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Otago Daily Times, Issue 21036, 27 May 1930, Page 8

On Saturday evening a two-seate-Essex six, belonging to Mr Walter Black, was taken from Fairlie. The number of this machine is 120-143, and it is grey in colour with a green stripe.

Delegates from the Disaster Relief Committee of the Citzens’ Unemployment Committee met yesterday afternoon under the chairmanship of the Mayor. The questioh at issue is whether the,present Citizens’ Unemployment Committee-is, or-is not, to be officially recognised, by the Mayor ah the Finance Committee which should control the: disaster relief organisation; The matter awaits further consideration.

The two passenger buses which have been built at the Petone Workshops for the Railways Department’s Dunedin-Port Chalmers road service will arrive at Dun edin by the .Katoa to-day.' During the next few days the, buses will be given a thorough test, and it is hoped to have the new service operating about. the beginning of next week;

Under the will of Mr John Terence' Condon, of Auckland (says a Press Aseoeiatioii 'telegram), bequests totaUirig' OVer £OOO are made to various Roman Catholic institutions in Auckland.

, The following claims for exemption from the provisions of the Shops and Offices Act were granted by Mr J. R. Bartholomew, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday:—Charles Arnold Jameson, Howe street; Elizabeth Adelaide George Son, David street, Caversham; Alfred Walker, Albany street. The magistrate warned the applicants that the exemptions were granted subject to cigarettes and - tobacco being kept under lock and key during the hours of closing for tobacconists.

The following are the returns of infectious diseases at the Dunedin and Fever Hospitals for the week ended at noon yesterday;—Scarlet fever—admitted 1, discharged 1, remaining 9; diphtheria • —admitted 2, discharged 1, remaining Tl; erysipelas—remaining 4. Totals: Admitted 3, discharged - 2, remaining 24. In the Magistrate’s .Court yesterday morning, before Mr J. Bartholomew, S.M., four painters’ apprentices—‘lan Duncan M’Phee, James Henderson, Verdon Sidney King, and Charles Edward Peterson were charged with'failing to attend classes at the Technical College after being ordered to do - so by the- Apprenticeship Committee. Mr G. H. Lightfoot, who appeared for the Department of Labour, after stating that these were the first cases of the kind to be heard in Dunedin, explained that three or four years ago the Apprenticeship Committee had inaugurated classes at the Technical College for painters’ and decorators’ apprentices, and - all ./.apprentices were ordered to attend. Peterson, M'Phee, and Henderson were each fined 5s and costs (2s), and King’s breach was recorded without a penalty being imposed. The following clause with regard to native bird life is contained in the annual report of the Otago Acclimatisation Society:—“ Increasing attention is being directed, and rightly so, to the fact that our native birds are decreasing in number. ■ While opinions may differ as to the causes for the decrease, your council feels, sure that everybody would deeply deplore the extinction of any of our beautiful and unique birds. An appeal is made to all those 'who ■ appreciate our birds, to do all in their power to prevent the killing of species whose numbers are decreasing. The society’s ranger, whose duties take him regularly into, considerable bush areas in the Owaka, Wyndbam, and surrounding districts, recently reports as follows:—' All native are on the increase, especially the native pigeon, parrakeet, parson-bird, bell-bird, black fantail, pied fantail, and tom-tit. I made inquiries in all the different places I have been to, and found everyone of the same opinion. Their food supply is very plentiful this year, and I attribute their increase to the great toll the opossum trappers are taking of their natural enemies the stoat, weasel, and bush rat, and I believe the sparrow-hawk and owl take their toll too. There are no’ other means of preserving ■ native birds, than by trapping their enemies.’ ”

During the whole of the period 18811914 the rate of increase of local body indebtedness was much more rapid than that of-■ the central Government, • states a bulletin issued by the Auckland branch of the Eeconomic Society of Australia' and New Zealand. The respective per, capita increases were about seven and three times respectively the figures at the early date. Local body indebtedness was less than 10 per cent, of the total in 1881, and 21 per cent, in 1914. As might be expected. State indebtedness increased much more - rapidly during the war years, and the percentage of local body to total .indebtedness fell ,to about 13- The rate of increase of local body indebtedness was retarded during the war, but the increase has been at a prodigious rate since 1920. Thus, in 1928, local body indebtedness was about 120 per cent, greater than in 1920, and the indebtedness of the central Government was only 36 per- cent, greater.

Captain E. A. Chandler, of the Salvation Army, met the Mayor (Mr E. S, Black) yesterday for the purpose of 'dincussing a proposal to set up a’ “soup kitchen” in Dunedin for the relief of needy families. It was stated that the services of the garage and kitchen at the old Commercial Travellers’ Club rooms in Dowling street had been made available through the generosity of Mr R. M. Greensladc. The garage could be arranged to accommodate 120 persons at a time, and three 14-gallon coppers were being installed. This work, and also that of lighting were being attended to by the City Corporation. The Salvation Army was being invited, to co-operate with the Citizens’ Committee in organising this relief work. The Mayor stated that the kitchen would he open this week, and he made an appeal for gifts of meat. The Port Chalmers Progressive League, last night resolved to ask the Harbour Board to proceed with the reclamation of Mussel Bay. A tunnel had been constructed a few years ago to shorten tbc distance from the suction dredge to the reclamation area;

Spirited opposition to a remit opposing an increase in the honorarium of members of Parliament brightened proceedings at the recent farmers’ conference at Whangarei. The conference decided in favour of the increase. Mr ,W. Lee Martin, M.P., defending the remit reiterated his previous contention that the present honorarium was a “miserable pittance.” The country' would be better off with fewer members on higher honoraria. The Prime Minister, with the responsibility of the country in his hands, received less than half the salary of the general manager of railways. Private members received less than any Ministerial secretary. The speaker quoted cases of members in large country electorates who had to tour their districts with Ministers of the Crown and had to pay their own expenses, while the Ministers received two guineas a day allowance.

In the course of a letter to Mr J. W. Munro, M.P., the Minister 'of Public Works (Mr E. A. Ransom), after outlining the measures which .the Government proposes to adopt to relieve unemployment in Dunedin (already published), proceeds: “A subsidy of 50 per cent, of labour based on wages at the rate of 14s per up to £7OOO has also been approved in respect to the work included in the schedule of the relief of unemployment loan of £20,000 to be raisecT by the Dunedin City Council."

It is probable that a very large percentage of restaurant patrons wlio sit down with enjoyment to an oyster supper, have little knowledge of the conditions under which the oysters’ are obtained from the deep (writes the Bluff correspondent' of the' Southland Times). - Ever since the steam trawler took the place of the sailing cutter the market has been fully, supplied practically throughout the season. Regardless of the weather the little trawlers sail out into the open sea ev«jt| ■when, the ferry boats running to Stewa* Island cannot make the passage and .large cargo 'steamers are obliged to shelter on their way to Bluff. On Friday thre? of * the trawlers left for the oyster beds. With a whole gale blowing from the south-east and almost continuous rain squalls, two of the boats returned from outside the heads. The Cowan, however, commanded by Captain M. Joss, proceeded to the beds to do half a day’s dredging under conditions that no one, not having had the experience, could understand. Steaming slowly around the boat had no chance of avoiding the waves, large and small. The staunch little ship was tossed labout by them like a cork and the crew, thoroughly drenched with rain and spray, at times had to take firm hold of the rigging oi* other supuport to avoid being washed away. In between times the crew went on calmly picking out the oysters from the heap of miscellaneous shells and foreign matter caught up by the dredges. It seems (adds the correspondent) that this is the training that has made British .seamen what they are.

The withdrawal of the Government steamer Maui Pomare from the Norfolk •Island service is having the effect o£ diverting the. Island trade to Australia, according to a .letter .from -a Norfolk Island resident, read before the council ■of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce last week (says the New,Zealand Herald). -"It is to be deplored,” he wrote, ‘‘.that after the efforts of the Auckland ' mer£iants to obtain a share of our trade, which was continually increasing, as shown by the export .statistics, this trade should be lost practically in a day., During the last three’ years, as a result of the steamer service,, numbers of New Zealanders have settled in Norfolk Island, only to find themselves how absolutely cut off from their friends and relations. As these settlers were the means' of considerably increasing trade between New Zealand and the Island, the action of the Government appears to her rather drastic.”. The writer expressed the .opinion that it would not pay a private company to establish a service - in place of the Government steamer unless the steamer could call at other islands, as was the case with the Maui Pomare, which, hy running to Samoa, was able to give Norfolk Island a service every six' weeks. If a steamer ■ could take up the running-to Noumea, via Norfolk Island,' it would increase the tourist traffic and open up fresh trade possibilities for New Zealand, as - part of the trade now going to Australia would be diverted to the Dominion. - Some visiting anglers from the north express the opinion that the salmon fishing in -the Waiau River gives superior sport to the rainbow fishing in the Tongariro (states the annual report of the Southland Acclimatisation Society). The total num- " her of salmon caught by anglers in the Waiau River and Lake Te Anau was probably between 1000 and 1200. Practically no salmon have been caught in the ■ Waiau Riyer between Lake Manapouri and the sea, while a very few, probably not more than a dozen, were caught near the mouth of the Waiau in Te Wae Wao Bay. With the' ova obtained from , the Marine Department, the council says it •hopes to stock the Waiau River between Lake Manapouri and the sea, and so ■establish a stock of sea-going salmon m the Waiau. If finances permit it will be desirable to procure a supply of fresh salmon ova from Britain, and possibly to co-operate with the Government with this end in view.

The fifty-first annual meeting of the Patients and Prisoners' Aid Society will be held in the Council Chambers, Town Hall, at 3 p.m. on Thursday. Mr Justice Kennedy will preside. The meeting will be addressed by several leading, citizens, and the balance sheet and annual report will be,presented. The committee extends a hearty invitation to all friends' of the society. W. V Sturraer. G.A.0.C., D. 5.0.1 optician. Consulting room, 2 Octagon) Dunedin Most modern scientific equips ment for 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. ■ S. E Ferguson, qualified optician-and refractioniet, GJ* 0.C., 46 George street. Twenty years' experience in sight-testing and spectacle fitting. If y.onr eyes trouble you consult us. Doctor's' prescriptions carefully attended to.—Advt. Let ns charge your wireless or car battery. Satisfaction guaranteed.—Barth Electrical Supplies, Ltd.. 99 Prince* street.—Advt. We make a special feature of high-clas* brushware: Tooth Brushes, ShavinBrushes, and Hair Brushes. If you want something really good go to Sprosen’s. Ltd., leading chemists, corner. Octagon and George street. —Advt. Choice Jewellery.—Compare our values Just lacked large selection Diamond Rings, Reliable Watches Jewellery and Silverware.—Peter Dick, the most reliable tewellers,. and on*, ticians, 490 Moray nlace. Dunedin.— Advt.