TOWN EDITION.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 15220, 19 May 1920, Page 6

TOWN EDITION.

An unfortunate case came before Mr. |J. S. Barton, S.M., at the Magistrate's , Court to-day, when a man who had recently suffered severe illness, pleaded! guilty to a charge of attempted suicide.! Accused pleaded guilty and explained that his action had been due to financial trouble. He was ordered to come up for sentence within two years, and to pay costs £6 7s 6d, within one month. I Mr. E. Coles, district telegraph engineer, returned to GisDorne yesterday, after a •tour of the East Coast telephone and ."! olograph oilices. T)\c coastal offices ! were found to be m g^od order and developing' very well, there being a great demand for connections at all exchanges. The Department recently opened a new exchange at Kahukura, which is giving every satisfaction. A. new trunk line between Te Araroa and Kahukura is m course of construction, to replace the old line. *■ It is hoped that material will be shortly at hand for the work of providing an additional outlet for the coastal residents. A permanent line foreman is now stationed at Kahukura, which should greatly improve the, service to the settlers m that part, and a new exchange and living quarters at Rotorua and. accommodation for the line foreman at Kahukura arc being built, on behalf of the Department. "It is a fairly risky thing for a man without a family to buy a house occupied by a man with children," said Mr. H. J. 'Northcroft. S<M., m a Court- case at Hamilton. The defendant had taken all reasonable steps to secure a house, and it would be an undue hardship if he were ejected. The ejectment prder would be refused. The plaintiff, an elderly man, said he bought the house and wished to live m it with his wife and grown-up daughter. For the defence, counsel said that under the Housing Act of 1919 the landlord could not obtain, possession where it was shown an undue hardship would be placed on the tenant. Tlie tenant, who had a wife and | five children, one of whom was a re* l turned soldier, had tried his best to secure a house, and the soldier had unsuccessfully endeavored to buy a house ■through the -Government. No pessimistic views of the effect on I 'the New 'Zealand meat industry of the decision of the Home Government to jlower the prices m order to get rid of I tho glut which has accumulated, are ; held by an Aucklander who is materially interested m the industry. He regards the present slump as only temporary, and thinks the export to America i shows a way out of the difficulty. In his opinion the farmer is not going to ! suffer if he can get 5d a pound for his meat, considering that m the "fifth | quarter" (aa the trade calls the hide, | tongue, tail, etc., of the beast) there is |a £5 note m a 7001 b animal. The i.hde alone, for instance, at present price ;, is worth £4 2s. "I have maintained all ' along," he remarked, "that the farmer I 'has been doing well out of this meat, I j which is now down to 6d a pound m ; London, and has been retailed at 2h' ' and over to the people of Great Britain, the difference, of course, being j pocketed by the retailers." j Owing to the extremely high price of ( agricultural implements farmers would be ; well advised to attend the clearing sale [ which is being held to-morrow at Whakawhitira. on account of the Hon. W. D S. Mac Donald. The farming implements | include a Reid and Gray drill, disc, I plough, spring dray, hillside plough, 2 [ binders, tractor plough, buggy and sunI dries. The draught horses comprise the stallion "Lloyd George," eleven draught | geldings and mares, and five hacks. Pull I particulars appear m our advertising j ' columns.*