NEWS IN BRIEF.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 617, 1 February 1916, Page 5

NEWS IN BRIEF.

The Telegraph Office advises that the Waimakariri North, the Waimakariri South, the Opihi, and the Rakaia Kivers are clear, the Ran git at a dirty, and the Waitaki very dirty. The following cases were dealt with [ in Chambers at the Supreme Court, | Christchurch, this morning, before his j Honour Mr Justice Deuniston:—ln re the National Bank (Mr Ross) v. Robert Weston and T. and E. Henshall, orders were made giving leave to sell under the Mortgages Extension Act; in re R. A. Dyson (Mr Gresson) v. J. E. Brown (Mr Cassidy), an order was made giving, leave to commence proceedings (costs £2 2/-, costs to be costs in the cause);-an order was made giving leave to forward proceeds of realisation of estate in re William Miller (Mr Gresson). Ten subscriptions of £IOO each have been made towards the fund of £2OOO required for the establishment- of a Salvation Army Home for Girls orphaned by the war, which is to be established in Auckland. The appeal was initiated a fortnight ago by Staff-Cap-tain Sharp, on behalf of Commissioner Hodder. As soon as the Auckland fund has been completed, Captain Sharp will visit the southern centres to complete the fund of £IO,OOO for the equipment of the four homes comprised in Commissioner Hodder's plan. Altogether accommodation for 200 children will be provided. As several accidents have happened recently through motor cars and motor cycles passing tramears while the latter are stopped to pick up or set down passengers, the By-laws Committee of the Christchurch City Council has had a copy of section 15 of by-law 5 handed to each holder of a certificate of ability to drive a motor car or motor cycle. This by-law prohibits the driving of any vehicle or the riding of any horse, at. other than a walking pace between a tramcar which has stopped to take up or set down passengers an I the kerbing of the footpath on the side on which passengers are alighting or getting into the tramcar, unless there is at least 23ft of clear road space between the vehicle and the tramcar. "The war will last another five years,'' that is the opinion of a wide-j awake Russian visitor to New Plymouth. "It's like this. The Russian can never be beaten. His heart is in this war, he feels deeply the humiliating tactics of the Germans, and he will fight on till he dies. The French are equally determined, and, as for the British, they never have known defeat. Their initial reverses in any of their campaigns only steel them to greater efforts and they invariably win the last battle. As for the Germans, they have east.the die and know that they will get no mercy. They therefore will fight on till they fall from sheer exhaustion. It is a war to the death, and Germany as a nation will die, and in the process some of the other nations will be bled white.'' A cyclist free-wheeling at eight miles an hour down one of the side streets which slopes steeply down into Willis Street, collided with a motor car speeding at some 12 miles an hour, says the "New Zealand Times." Under the circumstances very serious results —a broken arm or leg, or even a broken neck —might well have been expected: but, by an extraordinary stroke of luck the cyclist, though not the cycle, escaped without a scratch, almost without a jar. The front wheel of the cycle caught the front wheel of the motor, causing the cycle to swerve, drawing it along with the motor and depositing the cyclist neatly and safely on the step of the car. Even his pipe remained between his teeth, and, gathering up his "bike" ho went forthwith in search of a substitute for his damaged front wheel. A very short petition with a very long tail, the latter consisting of no fewer than 481 signatures, was presented to the Christchurch City Council last evening. The petitiou drew the council's attention to what was described as a most, dangerous obstacle to traffic, at the junction of Hill's Road, Shirley Road, and Warrington Street, St. Albans Bast. This is the bridge over Dudley Creek, the east side of which overlaps the roads mentioned by some 30ft. "The volume of traffic, especially motor vehicles, passing over the spot," said the petition, "will, we feel, endanger the lives of children attending the new district school, which is situate within a few chains of the bridge. As a remedy we would suggest extending the bridge to the width of the road on the side above mentioned." The council referred the petition to the Works Committee for a report. A returned soldier now in Auckland recently received six large official envelopes' containing 50 letters originally addressed to him from New Zealand and Australia while he was on service at Gallipoli and in hospital in Egypt, and some of which seemed to have been following him round in random fashion for months. He states that some of the letters were even sent to England, though he never was there. Others show from their postmarks that they have been to the hospital at font de Koubbeh, where he was a patient, but as no date is given it cannot be ascertained with certainty whether they arrived while he was under treatment. In some cases, however, it is clear that the letters were in circuit .while he was either in the hospital or convalescent home. The point raised by the addressee is why the New Zealand postal authorities in Egypt could not have ascertained from "the hospital records that he had gone on from there to the home, and 'have traced him to his whereabouts. In the interests of comrades who are stilt on service, he hopes for more thorough 'and systematic search in the hospitals land home- before the quest by the post. I office is given up as hopeless and correspondence for news hungry soldiers is turned back to it. place of origin. KARLEY DAVIDSONS. FIFTY PBR 3.5. NIAGARA. So great has the demand been for these Motor Cycles that the New Zealand Agents, Messrs Jones Bros., Ltd., i of Christchurch, have so far been un- ! able to cope with the orders booked. Wo I understand that they have received ad|vice from the manufacturers that they I are making every effort to supply the New Zealand orders, which up to date have been sensational. These motors, I during the few months they have been 'placed on the Christchurch market, have jput up such meritorious performances lover the severest country that they are | sure to be in great demand. Intending purchasers should book orders now to assure early delivery. ,' Trials of the severest nature given by '.loaes Bros., Ltd., Clock Tower, C'hrist- ' I church. .599

"The college library will be finished: in a few weeks;" said Mr Hurst Sealer i at yesterday's meeting of the Canter-; bury College Board of Governors. U A! large number of shelves will be put in, ! and for some time many of them will lie empty —we will have the body with-) out the soul, so to speak. We should] let it be known that there is plenty of, room for any books the public might pare to send in." Iu the Lytteltou Police Court this morning, before Mr W. C-Clear}* and Captain Hatehwell, J.P.'s, Annie Wilson; "Wright, who pleaded not guilty to ai charge of keeping a house of ill-fame ! iu Exeter Street, and who was jlefond- j ed by Mr Cuningham, was convicted and! fined £•">; in the alternative a month's imprisonment. Grace Evans, alias] King, alias Campbell, was similarly dealt, with. John Payne, M.P., has started a J penny paper called "The New Zealand Philistine," which is described on the; front page as a journal of protest j against bad government. Its calibre may be judged from one of the "con-! fessious" contributed by John Payne himself: "I say that Parliament as a whole —procedure, and the whole lock, stock and barrel —is one of the trickiest, rottenist institutions ever devised to delude and deceive the free and independent electors of this or any other j community.*' We imagine that the comment of his fellow-members will be: "Speak for yourself, John." A boy of In appeared before Mr H.j W. Bishop, S.M., in the Juvenile Court; this morning, on charges of failing to! account for four sums of money. The; offence was alleged to have been com-j mitted at Christchureh on or about December 24 last, when the accused re-! ceived from Charlotte Martin, Mary Laverv, Elizabeth King, and Violet; Kirk sums of 7/6, 17/6, 5/-, and 7/6; respectively, on terms requiring him to .account for the same to Annie O'Calla-j ghan, and fraudulently omitted to do so. He explained that his employer bought him a bicycle, which was necessary for his work. He used the bicycle for'taking out milk, and he had to pay! for all his repairs. He never got a holiday, and had to work from "J a.m. till 9 p.m. The employer denied that such was the case. After hearing further evidence the Magistrate severely admonished the lad, and pointed out that the father of the boy should have looked after him better. The boy was convicted and discharged, and ordered to pay back the money stolon. The em- 1 ployer said he did not want the money. The Magistrate then cancelled the order to pay back the money. j