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Otago Witness, Issue 3555, 2 May 1922, Page 3

A Press Association message from Auckland states that 14 cases of typhoid fever were reported on Saturday. According to a Press Association telegram from Wellington the agreement existing between the New Zealand Workers’ Union and tho Minister of Public Works covering the wages and conditions of the construction workers in the employ of tho Publio Works Department is expiring, and the head officer of the New Zealand Workers’ Union has written to the Minister proposing a conference for the drawing up of a new agreement The girl _ who was reported as missing from her home at Oamaru since April 19 has not yet been found. She is 15 years of age, tall, with dark hair and a pale complexion. Her parents are anxious as to her whereabouts, and will be glad to receive any information. A reward of £5 is offered. A good example of the regeneration of Scots fir trees is reported to be seen at Mr R. O. Duncan’s Glyn Wye station, in the Wairau Valley, Marlborough. 'This plantation was started some 50 years ago by a Frenchman, Count de la Pasture, and the parent trees are growing in a strip approximately two chains wide by 10 chains long. The prevailing wind, which comes from the west, has been responsible for most of the natural regeneration apparent here, having apparently scattered the seed to a considerable distance in the Jee of the plantation. The Scots fir has spread to a greater extent than the other trees, which comprise Douglas fir, Siika and white spruce, and sugar pine (Pinus Lambertina). Some very fine specimens of these trees are in tho original strip, which this early pioneer evidently planted for a wind-break. A merchant who recently returned from Honolulu states that there is every prospect for a good trade for New Zealand poultry at Hawaii if the opportunity is taken. He had tried to interest New Zealanders in the matter, but owing to the high prices obtainable for eggs at the present time, and the correspondingly high price for chick wheat, there did not appear to be a suitable opportunity as yet for making the best of the proposal. lie had, however, made inquiries in Victoria, and bad succeeded in exporting a quantity of frozen poultry from Victoria, and it had brought £X>od prices from the American residents and others, comparing very favourably with the high class birds from California. He also exported turkeys, duoks, broilers, and capons, and all had brought satisfactory prices. Large quantities uere consumed during the year at Hawaii owing to the hot climate, and particularly at holiday time. With the exception of the months rt February and TUkich he believed a steady trade could be done. There was also a good demand for eggs at Honolulu, which brought anything from 40 cents per dozen to 1 dollar 25 cents, according to the

Native pigeons axe appearing in greater numbers in the bush at Kaka Point than for many years past- The birds fly in large flocks and seem to he quite unafraid when anyone goes near them. Miss Amy Evans, who, with her husband. Mr Fraser Gauge, toured i iirough New Zca land last year, pays a tribute to the hospitality of the people of the dominion. Writing in the Western Mail, a Cardiff paper, eho says: “ r I he Welsh people out then could not do enough for us. and the [topn lace was lavish in its kindness, showering flowers upon us, strewing roses before us, and tying bouquets on the trains in which we travelled to do us honour. It may in terest my Welsh friends to knov.' that 1 was made an honorary member of many o! the Scottish societies of New Zealand. The Scottish societies are rather careful of their membership, and 1 am prouder than l car say that they should have found me worths of the great honour they did me. and hops they will always find that I. a We hi woman, can uphold their rule- with a prid and a dignity no less than their ow n. Whal a wonderful greeting they gave us in Christchurch: the whole Scottish Society, in ;■ fleet of motor cars, turned out in thou kilts and plaids and bonnets and feather.completc. We were placed in the first car and, noticing the oldest mend or cf '! society standing by, a wonderful stalwar* Indian Mutiny veteran, 86 years of age. vtr asked hirn to honour ns by giving us hit company. Then off we went,, 18 brawny Boots skirling the pipes in front of us, rib bom flying, kil ta swaying to the rhythm of the tune, right through the town, rhr population lining the road to the society's bad. where a splendid programme was pre-

pared for us. It was a brilliant sight! Many Welshmen were there, too—a fine circumstance which goes to prove the splendid feeling of brotherhood in those fair British lands so far away.” A meeting of the Drainage Board was held last week, when the resolution to borrow £BO,OOO, as a special order, was confirmed ; also a resolution as to the striking of tlie general rates for 1922-23. The rates were: On sewered property. Is in 'he £1; on unsewered property, 6d in the £; and on unsewered property in the outer drainage area, 2d in the £. The City Council went into committee last week to deal with certain purchases of water rights at Waipori. Cr Shaddock stated that an offer had been received from Mrs Cora Farrell-t luderian to sell to the. council her mining and water rights at Waipori. comprising water races dealing with 64 heads of water from the tributaries •f the Waipori and Deep Stream Rivers, including 19 acres and a four-roomed cottage. After considerable negotiation the price asked had been reduced to £2500. the rights were of rather an important ' haractcr, and the committee was of the "pinion that, in the interests of the future development, of Wainori, the present opnortunity should be taken of acquiring them. It was therefore recommended that authority be granted to purchase the rights offered by Airs C? it dorian at a price not exceeding £2500, the money to be paid when the rights had been legally transferred to the council. The recommendation was adopted.

Our Auckland correspondent wires that in a statement on the 26th ult. Mr Massey said that, notwithstanding that there would be a further drop in the income tax this year he hoped to be able to do something in the way of reducing taxation. Tile question of what guns can be used for sh&oting native and imported game during the shooting season is still exercising the minds of many sportsmen. The Act states that a swivel gun or pump gun or any gun other than a shoulder gun shall not be used. In addition, regulations published in the Gazette of March 20 prohibited the use of any automatic or auto-loading guns. These regulations have since been modified to the extent that the Minister of Internal A flairs has decided to allow the use of automatic or auto-loading guns in oases where they have been converted into guns capable of holding two cartridges only. This can be done by fixing a pin through the magazine, allowing it to hold only one cartridge, the other cartridges being in the breech of the gun. Guns used must not exceed 101 b in -weight, nor have a larger bore at the muzzle than the size known as No. 12. The holder of a license cannot enter upon any private. land without the consent of the owner or the occupier. The season, number of birds that may be shot, license fees, and list of post offices, etc., where licenses are procurable are published in our advertising columns. A Napier Press Association telegram says that the five trawlers seized cn the 21st for alleged illegal fishing were released on the 24th by the- Minister of Marine, on condition that the boats will be handed over if a conviction is secured. About- 15,000 sheep and lambs were crowded into- the pens at the Balc-lutha stock sale on the 21st. Fat lambs were in great demand by export ouyers, and values were better by over half a crown than at the previous fortnightly sale. A line of 237 sent forward by Mr Kerr, manager for Sir John Ross at Pukepito, topped the market at 30s a head, which was estimated to be equivalent to 9d a lb. The flag that flew on the Albany Street School mast on Anzac Day has an interesting history. It was vised in Gallipoli and afterwards flew at the base at E-taples during the whole time the New Zealanders were there. It was then taken to Rouen to the demobilisation camp there, and was used at the burial of the last New Zealand soldier who was interred in France. On that occasion Bugler Napier sounded the "Last Post.” The flag is* the property of Regimental Sergeant-major H. Jones. At a meeting of the Dunedin branch of the National Council of Women tile business consisted in deciding how best to use the legacy of £IOOO recently received. The question of a contribution to the travelling fund of the International Council of Women was deferred for more information as to the present financial position of the Do-minion National Council. Eltham has been visited by burglars, a couple of shops having been broken into on the night, of the 21st (wires our Eltham correspondent). The most serious, it appears, was the daring removal of a safe containing all the cash. The intruders entered t-het shop through a back door, having cut- the gauze wire to secure an opening. This done, they set to work and removed a heavy iron safe to a section at the' rear of the premises. The task was an arduous one, and apparently before undertaking it the burglars had a good feed of small goods. Why they refrained from opening the safe remains a mystery. When found at 6 o'clock on Saturday morning everything was intact, and it would appear as though the thieves had been disturbed, as the safe had not been tampered with in any way. Mr Cuff was very fortunate to get the safe and its contents. The value of the latter amounted to upwards of £l5O. In connection with the Strath Taieri Show, the President’s Cup, valued at £5 ss, allotted to the exhibitor gaining most points at the show, was won by Miss L. Tisdall, with 46 points, Mr E. J. Movnihan being second with 42 points, and Mr E. J. Doeherty third with 4C points. A well-attended meeting, convened by Mr C. C. Oapell, was held in Balclutha on the 22nd inst. for the purpose of protesting against certain provisions in the Arms and Game Act of 1921. Chief of these was the provision prohibiting the use of automatic guns, but it was stated that shootists would not object, provided they were granted compensation. There were 2400 of these guns in the dominion, and the chairman (Mr Ca-pell) said it would be better to repeal the Act than to allow compensation, which would amount to a large sum. Further, the -let limited an individual “bag” to 25 birds a day. which protected the birds independent of the kind of gun used, and the prohibition of the automatic was therefore superfluous. After a lot of discussion, which was participated in by Mr A. S. Malcolm, M.P., One of the chief delights of ocean voyages in modern liners is the dancing in which passengers can indulge to their hearts’ content. ‘‘One of the first questions we are asked by prospective passengers is, ‘Have you a ballroom?’” said a shipping agent to a London Daily Mail reporter. “We are able to reply that in every up-to-date steamship the ballroom is considered a most important feature. The White Star liner Homeric, which recently left on her maiden voyage, has a ballroom which is magnificent —a splendid floor and a band playing, it- would seem, night and day. It is the same with the Berengaria, which has recently been added to the Cunard service between Southampton and New York. The great- ballroom, capable of holding 25-0 people with ease, has a- perfect parquet floor, sprung upon chains. A large orchestra, mounted on a platform at one end of the room, provides the best dance music. The room itself is decorated with rare t.ajx®tries. It is indeed becoming a greater pleasure for dancers to go to sea than to remain at home. There is no more dancing on the bare deck; the modern traveller jazzes on floors seldom surpassed in the best hotels.

and the Hon. D. T. Fleming, it was unanimously agreed to petition the Minister ot internal Affairs asking that the prohibition of automatic guns (which had been brought in by Order-in-Council, and was not in the original Act) should be withdrawn, one reason advanced being that in the present financial stringency many shootists would not be possessed of the means wherewith to purchase another gun before the opening of the season on Alay 1. Mr Fleming, who was in a complete minority, dissented from the resolution, and said he would favour compensation, but beyond that lie would not go. In regard to the new license fees, it was decided to forward a recommendation to the Otago Acclimatisation Society that the fee of £1 for native and imported game' be altered to 10s for native game and £1 for the combined license (native and imported). It was stated that Southland was doing this. It was also resolved that Acclimatisation Societies should lie given power to declare an open season for Paradise ducks in certain districts where they had become pests; and that societies be asked to take more efficient steps to protect the eggs of game birds (often lifted by collectors in large quantifies, it was affirmed). The meeting concluded with the setting up of a committee to form a Gun and Anglers’ Club for the district.

A Press Association wire from Christchurch says that the City Council has refused to remit rates on sports grounds. We ate informed that the Kaitangata Coal Company has announced to coal merchants that the company was making a reduction of 10s per ton on its coal, this reduction to come into force on Alay 1. The concession will be passed on to the consumer bv the city and suburban coal merchants on the date stated. A Wellington Press Association telegram says that in the course of his address to the Arbitration Court last week, All* J. APContbs, M.P., urged that a cost of living inquiry bo set up to ascertain the basic wage. The President of the Court said that in 1912 family budgets were collected, but. this information was out of date. In 1919 the Government Statistician senr out 20,CC0 budget books, but only 106 were returned, and many were not satisfactory. If the Government repeated the experiment he hoped tLo workers would be urged to comply as closely as possible with the request. Ah* M‘Combs said: “We had not established a base yet, and the inquiry I have suggested would be necessary for the purpose.” Probably for the first, time in the history of the Hnion Steam- Ship Company"a meeting of directors last week' held out- of Dunedin, the board meeting in Wellington.

Owing to the completion of the large Manuherikia scheme there will be something of a lull in connection with irrigation works • in Central Otago during the winter months. But the operations of the Public Works Department have not ceased, and investigations are continually being made with a view to undertaking the extensive operations which will be necessary in future to bring the Central to a greater state of productivity., At Ida Valley the races are being extended by a number of men from G’hatto Creek, and it is anticipated that next season there will be double the area under irrigation which there is at the present time. It may be mentioned as a significant feature of the appreciation which the benefits of irrigation inspire in the hearts of settlers that they invariably show the greatest promptitude in the settlement of their accounts for the supply i of the season’s water, and this in spite of the present financial stringency. A Tim-: cl Press Association message states that Frederick George Stone pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted arson, and was committed to the Supreme Court there for sentence. Bail was allowed. The New Zealand Storemen’s Federation has decided b.v a two to one majority to link up with the Alliance of Labour (reports a Wellington Press Association telegram) A Wellington Press Association message states that a tuatara lizard was discovered on the rocks near Plimmerton. It is believed that it must have drifted across from Stephen Island, 50 miles away, as it is the only place where the lizard is ngjv found. The Southland timber millers have reduced the price of rough red pine by 2s per 100 ft for first class, and by Is for second class (wires our Invercargill correspondent). The price of dressed pine has not been altered, and is not likely to be altered, so a reporter was informed by a representative miller, until sawmill hands’ wages are reduced. It is interesting to note that on the evidence of the miller interviewed, timber represented only about one-fifth of the average cost of a house. Our Sydney correspondent supplements the information contained in recent cable messages with reference to the plague of mice in New South Wales. From all parts of the western districts of the States, he writes, come stories of the damage done by mice, and of the record catches of the rodents. At Trangle, Narromine. and Warren the water in many wells has been fouled through mice falling in, and this is a most serious matter in districts where water is scarce. Gardens have been ruined, _ and in dwellings everything has to be stored in water out of reach of the mice. All sorts of methods have been'used in fighting the onslaught A popular one is to scatter caustic soda round some cheese, so that when the mouse seeks his meal his feet will be burned by the caustic. As soon as he licks his feet he receives the fatal injury- Poisoning by strychnine is widely adopted. At a Trangle store the “catch” for three days was 5000, while at Collie one man collected no fewer than 6300 for one night’s work. The latest Melbourne scandal concerns an ex-member of the Legislative Assembly, Alexander Frederick Parker, who has been committed for trial on a charge of having broken into Messrs Coutts Bros.’ shirt factory and stolen 43 dozen shirts, valued at £lB5. Detective Fowler said that the shirts taken from the factory had been found in the possession of accused. His explanation was that he had bought them from a man who had called upon him one morning. He did not know the man, and he could not produce any docket or receipt to substantiate his statement. Counsel for Parker said that he would produce witnesses to testify as "to Parker’s whereabouts on the night of the robbery; also a witness to substantiate Parker’s story of a man calling at business places offering shirts for sale, and representing that he was from the Coubra Shirt Company, on the same date as Parker said he bad called on him. There was also the fact that Parker had openly displayed these shirts in his Melbourne shop window.