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Otago Daily Times, Issue 19199, 16 June 1924, Page 6

The Governor-General (Viscount Jellicoe) had a rousing reception when opening the new maternity annexe (says a Thames Press Association telegram). He eulogised the Hospital Board's foresight in the matter of coping with portion of the large maternity mortality. He spent over an hour conversing with the patients, and afterwards the nursing staff entertained him at afternoon tea. 'ln a subsequent conversation he expressed the hope that the farmers of the district who had suffered so severely from flood damage would win out. Ho stated that he was particularly interested in the fishing as that section bred sailors who, in this island dominion, were necessary to carry the produce Home and who were ready to defend our trade against our enemies. Later, Lord Jellicoe referred to the luck of religious teaching to children which seemed to have become less since the war. He hoped this teaching would be deepened and intensified in the future. The children of the dominion were sturdy, and he hoped they would grow up in the same spirit as their forefathers. At a meeting of the Harbour Board on Friday the question of a site for the Albany Street School was again considered. After discussion it was decided to submit to the Education Board a proposal that eight acres of land (five acres freehold and three acres leasehold) in front of. the Pelichet Bay railway station should be "accepted for a school site in lieu of eight k acres on Logan Park. The members present at the meeting were:—Messrs D. Larnach (chairman), A. Cable, H. O. Campbell, J. H. Walker, T. Anderson, J. VL Dickson, M.P., J. Loudon, and W. Wilkinson. The Secretary of the Post and Telegraph Department advisee as follows (reports a Wellington Press Association massage) :—The Wellington wireless station reported at 3 a.m. yesterday: "A vess»l giving the call sign Jova srent out' an S.O.S. call followed by the name of the vessel. Owing to interference from other stations wo were unable to copy the latter part of the message. This call sign is not shown on our list." , The weather for the past week has been very varied (writes our Middlemarch correspondent). In the early part of the week' fine, mild davs were experienced, but on Wednesday the weather broke, and on Thursday hail and sleet fell, with snow on che mountains and the surroundinxr hill*. Farmers have been very thankful for the mild conditions experienced up to the present, as there is a great dearth of winter feed in the Strath-Taierii. It is reported that at a meeting to be addressed by Mr Wilford, Mb* Macpherson, and probably Mr Forbes at Waimate tomorrow night the candidate to contest the Waitaki seat at the General Election ia the Liberal interest will be chosen. ' The All Black team vrhich is to uphold the dominion's prestige occupies first place tn the illustrated pages of the Otago Witness to be published to-morrow. Several striking exhibits at the Dunedin Winter Show, a page of the. contestants in the recent hockey tournament, the winners at the Piping and Dancing Association's competitions, the Dunedin Jockey Club's* winter meeting, and other pictorial features constitute an interesting and varied collection. Among the original letterpress features is the first of a sories of illustrated stories for young folk. Before the Juvenile Court on Saturday, Mr J. R Bartholomew, S.M., presiding, a boy 13 years of age was charged with having in his possession a "Daisy" airgun, and a boy IS years of age was charged with having supplied the weapon. Both pleaded guilty. Sub-inspector Frastr said that on May 13 he received a complaint that a woman had been struck on the breast by a shot,' and that a boy had been struck on the back also by a shot. Inqtiiries had been made, and the younger boy candidly admitted that he was the offender, and he had gt>ne to the woman and the boy who had been struok by the shots and apologised. The boy, it appeared, had been firing the weapon from the backyard of his home, and was un- ' aware of the danger. The elder boy bad supplied two weapons, and did not think he was doing- any harm. He had purchased the rifles at an ironmongers in the city, but was unable to identify <Jie person who sold them to him. consequently no proceedings could be taken. Hal he been able to identify the salesman a prosecution . would certainly have followed. It did not appear to be generally known that it was unlawful to sell a gun, rifle, or ammunition to anyone under the age of 16 years. These airguns were dangerous weapons, and would readily knock one's eye out if used at short range. Mr J. Look (juvenile probation officer) said that several similar cases had come before Mr Bundle, S.M., and it was astonishing the large number of parents who purchased airguns for their boys to be given as Christmas presents. The Magistrate said he honed the publicity which this case would receive would assist in educating parents and children in the danger of these weapons. The real remedy was to prohibit the sale of this class of gun altogether. They were mischievous and dangerous in the hands of boys. He had no doubt that the offenders had acted in perfectly good faith. They would bo admonished and discharged. He would also order tile confiscation of the rifles. He again expressed the hope that the publicity given in the case would act as a warning to shopkeepers and parents. He did not think that the latter were fully seized of the danger and the risk their boys were running in using these weapons. The fire which destroyed tho British Imperial Oil Company's store in Bond street has created a new danger at the waterfront (reports an Invorcargill Press Association message). Six days from the time the fire had commenced it was discovered that oil and benzine hod found its way underground from the store floor to the foreshore, where it was oozing out of the ground below high-water mark. Bubbling pools of oil dotted over large areas are discernible at low tide, the fumes being very strong. A sample of the oil and benzine was taken for the purpose of testing its inflammability, and when a match was applied a minor explosion took place. This discovery has resulted in the authorities taking every precaution to prevent any trouble occurring, more especially as a magazine for housing explosives is in the vicinity. A constable has been placed on duty for the purpose of patrolling the area when the tide is out and! to issue a warning to the public tr> refrain from visiting the locality owinjr to the possibility of an explosion ocoarrinff if a naked light is Ainamd

One wonders whore we are drifting! Rabbits or sheep? That is the question. Strolling through one of the local storerooms, one sees three classers hard at work sorting rabbitskins in preparation for the fortnightly sale in Dunedin. Lying on tho floor in heaps are upwards of 100 bales of rabbitskins, or, say, about half a million skins, equivalent to 100.000 sheep. There ire several other agents handling skins fortnightly, the rabbit season, which closes about September, being at present at its height. Poultrymen who look to got a reasonable return for.eggs in winter will view with concern a Canadian venture of sending chilled eggs to New Zealand. filio other day tho s.a. Mnkura landed about 50 dozen crates of Canadian eggs in Auckland. At 30 dozen eggs to the crate this would nut on Ihe local market something like 1500 dozen chilled eggs (slates an exchange), and no doubt a number of them would get into consumption ns fresh eggs. It is also reported that, SCO dozen crates of Canadian eggs are on the way to New Zealand by the Niagara. Obviously all the commercial signs are up for an early drop in tho price of eggs. Not very long ago Now Zealand egg suppliers pooled in to get a couple of shipments to the British market at the time of the winter demand and high price. Apparently Ihe people of Canada have keen developing a little commercial egg-timing also, with Now Zealand as jtA objective. So far ns the consumer is concerned, ho will not ho averse to taking advantage of lower prices, hut ho will have to bo alert, to discriminate between the fresh egg and tho imported article. Tho court at Blacks was occupied all day on Friday hearing oases in which tho licensee of the Shamrock Hotel was charged with supplying liquor on Sunday. Four men were found drinking on the premises, but tho defence was that one was a boarder and had paid for tho drinks. The magistrate adjourned the case to get tho evidence of the boarder in question. Two of the men concerned in the case were charged with being on licensed promises, and wero each fined £2 and costs (7s). “There is a. scientific way of eradicating the blackberry pest in New Zealand,” said Mr Massey to a deputation from the Auckland University College Council tho other day, “but its adoption would involve the sacrifice of rosea.” Such, at any rate, explained the Prime Minister, was the information given him by a scientific expert at Honolulu, where a fairly similar pest had been destroyed. The destructive specific, however, would also destroy roses. Even at that price the result would bo worth it, though he would like to save the roses in New Zealand. Dealing with tho matter of British politics, in the course of an'addresa at Aucknnci on “Liberalism,” Mr T, M. Wilford, Leader of tho Opposition, declared that no more destructive blow orl tho fate of this country was ever struck by any Government, than by tho present British Government in its cessation of operations at Singapore, Tho work had been abandoned to, in tho words of Mr Ramsay MacDonald, “make a moral gesture to the world.” The abandonment of that base left us unprotected in the event of war in the Pacific, said Mr Wilford. Whilst co-operating in international disarmament., wo must, also stand solid for national defence in the absence of such disarmament. An accident which, fortunately, was not attended with any serious results occurred at Company Bay last week, when a motor car which was returning to the city skidded and went over t he bank, turning turtle as it reached the water. There wero two occupants—a man and a. woman, lire latter was thrown clear, but the man was deposited in the water under the car and only with great difficulty extricated himself from his precarious position. As far as can bo ascertained, neither of the passengers sustained any injury, although the car was considerably damaged. Acrostics on the name of Mr Massey was tho feature nf Mr A. F. Bennett’s speech in proposing the toast of the “Government” at a complimentary banquet at Mount Albert the other evening (states the Herald). “Using the language of the statutes.” said Mr Bennett, “for the purpose of this act the New Zealand Government shall be deemed to bo Mr Massey.” The speaker then found in the letters of Mr Massey’s name an indication of _ his qualities—a man, able, sincere, smiling, energetic, and with years of service to his credit. Mr Bennett enlarged each of these heads to the great enthusiasm of the gathering. ’lhe case of a farmer in the Waikato who tested running a milking plant by means of an oil engine and then by an electric motor was cited by Mr W. A. Waters, chief engineer of the ManawatuOroua Power Board, in the course of an address at Rongotea (states the Manawatu Evening Standard). It was found, ho stated, that whereas the oil engine cost was £26 2s 2d for a. certain period, the electric motor for the same time cost £2B 7s 9d. Tho farmer, however, installed the latter for its extra convenience. Ho had explained his action by saying: “We know n horse and trap are cheaper than a motor car, but which is preferable?” That, said Mr Waters, was the position with electrical power, where it was dearer than using an oil engine The question of tho precautions taken by the Health Department in respect of tubercular patients and others suffering from tuberculosis who travel by tho ferry steamer was mentioned by a Christchurch Press reporter to Dr- T. Fletcher Telford, tho medical officer of health for the Canterbury and West Coast health district Ho stated that advice was passed from one health district to another when it was known that tuberculosis patients were travelling, and on receipt of such advice the health inspector at the port at which the patient arrived was instructed to have the cabin which had been i ocupied by the patient disinfected. A taegram he had received advising him that a passenger suffering from T.B. was a passenger by the ferry boat was submitted by Dr Telford to the reporter in support of the statement made as to the procedure adopted. He added that unless the disease had reached a certain stage and the patient was spitting up infected material, ho was unlikely to cough up any infective matter. Piracy in the inner harbour of Hongkong •occurred on tho night Mr John Alexander, of Auckland, arrived in the port during his recent tour in the Far East (says the New Zealand Herald). A ferry boat was the victim. The pirates got on board as passengers and held up the master, officers, and engineers. They p>ut tho lights out and ran the vessel tip the coast, then lined up the passengers and relieved them of all cash and valuables, and divided thorn into two classes. The well-to-do they held for ransom, and the poorer people they sent hack to report what had happened and to say where tho ransom was to bo sent. Mr Alexander said the Sikh Guards, for some time carried by all ferry and river steamers, haff been replaced by British soldiers A fuller examination of Herbert and Co’s premises after tho Lawrence fire, which occurred on Wednesday, shows that the walls are practically undamaged—tho ire did not last long enough to do much harm to the brickwork—but that the roof is not by any means intact, ns at first, reported, beiny, in fact, seriously burned. A small portion of tho stock was consumed, and most of the rest is barfly deteriorated by smoko and water. On a rough estimate the loss is likely to work out at between £2OOO and £3OOO. On the principle of making the punishment til the crime, Mr A. Williams, chairman of the Christchurch Fire Board, suggests that a person caught giving a malicious false alarm should bo handed over to the brigade for a good ducking. Speaking of thi s practice at a meeting of the board, he said that it would bo a good thing to watch tho alarm boxes with that object. In the financial year just ended, ho stated, the brigade had been called out by a record number of false alarms (reports tho Press). Mr F. J. G Jackin wrote to the board suggesting that an alarm bell should be placed on the post at each alarm box, as it would bring people around, and might help to stop tho “insane practice.” He stated that it not only caused loss of plant and waste of money, but also risk to the members of tho brigade. Mr H. R. Itusbridge said that the suggestion was given a trial some years ago, but the alarm bells wore removed because the system did not give the iwulta expected.

Humour sometimes relieves the usual business at the Magistrate’s Court (remarks the Christchurch Press). Recently the rules of court were badly bent, if not broken, by a defendant who conducted his own case, thereby causing considerable laughter. When his one and only witness denied- having made a certain statement to him, ho exclaimed, “If you say that you're jolly well no good!” He paused, and then, continuing, said, “You can go. I don't want to ask you anything more after that lot.” He then entered the witness box and began: “What I say. your ■Worship, is absolutely the truth. I come here to tell the (ruth, not to make my living bv telling lies! I swear I’ll fell the truth if I never move out of hero again!” “Oh, I hope you will move out,” said the Magistrate drily. Wood's Great Peppermint Cur® for coughs and colds never fails. —Advt. You get exceptional value in diamond rings, at Williamson’s (next the Bristol Co.). They are ring specialists.—Advt. A E. J Blakeley, oentiet. Bank of Aua tralasia, corner of Bond and Rattray streets (next Telegraph Office). Telephone 1863. — Advt Choice Jewellery: compare our voices; large selection diamond rings, watches, bn: cpiets, silverware, etc.—Peter Dick, jewellers. 490 Moray place.—Advt