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Otago Witness, Issue 3526, 11 October 1921, Page 3

A deputation from the National Council of Women waited on the Minister of Justice last Tuesday morning, and placed before him remits passed at the conference just concluded (says a Wellington Press Association wire). The Hon. E. I’. I.ee, in the course of a reply, explained that a number of suggestions contained in the remits had been under consideration from time to time and definite action had been taken with some. For instance, there had already been brought down a Bill to facilitate enforcing maintenance orders, and it would be found that legislation dealing with other points raised would be introduced during the session. We are authorised by the Union Steam Ship Company to state that there is no foundation in fact for a rumour which has gained circulation that the R.M.S. Niagara is to bo withdrawn from the Vancouver service and taken over by the P. and O. Company for use in the Atlantic trade. The P. and O. Company, it may be observed, does not maintain a trails-Atlantic se(vice. Intimation lias been received that ill© Conciliation Council will hear the thrashing mill employees’ dispute here on November 1, at 10.30 a.in.

A ment.'ll defective, who got away from Sea el iff Mental Hospilal at the latter end of August, turned up at the* Head of the Hake on Saturday, Ist (wire- our Queenstown correspondent). The man was s« i en in this district about three weeks ago. and the local police m ule search for him. Iby however, eluded hi- pur-uei- and it is believed that he v ent to Skipper-s. thence ovr Mount Amnm. and. following the Dari A r alley, came out a-, staled ahove. 1 lie defective had taken up his ala do in a hm when found. During the tune lie was on the hills he liver} on d ad goat s or rabbit's fies-n. lie had no hoot- on and his fret end hands were in a bad state. Ihe police w«*nt to the Hoad of the 1 ako on Sunday and brought the unforrunato down, and he was returned to Dunedin t n Monday. The following lei let has been received by the secretary of tin* Otago Kvpansion 1 League from Mr Jas. Horn. M.i\ I have i>een on the job to get <i vote for the improvement to the track. Kllin Hay to Martin’s Hay. user! by the Messrs M'Kerizio litres. 1 get a tip from the leaflet you (landed me regarding the work done by the l/niverflify sturlent® on the track. Lake

W -katipu to Milford. 1 followed this up, and have succeeded in seeming a vote of £l5O to L«‘ spent under ihe supervision of an office r of the Lake County Council, Queenstown. I have forwarded tile auihoriiy of the Minister of Public Works for that amount to be spent on the Kllin Hay-Martin’s Hay track as soon ns possible after ihe end of November. 1 have suggested that probably you would be good cm.iijh to put the students who desire the work in «ommunicat ion with Mr Lower, the overseer of works for the county, or the county clerk, Mr Hums, at QueenstOV\ u." The outlook for a decrease in the price of boots in the near future does not appear to be very promising, as there lias just been a fairly general increase in the cost of all daises of boot leather. The daffodil .-ale. instituted by tin* Royal Society for Health of Women and Children, Judd on Wednesday, proved quile satisfactory. The gross receipts amounted to £l5B UN rd.

On Tuesday a party of Dunedin citizens visited Lawrence and the famous hillside at Wetherstones, overlooking the brewery of Messrs Simpson and Hart. The daffodils on the hillside are just, now at their very best, presenting a sight certainly not to be equalled anywhere south of the line. In tho past few years vast numbers of bulbs have been planted, with the result that the view is almost bewildering. In order to place all this beauty at the disposal of associations raising money for various charitable objects, the people of Lawrence have organised everything so perfectly that the lovely flowers are conveyed safely from the hillside directly into the hands of the volunteer vendors in Dunedin. Mr Darton. of the Lawrence School, has trained the children to gather ihe blooms carefully and methodically, and a great sight, was presented to the visitors when the large clothes baskets were being loaded on to the lorries for conveyance to Lawrence railway station, ihe laughing, happy children clambering on to every possible available corner of the lorries. The kindness and generosity of Messrs Simpson and Hart, and of the Lawrence people generally, will surely bear fruit when the committee of the Karitane-Harris Hospital and Plunket Society and their numerous willing helpers are offering these lovely flowers to the public, and it is hoped that a considerable sum will be realised, particularly as tho society is just now sadly in need of funds. The following is a summary of the notifications of infectious diseases in Ota,go and Southland received for the month of September, the total number notified since the commencement of the year being given in parentheses:—Scarlet fever, 17 (138); diphtheria, 32 (345); tuberculosis, 21 (182); pneumonia, 9 (34); opthalmia neonatorum, 1 (7); varicella, 31 (98); erysipelas, 3 (22); puerperal septicaemia, 5 (11); pneumonic influenza, 7 (16); hydatids, 1 (2). 'lhe following is t: summary of the deaths from infectious diseases reported during the month: —Pneumonia, 1; tuberculosis, 13; diphtheria, 1. At an early hour on Tuesday morning Mill. R. Ives, of WaKatt, a returned soldier, who, with assistance from the Repatriation Department, has recently taken up poultryfarming, suffered a very serious loss to his stock and plant by fire. At about 2.30 a.in. his neighbour, Mr Charles Goodwin, saw that the chicken house was in flames and gave the alarm first to Mr Ives and his wife, and then to the Fire Brigade. It was too late, then, however, to save anything. and the concrete chicken house, four incubators, four brooders, 100 chickens, and about 750 eggs, of a total value of £2OO, were completely destroyed. The place was last seen by Mr and Mrs Ives at 11 o’clock the previous evening, when everything seemed safe and secure. There were four lamps in use to heat the brooders, and it is presumed that, the fire must have somehow started from one of these. The fowlhouse was insured in the State Office for £4O, and the incubator for £35, and it will thus be seen that Mr Ives is a loser by something like £125. As he has never fully regained his health since his war service the loss is a particularly severe and unfortunate one. “I do want the Municipal Conference and all local authorities to agree; it is long past the time when we ought to live within our revenue,” said Sir Francis Bell to the delegates to ihe conference when informing them of the proposal of the Internal Affairs Department that legislation should be introduced dealing with overdrafts of local bodies (says a Wellington Press Association telegram). A.s the law now stood, he pursued, a council could spend the revenue of two years in one, and many bodies had exerciser! such overdraft authority as to leave the incoming council practically penniless. This was what the} 7 wanted to stop. 'lhe Government wanted local bodies to abstain from borrowing, except in anticipation of revenue, and to obtain loan money with the consent of the ratepayers. That meant that at the end of ihe year they owed nothing except, the amount of revenue which had vet. to come in, and an amount equivalent to that. In regard to antecedent, liability, ii was proposed that municipalities might borrow to pay this off without, the vote of the ratepayers, and ignoring all questions whether the overdraft had been lawfully incurred or not. Should there be any difficulty 7 in borrowing, then it was proposed that ihe overdraft- be paid off by seven annual instalments. Sir I rancis Bel! asked the conference to consider these proposals. Recertl oxperimeuis m Fnglainl in connection with Taranaki ironsand were witnessed bv the Pnme Minister during his stay there. “ What has been done,” he stated, in the course of an interview, “solves the problem of smelting ironsand. There is no doubt about that. "Whether electricity can be obtained cheaply enough to make an undertaking a commercial success remains to be seen. The quality of the iron is good; electricity is the problem. With plenty of electricity available at, a cheap enough rate iron can be produced from the sand at a profit. Whether anything can be done before additional power is obtained front, say, Arapuni. I do not. know, but with power, there is the making of a great, industry on the Taranaki coast. The sending of letters or postal packets to the Queensland Gold n Casket Art, Union Committee has been prohibited by the Postmaster-General (says a Wellington Press Association telegram). Ihe prohibition also applies to the issue of money orders in favour of the Golden Casket, or its secretary, Arthur Lucas, of Brisbane. The reason given is that the PostmasterGeneral lias reasonable ground for supposing that the committee arid the person named are engaged in carrying out a lottery game of chance. Tile Golden Casket, Art. Union was established by the citizens of Brisbane under the chairmanship of Aiderman Maurice Baldwin at the end of 1917 to raise funds for the erection of houses, mainly in the suburbs of Brisbane, a.s a , free gift to the widows of fallen soldiers. Prizes ranged from £SOOO to £5.

William Lankshear Waters, aged 36 years, and Herbert Cummins, aged 41 years, tally clerks, pleaded not guilty, and were committed for trial on charges of theft of goods of a total value of nearly £SOO from wharf sheds (says an Auckland Press Association telegram). William Campton. who on Monday pleaded guilty to the theft of goods, gave evidence that all three were concerned, and divided the spoil. The and bales were loaded on his van with other goods. Waters taking j the storekeeper for a walk while the goods were loaded, and talking to the checking clerk while the goods passed. j Live hundred and twenty-eight scenic reserves, comprising a total area of 313,233 acres, have now been set aside for scenic, historic, and thermal purposes since the passing of the Scenery Preservation Act, 1903. In addition to this large area, some 50.000 acres had previously been reserved for similar purposes under the provisions of the Land Act, and these will be brought under the provisions of the Scenery Preservation Ad. Although these reserves contain some of the most beautiful and , unique scenery of the dominion, seven national parks, comprising 2.771,202 acres, have also been set apart for the preservation of scenery. Two o! these extensive reservations- namely, the Kgntont and 'Ton gariro National Parks—are situated in the Nottb Island, and are amongst the most popular resorts of pleasure-seekers and mountain climbers. Iho other five com- J prise the Hooker Glacier, the Tasman Park (around Mount Cook). Arthur’s Pass and the CMira Gorge, and the West Coast Sound* National Park. The New Zealand overseas shipping companies hate decided to reduce the freight, on woo! from New Zealand to London by |d per lb (says a Christchurch Press As social ion telegram). The reduction nil!

operate forthwith, making the freight for greasy wools Ud per 11). and for scoured and slipe lid, plus the usual primage. Amended regulations regarding the license fees for trout fishing are notified in tho Gazette (says a Wellington Press Association telegram). The new rates will be: Full season, £1 Is; from December 20 to the end ot the season, 12s 6d; one month, 10s; one week, 7s 6d; one clay (travellers and strangers), 2s 6d. Mr Justice Her dm an allowed the appeal by the inspector against, the decision of Mr S. B. Gotten, fch.M., in dismissing a case against. Walter Buchanan, a master baker, who was charged with selling shortweight. bread (says an Auckland Press Association telegram). Defendant had stated that when selling the bread it was not under lib 14oz, and might be 21b, which the magistrate accepted as compliance with the Act; but his Honor held that a purchaser was entitled to know the true weight of the loaf supplied, and should not be left in any doubt. The case was referred back to the magistrate. A voting man named Cyril Hangman! was sentenced at the Police Court (saye an Auckland Press Association telegram) to three months' imprisonment for wearing a returned soldier's badge without, authority. Tlie badge had been stolen with other articles. for which offence lie was similarly sentenced.