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Otago Witness, Issue 3774, 13 July 1926, Page 3

It is understood that as the reault of a raid by the looal police in the goldfields district on Saturday week, the licensees of two hotels will appear before the court in due course to answer charges of trading after hours.

The failure of electric light in the city area on Wednesday evening at a busy hour might possibly have been prevented if the public realised that sparking among the wires on an electric light pole is invariably a sure sign that something is going wrong, and if not attended to may cauee serious trouble. It has since been learned that some of the residents of Upper Stuart street—where the trouble occurred—saw a light on the pole several times during the day, but did not realise that there was anything amiss. The electric light and power department will greatly appreciate a telephone message when residents notice abnormal conditions such as this, especially in wet weather, which finds out all the weak spots. This apparently trivial service may be the means of saving a great deal of inconvenience and loss to the public, and might also prevent a wire coming down. The trouble on Friday night was entirely different, and one of which the public could not have given any warning. The Hospital authorities report that for the week ended at noon on Monday the cases treated at the Dunedin and Fever Hospitals were as follow:—Diphtheria—admitted 1, discharged 1, remaining 4: scarlet fever—admitted 1, discharged 1, reremaining 4. At a committee meeting of the Southland Electric Power Board a letter from the Otautau Town Board was considered, in which the board yvas asked the terms and conditions under which a borough council or town board could obtain the benefits of “community lighting” (reports the Southland Times). This is a popular service of lighting now being made available to shopkeepers in northern power board districts, the effect being to brighten considerably the lights in the main shopping areas. The usual practice is for the power board concerned to install the light under the verandah at its own expense. A flat rate of approximately 5s per lamp per month is paid for the supply of electricity which is turned on at 5.30 p.m. and remains lit until 11 p.m. The installations are carried out in sections and each section is controlled by a committee of the shopkepers concerned. The committee decided to approve of the adoption of the scheme in Southland and to consider the matter of the charge at a future meeting.

For some years past the Wellington Municipal Fire Brigade has had the assist, ance in a purely honorary capacity of the Wellington Fire Police, a corps which turns out to every fire and does useful work in helping to keep the crowds back from the area of operations, clear of the hoses and hydrants, and also prevents any pilfering that might earily take place during a fire (savs the Dominion). New that the Fire Board has taken control of the brigade, it remains to be seen whether recognition will be accorded to the Wellington Fire Police. The only financial aid which has been accorded to this body was an annual subsidy of £3O towards its funds, usually expended, it is understood, on uniforms and caps. The Wellington Fire Police is at present an active body 33 strong, under Captain Wright. It is divided into sections according to the localities in which the members reside. For .instance, a member residing at Thorndon would tiot be expected to turn out to afire at Newtown, unless it were a big conflagration, when all hands would be needed. The members are not connected with any alarm system, but it is usual for on#* of their number to he apprised by the brigade of an outbreak of fire as soon as possible, and ho communicates with the others by telephone.

“If this man gets to Australia we’ll never see him again,” said Mr C. S. Thomas, in urging at the Christchurch Magistrate’s Court that the execution of a warrant against a defendant bo made immediate (reports the Lyttelton Times). The man was charged with failing to provide adequate maintenance for his child, seven years of age. It was after defendant had been ordered to find security for £IOO that Mr Thomas made his request. “I’m a slaughterman, and my work takes me over to Australia,” said defendant. “I cannot find the money unless I am allowed to go to the North Island. If you don’t let me go there, you might as well lock me up straight away.” The Magistrate (Mr H. A. Young, S.M.) said the matter depended) upon an arrangement between defendant and the solicitor for the prosecution, If defendant could satisfy Mr Thomas that he would return, a warrant need not be issued.

Mistakes do not frequently occur in official publications, and they are of rarest occurrence in the Offioial Year- Book. Our* attention, however, has been direoted tm one in the latest issue of this valuable work, which does a dear injustice to the Dunedin Savings Bank. By the transposition of two lines in a table, the Hokitika Savings Bank is credited with! the record of the transactions of the Dunedin institution and vice versa.

Some 37 justices of the peace assembled in the jury room of the oourthouse on the sth inst. to constitute formally the Otago Justices of the Peace Association Mr H. E. Moller was voted to the chair, and after the rules had been adopted office-bearers were elected as follows:—Patron, his Honor Sir William Sim; vice-patrons, Messrs J. R. Bartholomew, S.M., H. W. Bundle, fI.M., and H. J. Dixon, S.M.; president, Mr H. C. Campbell; vice-presidents, Messrs H. E. Moller, T. Somerville, and •W. R. Piddington; hon, eolicitor, Mr H. E Barrowclough; secretary, Mr J. W. Patton; treasurer, Mr I. M'Farlane; com-mittee-Messrs E. W. Watts, J. H. Wilkinson, J. W. Dove, W. A. Flavell, F. G. Gumming, and J. J. Marlow. It was decided that the annual subscription be 10s, and that the cost of the membership badges be 20s each. The time appears to be fast approaching when one will need to be something of a millionaire to buy property in the City *f Sydney (says our correspondent). For • paltry 16ft 9in of Pitt street a few days ago £33,500 was paid at auction, and, what ]§ more, the purchaser considered himself lucky, especially as he was desirous of aeouring a position not without an important bearing on his own business. The price of £2OOO a foot, while it is claimed to be a record for Pitt street, 19 not a teoord for Sydney, for in 1924 £2300 a loot was paid for property in George tfreet. Mr George Judah Cohen, one of Sydney's biggest men in finance and commerce, remembers the day when land changed hands in George street, within •00-ee of the Post Office, at £lO a foot. The precious 16ft in Pitt street which brought £33,500 are occupied by a pharmacy el two storey*.

A discussion took place at a meeting of the Cpuncil of the South Canterbury Acclimatisation Society on the wisdom of allowing specimens of our native birds to be taken overseas. It was stated by Mr James that a scientist had recently taken 3000 specimens away with him, and he thought a repetition of this should not be allowed. Mr Mackay (president) said they had obtained permission from the Government. It was decided that a remit on the subject be forwarded to the annual conference of the New Zealand Acclimatisation Societies’ Association, to be held in August next. It was also decided to forward a remit in regard to the purchase of shags’ heads. Mr W. S. Grant said it would do much to eliminate shags if all the societies were to make a fixed price of not lesS than 2s 6d each for the heads of the birds. It was suggested that such a remit would meet with opposition as it was held in certain quarters that there were plenty of fish in the rivers, and ell that was required to maintain the supply was the introduction of insects as feed for them. It was stated that the fish in the head waters of th< South Canterbury rivers had been seriously depleted by the depredations of shags. Ml Adams reported that he had shot a shag ta week previously and had found or examination that it was full of small trout From his station at St. Clair, with a power of 20 watts, Mr N. Shrimpton communicated with an English amateur, G2OB, Gerrard’s Cross, between 5.30 and 6 p.m. on the sth Inst. The English station was on a wave length of 31.9 metres, and ♦AO (Mr Sbrimpton’s station) was on a 27 metres wave length. The communication was steady, and oouM be beard quite olaarly.

It is reported from Wellington that Mr Leonard Monk, personal representative for Mr Allan Wilkie, the well-known Shakespearean actor-manager, has left for Sydney, Mr Wilkie’s intended tour of New Zealand having been abandoned owing to his misfortune in losing the whole of his wardrobe and scenery by fire at Geelong on June 21. The effects of the oompany were stored at the theatre on a Saturday evening, and on the following Monday morning fire broke out, and the hall was soon a mass of flames. Everything within the building was totally destroyed, and Mr Wilkie was a very heavy loser. In consequence be bad no alternative but to disband his company, which had been playing Shakespeare iff Australia for four years continuously. Out of regard for Mr. Wilkie and his efforts to keep Shakespeare’s plays before the public, and his fine educative work in the schools and colleges of the Commonwealth, a fund has been started in Melbourne to place his company on a working basis once more. Captain D. Hanning, an experienced coastal skipper, was in charge of the trawler Express when she left Port Chalmers on July 4 to search for the missing fishing boats Bravo and Galatea. These boats had been fishing on the North Reef and had been caught in the gale which sprang up in the afternoon. The wind blew hard and cold. Concern was felt for the safety of the Galatea as she wag single-handed and is much smaller than the Bravo, which is a cutter equipped with a semi-Deisel engine of adequate horsepower. In the darkness the Express missed the inward-bound Galatea, which reached Port Chalmers safely at 2 a.m. on the sth, her belated arrival being to some extent due to the engine not getting a full supply of petrol as the launch laboured in the seaway. The Express found the Bravo riding on two anchors about six miles of the Heads, with Black Jack’s Point bearing over the Mole. The Express then scouted round in quest of the Galatea, the search being resumed at daybreak. Returning to the Bravo, which had meanwhile lost one of her anchors, but had not got her engine restarted, the Express took her in tow, and both vessels reached Port Chalmers in the afternoon to find that the Galatea had preceded them. One result of the incident, a veteran fisherman told a reporter, should be that fishing boats should not be permitted to put to sea singlehanded, especially in winter time. Our Tapanui correspondent reports that at a public meeting held on July 3 in the Town . Half it was decided to urge the Government to construct a road from Conical Hills siding along the bank of the Pomahaka River to connect with the Main road at Waipahi. Ther© have been several attempts to secure such an outlet, but without success, the last attempt having failed owing to the risk of fire to the State Forestry plantation. However, it is understood that this -opposition does not now exist Mr W. Quin urged the necessity for such an outlet, which meant a level road for three miles against eix miles over Conical Hills on a road that was rough at the best of times and practically impassible in winter. The present road was, in fact, a relic of the early days, when a bullock dray track was selected to reach the goldfields. Mr Quin instanced the lavish expenditure that was going on in various parts of the North Island, whilst only about three public works of any importance employed labour in the South Island. It was unanimously resolved to approach the Government for a grant for the work, and a committee was set up to carry out the details, with the Mayor of Tapanui (Mr W. R. Quin) as chairman and Mr J. C. Parcell as secretary. Cr Cumming (member for Waipahi Riding) attended the meeting, and expressed sympathy with the movement, stating that the proposed road was the proper route. The new Minister of Public Works is to be asked, through the member for Mataura, to include a visit to Tapanui when arranging his southern itinerary. A agreeable communication has been received by Mr R. H. Neilson, jecretary of the Dunedin Art Gallery Society. It is from Mr Alexander i?'. Roberts, of Galashiels (brother of Sir John Roberts), and to the effect that he has secured and is sending out to the Dunedin gallery a well-known picture by Sir J. Lawton Wingate. “This is a somewhat early work,” writes Mr Roberts, “but it is a very good one, and gave his a great lift in the artistic world when exhibited at Royal Scottish Academy. I was glad to have the opportunity of getting it as ;ood pictures by this artist, very seldom come on sale.”. It should be added that this picture is being generously sent out by Mr Roberts to replace one previously presented by him to the local gallery, but which unfortunately did not reach :t destination, being lost in the wreck of the Wiltshire on the Great Barrier just over four years ago. Sir J. Lawton Wingate was born in 1846, and became president of the Royal Scottish Academy in (]£l9. It has been stated on many occasions during the controversy over the wheat question that it is impossible for farmers in New Zealand to irrow wheat at under 7s a bushel and make a profit (reports the Lyttelon Times). A rather interesting commentary on this statement is the fact that some growers have already sold their wheat for next year on a basis of 5s 6d a bushel. Whether the growers who have made sales at this think it a payable one, or whether they think that on account of the large quantity of wheat it is expected will be produced in New Zealand next year 5s 6d will then be a good price, is not known. The fact lemains that the sales have been made at 5s 6d and probably the growers who have made them expect that, given good yields, they will make a profit off their oropa. It is interesting to note that one grower, who has been very insistent this season on obtaining 7s for his wheat, offered to sell 10,000 bushes of next year’s wheat at 5s 6d, and also to give a guarantee that the wheat would be of mod milling quality. Another grower who sold the product of a 50-acre crop at 5s 6d stated that he intended to sow another 50 acres, •o apparently ha waa satisfied with the prie*

A walk of 58 miles, completed in a single day, is a very rare achievement in these modern days of eaey mechanical transport (says our Auckland correspondent). Such a walk was, however, completed recently by Mr Douglas H. Wbitelaw, who tramped 29 miles from his home at Remuera to Huia, on the shores of the Manukau Harbour, and back between 5 a.m. and 11 p.m. He spent two and a-quarter hours at Huia, so that his actual walking time was 15£ hours, at an average of three and three-quarter miles an hour. This rate would mean a good smart walking pace over the whole journey. In addition to his clothes, Mr Whitelaw was carrying about 51b or 61b, represented by his luncheon, fishing gear, ‘etc. Naturally he became Very tired. on the homeward journey, and had the greatest difficulty in urging his weary muscles over the last eight miles of the road. The Auckland Education Board has under consideration the question of school holidays, and the school committees under its jurisdiction have been asked for an expression of opinion thereon (reports our correspondent). The Onehunga School Committee, before replying to the board’s request, decided to take a referendum of the parents of the children attending the Onehunga School. They were given a choice of three issues, as follows(1) That the number of holidays be increased; (2) that the number of holidays remain as at present 1 and (31 that the former system of one week’s Holiday at Easter, one at midwinter, and one at Michaelmas be reverted to. The secondary schools have seven weeks’ holiday at Christmas, two in May, and three in August. Tkg primary schools have six weeks at Christmas, one in May, and two in August. The result of the referendum was that 157 vofed in favour of the proposal to m&ko the holidays coincide with those of the secondary schools. The second proposal received 128 votes and the third 21.

ITie New- Zealand beech, as is well known, is a tree found usually on the poorest ground or at a considerable height in the mountain ranges. The layman Beldom stops to wonder why this is so. Dr Cockayne in a new “Monograph on the New Zealand Beech Forests,” however, says the beech has no particular affinity for poor ground and exposed positions (says an exchange). He takes the interesting view that our beech, which occurs also in South America, Tasmania, South-East Australia, is the old original forest covering of this country, and has been crowded of! the good land by its better-equipped antagonists, the broadleaved trees, which Dr Cockayne regards as later arrivals, coming when New Zealand had land connection with the Tropics. The beech is thus the original inhabitant who has gone down in the world and has been obliged to move into cl.eape- quarters out-back, while the upstart vegetation takes up the sunny sections and airs itself in the front row. At a meeting of the New Zealand Utility Poultry Club in Christchurch on Tuesday, July 0, a suggestion was received from the Dunedin Club that the Christchurch body should accept a challenge (says the Lyttelton Times). Tho idea outlined was that the Dunedin Club should send six or eight birds to Oaraaru or Timaru Shows, the Christchurch Club to send the same number to the same show. The club which won the most points would be awarded the championship or a suitable trophy. The underlying purpose of the suggestion, it appeared, was that such competition would do a great deal towards bringing northern and southern clubs together. After a brief discussion, the meeting decided to leave the matter in the hands of the Show Committee.