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Otago Witness, Issue 3475, 19 October 1920, Page 3

Recently a Royal Commission sat at Goro and heard evidence relative to the upkeep of roads in the vicinity of Wa{« pahi. . The commissioner (Mr Geo. Cruick« shanks, S.M.), has submitted his report, which states that the Clutha County Council shall not be asked to provide or pay any proportion of the cost of upkeep of the boundary roads that were in dispute.

On a station in the Mohaka (Hawke's Bay) district, lately, some Maori scrubcuttera struck because they could not be supplied -with white sugar. Brown sugai* was refused by them, notwithstanding thai the owner explained that he had to utf brown sugar himself. The result wa3 thai the Maoris were paid off.

The gas cut-out in Masterton lias involved a local poultry-keeper in a loss, of £7O. He was not advised of a contemplated re» duotion in gas pressure, with the result that 2000 eggs were destroyed in hi 3. in-. cubators.

There are eight new sawmills being con* structed in the Hokitika distriot, and on© hardly knows where they are going to get all the men needed to work them (writes the Holcitika correspondent of the Grey Riv3* Argus).

The average age of the early settlers whose deaths were reported at the monthly meeting of the Otago Early Settlers' Association held last week, was 80 years.

The following resolution, carried in Palmerston North on the ,12th, reached Welling ton last night (states our own correspond* ent):—"This representative meeting, repre* scnting the Wellington, Taranaki, and Wai» rarapa, wishes to assure the Government of its loyal support .in any industrial crisis' which may arise, and is prepared to offer its organisation in any desirable way hi conjunction with town organisations or. otherwise for any purposes the authorities may require."

A ghoulish theft was perpetrated be.' tween September 19 and September 21 by Hilda Maud Brown, an English woman ot 31 years of age, who appeared in the Christ* church Magistrate's Court on the 12th, charged with the theft of a diamond ring, valued at £lO, the property 1 of Gavin Halliburton, the ring hay- .

ing been stolen from a corpse (sayjj a Christchurch Press Association telegram). Chief-detective M'llveney stated that com* plainants wife had died prior to the datq of the theft. Shortly before dying she asked complainant that the diamond ring, she was wearing might be buried • wita her. The ring was left on the finger,Shortly before the coffin was closed it was noticed that the hands of the deceased wera shifted and the ring was missing. Accused! had been a domestio servant at the house. Questioned as to her knowledge of the dis* appearance of the ring, she stated she knew nothing of it. Later she left her situation and went to Wellington, where she was searched, and the diamond ring found among her effects. The ring had been) recovered. Accused was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence when! called upon. She was ordered to pay the cost of the proceedings, and to report to' a clergyman once a week for a year. The family of the late Mr Edward Murphy, of Gisborne, has donated £SOOO to the Salvation Army, the gift to be used for the purpose of establishing a nursing home in Mr Murphy's memory. -During his lifetime Mr Murphy was a very generous contributor to the funds of .the Army. New Zealand pioneers had all the fundamental facts of experience behind, or rathe* before, their conclusions that the Maori is an intelligent species of biped. The wib of a certain Maori convert, whose fame is rising high .as a preacher of the Christian doctrine, was one day faced with a rather embarrassing position, but with the aid of his ready native wit he wriggled out of it rather neatly, He was talking to a eon* gregatlon of prospective active converts

jjpon the old story of Daniel in the lion's den (aays the Auckland Star). With the mil power of his impassioned oratory he the lions. They were the kings Ift beasts, fierce to the last deg Tee, strong

with an amazing strength, utterly without mercy. They uttered low, throaty growls, they roared with powerful voice that shook the earth. Their mighty musoles quivered as they prowled about the narrow oavern

wherein Daniel was cast. But Henare, at the back, did not believe, and he had the courage of his convictions. "Py korry, he said, "I tink you wrong. Me, I see the lion come round in the circus. He not a fierce fellow at all. He tame, he quiet, he not big and strong at all." The preacher gasped, the audience looked with approval upon the interrupter, for who had not seen the spiritless beasts of the travelling circuses? "Whore you see these tame lions"? asked the preacher. "In the circus." "You all wrong, the lions I talk about was B.C. —Before Circuses." And at last Henare believed. The postal authorities have been advised that a mail was despatched from London for New Zealand on the 7th inst., per lonic, via Panama. -Two petitions bearing in the aggregate 225 signatures of ratepayers in the proposed new Taieri River Trust district were presented to Parliament on the 13th by Mr J. Edie (Bruce), (wires our "Wellington correspondent). In one of them the petitioners ask that the rates to be raised under the authority of the Bill should he levied on the unimproved value. The second asks that section 22 ; sub-section 3, of the Bill, be amended so as to empower the new trust to levy special rates as security for all loans raised by the Taieri Drainage Board or the Western Taieri Land Drainage Board. The remarks of the Gisborne coroner, who expressed surprise that a girl of 14 should be allowed to drive a high-powered motor car in the public streets, were referred to by Cr Hayward at a meeting of the Duncdin City Council. He asked if there was an age limit in Dunedin. Cr Scott (chairman of the General Committee) replied that the age limit was 20 for a taxi driver and 18 in any other case. A correspondent who conducts a retail business in the town states that a brazen attempt was made by a little girl, about 10 years of age, to change " half-a-crown' in his shop, which, owing to its lightness, aroused the suspicions of his assistant,, and an examination proved it to' be a coronation medal, the hole in which had been carefully stopped up. The annual report presented by the New Zealand Baptist Missionary Society (says an Auckland Press Association telegram) states that the Baptist woman's missionary fund realised £1564, and to the rupee fund £2227 was subscribed, while £750 was raised for the sustentation fund and £4OO as a special guarantee fund. . Base Records announce that, as a result of a special Court of Inquiry recently held in Wellington, it has been declared that 8/1684 Private Charles Andrew Wood, who was originally reported missing since April, 1915, was killed in action at Cape Helles on the night of May 8, 1915. Private Wood was a member of D Company, 3rd Reinforcements, N.Z.E.F. D Company left Alexandria for Gallipoli on the transport Saturnia at the end of April, 1915, but Private Wood missed the transport. He sailed for Gallipoli in an Australian transport and joined up with the New Zealanders at Cape Helles on May 7, 1915. He took part in the engagement at the "Daisy Patch." The deceased's next-of-kin is Mrs G. Wood (mother), care Mr Peter Christie, 5 Steep street (off Maitland street), Dunedin. SSr James Carroll does not think the Liberal Party is "down and out." In an interview he said: "What matter so long as Liberal principles and Liberal ideals persist?" He remembered the time when the comparatively mild Liberalism preached by Mr John Ballance was being denounced by Mr Massey and his friends as red revolution, and the Liberal Prime Minister. and his six colleagues stigmatised as the "Seven Devils of Socialism"; but year, by year he ha 3 seen the Conservatives of those days, now figuring under another title, appropriating more and more of the socalled red revolutionary policy, till now they have absorbed pretty well the whole lot, and are looking anxiously around for more. The supply must come from the progressive elements in the House, and by and' by the progressive elements will get together again and see the advantage of administering their own policy for themselves. As a result of the Government intimation that financial assistance to discharged soldiers must be curtailed, the number of applications coming to the Land Board is much fewer. The total number to be considered at the meeting of the board on the 14th was only 25. Nine applications for stock, improvements, etc., involving a total sum of £3050, were recommended, and three were held over. .An application for the purchase of rural property was recommended, and another was declined. Two applications for the transfer of existing mortgages were considered; one of tnem was declined as it showed that the vendor would be making a profit, and the other was recommended, as no profit was disclosed. Two applications for residential properties were declinpd, and seven (involving the sum of £4980) were recommended. Of these seven two were for the erection of new houses and the other five were applications that were in hand at the time of the curtailment, and cases of great hardship. The wisdom of Invercargill's pioneers of the artesian water supply scheme has bein borne out by results, and recently another bore was sunk by Mr W. Stewart, of Dunedin, which it is expected will double the town's water supply (wires our Invercargill correspondent). With a temporary pump between 12,000 and 13,000 gallons per hour is being obtained already. An informal discussion took place at the meeting of the Land Board on the 14th with regard to lands set apart for selection by returned soldiers, and which the soldiers did not seemed disposed to take up. It was mentioned that the demand for land by soldiers had diminished, as was only to be expected, and was still diminishing, the returned men being gradually absorbed in the ordinary avocations ot the community.

There was a fair area of available land lying idle and unproductive, and this was gradually deteriorating. As the members of the board considered that it was in the interests of the dominion that these lands should be settled, it was decided to make representations to the authorities with a view to allowing civilians to apply for land that the soldiers did not want.

An amusing case, in which two brothers (elderly faimers) were the principals, came before the magistrate at the Upper Hutt Court on the 14th (states a Wellington Press Association telegram). The- wife of one summoned the other brother for assault on her .husband. The police constable said that both brothers were an absolute nuisance. Wherever they met they fought, and he often had to remove . them from hotels. The Magistrate: "I know what I'll do. . I'll prohibit you both, and if either appears before me again I'll send you to gaol. The defendant would be fined £l." The latter genially replied: "That's the wa y, your Worship." His Worship: "Get out of court. Don't talk to me, or I'll give you two. months.''

The following applications for assistance Were dealt with at last week's meeting of the Oiago District Repatriation Board: —- Business loans: Ten applications were received, of which fiv9 were approved, one was withdrawn, and four were declined. Furniture loans: Seventeen applications were received, of which 13 were recommended, and four were held over. Two soldiers unable to follow their pre-war occupation were placed in new trades, and their wages subsidised. Four applications for university and technical training were received, one was approved, and the remainder Were declined. Mr B. B. Couston visited South Taieri on the 14th. with the trustees of Shand's Estate in!order to advise regarding the subdivision of 9W acres of land between Momona and Henley. The property one ox the few remaiLir.g "original selections" which have never changed hands. A scheme wa3 •decided upon for dividing the property into 16 farm allotments with areas of from 30 to 60 acres each. Tb.*> estate is to be cut up at once, and will be sold in November. Before the Conciliation Commissioner at Invercargill on the 14th (wires our Invercargill correspondent) the dispute between the Southland and Otago Cheese and Buttermakers' Union and the employers was heard, no agreement beirg reached. The union asked for an increase of 7s 6d to the lower-paid men, and a reduction in working hours, and the> employers offered an all-round increase of 2s 6d per week. The employers agreed to reduce the working hours of the cheese makers by five per week, conditional on further increases in the bonus that might be made by the court not applying to the award. The offer was rejected, and in regard to the buttermakers no agreement could be reached on the definition of assistants. One of the employers' strong arguments was that these counter-proposals had been agreed to at the initial conference, and had been subsequently rejected at a meeting of the union.

The monthly abstract of Statistics furnishes food, for reflection, and it would seem

that prices have not yet, reached the turn_ing point, but on the other hand, that there IS still a rising tendency. Groceries compared with prices in July, 1914-, have nearly doubled, the index numbers being "respectively 2036 and 1033. Meat has gone, up from 1127 to 1663, and dairy produce from 1057 to 1716. Since the beginning of the year the percentage increases recorded for the dominion, compared with prices ruling in July, ; 1914-, for the three food , groups (groceries, dairy produce, and meat) have

been:as follows:—January, 57.76; February, 59.63; March, 61.68; April, 62.43; May, | 63.18; June, 62.80; July, 67.38; August, 71.40. The figures for Invercargill for the past month are 63.35; for Auckland, 65.69; WelSngton, 69.25; Christchurch, 78.17; Dunedin, 77.64; New Plymouth, . 61.04; Wanganui, 77.67; Palmerston North, 82.32; Timaru, 67.39; and Oamaru, 69.98:;

A Wellington Press Association message states that Mr W. Stuart Wilson is urging motor traders "and motor users to support the construction of a concrete; motor road firom north to south, to be called "the Anzao Highway," as a national war memorial. He puts the cost at £6,000,000, and - believes if local bodies organised it could be readily built. He offers to take the responsibility of one mile himself. His idea is that the Government should be pressed to survey the route and land owners asired to give the land where necessary.

It is recommended by the Benevolent Committee of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board that Mr and Mrs Porteous be appointed master and matron of the Benevolent Institution. Mr E. Button is irecommen,ded for the position of gardener at the Pleasant Valley Sanatorium. The Finance Committee recommends the appointment of a matron, with maternity experience, for the Tuapeka Hospital.

Mr >M. W. Fink, of Brighton (Vic), claims to have created a perfect vacuum (says the Melbourne Herald). His application for a patent has been accepted. At a private exhibition he gained, by means of a very simple apparatus, so far as appearances go, a 30in vacuum, measured by a certified gauge. The inventor claims that the cost for fuel, as "a pbwer-produoihg agent, will be diminished to a fraction. Power may be procured by water, steam, Or electricity. Oils, it is certified, may be clarified with less trouble than it now takes. It will facilitate the ventilation of hospitals, vessels, and public buildings, and preserve meat without loss of weight, and with the full retention of protein. It will preserve all foods of a perishable nature, without the use of refrigeration, and it fen be used for. the manufacture of, and longevity of, electric globes, besides being a necessary attachment to all domestic Establishments. Mr Fink claims that he has been working on the discovery for 40 The apparatus does not weigh more than 20lb, and the vacuum, once secured,

can be maintained at 30in for any period with lib pressure of water.