon a returned soldier, No. 66163, Edward Tucker, was buried at Karori, cemetery. His Worship the Mayor, Mr R. A. Wright, M.P.. and the town clerk represented the citizens,. and Major Hardham, V.C., the Returned Soldiers! Association, and several patients from Trentham Hospital attended! the funeral. A firing party was present from Scots College under the command of Lieut. Thompson.

In the appeal case in which E. R. Boardjnan, of Napier, sought to have the recent decision of the Supreme Court sot aside the appellant was unsuccessful. The case was one in which Boardman sought a return of certain stamp duties . paid on a transaction which was never completed. The Supreme Court held that the application was made too late. The appeal was not sustained because it was not lodged within* the legal time of the judgment.

Referring to the jump in ■ butter prices, the Dunedin “Star” .philosophises: “Mothers of large families will probably do as their mo fell el's and. grandmothers did—scrape it a little thinner wheh preparing for breakfast and tea. Nlimbers of us who are now grown up used to deem ourselves lucky to get even a taste of butter. Dripping served for the children when butter was at prices ranging up to 3s 6d per lb—a limit that was reached fifty years ago in a North Island district that is now a dairying centre. Even at the present increased price Dunedin Is better off as to butter than some of the other’ centres, owing to competition.”

The Mayor of Christchurch (Dr. Thacker. M.P.) complimented the city rate collector andl Ills staff on the \vav in which they handled the large sums paid as rates during the past few days. The Mayor said that the town clerk had reported to him that the eum of £22,222 12s 7d, taken on Friday, was only a few shillings out on the first count, and at noon on Saturday tho last penny had been traced. A ratepayer informed the Mayor on Friday that, although he was brought into touch with methods of paying and receiving much money, he never had seen anything like, the facility with which the Christchurch rates were received and receipted on the machine in the collector’s office.

The month of March (says the “Otago Daily Times’”) is generally a very busy one so far ns the financial operations of the City Council are concerned. Owing to the transactions which have been necessary in connection with the various loans the past month has been a retry heavy one in this respect. The city treasurer (Mr H. H. Henderson) states that the amount paid into thm various banking accounts of the corpforntjioni dur|ng March amounted (to £1,252,000, and that the cheques drawn on the various accounts' amounted to £1,283,000. Of this latter sum £510,000 represents the amount concerned in connection with the repayment of debentures which matured on March Ist.

The sittings of the Supreme Court in Masterton were concluded on Monday afternoon. During the 2-1 hours which ended at 9 a.m. on Saturday, tlic rainfall in Napier totalled four points. For Mnrch one inch and 10 points of rain fell. The Christchurch Tramway Board has added two new electric cars to its service. The cars were made in Christchurch. ■Building permits to the value of £7BOO were issued by the New Plymouth Borough Council during the month of March, ten dwelling houses being the principal works for which the permits were obtained. At a meeting of the Marton executive pf the Farmers’ Union, it was announced that the Valuation Department was prepared to make reductions in the values, as recently applied for. Tlie Scandinavians of Mauricevillo celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their arrival in Now Zealand on Monday. It is about fifty years ago, also, since the first Scandinavian arrived at Palmerston North. The medical officer of health for the Canterbury-Westland district (Dr T. F. Telford) states that there is no evidence of influenza being more prevalent at present than it is at normal times. It has a tendency this year to be gastric in form. A special sitting of the Supreme Court will probably he held in Masterton at the end of this month to deal with the case of Francis John George Holmes versus the Masterton Borough Council and Charles McDougall, a claim for £249 7s 6d for cement suplied, cartage and wharfage.

"Is it not a fact,” asked Mr H. F. O’Leary of a witness in the Supreme Court yesterday, “that the road from Masterton, which is a no-license area, to Grey town, where the nearest ‘pub’ is, was until reoently, the worst road in the Dominion?” 'The witness smilingly acquiesced. The chairman of the Otago Harbour Board announced at a meeting that up to date over £52,000 had been received in connection with the hoard’s new loan. Members rema'rked that this was a most satisfactory report' in view of the fact that only thirteen days had elapsed since the loan had been placed on tho market. The body of the late Mr Walter Sydney Howard Smith is being conveyed to Sydney by the Manuka. The deceased was a director of the Howard Smith, Ltd., Steamship Company, and was a son of the founder of that line. He had been in indifferent health for some time and died while spending a holiday at Rotorua. It is believed by the brokers that the bulk of the wool that was purchased at the Dunedin auctions is destined for Bradford and the Continent, whilst much of the crutchings will go to Japan. The New Zealand mills’ representatives were not buying largely. The wool offered did not include much that suits the machinery of the Dominion mills. ' What can be done on a small farm fe shown by the results attained by a New Plymouth suburban resident, who, on a place only 9J acres in extent, took for milk supplied to a New Plymouth firm for the twelve months just ended no less than £193. With poultry and - other lines he is able to 'make quite a good living. The settler is a “grafter” and knows how to farm.

At a meeting of the Southland Education Board it was decided to grant the application of the Invercargill Returned Soldiers’ Association for permission to send speakers to the town schools on Anzac Day and invite school children to attend the children’s service to be held on the site of the proposed memorial. It -was recommended to the association, however, that the children should not be kept waiting unduly long.

A representative of the ironmongery trade, in conversation with, a Wanganui “Herald” reporter, stated that ■many lines in his business were now on the decline. For instance, enamelware had been substantially reduced. There was also a big reduction in the bestgrade American lawn mowers, but tho cheaper lines had not fallen. In the building lino several reductions had £een made. For instance, locks were about 2s 6d easier and nails were down retai lto sd. Beaver board 1 for ceilings was formerly listafl-at 50s per 100 ft. It was now selling at 40s. In fact, he considered the material in his line on a £IOOO house could! now be obtained for £l5O less than during peak prices. We shall always associate RearAdmiral ( Dumaresq’a name with the exploit of the Melbourne in the raging Tasman Sea, jusfTaa we have' l learned to think of the name of Glossop whenever the Sydney-Emden encounter' is mentioned (states the Sydney “Daily Telegraph”). Now Admiral Dumaresq is leaving us. It was in the early part of 1919 that, then with tho rank of captain, he wan appointed fleet commander of tlie Australian Navy. Fortynino years ago he was born in Glen Innes. His entry into the Royal Navy was made at the age of thirteen. In the Jutland battle he was in command of H.M.S. Shannon, and for liis actions duriug that-time he was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath. For nearly two years he was, at his own request, in command of our own H.M.A.S. Sydney. He has commanded several battle-cruisers. Formerly a torpedo specialist, he has invented several of the most important instruments connected with file control. According tp latest advice the area of tobacco grown in the- Dominion is increasing. At the tobacco farm at Riverhead, in the Auckland province, over 60 acres are under crop this season, while in the Brightwater district, of Nelson, 30 acres have been planted on ten different farms. The areas vary from half an acre to three acres. The crop in the last-named district has been affected by a period of very dry weather, but the plant has proved drought resistant, and it is stated that very satisfactory^yields will he harvested (says tlie “Mail”). Sample crops grpwn last yeAr in Nelson, and which were purchased by a local firm for manufacture, have given entire satisfaction. A member of this firm recently stated that Nelson-grown tobacco was of tlie desired silky texture, and that its burning property was satisfactory. He also stated that the aroma and flavour were of exceptional quality. In addition to tobacco grown in the districts referred to, the crop is being grown this season by a wellknown tobacco firm at Pukekohe. City Private Detective Agency, Office, 8, King’s Chambers, Wellington, New Zealand. All classes of work executed thoroughly and confidentially. If you require ovidenoe or information collected on any matter whatever, employ professional and reliable men. Mason and Dickson, with many years of valuable New Zealand police and detective experience to their credit. P.O. Box 505, Wellington. ’Phone 3698. Adyt.

It was reported at the meeting of the Wellington Navy League yesterday that 254 members had 6ent in their subscriptions this year. Mr 3. McCombs, M.P., informed a “Lyttelton Times” representative that the road from Lyttelton to Sumner will be completed in a few weeks. Mr H. G. Ell, of Christchurch, has received donations of £IOO, £SO, and a number of smaller sums, towards the fund for the purchaso of Cracroft" Hill as a public reserve. Building permits to the total value of £19,994 were issued by the Masterton Borougji CoiineTl during the month of March. For the three months of the present -ear the permits aggregate £32,434. The annual conference of sanitary inspectors of New Zealand will be opened at Christchurch this week, the definite date not having been fixed. The Director-General of Health, Dr T. H. A. Valintine, will be present. The, baby carnival conducted in the South Wairarapa on behalf of the Piunket Society funds resulted in £1729 being realised. , The object was to create a fund to provide a Piunket nurse for the Martinboroiigh, Featherston, and Greytown districts. Recently the Southland Education Board applied to the Railway Department to have warning devices placed at certain level railway crossings, and the department has notified its intention of installing these in their relative order of urgency. What is apparently the act of one whose intelligence and sense of responsibility are sadly lacking has been perpetrated in the N'gaere (Taranaki) Gardens. Two of too three lomuis which constituted one of the principal attractions of the gardens, were found dead one day recently, and on tlic following day the. third died. In. each case the symptoms pointed to death by poisoning. The headmaster of the Petono West school was urging his pupils to support the concert in aid <rf the fund for the expense of sending Miss Curtis, the New Zealand champion vvielder of the racquet, to the Australasian championships. Warming to his theme, the master said. “There are very few people who know! the name of the first New Zealander to win the Victoria Cross." “I do,” said a .maiden, aged seven; “it was Billy Hardham.” At the monthly meeting ’of the executive of the Navy League yesterday, a letter from Masterton auxiliary stated that a junior branch was being organised with a subscription of 2a 6d, and asked that they might retain the whole amount. Mr It. Darroch (hon. secretary) said the executive usually took 60 per cent, of the subscriptions, but the members in this case were between school age *and 21. The request was acceded to. The British Imperial Oil Company, following the lead set by the Vacuum Oil Company, has. decided to establish oil tanks at Miramar, and will go even further and erect works similar to those w)hich have been constructed by the company in Melbourne. The British Imperial Company has just completed the purchase of 27J acres of land from the Miramar North Land Company—portion of the old Miramar Park, once Wellington’s “Wonderland.” The purchase wae made through Mr Dunbar Sloane, estate agent, of Featherston Btreet.