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Otago Daily Times, Issue 18446, 6 January 1922, Page 4

The new (and increased) amusement tax came inti? operation on Monday last (January 2). A Press Association Auckland says that speaking at a' banquet held in connection with the opening l of the Waiuku railway the Prime Minister said tho undertaking given by the Imperial Government'' to withhold its stocks of butter from the market until January 7, had been extended until January 14. The city remains very quiet despite the fact that.for moat people the holiday season has oome to a close. Duty calls at the office seem to be tho sum total of the business energy of a number engaged in professional occupations, while ' others are content to do little. more than collect tho mail. Dunedin ia certainly more dead than is normally the case at this time of the year, the reason being apparently the absents of visitors from tho country, few coming to take the place of the holiday makers at tho seaside and elsewhere. Picnics about town aro quite common, but the parties are obviously composed almost solely of Dunedin people. There bos been a temporary shortage of sugar in Dunedin during tho past week owing to 'tho fact that the supplies which were ready for ' shipment from Auckland by the Kaiapoi wore not lifted by that vessel. The position will bo relieved, however, towards tjhe end of next week when tho Wingatui is due with a shipment of sugar from Auckland. The Customs returns for the quarter ending December last, which were not available earlier, are as follow; —Customs duties, £117,435 .Is Id; beer duty, £43,690 Is Id; from other sources, £303 12s 3d. For the corresponding quarter of the previous year the customs revenue was £270,091 6s lOd; the beer duty £27,412 17s, and the revenue from other sources £516 11s 2d, There has been a decrease in the Customs receipts for the quarter of £152,656, and an increase in the beer duty of- £16,278. There was a blank charge sheet at the City Police Court yesterday, and" there was also no sitting of the Magistrate’s Court for ‘lack of business, what is known' as tho * "long vocation” having not yet terminated. 1

Between 10 and 11 'o’clock yesterday' matrning a couple of blue-nored sharks each about Bft in length -made their • appearance off the - beach at Si. Clair. As they were close in-shore Constable Schruffer promptly warned the bathers and also the j youthful waders at the south , end of the j beach and as soon as everyone was out of j the water the sharks moved further down the beach where some other people were bathing. After remaining in view for about an hour the unwelcome visitors disappeared'' and were not seen during the afternoon. As it'> is not an unusual/ experience for sharks to come: close to the shore when the weather is warn- and the water clear, bathers in the harbour and alto off the,. Ocean Beach would be'-yvell-a’dvised to', keep a sharp look-out during the next day or two. . ■», ' , - / During the fine weather of the last few days the Woodhaugh Gordons have been largely patronised by happy group* ■ of children, who have been thoroughly enjoying themselves in the swimming pool and among the sand-pita, and swings' and other attractions which have j been provided, by the Reserves Committee ..of the City Council. These gardens ore getting more popular each year and, the sight of large numbers of small boys splashing in the pool and'sun-bathing on; the banks is a most' attractive one. Up to the present the girls have merely played the part of spec-' tutors of the-aquatio activities of the boys, but it is hoped' that ‘in the near future money will be available from the Garden Fete Fund or from some other source for the provision of a swimming pool for them a .little further upstream. ' Cr Shacklook (chairman df the Electric Power and Lighting, Committee of the City Council), informed a Daily Times reporter yesterday that tha gravel for mixing the concrete for the new dam above the Waipori power station -had all been carted to the *top of' the hill, and the Contractors, Meears Kerr arid* Marfell, hope to make a start next week . when tire work will ,be pushed forward without loss of rime. The money so far antborraed will not bring the dam to its final height of 40(t, bqt Cr Shacklook says it is hoped to continue the. work until this height has been reached. Eight of the new oity tramoars are now in use, and as the work of getting the others in readiness is '’proceeding steadily they should make their appearance on the rails at short intervale. One car has been practically fitted with the new destination signs, and subject, to the'approval of the Tramways Committee -these will be adopted for general use. ' On Wednesday morning when a St. Clair resident, who had-only retouried from the country, on the previous evening, visited his garden he found that it had been despoiled, apparently by a eneak thief, of a number of plants including some fine lobelias and violas which were' in full bloom. Petty thefts < have also been reported from several other suburbs and householders would be well-advised to he on their guard. . ; N ,Detective- Beer and Constable M'Quitty arrested a man named James Dee at Clarendon yesterday morning on a charge of committing arson at Mosgiel on January 2. On that date a house and butter’s shop combined, belonging to Mr Moof Anderson, of Factory road, Mosgiel, was found to be on , fire, but the' flames were extinguished before any serious damage was done. Deb will appear before the court' this morning. The Hon, W. Downie Stewart (Minister of Customs) yesterday morning received a deputation from the Otago Hospital and Charitable Aid Board in regard to the new; Amending Act, and particularly that part of it relating to the enforced payment by the board to the South Otago. Board of nearly £14,000, the sum arrived at by the special commission as duo to. Sooth Otago under the terms of its inquiry in relation to the separation of the tiwo diotriota. The Minister was afterwards occupied with departmental and private pattern He will visit the various military hospitals and convalescent homes this morping. A Press Association: message from Greymouth states that the State mine resumed work yesterday, after a month’s idleness. There was a good attendance of the men, who 'will work under the conditions of the old agreement until / the new one ja arranged, tho latter to he retrospective from yesterday. V. The Wakiku-Paerala railway wee officially' opened " yesterday by Mr Massey (says an Auckland Press Association message). Others present included the Hon. J. /G. Coates, Sir William Fraser,\Sir Wm. Berries, and a number of, members of Parliament. There was a crowd of\2ooo present to see the Prime Minister - drive the engine through a ribbon stretched across the line. An aeroplane, piloted by Captain Mercer, with Mr Salter as a passenger, arrived at the Hawero racecourse, from Wanganui late yesterday afternoon .(says a Press Association telegram).- After replenishing the tank, a start i was made for Raglan; The machine rose sharply, cleared the electric wires, but had not enough way on and dropped suddenly, stpashing the propeller and the undercarriage. The occupants were not injured. AmOng , the districts which are suffering under the new policy of postal restrictions Is the Kurow district. A person living on - the Kuiwv Railway line who could formerly receive a reply from Oamoru on the same day as that on which he wrote a letter has now to wait fully two days for his letter. Moreover, although the railway runs through townships in the district, the mail contract has been let to a private individual. In connection with the drowning fatality which occurred near Brighton on Wednesday last, it should bo mentioned that the unfortunate occurrence took place about a mile north of the recognised bathing beach at the Brighton township. . Whilst bathing 'in the Municipal Baths at Napier, Dr Herbert Ziole, of Napier, met with a painful injury to his eye, which necessitated his leaving for Wellhigto ll to consult a specialist. Dr Ziele 'at tho i time was in the water, land in endeavouring tp catch a child from the side of the baths one of the fingers of the child accidentally went into his eye, 'inflicting serious Injuries. “In order to meet the requirements of householders during the jam and fruit-pre-serving seaeon,” says the Hon. E. ,P. Lee (Minister’ of Industries and Commerce),' “the Government has made arrangements which will enable consumers to secure a plentiful supply of high grade sugar. At this time last year it was necessary, owing to the limited supply, to ration sugar in small lots of a few pounds each. -This year, for the convenience of the public, sugar has been .put up oh 701 b bags, and a stock of 6000 tons of refined sugar ig now hold at Auckland ready for delivery to meet the' needs of; the jam season. Consumers should liave no difficulty in obtaining their Ml requirements from their grocers.” Apropos of holiday, experiences of railway' travellers at the present time; the following item from the ■ Manchester Guardian will be read with special interest: There seems no connexion between fiat shapes and the issue of railway tickets in rusli hours, hut tho same people who Invented machinery for the rapid production of hat shapes have now invented a machine for the rapid issue of railway < tickets. A demonstration of the new invention has just been given at King’s doss Metropolitan Station. The idea is quite simple. Outside the “battery” are slits in the; walls, and below each of these a saucer-shaped receptacle. The traveller puts his coins in the penny, twopenny, or threepenny slot, and the ticket, shoots out into the receptacle. If ho puts a sixpence into the fivopenny slot he will get Ins ticket and a penny change. He need not have two pennies for the twopenny ticket. Four halfpennies will do, and though it would hardly bo fair to worry, tho brains of the machine, I believe it would accept farthings. But it would be of no use to feed it with bad and foreign coins. These will be returned; There are no handles to pull out. All the work is done by tire operator in the box, who stands at tijo levers and shoots out the tickets at a great rate as the coins tumble into a receptacle below the levers. Those who watched the machine at work—and among them were railwayman from other stations—sard 'that undoubtedly the invention would prove jits value, especially “during the ordinary rush bears and at such times of stress as come with football matches and race meetings.

, ■ ■ . v.' -v,'-:;/ J A deputation of sulk suppliers waited N on the Hon. G. J. Anderson at Middlemarch on and~< protested against -tha v Producers’ Conference dealing with the ' question of the disposal of butter in the Old Country . without the primary producers, - who in Otago number three to four thous- ; and, being directly represented at the con-.-,; feronoe. 'The Minister promised to* telegraph to the Minister of Agriculture on the ■ ■ matter; and yesterday he forwarded the ; fd-’Hj 'lowing reply to Mr W. D..M&son, who waa tha. principal spokesman: “I Eave received the following telegram .from Hon. Wi. Nos worthy with reference to the subject - matter of yesterday. Your intimation- tp the deputation is quite. oorrect. The matter to be dealt with necessitated immediate action, and there woe hoc*'time to call a conference of pro* ■ duoers, It was therefore arranged to utilise the Standing Committee elected by the dairy .companies,' and set up .during the war pc nod, to deal with all' questions affecting the Vnterests of butter producers. Therefore, they being' shareholders of faotoriea have direct representation. Any decision arrived at by conference is of course subject to approval.’ ” • In connection with accident at St. Kilda on Wednesday when two boys , got into difficulties, Mr J. W. Dove (Mayor ' of ' St. Kilda.) ' states that the reason for there being no life line at tha'St.'-Kilda end of- the beach is that both reele—tho property of the Pacific Surf Bathing Clubrwhioh are now lying in the shed,- were . stripped \by\some miscreant a eonsidecabie time ago. ;As the club has not ' unlimited funds-at fits disposal it Bis 1 beenunable to renew tlhe equipment The matter of , replacing a reel for the Safety ofbathera was attended to' yesterday when one reel was transferred from the For bury, to the St. Kilda beach. As these reels and emiipmeat cost a considerable sum of money®it is in the interests of the community to protect this property,, which is for-its own , safety whilst using the beach. A meeting of those interested in the meat pool question will be held in the Zealand Express Company's board room, Crawford street,' at 8 o’clock this evening. - When the covers were taken off a consignment of bananas which arrived in Masterton the other day, a large rat escaped from one of the oases. The railway Bands - immediately gave chaos and captured the ' rodent, which was airhunarily killed. The bananas came from Fiji, but the rat may possibly have got into the qase at Auckland. .In any evetit it shows how rata may scatter the genus of plagne all over the country, even fir from the seaboard.. A farmer speaking at a recent -meeting * of producers held at New Plymouth, said that he had consigned Home some 700 wethers that had cost him in the neighbour- - hood of £1 a head. He would be lucky, howtever,if he received 5s ,m return. Another delegate remarked that a 51b tin of meat was realising at Home some* thing like 6d at present, -whereas the tin , alone cost dompanioa Is Id. There instances were an illustration of the hardships facing producers at present. ' / A true veteran of the road arrived in Palmerston North one day last week, ho haring tramped from ,the. Ohakuno district. Although ieiy much on the wrong .side of SO years, toys ah . exchange, hoTdid not appear to oe any the.. worse for his long journey, but his wearing apparel was somewhat tattered. One foot was shod with a canvas tennis shoe, and the other Was a one-time staunch '“Bill Masfeey.” The tfainp had a peculiar companion, a Tamworth pig, looking in fine fettle. None of the money raised at the race meetings held at Forfyiy Park last month - to assist in relieving unemployment has. yet been paid over to the committee m charge of these funds, and the position that has arisen was explained by a letter put before the Unemployment Oommittee at its' meeting yesterday. In this, letter the secretary of the Gtago and Southland Horae Owners’ and Breeders’ Association, which holds the funds raised at the races, forwarded the following, resolution from his association:—“That all moneys be handed to the Unemployment Committee on the ' distinct understanding that such moneys shall bo-used to relieve distress arising from unemployment and shall be used to purchase goods for that purpose and that no money grants be drawn from the fund for pro-, riding employment.” The writer, stated that the first 'payment of £3OO could now be made if the committee accepted there terms. The Mayor (Mr,, J, S. Douglas) reported to the committee that he had replied to this . letter expressing surprise at the resolution and. pointing out that no such restrictions had been mentioned originally. On the contrary fye loan £6OO had been advanced by the City Council-On the distinct Understanding that • the proceeds of the meeting would be avail- ’ able to meet the loan. *He asked the ossooiation to reconsider ita resolution. The Mayor’s reply was unanimously endorsed by the committee. ■ . • Two charges of shooting with intent will be .heard at the City Police ' Court this motning. ' Edmund Trehome will be charged with shooting at George Wilson at Cannibal Bay,- near Owaka, on the 27th December, with intent to do grievous bodily harm. George Devcnney tftll be charged with the attempted murder, by shooting, of William George Dowling, at Itanfurly on the 28th December. Though trevalla have/not yet begun to “run” at the wharves, a few of the largersized fish, which are generally regarded l as the pilots of the .larger shoals of smaller ... trevaila, have been, caught by lucky fishermen off Birch street wharf. Small spottiea ' (commonly known as butterfiah) are being caught i fairly freely, both off the wharf named and. at Port Chalmers. ( Since the leading department of the Public library was dosed on December 17 the room has been oleaned and painted, and the 'stock of books. has been exhaustively checked. Although the’ results of this checking process are hot yet definite they promise to be quite satisfactory and will probably show that the lessee of hooks during the year have been very limited indeed. The books were returned very well in response to the librarian’s appeal, but there are still a few outstanding and Mr M’Ewan will be glad to have tfiese omissions rectified. During the checking process a number of books which are not used - and which may bo regarded as out of date, have been weeded out, and in addition- to those some 200 or 300 volumes of •fiction have hod 1 to be discarded owing to their worn and dirty condition: In regard to the question _of renewals there are about 1600 books in the library awaiting re- '; binding; but owing (o the high cast of paper and the high rates of waggs their replacement on the shelves presents a serious problem, and a problem which is -by no means singular to those controlling the Dunedin Library. It is, in fact, bqing felt by libraries all over the world,’ Mr s M'Ewan added there was evidence alreadiy that the current year is going to bo a record for his department both in respeot , to the attendance and the number of books ' issued, showing that the library is performing a valuable service in the interests of the citizens. ' D firing the period between Christmas and New Year matters we/o rather quiet, but since the doors were reopened on January 3 there has been a very large number of visitors, notably from other parts of the dominion. It may be added that the lending department will reopen on January 16 when it will be neoa»sary for readers to renew their- ticket*. . - ; •Never a mechamool stop when you ride a Harley-Davidson motor oyole. . Otago agents: W. A, Justice and Co., Imperial Garage, 292 Princes street, Dunedin.--Advt. : “No-rubbing” Laundfy Help leaven your Hands beautifully soft and white and the washing better than ever.—Advt. Flock beds, covered with strong English hossian, buttoned and filled with good nook. The right thing for a. stretcher) aiae 6ft: 3in x 2ft 3da. Price 16a 9d.—MoUisona Ltd.—Advt.'Watson’s No. 10 is a little dearer thanmost whiskies, bqt it worth the money.— Advt. - A E. J. Blakeley,, dentist, Bask of Aus* tralasia, corner of Bond and Rattray streets (next Telegraph Office). Telephone 1859.-•• Advt. *■’ ' Save your Byet.—Consult Peter Q. Dick, D.8.0.A-, F. 1.0., London, oonaultang and oculists’ optician.—“ Peter Dick)!’ jewellers and optician*, Moray pkm, Dunedin,—Advti , ? .V: V .-'..jV iV■ 1 vvi- :