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Otago Daily Times, Issue 20707, 3 May 1929, Page 8

“I am contemplating going .to New Zealand in the near future to make my home.” This is the opening sentence in a letter received by the secretary (Mr H. P. West) of. the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce this week from Manitoba. The writer continues: “I have heard a lot about your country and Dunedin in particular, and I would very much appreciate your giving me literature and information regarding your city, and the surrounding country.” A parcel of literature will be forwarded to the writer by the first mail, In connection with the decision of the Minister of Railways (Mr W. B. Taverner) to adhere to the present system of leasing railway bookstalls, the Minister has written to the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce expressing the hope that his decision in this matter will be satisfactory to the chamber. In reply, the chamber has written thanking the Minister for his interest in the matter. The committee of the Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Society has been advised by the Director-general of Agriculture, Wellington, that the Minister of Agriculture (Mr G. W. Forbes) had recommended to his Excellency, the Gov-ernor-General the appointment of Mr James Begg as a member of the Board of Agriculture representing the Otago district. The Tahiti, 1 which is due at Wellington on Monday from San Francisco, is bringing 176 bags of European; American, and Canadian mails and 68 parcel receptacles for Dunedin. The letter portion is expected to come to hand on Tuesday afternoon, and the balance of the mail on Wednesday. ■

The City Fire Brigade received a malicious false alarm at 9.32 on Wednesday night to Cavell street, Tainui. Another call was received ,at I.2o'yesterday afternoon to Messrs Irvine and, Stevenson’s factory in Filleul street, where it was found that a fire had started in the starch-drying room. The outbreak was speedily suppressed.

The secretary-of the General Post Office has received a broadcast from Sydney radio stating: The yacht Almaira, which was previously reported disabled, has arrived at Cape Hawk,

The hearing of a claim for £SOOO for land in Ghuznee street, Wellington, taken by the City Council for street widening purposes, by the owners of the property, Patrick,James Hannigan and John Cairipbell Francis, reached finality in the Supreme Court yesterday (states a Press •Association message from Wellington). Mr Justice MacGregor announced that the court was of opinion that the. claimants should receive £3500 and costs totalling £75.

The secretary of the Otago Motor Club has been advised by the county engineer to the Tuapeka County Council'that the Waitahuna t township bridge on the Clarks-ville-Springvale Main Highway, null be closed for all traffic-between 9 a.tn. and II a.m. daily from Monday May 6 until further notice to enable repairs to be effected.

The whole of the time of the Supreme Court yesterday was occupied with the further hearing of the case in which Henry George Parsons and William Stewart Scott were charged with stealing tobacco from the warehouse of James Rattray and Son, and alternatively withi receiving the tobacco knowing it to have been dishonestly obtained. The jury returned shortly after ,6 o’clock, after- a retirement of.half an hour, with a verdict of not guilty on all counts. ""

. J• B- Bartholomew, S.M., who presided over a sitting o£ the City Police Court yesterday, fined William- Smith Dryden, a statutory first offender, 20s, in default 48 hours’ imprisonment for drunkenness. • . • ■

, article published in Wednesday’s issue tm the native- game season, the figures, for shooting in North Canterbury were given instead of those for Otago. However, the figures quoted will be of use to a number of Otago sportsmen who are in the habit of going to the northern district for the game season. The following are the limit bags in the Otago Acclimatisation Society’s district: —Canadian geese 12, Californian quail 20, grey duck 25, mallard duck 12, paradise duck 0. It is not permissible to take a mixed bag of duck totalling more than' 25 birds per day, and such a'bag must not contain more than the limit number of paradise and mallard duck. No limit is placed on black swan. The shooting season extends from May 1 to June 30 for all game, with the exception of paradise duck which may be shot until nest Tuesday, and pukeko, for which the season is a close one.

The difficulty experienced by the plaintiff m obtaining any expert evidence in support of her claim of £698 against Arthur M. Carter, of Auckland, dentist, led to the collapse of the case in Auckland yesterday, when Isabella Vera Gwilham was nonsuited (states a Press Association telegram). The plaintiff had nficged that, the defendant had negligently and unskilfully allowed a portion of a tooth to be inhaled into her lung, resultlnß ln k er health being greatly impaired*

T - D ; Burnett, M.P. for Temuka, : on Wednesday despatched the following telegram to the Prime Minister:—"As representative of a. family that has been Crown tenants for 65 years in the Mackenzie Country, I am greatly disappointed m your action in permitting Byrd’s wolf dogs, to go up to the Hermitage. The head of a Government that has 36,000 tenants ought to have shown more consideration for. those tenants’ interests as compared to those of outside Americans, .there are many thousands of sheep belonging to Grown tenants wintered- in precipitous country in the Mackenzie, that it wolf dogs got loose among them it would he impossible for anyone to assess the resultant damage.” •

1 ™ A u- amußlng exchange took place in the ■ Wellington Supreme Court during the i l 1 a compensation claim against • the Wellington City Corporation for land ( taken , for street widening in Ghuznee , street. A, well-known valuer and land .agent was being cross-examined by the •city solicitor (Mr J. O’Shea), and was ..asked: Don’t most people think they ,£re being left a legacy when the corporanibn proposes to take their land? Wit- ‘« S3 n!iJ 0t in r . ecent years.”-(Laughter.) OShea asked the witness -whether, r he . were n <>t a land agent, he would *ot try to purchase land which he knew 3vt ,? orporation intended to acquire. ",Ao, replied the witness promptly. “I ijould assume that I would have a great . of trouble and expense getting my aioney back through, the court.” At a stage in the, cross-examination, the wlitpess said it .was an old-fashioned, idea -tftat profits could be; made out of compensation claims; it certainly was not the csjise now.

I With the increasing use of aircraft aj’new need‘arises in the. form of a sky si|n for towns (says the Taraqaki Hjpald). On their way from Auckland m the Marlborough Aero ■ Club’s Moth, Csptain Chandler and Mr C. A Mac--after flying down the coast in thijek rain, came upon Waitara. Realising that it was not large enough for New P« mouth, they tried to identify it from and dived down low over the railway station, but failed to discover a nanie. Next they flew . over the main strjeet low enough to read the name of a leading hotel, but saw nothing by which tfu|y could identify the place. Finally tlicw decided from their map that it was Wantara, but not before most of the towfn’s populace had poured itself into the i streets to watch the plane which had appeared so suddenly. 3 ere has been a distinct movement lie farm property market in South land during the past two months and I a -number of places have changed han(|s (says the Waikato Times). These are mostly improved small farms, where the [prices asked have been reasonable and fhe purchasers have been able to pay either cash or substantial deposits. There is *[ greater disposition amongst landholders. to work their properties instead of sitting, idle and waiting for a rise in yalucj. They realise that the artificial inflation, period has passed, and that the only pay to make a farm pay is by hard work.] Several exchanges have been effeqtQd during the past few weeks and generally things are brighter in the land market than they have been for some years, j

A wnry old “Brown Bess” has been handei| to the Auckland Museum authorities b.i. Mr P. N. Foley, of Kaitaia (ac-cordin-i to the Northlander). It is in a good state of preservation, with ramrod and bayonet complete. About six feet in lenfdh, these antiquated firearms have a most (formidable appearance when compared wSth the businesslike weapon of today. fhe original “Bess” was the regulation) flint-lock,, smooth bore musket with bivrazed barrel and was formerly used in ihe British Army. The Kaitaia musket ms a hammer-lock, and the charge was fire# by means of percussion caps, as it belonged to what .one may call the " transition period,” the period 1 during which the pld flint-locks were converted into hamqier-locks. As a weapon, these old guns | were pretty effective, but today they are more effective as ornaments. They hava a quantity of .ironwork in their and a couple of brass bands, whoji polished, add to their decorative value.) -The interesting thing about the musket* from the historical point of view is thißt there are still living men who ,can.remember when, it, was used in New Zealand '

A complete agreement oa all the disputed points was arrived at on lihei similar. to the present award in the bakers and pastrycooks’ dispute (says a Press Association telegram from Wellington). The Court of Arbitration will be asked to embody the agreement in ,an award for a period of two years. _ Th J ° executive of the National War bunds Council has minuted a resolution of appreciation of the action of Mr Ai t. Fenwick, of Dunedin, in bequeathing the sum of £SOO to the council for- the benefit of the returned soldiers.

For ingenuity and labour-saving, the efforts of, a certain Takapuna scholar will take a lot of beating (says the Auckland Star) A few weeks ago his clans was set the task of writing an essay about any football match, or outdoor event seen on the previous Saturday Young Trevor’s effort read: "Several .football matches should have been played at Carlaw Park on Saturday, but owing to the heavy ram they were postponed;" Since then he has come along with another t? ort J, n answer a problem of arithmetic. The sum concerned the.: total « feet possessed by a certain number of horses cattle, and pigs. His aJwS was the soul of brevity: "They have no feet at all. Horses and cattle have hoofs,- and pigs have trotters.”