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Otago Daily Times, Issue 20701, 26 April 1929, Page 10

The steamer Norfolk, which arrived at Auckland on Wednesday morning from Liverpool, brought five bags of parcel mail for Dunedin. The mail should come to hand oh Monday morning. The ■ Manuka, which is due at Bluff on Sunday from. Melbourne, is bringing 104 bags of oversea and Australian mails and SO parcel receptacles: for Dunedin. The letter portion is expected to arrive here • on Sunday night, and. the balance of the mail on Monday. . It was mentioned by Or H- C. Campbell at Maori Hill on Wednesday night that last year 247,000 books were taken from the Public Library to people's honils to be read. This fact, he said, proved that in our city there was still a conisiderable amount of home and family .life, which was the secret to a large extent of any country’s greatness. At the City Police Court on Wednesday William Peter Davidson was fined 10s, in default 24 hours’ imprisonment, for drunkenness. Jack Stuart Milne, appeared for sentence, having previously pleaded guilty to stealing a lawn tennis racket and a parcel of gramophone records, and , was , further charged, with having stolen 25s in money, the property of Pansy Stewart. Chief Detective Cameron said that the last-named ■ theft was' a particularly mean one. The accused knew the Stewart family, and whilst visiting their house he took the 255, which had been put aside for the rent, and which Mrs Stewart could ill-afford to lose. When arrested he had 16s 9d in his possession. The accused’s behaviour had been anything but satisfactory since he had been in Dunedin, and, in fact, he was practically incorrigible. On perusing the reports of the Christchurch and Dunedin probation officers, the magistrate (Mr J. R. Bartholomew) observed that it. was obvious that the accused should be under control. On the first charge he would be ordered to be detained in the Borstal for two years) and he would be convicted on each of the other charges. An order for the restitution of 16s to Mrs Stewart was also made. The water supply was the principal theme of Cr Begg’s address at Maori Hill. Touching on the Ross Creek reservoir and the present supply from it of discoloured water, he said it was regrettable that the water from the reservoir had been in such a state as to be almost unfit for domestic use. It was gradually clearing, but it was likely to be some weeks yet before the reservoir, settled. In order to bring about a better state of things at an earlier date the city engineer had been instructed to obtain a quantity of pipes 24 inches in . diameter to convey water direct from the Ross Creek intake into the mains, cutting out the reservoir altogether. These pipes were to be landed at the wharf on the following day, and immediately they came to hand the work would be proceeded with. All the fixtures were in position awaiting the pipes, and work would be carried on day and night until complptd. The sub-engineer in charge of this undertaking was of the opinion that he would be able to connect the pipes within two days, and if he did so the people in the north end of the city might expect early next week that once again thye would have a pure supply of water. The forty-fourth annual meeting of the Otago Chess Club was held in the chav rooms on Wednesday evening, ■ the president (Mr L. D. Grigg) • occupy--ing . the chair. The secretary . repoi ted that the credit balance was £29 14g 7d, The following officebearers were elected for the ensuing year:' Patron, Mr S. S. Myers; president, Dr E. N. Merrington; vice-presidents. Dr G. Barnett and Mr W. Herbert; secretary, Mr. G. D. Wright; treasurer, Mr D. H*. Hastings; auditor, Mr J, G. Mooflie; committee—Messrs A. J. M'Dermott, O. Balk. L. D. Coombs, T. L. Gillies, and R. M'Dermott.

A. letter,,from the secretary of the New, Zealand- Farmers’ Union, which; was read at the meeting of tile North Canterbury Executive oh Tuesday, stated. that the following procedure was being followed ■to prevent the spread of tick in the South Island;—(1) All stock on the farm on which ticks were found to be sprayed at intervals; (2) no animals are allowed, to leave'the farm, without permission;. (3), a1l roughage is being cut and burned with a view to, destroying any eggs or ticks that may be harbouring there; (4) stock on surrounding farms are being kept under supervision, but so far no further ticks have been found. It was hoped'by these methods that the tick would be prevented from spreading and that eradication should not be impossible in the near future.

. Cr W. Begg expressed tlie opinion,, when speaking on Wednesday that before the damage done by the recent flood had been made good it would cost the city between £400,000 and- £500,000. The expenditure would be spread over a number of years. He added his belief that when the. report of the engineers came to hand it would be an eye-opener' to the public, . , ;/

A five-roomed house at Green Island, until lately occupied by Mr Phillips, carrier, Queen street, Burnside, was destroyed by fire yesterday morning. The house was unoccupied at the time; and the origin of the outbreak, is unknown/ The Auckland Savings Bank trustees at their annual meeting on Tuesday made a donation of £4500 to the St. John Ambulance, and -,£ 1000 to the Community Sunshine Association, making a total since 100e.0f,£100,350. „ , ; , , Some hostility was shown by a section of the audience at the Choral Hall in Christchurch on Monday evening, when the Mayor (the Rev. J. K. Archer), who presided, stated that owing to the behaviour, of the meeting he would notallow any 'questions to be asked of the four principal speakers, who had explainel matters in connection with Wellington’s municipal milk supply. Twice durihg the progress of the- speeches the Mayor’appealed - for” a-fair hearing. -Addressing the demonstrative section of the audience, he said that apparently the local • milk suppliers were havipg a good innings, judging- from their applause, dissent, and interjections. .- For some weeks now, but a readjustment of-the hours of service of the nursing staff, nurses have been getting a day a week off. "This we hope to continue, said the.chairman of the Wellington Hospital ..Board at meeting on Tuesday, Outlining the.new-works to be undertaken he remarked that a word should be said concerning the necessity for -a further addition to the Nurses’ Home, consequent upon the general expansion and needs of the staff to enable them to enjoy . a day off from their trying conditions of service. This iad' been expected to be pro vided for them, not only by the general public, but also by the Government, which had urged upon • all hospitals where possible to give the staff a day a week off. The unusual view that children attending the primary schools devote too . much time to sport, to the detriment of their studies, was put forward by a speaker at the-meeting of householders of the Terrace School on Monday night (says the Evening'Post). “Far too much time,” he declared, “is wasted on sport. It appears to me to. be a ■ dominant factor in school life. If the pupils gave more attention to their studies and the .essential things in life they would get along a lot better, than •they do. I think - more time , should be spent on work inside the school and less putside. The children will get their sport without being led to it.”- The speaker appeared to have? no. sympathisers with his views.. ' . ’ ; A better demand for fat cattle at Burnside on. Wednesday resulted in an increase of from 10s to 20s per head, but fat sheep and store cattle eased slightly. Lambs were firm.atilately increased values.'There were, about 2175 fat sheep forward, the quality being from medium to • prime. There were also several pens of unfinished ewes. Prime ewes - and- heavy prime wethers were in short supply. There was a slack demand, wethers easing by about Is or Is 6d per bead, and ewes being about 2s per head-cheaper. Extra heavy wethers , made to 42 s ’6d, prime, to 38s, and light to 31s 6d. Heavy ewes realised up to 345, and medium to prime from 24s to 28s. . The fat lamb penning numbered over 500; comprising heavy - prime sorts and a fair Sprinkling of plain . pennings. Last week’s enhanced price of 9d per pound wag maintained, light primes bringing,9Jd. The fat cattle yarding numbered 160 head' of fair quality stock, comprising a. few extra prime heavy bullocks, ’ with ■ a greater proportion of good steers andprime cows. There was a brisk sale with values from 10a to 20s, above those of lastweek. The store cattle entry consisted of 250 head. of mixed quality steers and, cows. There was a dull sale for all classes, and values receded by about 10s a head. There were 90 fat pigs and 80 stores yarded. Small stores which comprised the bulk of the store entry, met with a dragging sale. Baconerg made to a pound, and porkers to 7d. Many people are surprised to learn that Hew Zealand had fl banknotes long before such things were current'in England, It is’ only within the last few years, since the war days, that England had'anything less than the £5 note issued by the Bank of England, as that institution long held the sole privilege of issuing notes. The £1 note is a Scottish invention, and - has been current in that country.. for many years. An interesting reminiscence of the early days of banking in New Zealand is in the possession of Mr E. P. Norris, of, Auckland Isays the Star).’ It is a beautifully printed ■£l note of the-Bank of. Otago, unsigned. and ’ unnumbered, never baying been issued, but the watermark ou the paper gives the year 1851. The note was given to the present owner by the late Colonel Baillie, who was Speaker of the House of Representatives. The note was printed in England, and is similar in appearance and paper to the Bank of England notes.

During a visit to the far north, Mr David H.-Graham, research officer of the Mosquito Research Committee, Auckland Museum, continued his investigations to find. out. whether or not disease-carrying mosquitoes existed. According .to the Northlander, he has not located, any such carriers. The mosquitoes.be had found were,'riot of the disease-carrying types, .but at the same time they were detrimental to stock. They, were a great pest among cattle, and in a dairying district that was a serious matter.. The problem of eliminating this insect altogether was a difficult one. At Te Kao, however, it was being solved automatically, by drainage and cultivation. ' The holding of what is known as a' " regulation strike ” is a subject of frequent discussion among railway guards-in Canterbury (says the' Lyttelton Times). The guards are feeling very “ scire ” over the decision of the Hoard of Inquiry which investigated the collision at Kirwee on March 23. The hoard found, it is stated, that the guard of the goods train had been negligent in not obeying the regulations. Several members of the guards* organisation are considering obey-, ing the regulations implicitly and taking the full time allowed for carrying. them out, this being what is ,usually termed a; “ regulation strike.” The effect of this would be to make the trains late and to allow, overtime to accrue. In eff.ect, it is another method of “ going slow.” On the other : hand, several of the guards .realise that the railways are not the sole form of transport, and ‘ that if . their action makes train'travelling unpopular, it may react on them by the cutting out of trains and consequent reduction in staffs; • Reference to the introduction of the " no homework plan ” at the Mount, Eden School was made in the annu.nl. report of the committee which, was presented at the meeting of householders on (Monday night. The report states:—“ The whole" work is now done under- the supervision of teachers, who have been brought into closer contact with their scholars and have been able to.giVe more individual attention to their needs. ' The'-teachers- are wholeheartedly in favour of the . system, which they report has resulted in a higher standard of efficiency and happier conditions of " school life. A l , brief questionnaire was submitted to the parents, asking if the system had any. beneficial effects on the home life of the children.. Over 150 replies were received, of which all but 14 were decidedly favourable, many ‘parents stating that their children had greatly benefited by the change.”

. When a bookmaker was summoned on a jury panel in the Court of General' Sessions in Melbourne on a recent Saturday, he asked Judge Moule to be excused from duty as he desired to field at raced that day and on Monday. His Honor,however, did not agree, “Counsel do not practise on Saturdays,” he said, “ and you have a public duty which you must per: form.” After further endeavour to induce his Honor to take a different view of the matter without achieving any success, ha was S’tvorn in and took his seat in court. ■ After describing in his annual report of the Radium Department at the Christchurch Hospital the manner in which the supply of radium is checked up nightly. Dr P. Clennell Fenwick writes:—“When I opened this department I asked the board to make it a fixed rule that no piece of radium should be taken out of the hospital unless in the custody of myself assistant. The board agreed, anil insured us personally against accidental loss. I am constantly asked by medical men-in town, and country to lend or send radium to them. I always point out that .it would be impossible to ensure against less in these days, of motor accidents and thefts from motor cars, and that ho banker would allow even his most trusted •client to take away some thousands .of pounds from,. the • bank without any security, I feel sure that the present rule is a safeguard ,to the board’s valuable property, and trust that the rule will not be abrogated. The actual monetary‘ |osi would be nothing compared to the loss to those patients who need’ radium treaV ment, and we. would have to . wait for perhaps a year or more before the radium could be replaced.” 1

Recollections of the very early days of Auckland are awakened by the death last week of Air Matthew. Sims* of Onehuhga, m his ninety-first year (says the New Zealand Herald). Mr. Sims arrived at Auckland with his parents on. October 10, 1842, by the Duchess of Argyle, which, together wjth the Jane Gifford, brought the first organised parties of settlers to the district. At 14 years of age Mr Sims was apprenticed to . Mr Henry Nicdlls, « shipbuilder, with whom -he served five years, followed by another five as a journeyman at Mechanics’ Bay. When he was. 25 years old Mr Sims, entered business on his own account as a shipwright at Onehunga, where he. built the Planet, the first cutter on the Manukau. When Mr Sims first knew Auckland the Maoris ~ were still troublesome, and ■ among his recollections is.'th. arrival at .Mechanics’ Bay of a number of Natives in angry mood,over the arrest of one of .their chiefs tor some offence. Queen street in those times was- virtually the old Ligar canal as far up as .Victoria street, where it was spanned by a small bridge. Close by, at the corner of Victoria and Queen streets, was the gaol, where Mr Sims witnessed two public .hangings, . i

Trade .conditions in JEngland arc improving,”- said Mr W.A. Donald, a direc-. tor of the .firm of 'Messrs A. B. Donald who returned to Auckland by the- Rotorua , on Sunday, after-having spent 28 years hi the Old Country. Mr. Donald (says the Auckland Star) was educated at Dulwich College and Oxford, , and later , practised law in London. He said that in the coal mining districts considerable improvement was shown, and quite a large number of contracts were being recovered. Referring to the political situation, Air Donald said the Liberals were contesting 500 of the 650 constituencies, and indications pointed to that party holding-tie balance, of power. The general opinion was, however, that the Conservative Party would be' returned to power, but that it would not have a working majority. ,

a PP 6ar ed in print condemning the C.O.D. parcel , post system, and the satisfaction. with which the Prime Minister’s decision to “kill it” was received by commercial interests. The New'Zealand Dairy Produce Exporter, official orgap. of the Bairy. Board, takes the opposite View. .It regards, the decision of the ’nn'h • Government to banish the .levying. it-,open traders id charge' New Zealand with an ungrateful return for this effort to popularise ,our } produce.” Worse -util’ the Prime Minister' (Sir Joseph Ward) frankly ; states that the, withdrawal is to discourage , buying abroad and to encourage local patronage. The primary producer, who finds his -main market in Britain and the demand for his goods by the British workpeople, and desires on favourable occasions to buy direct from Britain and so encourage the prosperity of. his own customer, will regret this decision, and particularly the reasons ad«TT°ef,for (states the Exporter), Useful, and valuable as shopping overseas by mail has’ proved itself, it has its natural limitations imposed' by distance and lack of - selection. Those limitations are so effective, in our .-view; ‘that, the •volume of trade likely to develop would never be such as to warrant this Dominion, with its major interests represented by the heed of successfully marketing annually £50,000,000 worth-of primary pro. duce, laying itself open to the charge of ingratitude to our customer by such a pinpricking restriction. The decision ■ seems to u 8 petty and undignified, and out of proportion- to the- volume of interests affected.” ’

, the Kmgite Maoris of the ’sixties were in possession of a printing plant of their own, by means of which they used to publish a journal of their own, the. Hokioi, in controversy with the Pihoihoi of Sir John {then Mr) -Gorst, is well enough known. How they obtained it is told '(says the New Zealand Herald) in the memoirs of the late Mr C. 0. ' Davis, one of the riiost notable philoMabris of the early days. The effect of the story is that when tha Austrian frigate Novara came to Auckland some 70 years ago, with the famous geologist Dr Hochstetter on board, two Maori chiefs from the Waikato went back to Europe in her. They visited .Vienna, and the Archduke Maximilian, who .in later years so tragically ended his career in Mexico; after ho had. accepted the Mexican crown, made much of. them. Maximilian showed them over the city, and on parting asked them what they would like him to give them as a memento of their visit. Their answer was that they would like to have a printing press arid type. . These were accordinagly supplied' and were brought to New Zealand, First the .printing press, and type were taken to Mangere, where Potatau, afterwards the first Maori “ king,” was then living. * One of Mr Dayis’s nephews had picked up the art of typesetting in the old New Zealander office, Auckland, and he instructed some Maoris how to do it. The plant was taken to the King Country and there used for printing, the Kingite proclamations, and also the Hokioi. On the old files of‘ that remarkable newspaper, it can he seen that each issue bears the imprint, Printed with the loving gift of the Emperor of Austria to th% Maori people.” '

Brinach-erlencß the name of the author Mr G. M. Thomson, M.L.C..wasomitted from an .article, “Around Edinburgh.":in our issue of Wednesday last. Attention is drawn to an advertisement appearing in this issue in connection with the demonstration of the Millar automatic voting machine, which will bo used for a mock election at the Knox Church Sun. day School booth on election day. • Electors of>'Dunediri; Read Cr C.- H. Hayward's advertisement elsewhere. Will speak Saturday, Coronation Hall, Maori Hill; Monday. George Street Halit W V., Sturmer, G.A.0.C.. DSOI optician. Consulting room, 2 Octagon! Dunedin. ’ Most -.modern scientific- equip-. ment fpr sight , testing.— Advt. ■ A: E. J.. Blakeley and W. *.-E. »Bagley dentists. Bank of Australasia, corner of Bond and Rattray streets (next Telegraph Office) Telephone- 12-359.—Advt. , Dianwnd Engagement Rings.—Before' purchasing . compare . our values; large selection; superior quality—Peter Dick, the. most reliable jewellers, watchmakers!and opticians, 490 Moray nlace. Dunedin! AdVl, -