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Otago Witness, Issue 4039, 11 August 1931, Page 3

Remarking on the growing custom of persons expecting summonses 'not to collect their registered mail, Mr C. R. OrrWalker, S.M., at the Timaru Magistrate’s Court, related an occurrence of this nature that had not turned out as the persons concerned intended. This man, said Mr Orr Walker, did not call for a registered letter. He discovered too late that it contained an intimation from the man’s mortgagor to the effect that he was going to exercise his right under the mortgage to sell up the mortgagee’s property. As it was, through his action, the man forfeited his right to make application under the Mortgagors’ Relief Act and was a sadder and wiser man. The preliminary proceedings in connection with the trial of George Errol Coats, charged with the murder of Phyllis Avis Symons, will be commenced in the Magistrate’s Court in Wellington on Wednesday next. When Coats appeared and was further remanded on Thursday. Mr Treadwell (fop the accused) offered no objection, saying he understood that this was to be the final remand.

In consequence of the serious decrease in its revenue the Otago Harbour Board, which had been investigating possible economy measures, has decided to reduce the number of its employees, and notice of dismissal has been given to 30 men, who will cease work during this week. The transmission of “ talkies ” by television from a central studio on to screens in theatres hundreds of miles away has become more than the dream of a wireless crank. According to Mr Victor Nilsen, who returned to Melbourne by the Oronsay last week after 18 months’ investigation of modern broadcasting practice abroad, this scheme is the main object of all the research work now being conducted by American experimenters. Mr Nilsen said that, using the Cathode ray, a secret held by Germany during the war, American stations were making weekly television tests between American and the Rugby station in England. The General Electric Company had now reached the stage in its television experiments at which famous conductors, sitting in the company’s studio before the television apparatus, have conducted a full orchestra at a theatre more than a mile away Producers and theatrical managers were co-operating with electrical firms to make television a financiaj success. To further their schemes a radio block to accommodate all the large theatres, concert halls, and radio studios was being built in the heart of New York.

At a deputation from the Wellington School Committees and Education Federation which waited on members of Parliament on Friday a plea was made by the speakers that primary school education should not suffer under the economy axe. Mr F. L. Combs, for the deputation, said the cost of education was a bare 2 per cent, of the national income. Mr S. R. Evison, president of the South Island School Committees’ Federation, appealed to member not to allow the educational system to be crippled by the search after economy. By a majority of 716 votes the ratepayers of Wanganui decided, at a poll on Wednesday, that, as from April 1 next, rates shall be collected on the unimproved value basis. The annual rental value system, which has been in vogue during tte past three years will, therefore, be discarded.

Cabinet has decided that all newspapers for inland transmission that /weigh 3oz and under are to be allowed through the Post Office at the old rate of one halfpenny per copy as from yesterday. In making this announcement the Postmastergeneral (Mr J. B. Donald) said it was considered that the existing rate of one penny per copy was a hardship on the light-weight newspaper. It was anticipated that the concession made would assist the Revenue of the department.

There has been much uncertainty as to the basis upon which the income of farmers, large and small, will be taxed under the Unemployment Act. The Minister of Labour (Mr S. G. Smith) said on V ednesday that the charge on farmers’ incomes will not be computed on the gross income. Reference to taxing legislation would lead to the belief that income from land cannot mean anything but gross receipts, and the fear had been expressed that the collection of 3d in the £1 off milk and wool cheques would be a staggering blow to the farmers. In replying to the points raised, the Minister stated that the precise basis on which the charge on farmers’ incomes will be computed has not yet been decided, but that it is not intended that it should be computed on gross income. He indicated that regulations on this point will be made and published in the Gazette in the near future. The Minister was also asked whether the Commissioner of Taxes would issue demand notices in connection with the unemployment taxes in respect of the tax on income in 1930-31, and how this tax would be assessed in respect of the income in 1931-32 since returns of income were not usually required until June. The Minister said the Commissioner of Taxes would not issue demands for emergency unemployment charge on income other than salaries and wages. The charge would be payable on a declaration to be made to an authorised officer of the Post and Telegraph Department or to the Commissioner of Taxes by the per--son. liable for the payment. This applied to income derived during the year ended March 31, 1931, and that ending March 31, 1932.

The executive of the Council of Christian Congregations, which represents the various Christian churches of Dunedin, at a specially convened meeting unanimously agreed upon the following resolution:— * The executive of the Council of Christian Congregations deprecates and deplores the plausible but pernicious proposal made by his Worship the Mayor that an art union- should be promoted for the relief of distress funds. Hitherto we have had occasion to feel proud of the way in which, in New Zealand, both the Government and the local "bodies have resisted all suggestions that public moneys should be raised by such an undesirable method. Enterprises of this character are debasing to the moral and economic interests of the community, and inevitably will lead to the drying up of the generosity of many of those now contributing to the Relief Fund. At a time when the return of prosperity is so' vitally related to quality of character any action likely to lower the moral standards or to destroy the sense of civic responsibility is to be deplored. The executive of the Council of Christian Congregations particularly regrets that such a suggestion should have been made by the Mayor of Dunedin—a city with an enviable record for the high tone of its civic life and its public generosity.”

Remarkable fortitude was shown by Mr John Ford, farmer, of Makahu (Taranaki) last week, when after his leg had been broken he clambered from an ensilage pit, crawled on to a sledge and drove more than two miles over a rough track to his home. He was admitted to a private hospital at Stratford, where his condition was later reported to be satisfactory. Mr Ford was at the bottom of the pit when a cow fell on him, breaking his leg. Suffering great pain, he got out of the pit after a number of unsuccessful attempts. He then rolled on to his sledge and started the horse for home. The ground was rough and hilly and the track no better than the average to be found in the back country. At one stage of the journey Mr Ford had to leave the sledge and, dragging his useless leg, crawl to open a gate. He then had to go back to guide the horse through. He was almost exhausted when he reached the house, where he received attention before being taken to Stratford.

Mr Justice Kennedy has granted probate in the estates of Charles Jones, of Kaitangata (Mr G. J. Kelly); Henry demerit Anderson, of Dunedin (Mr Wood); Hugh Gourlay, of Dunedin (Mr A. C. Stephens); William Henderson, of Leith Valley (Mr J. Wilkinson); Silas Sexton, of Dunedin (Mr Lang); and Eliza Jane Mosley, of Roslyn (Mr F- S. Brent).

One of the problems confronting the Dunedin Returned Soldiers’ Association is that of finding employment for the children of soldiers who died on service, or as the result of war injuries. These children are handicapped through having no father to assist them, and the efforts of the association in this connection are worthy of support by employers of labour.

New Zealand mails which were despatched from Auckland by the Niagara on June 30 for the United Kingdom, via Vancouver, reached London on August 1.

A narrow escape from drowning was experienced by Father Silk, parish priest at Matamata, whilst bathing at Okuia Springs. Father Silk was overcome in the hot water and quickly sank. When attention was drawn to his absence he was unconscious at’ the bottom of the bath at the deep end. Father. Kaveney, with the assistance of two others, brought the bather to the surface and rendered first aid, and after a period of artificial respiration he appeared little the worse for .his adventure.

A tour round the w’orld will be begun by the- Canadian Pacific Railway Company’s liner Empress of Britain from New York on December 3. The vessel will be easily the largest and fastest ever engaged On such a voyage, her gross tonnage being 25 per cent, greater than that of any other world-cruise liner. Eighty-one ports and places in 23 countries will be visited, but the Empress of Britain will not call at Australia or New Zealand, her nearest ports being Batavia and Weltevreden, Java. The distance to be covered on the tour will be 29,495 sea miles, and the voyage will occupy 128 days. Of 42,500 tons gross and 63,750 tons displacement, the Empress of Britain is one of the most luxurious of ships. The decorations have been the work of eminent artists, and the appointments include a full-sized tennis court, an Olym " pian swimming pool and a gymnasium. The decorations include woods from Canada, Burma, Australia, Borneo, Malaya, and the West Indies and several English timbers. The tour has been weil planned The Riviera is to be visited at the height of its season, Christmas is to be spent in Palestine, New Year’s Eve at Cairo, and India and the East Indies are visited when the climatic conditions are the most favourable.

Settlers in the Tantawanglo Mountains, out from Candelo, New South Wales, are organising a great hunt for a huge catlike animal that has terrified at least a dozen perfectly sober and respectable persons within the past two years. Some declare it is. a tiger, and others a . lioness, but no one has yet had sufficient courage to wait and make a detailed examination. The latest to catch a glimpse of it is Mr Erie Britten, son of a Tantawanglo farmer. While he was setting traps along the Tantawanglo Creek, his horse suddenly bolted. Looking up, he saw what he declares was a great, tawnycoloured cat crouching a few yards away. The animal stood fully 3ft Gin high, according to Mr Britten, and had a large round head, which it carried like a cat, drooped below its shoulders. The next day Mr Britten and a party found tracks made by cat-like paws as large as a man’s palm.

The paucity of the average child’s vocabulary is a thing which ought to be remedied, according to at least one school inspector. He is fond of making tests to reveal this weakness to the teachers, and on a recent occasion, in a school not a hundred miles from Wellington, he did so by asking of a large class all who had countenances to stand up. Only two did so. To the remainder he explained his little joke, and the teacher said, when the inspector had gone, that “the exercise of their risible faculties illuminated their countenances ” so as to demonstrate that she, at any rate, had a vocabulary which could rise beyond “ smiles lighted up their faces.”

Dr H. Crichton-Miller, the Harley street nerve specialist, addressing a conference on mental health at the Central Hall, Westminster, said that the phase of civilisation we had reached had uncovered a large amount of marital discord. This had existed previously, but, owing to pressure of religious authority and public opinion, had been carefully kept secret. “When the parental ideal has waned,” he continued, “ the mere mating aspect of marriage has been inadequate to take its place, and the stability of the marriage bond has suffered in consequence. Thus we see that in the important sphere of marital relations the inexorable demands of civilisation are again responsible for much discord. The small family is the product of economic pressure, and at the same time the cause of diminished harmony and stability in marriage.*

An opportunity will again be given this year to club-trained pilots to compete for commissions in the New Zealand Air Force under the system inaugurated last year. The examination will be held throughout the Dominion on December 9. To be eligible for commissions, pilots must have passed the matriculation or equivalent examination, and must be recommended by the officer of the local squadron as fit to hold commissions. After passing a medical examination they will have to pass a written examination which coinprises papers on aircraft, engines, and air pilotage, and an essay. The regulations do not stipulate the number of commissions to be granted, but only that appointments to commissions will be made from candidates who have passed the prescribed examination.

In the Dunedin Police Court on Wednesday Lewis Friend appeared before Mr J. R. Bartholomew, S.M., and pleaded guilty to being unlawfully in possession of an automatic pistol. Chief Defective Quartermain stated that the police had . been informed that the defendant was carrying a pistol about with him, and or? a search being made of his residence, the firearm was found in a suitcase. He admitted being in possession of the pistol, but he denied that he had carried it about with him, explaining that it really belonged to his wife to whom it had been given by a seaman in Wellington. Mr White, who appeared for the defendant, stated that he was a motor engineer by trade, and had come from England about two years previously. After working at his trade for some time, he went to Australia, leaving his wife in Wellington, and it was during his absence that she, being afraid to remain alone in her rooms, had obtained the pistol from a seaman friend. The defendant maintained that until about a month ago he did not know that she had the pistol, and tine story seemed to be borne out by the fact that no ammunition had been found with it. He denied emphatically that he had ever carried the pistol, and it was suggested that this information had beet tendered to the police by some acquaintances who had a grudge against the defendant. The defendant had good re ferences from everyone in whose emp-oy he had been since coming to New Zealand. and if he were given time he cou’d get further evidence as to his good character. The magistrate expressed him self as dissatisfied with tile defendant's explanation, and pointed out that it was "a matter of considerable concern at the present time that a man should be in possession of a lethal weapon. The defendant was remanded for a week to allow’ further inquiries to be made, bail being allowed in' his owm recognisance of £2O conditional on his reporting daily to the police. Cr Shacklock, chairman of the Finance Committee of the City Council, stated at the meeting of the council last week that the decision of Parliament by which the rate of interest payable by local authorities on new loan money obtained after August 1 was to be reduced had had the effect of creating considerable activity in the loan market for the last few days of the month of July. The City Corporation had been engaged in filling up the Waipori dam construction loan at the time, and by the end of July all the available debentures had been disposed of, well over £71,000 having been received. Any further loan money offering w’ould be placed in the Drainage Board loan for 15 years with interest at the new rate of 5 per cent. So far as can be seen at present, the higher excise duty on New Zealandbrewed beer, which now stands at Is 6d a gallon instead of Is, will almost certainly be passed on, in part, at least, to the consumer (says the New Zealand Herald). The question will not be settled, however, until a conference has been held by representatives of the brewing interests throughout New Zealand. “The excessive increase of 6d a gallon is equal to 27s a hogshead," stated Sir Alfred Bankart, speaking on behalf of New Zealand Breweries, Ltd. “ Obviously such a charge cannot Be borne by either the brewers or the hotelkeepers. How to. adjust the increase is a very difficult problem, and one which will require very serious 'thought. Every consideration will be given to avoid any increase in retail price, but at present it would seem inevitable that any adjustment must weigh heavily upon the consunfer.**

On the arrival of the ChristchurchInvercargill through goods train at Dunedin oh Wednesday morning it was found that the roof of one of the big WV wagons, which are used for conveying oysters from Bluff, had disappeared. Investigation revealed that a strong gust of wind, experienced about two miles north of Hampden, had removed the top, and with such force as to break the telephone wires in the vicinity. A remarkable feature of the occurrence is that the wagon, pre senting such a large surface to the wind as it did, was not blown completely off the track.

“ It might not be out of place to reflect,” said the chairman (Cr D. M‘Gregor) at Tuesday’s meeting of the Bruce County Council, “ that it is 17 years ago to-day since Britain declared war on Ger many. Many of our troubles and much of the present uncertainty regarding the future are a legacy of the holocaust of 1914-1918. Unless some better solution of our economic troubles is soon evolved it will seem to many that ‘ God’s Own Country ’ will be like the devil’s own country to live in.” Cr M’Gregor concluded by expressing a hope that the forces at work for peace and international understanding would in the near future be rewarded with success.

The Union Steam Ship Company an nounced on Tuesday that a company had been incorporated under the name of the Canadian-Australasian Line, Ltd., to take over the Pacific liners Aorangi and Niagara operating between Vancouver, New Zealand, and Australia. The company will be jointly owned and operated by the Canadian Pacifit Railway Company and the Union Steam Ship Company, and ■will receive the traffic support of both companies. Mr J. C. Irons, who has represented the Union Company’s interests in Canada for many years, has been appointed general manager of the company with bis head office in Vancouver. “ So far as the teachings of the past can tell us, it is not likely that we will have another big earthquake in New Zealand,’ seeing that we have had two in recent times,” said Dr P. Marshall, of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, when speaking on “ Earthquakes and their Physical Effects,” to members of the New Zealand Institute of Architects at Wellington. Another of the New Zealand Shipping

Company’s steamers, the Ruapehu, has been sold. The vessel, which had been engaged in the trade between New Zealand and Great Britain for many years, is at present laid up in Falmouth ,Harbour. Mr J. H. C. Bond, Dominion superintendent for the company, who is visiting Auckland, stated that cable advice from England announced the sale of the Ruapehu to Italian buyers. Mr J. B. Waters, chairman of the Dunedin Grain, Seed, and Produce Merchants’ Association, forwarded the following telegram to the Minister of Agriculture (Mr A. J. Murdoch): —“In view of the heavy importations of Australian produce, the Dunedin Grain and Produce Merchants’ Association respectfully urges that the strongest representations be made to the Australian authorities to remove the embargo on New Zealand potatoes, in order to assist growers in the present glutted market.” The following reply has been received from the Minister: —“Your telegram received. The Government quite recently cabled to the Australian authorities urging the withdrawal of the embargo on the importation of potatoes into the Commonwealth, but I regret to say that the reply received last week was that the request could not be acceded to.”

Mr Justice Kennedy has granted probate in the under-mentioned cases:— James Macadie, of Poolburn, farmer (Mr F. G. Duncan) and John Moore, of Oam aru (Mr Main). Letters of administration were granted in the case of Bethia Jane Waldie, of Dunedin (Mr W. F. Forrester). An interesting judgment was given in the Magistrate’s Court before Mr J. R. Bartholomew, S.M., on Tuesday, in a case in which Francis Owen M’Kay alleged that while he had been walking up a flight of steps a pomeranian dog had run out at him. In turning round to face it he had slipped and severely sprained his ankle. The dog was at the time in the care of Edward Hamilton Eagar, and was owned by Audrey Poots, of- Auckland. M‘Kay claimed damages amounting to £32 6s from Eager and Mrs Poots as well as from the latter’s husband, Robert Poots. His Worship stated that he had no hesitation in accepting the plaintiff’s evidence as being a correct account of the occurrence. His injuries had been plainb’ caused by the dog. There was a Victorian case in which a dog had rushed at a man on a horse. The man had fallen off the horse, and it had been held that he had been attacked by the dog. The plaintiff was therefore entitled to recover from Eagar and Mrs Poots, and in the circumstances the amount was reasonable. A difficulty arose, however, with respect to the claim against Mrs Poots’s husband. A husband was liable in some respects for his wife’s actions. He was liable for her torts. The position had been clearly set forth in a recent motor collision case by Mr Justice Smith. The defendant had been a woman and was being driven at the time by her son. An action had been instituted against husband and wife, but his Honor had pointed out that the injury had followed on the possession of property by the wife, and the husband was not liable. The Magistrate added that he knew of no authority to. make the husband responsible, and judgment for the full amount would be given against only Eagar and Mrs Poots, with costs (£9 ss).

Three bullocks, consigned from Hinds to the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile, Agency Company, escaped from their truck in the railway goods yards on Tuesday morning and enjoyed a brief spell of liberty in the city. As the animals were being unloaded one fell, and in the resulting confusion the other two got loose and were away before they could be headed. The third, on rising, also made a dash for freedom, and, following his mates into Rattray street, made for the Queen’s Gardens. After a wild career around the reserve he cut across Cumberland street, and, clearing the fence of the enclosure adjoining the Pioneers’ Hall like a deer, he took up his stand and defied all efforts to shift him. In the meantime, the first two beasts that had escaped had gone further afield, and one finally brought up at the Gardens reserve, whilst the other established himself on the Oval. Eventually, three stockemen, with the aid of a trio of less unruly cattle, successfully “ boxed ” all three runaways, and drove them to Burnside.

The gannets of Cape Kidnappers do not seem to have been unduly disturbed by the earthquake that interrupted their domestic affairs towards the end of last season’s nesting period (states the Napier Telegraph). After a break of about four months the birds are again returning to the Cape, and many are now to be seen flying inshore or diving for fish. Mr D. G. Williams, ranger for the gannet sanctuary, reports that there were no birds on the nesting ground on July 12, but that he saw large numbers fishing off Te Awanga a few days later. If the nesting season runs to the usual schedule this year the gannets will begin to occupy the nesting ground early in August, and by the end of the month there will be but few vacant nesting sites.

Even if Mr Lang cannot do so, some people in Australia are finding money. Early this year one John Arnold, of London, shook hands with his relatives at Tilbury docks. “ I’m off for gold,” he said. Less than four months later he placed a bag of nuggets, weighing 750 z. On the counter of the Commonwealth Bank at Rockhampton, Queensland. Arnold was a miner from Mount Morgan with 40 years’ experience, and the other two members of his party, Wilson and MTnery, were also men of practical knowledge. They quickly got on to gold in grain form at Keith’s Hill, Canoona, Queensland, and followed up a seam Arnold got into the hole, and soon handed up to Wilson a slab loin long, sin wide, and up .to an inch in thickness. It weighed more than 21b. In al] 750 z of gold were picked up after this shot. News of such a rich strike soon spread, and on, Tuesday, July 21, 100 claims were pegged out by lamplight within 12 hours. Arnold declared there was gold al] over the country, but said it existed only for those who knew where to find it. He and his party were smart enough to buy the Canoona Hotel, a few miles from the strike, and now cannot supply accommodation to all its would-be tenants. Despite the vagaries of the season it would appear that at least one gardener in Dunedin has succeeded in flying so far in the face of Nature as to induce l»s strawberry plants 'to produce well developed, ripe fruit with the frost hardly out of the ground and the snow still lying on the surrounding hills. Mr N. G. Williams, of North-East Valley, has in his garden strawberry plants of the Ettersburg variety which are at present bearing ripe fruit of average quality and size. While this -would be a decidedly unusuai happening in any circumstances, this defiance of the winter’s rigours by one of the most delicate of fruits is made all the more remarkable by the fact that it is claimed that the plants received no special treatment in any way, and that the fruit was brought to maturity in the open without the aid of shelter or glass. The grower himself is at a complete loss to account for this apparent freak of Nature. ' \