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Otago Daily Times, Issue 17132, 11 October 1917, Page 4

F Ono of the answers to questions given in the Houso of Representatives yesterday (says a Press Association moss-age) was the follow- " ing: "That all holiday and other railway excursion fares have been cancelled until the conclusion of tho war, and it is not ins tended to rnako any concessions on tho exist- !- ing rates for the Christmas or other holi^ q days." s- A Press Association telegram from Wele lington states that, in reply to a question, the Government stated yesterday that the e Union Scam Ship Company was paid a >- subsidy of £20,000 per annum for a service s beween Auckland and Vancouver. A ton- , tract had just been entered into for 12 months, and provision was made therein for the company, if it considered it expedient l- to do so, to extend any voyage to a port e or ports in Australia. Tho contract did not compel tho vessels employed to victual in Auckland. Tho Lands Committee recommended to the Houso of Representatives yesterday that e the Dunedin Waterworks Extension Bill l>e e allowed to proceed as amended by the Local s Bills Committee. l- Tho Publio Petitions A to L Committeo e reported to the House of Representatives yesterday that it was of opinion that the l " petition of John Andrew (Duriedin), praying ') for a compassionate allowance for services is rendered in tho South African war, should ir bo referred to tho Government for favourable consideration. Tho residents of Alfred street, which runs e alongside . the Musselburgh School on the d Tahuna Park side, would appear to have a e distinct grievance ■ against tho Drainage Board. An inspection of tho locality by ', ono of our- reporters yesterday aitcrnoon d showed that tho backyards, and in some d instances tho front ground, of tho houses e in this street had been badly, affected iby the recent rains, and that there was still a large quantity of water lying on tho premises a referred to. In most of tho yards tho resile denta have had to make pathways by placing ■ e planks on boxes, etc., to enable them to get to their outhouses and fowl runs. Wo e find that wo were misinformed in respect i, of our statement yesterday that one resijt dent was obliged to vacate his houso j on account of tho flood. In tho Musselburgh School grounds a largo quantity "■ of water accumulated on Tuesday, and there ;f werp several pools there yesterday, iho [ r children having to walk through water and , mud to get to tho lavatories. This state of affairs must be a menace to tho health of 1_ the children. Tho unoccupied sections are r- covered 'with several inches of water. The | e residents affected say that the flooding is the result of two causes. In the first inn stance, they state that the drainage from is the Musselburgh School ground is not as i- effective as it should be, and that ,the overflow runs into the backyards of tho premises on the town sido of Alfred street, and that ■S tho premises on tbo, ocean sido of 'Alfred lo street are flooded by the water running in r _ through a 9in pipo leading out of Tahuna Park. This 9in pipe has been in operation "*" for many years, the water at one time being S6 led through an open drain past the pumping i- station to tho harbour. Recently, however, i_ this drain has been closed by the formation of a road, and tho water now simply finds ie its level in tho vicinity of Alfred street. t- Mr Boyd, of th© drainago department, with il two men with shovels, went to Alfred street late last evening, but anything they could do at this hour, and with but two Bhovels, ; h would ibo quite reminiscent of tho famous r- Sirs Partington and her broom. Some relief, w however, should certainly bo afforded to tho people in tho locality. All tbeir gardens— and they have some very fi"-o ones—have " e been ruined. *" When asked by Mr Forbes in tho House f- of Representatives yesterday whether he ie could givo any information as to whether l tho shipping striko had any chance of being settled, tho Prime Minister stated that he could not at present go into details, because it there woro difficulties in tho way, but tho ■jf position was better now than it had been i up till tho present. j. Mr Okey asked tho Minister of Agriculture whether, in order to encourage the poultry industry, ho would consider tile advisability Di of stopping tho importation of Asiatic egg a pulp into the dominion. Tho Minister of Agriculture replied that tho Government "* fully recognised tho importance of this mata ter to poultry-keepers, and had referred tho ie wholo question to tho Board of Trado for lt ] investigation. id Tho Primo Minister states that it is not le intended that woolgrpwors should be charged with the cost of ro-branding in those cases b > in which tho wool has been sent forward 't prior to tho receipt of tho recent notification. r ' For tho extraordinary vacancy on the ie Western Taieri Land Drainago Board caused )e by tho resignation of Mr Jas. T. Gibson, two nominations have been received—Mr William Garden Reid, nominated !by Messrs F. John*e son and A. P. Fleming, and Mr David 1, Thomson Shand, nominated by Messrs J. Ie Mathcson and J. J. Walker. Tho election will take place on Tuesday, October 16, at 16 tho county hut, Otokia. Tho steamer lona reached Port Chalmers "~ on Tuesday night froai Lyttclton. Captain :a M'Gilvcray, owner, of the vessal, intends to a uso her as a ferry steamer between Port _ Chalmers an ' Dunedin, and will extend her ' running to tho Heads if necessary. The lona ' e ii a small steel twin-screw steamer, and was 'G built in London for Messrs Agar and Roberts, io of Lyttclton, who vised her for towing . schooners in Lyttelton Harbour. Recently sho was superseded by a larger vessel, and y has been engaged in carrying passengers b- across Lyttelton Harbour.

Messrs Fletcher Bros.' tender of over £10,000 has been accepted for additions at Burnuido Freezing Works. 'The whole of this work has to bo completed within four months. Ten respectably dressed boys, ranging in ago from nine to 15 years, appealed before Mr 11. A. Young, .S.M, at a sitting of the .juvenile Court yesterday afternoon, charged with committing mischief 'by willully damaging a two-roomed houso and its contents at .Mount Caiyill to tho extent of £9 14s 6d, tho property of John Charles Comiolley. Mr C. N. Seurr. on behalf of tho lads, admitted the damage, i>ut disputed tho value as ussoKicd. Constable Kelly stated thus ho interviewed tho boys on tho 11th of laat month, when they admitted visiting tho house and causing damage. Tho lads were very frank on tho matter. Constable M'Enteo also gave evidence. Ho visited tho houso with the owner and assessed the value placed on the damage. Complainant stated that he went to his house about tho middle of July, when ho found everything to be in order, but such was not tho case when lie returned on August 9. At this time he found articles of furniture smashed, while tho exterior of tho house was defaced with numerous samples of original verse. He could not swear that tho defendants caused tho mischief. Three- of tho boys also gave evidence admit- : ting their responsibility for certain of the damage, but denying that all tho mischief was done by any of the party. In admonishing and discharging the seven younger boys, tho magistrate held tho elder boys responsible, and ordered tho payment of £4 as tho valuo of tho datnago done, which .sum was to bo contributed by tho parents of tho lads. At tho fame sitting a young lad, who was charged with the theft of a bicycle, was admonished and discharged and ordered to bo placed under tho supervision of the probation officer (Mr A. Sureties) for a period of 12 months. I'ho Ota.go Education Board conducted an inquiry at, Milton last week into certain complauits raised by parents reflecting on the .conduct of tho head master (Mr W. B. Graham) towards some pupils and teachers. Inquiries wero also conducted into the causes for decreased attendance in tho secondary department, an allegation being ma do that some pupils wero now sent to tho Dunedin Technical School daily at loss of time and great inconvenience, in preference to attending tho local school. Several witnesses were examined in camera, and the proceedings lasted several hours. The board has not yet met to come to a decision on the complaints made. His Honor Mr Justice Sim gave judgment yesterday morning in the appeal case John Matthews against William Forgie. The facts wero that leaves and debris from maorocarpa trees growing on Forgie's property had been blown on to the roof of Matthews's house, had polluted tho water supply (obtained from rain water), and had caused illness. The magistrate had held that Forgie was entitled to recover damages, and had given judgment in his favour for £15. Tho question to be determined was whoilier or not this decision was right in point of law. His Honor's judgment went at considerable length into the legal aspect of tho caso, and arrived at tho conclusion that tho appeal must bo allowed, and judgment entered for defendant in the Magistrate's Court, with costs to be fixed by the magistrate. Tho appellant was allowed tho costs of tho appeal (£6 ss) and disbursements. \ His Honor Mr Justico Sim sat in Banco yesterday and heard an originating summons under tho Family Protection Act in re William Douglas Miiligan, deceased (Dackers v. Potts and another). Mr Dawson appeared for plaintiff, Mr Payno for defendants, and Mr Brasch for the executors. In the course of tho proceedings his Honor commented on tho fact that in these cases there always seemed to be an unusual amount of washing of dirty family linen, and ho did not know why parties in these cases indulged in such a lot of unnecessary "washing" and insisted upon going into irrelevant matters. The caso having been argued at length, his Honor expressed tho opinion tliat plaintiff (a daughter of deceased) was entitled to relief, and allowed her £1 a week from tho time of testator's death —September 4, 1916, —tho amount accrued from that date up to he present to be paid in one sum; costs of plaintiff and executors to bo taxed and paid ou't of tho estate. A first offender was convicted of drunkenness by Mr A. Cable, J.P., at Port Chalmers yesterday, and was discharged. The Lands Committee- of tho House of Representatives has considered the Discharged Soldiers' Settlement Act Amendment Bill, and has recommended that it be allowed to proceed without amendment. A return was laid on tho table of' tho House of Representatives yesterday, on the motion of Mr T. A. H. Field, regarding the Permanent Staff officers in ohargo of operations hi the camps at Featherston, Trentham, Awapuni, and Narrow Neck. The total number is 90. Of these 51 are without experience in the present campaign, 38 are without experience in the present or previous campaigns, 13 have had experience hi previous campaigns but no experience in tho present campaign. The number of v returned officers and men employed in tho camps is: Officers, 40; other ranks, 190. The cost of furnishing the various offices of the Efficiency Board is as follows:— '■ Auckland. £203; Wellington, £546; Christchurch, £296; Dunedin, £410. Hitherto tho oost of providing instrumental musio for tho Dunedin Choral Society's concerts lias involved an outlay of from £80 to £90 a year, and tho strain upon the society's not too affluent resources was becoming too much. It has now been rosolved to form an orchestra in connection with tho society, a step which will, it is expected, very materially reduce tho expense, since, under tho new arrangement, only strictly professional players are to bs paid. Thirty-two have enrolled, and Mr J. J. Wallaco is to Ibo the leader. Tho same contingency —expense —hag necessarily governed tho society's euga'gemeut of.soloists for concerts. It is explained that thero is not sufficient money to pay for the services of professionals, and if the money wero available the professionals procurable would not oo so far superior to -the ladies and gentlemen who have hitherto done tho work as to warrant the extra expense. Tho Choral Society has so far had to economise very severely to keep going, and cut down expenditure that it ought to be ablo to meet, so as to pay fees. It is hoped that under tho new order of things tho finances will bo a little easier and much moro just. A young man named Robert Roberts was arrested at PortobelJo yesterday on a charge of obtaining £10 by a false pretence. Ho will bo charged with tho offence in the Police Court this morning. In the Legislative Council last evening tho Western Taieri Land Drainage Bill was road a second time, and was put through its other stages and passed. £25 down will buy a Douglas, 8.5.A., or Har ley-Davidson Motor Cycle; balance easi terms.—W. Stuart Wilson and Co., 290-292 Princes street, Dunedin.—Advt. Sec the window display of ladies' hose in. black, white, and tan, all at Is 6d pair.— At Molhsons Corner.—Advt. A. E. J. Blakeley, dentist, Bank of Australasia, corner of Bond and Rattray streets (next Telegraph. Office). Telephone 1859.— Advt. Live-wire men, who demand best, ask for Wateon's No. 10 whisky.—Advt. To Users of Electricity and Others.—We invito you to call and inspect the very complete range of heating _ and cooking apparatus, etc. displayed in our show rooms. —Turnbull and Jones (Limited), electrical engineers. Lower Stuart street, Dunedin.—Advt. Eyestrain!—Consult Mr Peter G. Dick, D.8.0.A., J?.1.0. (London), consulting and oculists' optician.—Peter Dick, jeweller, etc., 490 Moray place, Dunedin.—Advt.