NEWS IN BRIEF.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume IV, Issue 960, 9 March 1917, Page 5

NEWS IN BRIEF.

All the rivers of Canterbury wore reported clear this morning. The Canterbury Education Board decided yesterday that the election of school committees should be held on April HO. The secretary of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Hoard desires to acknowledge, with thanks, the sum of £.'! 10/- from Chey Lee, being balance of money collected 0:1 behalf of the late George Kar Kee, who recently died in the Christchureh Hospital. It was announced at the Overseas (dub's Symposium last night that the ! club's membership stood at SPI, many j of the members being ladies. The chairman (Mr It. Holland) stated that a special effort was being made to increase the membership to 1000. The Mayor of Lyttelton (Mr W. RadclifFe) received intimation by telegram yesterday from the Minister of Defence that several cot cases were arriving by the hospital ship, and notifying what delicacies the men could receive. Accordingly, itrs Radcliffc and the other ladies of the local Red Cross visited the ship on arrival, and ministered to the wants of the men in the ward. This morning the Canterbury mciii!t»er of the National Efficiency Board, Mr J. A. Frostick, had a conference with Messrs E. .1. Howard, secretary of the Canterbury General Labourers' Union, and Mr E. Kennedy, of the Farm Labourers' Union. The subject, of the conference was the amount of labour available at present. To-morrow evening the Labour Representation Committee will meet to make, a selection of Labour candidates for the City Council elections. Some 16 or 17 nominations have been received. The committee has not yet decided to contest the Mayoralty, but it is understood that an effort will be made to induce Mr J. McCombs, M.P., to be the party's candidate. Sometime ago Mr McCombs stated that- he would not be a candidate either for the Mayoralty or the City Council, but. it is thought that he may be induced to reconsider that decision. The monthly meeting of the Rakaia branch of the W.C.T.U. was held yesterday afternoon. Mrs Boag presided over a very fair attendance. It was stated that Mrs Harrison Lee-Cowie would shortly be passing through Rakaia, and it was decided to endeavour j to obtain her services for a meeting in the Town Hall in the first, week in April. The. meeting decided to arrange for the holding of Band of Hope meetings in the winter; also for a course of temperance addresses. A further supply of literature was ordered.

"What do you reckon ia the life of a motor cycle?" asked the Magistrate (Mr Wyvern Wilson, S.M.) to au expert witness during the hearing of a collision case at the. Magistrate's Court yesterday. The witness replied that it would be from seven to eight years. The witness stated, in reply to further that, most of the parts would by then have been replaced several times. During the first year the depreciation would be about £2O, while this depreciation would decrease during each of the following years. A prominent farmer of the Rakaia district had something to say to The Sun* representative recently on the alleged shortage of labour. There was any amount of labour offering, he stated. ami only last week a teamster had visited Hakaia "looking for a job." Men could be got if only deeeut induce meats were offered, but it was totally unfair to ask them to live under conditions only fit for pigs. Those farmers who spent their time on Saturday afternoons discussing wheat, and ' labour questions would be infinitely better employed at. home working oil their land. The time they wasted telling the Government what and what not to do would, if turned into workiug hours, enable them to plough a good many acres.

The proposed enforcement of G o'clock closing in Methven is responsible for divided opinion in that locality at the present time. Recently a majority of the shopkeepers decided to close their premises at G o'clock. Two shopkeepers, who are also newspaper distributing agents, have taken exception to what they consider an uncalledfor restriction, and a petition has nowbeen largely signed requesting that the two premises in question be permitted to keep open until 8.30 p.m. It is pointed out by the proprietors that the evening train does not reach Methven until nearly 8 o'clock, and that practically all the readers of the daily evening papers call at their stores after the arrival of the evening train to get their reading matter.