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Otago Witness, Issue 3489, 25 January 1921, Page 3

The respective duties by way of income tax and special war tax, leviable under sections 3 and 4 respectively of the new Act, will be payable this year (with an exception which is noted below) in one sum on the 7th February, and additional tax will

accrue if the tax is not paid on or before 28th February, 1921. It is observed thato the liability to pay is not suspended by any objection. The tax should be paid on op before the prescribed date., otherwise the additional percentage accrues ; any over- ! payment will be adjusted by refund. The demands will be posted from the office of the Commissioner of Taxes on or aiioufr the 31st January inst., except in the case' of individuals whose surnames commence with the letters I, J, K, N, O and P. In 1 these cases a new due date —the 21st Feb-; ruary—will be fixed, and additional tax will accrue 21 days thereafter. A Press Association telegram from Gis- > borne reports that a country storekeeper was fined £3O for giving a keg of beer at Christmas time to Maoris. The two young men, Edward Irving and j Philip Hancock, who were arrested by Detec- j five's Palmer and Lean on the 17th inst., were brought before Mr 11. Y. Widdowson, S.M., in the City Police Court on the 18th, charged with breaking and entering on the night of January 10 the premises of (’aider's Quarry Syndicate, and stealing a quantity c£ small goods, of a total value of £3 16s. among which were two pairs of boots, valued at 40s each, an umbrella, valued at 10s, and a clock and claw hammer, each worth ss. The accused were remanded until next, Wednesday on the application o£ Chief Detective Bishop, who said that several other charges were pending against them. Hancock was remanded till the same day on a second charge of breaking and] entering, gn the night of JanuaiA 13, the premises of the L'nion Hat Company, and stealing one hat, valued at 20s. A mild form of stomach influenza is at present prevalent in Christchurch. The symptoms are acute intermittent pains in tho stomach with backache and a feeling of extreme weakness. The treatment, according to a local doctor, is to apply warmth to the stomach and avoid catching a further chill. New factories arc being erected in Great Britain for the manufacture of all-steel office, furniture and equipment. Over £BO,OOO has been spent in the equipment of these works, and more than half the workers employed are ex-service men. In future fees for training maternity nurses in St. Helens homes will be only nominal. The Minister for Health (the Hon. C. J. Parr) states that he is unable to; abolish the fee, as the Midwives Registration Act requires that some fee shall bs | paid for training Instead of £2O for untrained pupils and £lO for qualified nurses, the fees will now be 20s and 10s. Nurses at present in training will have the difference in fees refunded to them. New Zealand is, Mr Parr believes, the first country to abolish the training fees. The Australian fee is now heavier than New Zealand’s was formerly, and in Great Britain £4O to £SO a year is charged. “The desire of the Health Department here is to obtain, an increased number of midwives ” (states the Minister). “We need them particularly in tile backbloeks. In the whole dominion there are at present about 1100 midwives, and we could easily do with 200 or 300 more.” A type of watercraft new to Auckland Isas been built at Kohimaratna for tho Kawau Island Development Company (states the Herald), and private trials have been made during the last few days with satisfactory results. This is the “ sea-sled ” . boat, the construction of which is designed to make the vessel travel on the surface ot tho water when speed is developed. The sea-sled built for the company is a small type, to carry 16 or 18 passengers. It is 22ft long, and is driven by two 100 horsepower engines, is said to attain a speed of 40 miles an hour. The company contemplates the provision of two large boats, each carrying 150 passengers, for an express service between Auckland and Kawau. It seems extraordinary, and is certainly puzzling to the smoker, that whilst tho retail price of tobacco is steadily increasing there are no buyers for this season’s Southern Canadian tobacco crop. A case is reported to have occurred in which the firm concerned ( says the Hawke’s Bay- Tribune), if they were not guilty of profiteering, seem to have been flirting dangerously with that gentle but unpopular art. A man purchased a hat, for which ho paid 555, and, on examining it in detail when he brought it home, he discovered, in the interior, the price marked 26s in plain figures, inside the leather protection. lie took the chapeau back to the shop, charged the firm with profiteering, and pointed out the old price of 265. The proprietary expressed its profound regret, saying that a mistake had been made, and handed the; purchaser a refund of 295. The danger of throwing bottles from railway carriages was emphasised by an incident. related in the Magistrate’s Court ill Wellington the other day, when charges were preferred against James Edward' Maley, of endangering the lives of persons on the railway and of throwing rubbish on the railway. The details of the occurrence were given by Sub-inspector Willis, who

stated that Malay, while travelling on a railway train, threw an empty beer bottle out of a railway carriage when in the vicinity of Haywards. The Magistrate: "Yes; a very dangerous practice.” Continuing, the sub inspector stated that the bottle bad struck a porter who was attending the points, and had it not been for the presence of mind of tho railway employee in remaining at his post while tho train cleared the points, a more serious

accident might have happened. As a result of the bottle striking him, the porter had sustained a fractured nose. The porter' corroborated the statement made by the sub-inspector. The Magistrate (Mr F. K. Hunt, S.M.) imposed a fine of £l, with costs and expenses 19s. The Minister of Public Works (the Hon. J. G. Ooates), who has been travelling extensively lately in the country, states that

never before has he seen so much in the way of improvement being done on the land. Everywhere the farmer seemed to be spending his money on his land. Right in the back-blocks the plough was being put into the ground, and or. every hand there were egos of increasing productivity. In the course of his annual report, which was submitted to the meeting of the University Senate last week, Sir Robert Stout (the Chancellor of the New Zealand University) stated that the increased revenue during the year was partly due to the increase in the number of candidates for almost every degree course. For the entrance examinations the numbers were 141 for scholarships and 3027 for matriculation, as compared with 143 and 24:05 respectively in 1919. To show the increase that has taken place during the last 10 years it may be noted that in 1910 the candidates for matriculation numbered 1442 ; in 1911 there were only 1112, but since that year there has been a steady increase until the number has now reached 3027. The number of candidates for degree examinations was 2927, as compared with 2413 in the previous year. The number of candidates is now so large that it becomes exceedingly difficult for the examiners and the office to get through the work within the same period of time as was allowed when there was only half the present number of entrants. Following on the arrest of Herbert Anscombe, in business as a plumber, Detectives Palmer and Lean paid a visit on the 19th to the house at which Anscombe resided and took possession of an enormous quantity of property which they found secreted in a variety of places about the premises. It is estimated that the articles seized are worth between £2OO and £3OO, and from an inspection of them that is a modest valuation. A full list of the articles would prove too lengthy, but it may be mentioned that amongst them are included a great number of pairs of boots, clothing of all descriptions, suit lengths, toilet requisites, painters’ utensils, garden hose, drapery in great variety, and a host of other things. A Wellington Press Association telegram reports that during the past year 2711 vessels of 2,796,189 net tons visited Wellington, as compared with 2796 vessels of 2,495,243 net tons in 1919. As prizes for proficiency in English and history 25 tickets of membership to the Dunedin Athenaeum were presented by the committee to the pupils of* the Boys’ and Girls’ High Schools and tho primary schools of the city and suburbs during the year. An interesting return of books issued from the Dunedin Athenaeum during the year reveals the predilections of subscribers. The total issue was 58,819, and the details were: Fiction, 54,705; science, 137; useful arts, 70; fine and recreative arts, 52; social and political science, 279; I philosophy and religion, 154; history and geography, 1948 ; biography and correspondence, 989; language and literature, 72; poetry and drama, 167; miscellaneous works (including magazines in book form), 246.

As a result of the strike of the shipping stewards in Australia Conical Hills may be without a teacher for a little time. At the meeting of the Otago Education Board last week a letter was received from the lady teacher in charge of that school intimating that she was "held up” in Sydney owing to the strike and would probably not be able to secure a passage before February 3. It was left in the hands of the chairman and secretary to do the best they could for all concerned. The local American Consul informs us that the latest regulation in connection with travellers to or through America is that a photograph is required in connection with passport vises, and that passports can now only be vised at the American Vice-consulate at Auckland or the Consulate at Wellington. There is .a curious interest about the last survivors of historical events (says a writer in the Sunday Observer . The last man who fought at Waterloo was Lieutenant Maurice Shea, who died at Sherbroolr, in Canada, in 1892, aged 93. Older still was the last who had taken part in the American War of Independence, who, fighting as a lad of 16, died in 1869, at the age of 109. The last, survivor of the massacre of Cawnpore, General Sir Mowbray Thomson, died at Reading in 1917. But the most striking of these stories is the well-known one of the last two survivors of those who signed the American Declaration of Independence. On July 4, 1826, the jubilee of the occasion, John Adams, one of the signatories, lay dying, and just before he passed away, at sunset, he was heard to say : "Jefferson still survives.” But Thomas Jefferson had died that clay at noon. “My own son is planting 50 acres of timber trees,” said Mr George A. Green (dominion organiser of the Nurserymen's Association), in conversation with a New Zealand Times reporter, "and I tell him that when he is 50 years old, some 25 to 30 years from now, he needn’t call the King bis uncle. Tree-planting is one of the very best ways of making provision for your The regulations requiring fruitgrowers to brand cases of fruit offered for sale are not being conformed to in many instances, and the Department of Agriculture will probably take steps in the near future to prosecute the negligent orchardists (states the New Zealand Herald). When an orchard is registered a number is allotted the owner by the Director of the Iforti cultural Division, and this number must be branded on all cases of apples, pears, quinces, peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots, chovrie-, oranges, and lemons offered for sale. Our London correspondent mentions that Mr John Lane, of Bodley Head, has just published a new volume called “The Trout Are Rising,” by Mr Bennison, whom readers of the Field will recognise as ”B, lb,” Hie fly-fishing expert of that jour-

nal. The work is aptly described as "a book for slippered ease.” Not only does it make pleasant reading to followers of the gentle art, but its breezy style, its descriptions of those parts of the country, both in Great Britain and abroad,, which

i ar attractive to all who love outdoor life, and the restful atmosphere of irresponsible hours will make an appeal to general readers. Although Mr Bennison has not bad the opportunity of fulling in New Zealand waters, hg is no stranger to their

attraction, lie recount© a visit he paid to see the rainbow trout displayed in the High Commissioner's office in the Strand. “In the main hall,” he writes, “I chanced to see Captain Donne. Of course, I had gone to see trout, but it was a pleasure to meet this official agon. He may not say in so many words. Go to New Zealand,’ but when you ciiat with him you feel that that is what you ought to do. The power of his personality and his intense love of New Zealand combine to make you want to go out at once. And he can, if you want them, give you facts and figures which strengthen this desire. The trout I wanted to see were there all right in the main hall—five magnificent rainbow and two brown trout. As I looked and ! looked at these splendid creatures I was j thrijled by their beauty.” But Mr Benni- j son's chief object in the present volume is j to attract trout fishers to South Africa, a country which is now doing much to develop her streams and to advertise their possibilities among fishermen of Europe. Promising experiments are being carried out at Hereford, England, into the effectiveness of high-tension discharges of electricity in preventing blight from appearing upon hops. It appears that the eectricity causes the minute hairs on the surface of the plants to stand erect, and under such conditions the small flies which constitute the blight do not settle. These experiments are expected to lead to most valuable results, net only in the case of this particular blight, but in relation to other forms of insect attack upon plant life. The cost of the electrical treatment is trifling compared with the expense cf washing the plants with various solutions to remove the blight.. The quantity of sugar consumed by the brewing industry was mentioned by the Hon E. P. Lee, in replying to the representations of the Fruitgrowers’ Federation regarding the present system of allocation (states the New Zealand Herald). Mr Lee said that the original supply to brewers was 15C0 tons a year. They were now receiving 975 tons, including 350 tons of “invert” sugar, which was no use for any other purpose. That meant that their supplies were 625 tons a year, or about 50 tons a month. He had not many tickets on the brewers, but could he shut up a whole industry for the sake of saving 50 tons a month? To give special supplies to the fruitgrowers would also mean cutting down the amount allotted for the households, which were not receiving- sufficient. The following is an extract from a telegram received from Lord Milner (the retiring Secretary of State for the Colonies) by the Prime Minister yesterday (states a Wellington Press Association telegram):—“lt is with great regret that I sever my official Connection with the dominions, and especially with New Zealand, with which my relation? have always been so easy and cordial, but I. myself, stand in immediate need of relief from all official duties. I wish to thank you personally and most warmly for all your kindness, and for your confidence in me.” A dispute between the workers on threshing mills and chaffcutters and the employers will be heard on January 29. As a special feature the men’s demands include a claim that the hours of work should conform to the Labour Charter of the Peace Treaty in that a day’s work should consist of eight hours, overtime to be paid thereafter. The Central Police Station at present houses a large stock of property which has been recovered as the result of a round-up by the detectives which has roped in several accused persons, who are awaitingtrial for burglaries committed last year. The stock was increased last week by the addition of 16 or 17 pairs of boots, which were found yesterday on the steamer Paparoa. Complaints had been received of pillaging, and a thorough search of the vessel by Chief Detective Bishop and Detectives Palmer and Lean resulted in the discovery of the boots, which were snugly stowed away in a spare tank in the depth of the engine-room, near the shaft tunnel. Following investigations Detectives Palmer and Lean arrested a seaman on the Paparoa. Mr .Tames Patrick, of the Taieri, who is a successful exhibitor of draught horses, is The lessee of the Campbell Islands, which he rung as a sheep station. Mr Patrick went down to the Campbells in the Tutanekai. It is Mr Patrick’s intention as a side line to engage in the whaling and sea elephant industry for oil, for which purpose he has been getting together all the necessary gear and impedimenta. There has been an exodus of female employees from the hotels in Palmerston North recently , (states the (standard), and at present there are seme 40 vacancies for positions as housemaids, waitresses, etc. Practically every hotel is suffering from a shortage of domestic help, but some are affected mere seriously than others : in one or two instances the staffs have been reduced to skeleton proportions. There is no apparent trouble over wages or conditions, the sheaf of “notices’’ that have been handed in being merely an unfortunate coincidence. A committee of citizens has been formed, with Cr Douglas as chairman, to arrange accommodation for visitors to the city during Carnival Week, which will extend from .February 5 to 12 In addition to the usual hotel accommodation provision will be made to accommodate upwards of 1500 visitors in private houses. The compilation of the regimental histories of the various units which comprised the New Zealand Expeditionary Force lias now been in hand for some considerable time. It will be of interest to those who served with the New Zealand Engineers to know that the history of that branch oi the service is receiving attention. A committee, with Lieutenant-colonel G. Barclay, of Dunedin, as convener, was set up some time ago to supervise the work. “When will Denmark be back to normal in the matter of supplying butter to the London market?” was the query put to a native of that country by a representative of the Auckland Star. The reply was one that points to New Zealand farmers being

sure of good prices for butter for the next couple of years at least, as he said his latest advice was that there was still a shortage of 250,000 cows in Denmark. It was explained that during the war the herds were depleted on account of the impossibility of importing fodder, and it will take some time to get back .to the old number and standard of butter-fat producers in that country.