NOTES AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2985, 31 May 1911, Page 51

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Questions far reply in coming issue to be received not later than SATURDAY night. Interested asks: In what number of Hansard are the reports of the discussions on compulsory training to be found, and -where and how can I obtain the number or numbers? The debate on the Defence Amendment Bill will be found in Noa, 14-9, 151, 152, and 153. The question was referred to on various other occasions. You can! obtain the numbers from the Government Printer, Wellington Snooky.—(l) The duty on crockery ware from Great Britain is 20 per cent, ad val.; on foreign 50 per cent. (2) We should imagine that the Australasian Manual by Mr Hopkins, the Government •expert, would be about one of the best books for a beginner who intended to take up beekeeping It was published byMessrs Gordon and Gotch, and can doubt;les3 be obtained from that firm or any of the lea-ding booksellers. H ' D. —If you address your letter to post offico box 333, Dunedin, it will roach the representative of the company you are asking about. Anxious. —The Lake .County show in 1907 was held' on. Saturday, December 7. JJ B. —To destroy insects in furniture the woodwork should be painted with a solution of colocynth, or a preparation _ of quassia, to be obtained from a chemist. Apply the solution for a week or so, and the insects will disappear. If they are in the upholstered part of the furniture it should be unpicked and restuffed. Clothes, bedding, or furniture might bo fumigated. They should be \mt into a room with all windows, ventilators, etc., closed., and all crevices pasted up with paper. Clothes arrd bedding should be hung over a line in the middlo of the room, so that the- sulphur fumes may reach both sides of them. Pieces of sulphur about the size of a cherry should be placed in an iron not situated over a tub of water. To the sulphur add a few drops of methylated spirit. The sulphur, which should bo in the proportion of l£lb to each 1000 ft of space, should then be lighted, and the door closed and sealed. The fumigation should continue for at least eight hours, when the articles of clothing and furniture may be removed from the room # and placed, if possible, in the open air and sunlight, the mattresses being opened, and the stuffing- exposed to the air. W. H.. Edendale.—Mr H. M. Davey writes: I am very glad to have received your

letter and to fiird that you know tho fault and oan now guard against it. I am also glad you found the inside all right. That often causes trouble, especially with some waiters, and where the pumps are often idle for a while. What you say is quite right. The makers may have been right in saying that 80 would under ordinary circumstances, but with your load it is quite likely that 60 will be quite as much as you will do, otherwise you will find unexpected breakages occurring that will bother you considerably. It is always a pleasure in replying to questions to leceive an acknowledgment later on that the answer proved suitable, while the nonreceipt of any information is disconcerting

Driver, Invercargill.—Mr H. M. Dayev, consulting l engineer, Princes street, replies : I have two sectional plans of bridges such as you ask about. In one the top of the bridge conies to the centre of the flu© and in the other it is about an inch or two lower, scarcely coming to the centre. You did mot mention the height of the bars, and they generally are a little lower at the back than at the front. To test and find out which is the best, how would it do to_ form the bridge to the lower of these heights and loosely lay another course after the lower one has been tested for a few days: then if the higher is the better, properly fix it. If you do this you might kindly write and my which you found to be the better height of the two. LAW QUERIES. [Answered by a Solicitor of the Supremo Court of New Zealand. Letters and Telegrams must be addressed to “ LEX,” c/o Editor, Otago Witness, Dunedin.] Concerned.— Yes. T. Mr—Obtain a stamped promissory note from the borrower. Bushman. —The matter is not of sufficient gravity to justify the institution of criminal proceedings. Subscriber, Glenavy.— B is entitled to payment on a quantum meruit —that is to say, he is entitled to as much as he has earned. Upper Waitaki.— ln the event of the widow dying intestate, the property would be divided equally amohg the step-children. The sister would obtain nothing. Settler. —(l) and (2) It would not be safe to do as you suggest. (3) The proper procedure is to transfer the property and take a mortgage over it at the same time. (4) Registration of the transactions will protect both parties. G. B. asks: —“Is an unregistered and unstamped mortgage deed a legal document?'’ Answer: Yes. Mortgage® are exempt from stamp duty, and nonregistration does not in itself make the document invalid though it - may postpone the mortgagee’s claim to other claims and leave the door open to fraud. Sylvia asks;—“Could ' the grandmother of her grandchild take the child out of a “heme” without the consent of the child’s father ?”—Answer: If it is a foster-home you refer to, the child cannot be removed without the written consent of the Secretary for Education. Ignorant asks: —“What is the correct amount of furniture, etc., a bailiff must leave in case of debt?”—Answer; Personal and family clothing, the bedclothes, bedding, and tools of trade to an amount rot exceeding in all £25 in value are exempt from distress. Reader— lf the maorooarpa trees were planted after January 1, 189*6, upon or alongside the boundary line without your previous written consent, then you have authority under the Fencing Act to 'enter on the land and cut down, eradicate, and destroy the trees. You may also recover the cost of so doing from the .person who planted them. Pensioner writes: —“A -person was 65 years of age on April 26, and the magistrate signed the old-age pension claim on May 8. From what date is the claimant entitled to draw the pension?”—Answer; The- first instalment is payable on the first day of the calendar month next after the date of the magistrate’s certificate. T.—(l) See replies to “ P. R. A." (2) You may claim payment of the full debt if you do not sign either form.. An acknowledgment in writing by a creditor of the receipt of a part of his debt in satisfaction of the whole debt operates as a discharge of the debt. Of course, there is no use of your holding out, if by so doing you cannot get 20s in the pound. Vashti. — If deceased left over £IOO in the Post-Office Savings Bank, the money will be paid only to the executor or administrator on production of probate or letters of administration. If the sum, exclusive of interest, does not exceed £lO9, the Post-master-general may pay out the money on due -security being given for its properdistribution. You should interview the officer in charge of the Savings Bank about the matter. Farmer writes: —“I live four miles away from the school. The truant inspector has threatened to take proceedings against me for my children not attending regularly. Does the distance I live from the school make any difference?”—Answer: Yes. But to- have -a valid defence you must obtain -a certificate of exemption from the School Committee, or from the chairman, and one other member, or from the head teacher. Farmer writes: —“A drainage board has-cut a ditch through my tail'd, and refuses to build a bridge over the ditch, because my land has a- public road for a frontage. ■They say the road will do in place of a bridge. (1) Can I compel the board to build a bridge over the ditch? If net, (2) must the board pay me compensation for severance?”—Answers: (1) No. (2) Yes. Waikaia writes: —“Suppose A took out a summons against B, and was informed the service would be 10s. He paid the 10s, the amount being placed in stamps on the plaint form and cancelled. The constable -soon after- seas B pass the court, and served the summons, on him. If the constable did not charge B with the 10s mileage, who would pay A his 10s?”—Answer: The Justice Department. P. Ri. A. a-stks; —“(1) Can I sell a heifer which strayed on to my farm six months ago? I advertised her the first week three- times in the local daily paper, and nobody has claimed hex yet. (2) What is the best tiling to do with her?”— Answers; (1) Yes. But, as you have no title to the animal, you might afterwards have to refund the money received for it. (2) Drive the animal to the nearest accessible pound. If it is not released within 14 days, the p-oundk-eeper offers it at auction. You could buy the heifer yourself then, and -so acquire a lawful title to* it. H. Ml writes; —“A has a bicycle shop in Dunedin. B buys a bicycle off A for £l6

and pays a deposit of £l. The remainder is to bo paid £1 monthly. B has the bicycle a month, and then returns it, as he is unable to pay for it. No more is heard about the bicycle for three months, when B receives a letter from A drawing attention to £2 due for hire. (1) Can A force B to pay for the hire? (2) If not, what is B's best course?"—Answers: (1), If, the transaction was one of purchase and not of hiring, B is not liable. (2) B should write to A and repudiate liability if there was no hiring.

Gum Boots. —B may take proceedings under Part IV of “Tlx© Land Drainage Act. 1905,” to have the ditches in A’s property cleansed, widened, deepened, straightened, or otherwise improved. B applies in writing to A for leave to make the improvement®. The application must state the nature of the improvements proposed to be made, be accompanied by reference to a plan deposited at some public office in the district, on which the length, width, and depth of the proposed improvements must he delineated, and further state the compensation (if any) B proposes to pay to A. A is allowed one month in which to express his assent or otherwise. If h© fails to assent or notifies his dissent within the time limited, than the ca.se must bo brought before a stipendiary magistrate and two assessors for adjulicatiorii. VETERINARY QUERIES. [Answered by a duly qualified Veterinary Surgeon. Queries must be received by SATURDAY night to ensure reply in the succeeding issue.]. Farmer writes': —"l have ,a draught foal five months old, not weaned, and feeding on chaff with its mother, which passes worms five or six inches long. How can, they b© got rid of?”—A lump of rock salt placed where bath mare and foal can easily get at it may have a good effect in removing the worms. Try it before giving medicine. If you can keep up the foal’s condition until spring the young grass will likely clear out all the parasites without the aid of drugs.