LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16694, 28 March 1922, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A light failure in New Brighton last evening was of a most annoying kind. At the meeting of the New Brighton Borough Council the lights went on ! and off continually. There are only two gas jets in the main chamber and these were not in good order. At the Foxton Police Court yesterday. a young man named George Dunn, charged with theft and arson, pleaded not guilty. He was committed to the Supreme Court for trial, bail being allowed self £2OO, and two sureties of £IOO each. In connection with the provisions of the Public "Works Act under which local bodies are required to contribute towards the. cost of roads and bridges constructed by adjoining local authorities, the By-laws Committee last night recommended that the action of the Wellington City Council should bo supported in endeavouring to obtain an liberation in the law relating to the j allocation of the cost of these works- j The report was adopted. “ This is ono of the most remarkable bankruptcy meetings I have ever been connected with,"’ said a solicitor in the course of proceedings at a creditors’ meeting in New Plymouth (reports the * 4 Daily News ”). The position was certainly peculiar. There were only two creditors, one of whom was bankrupt’s father. As he had not supplied proof of his debt there was only one man at the meeting entitled to vote. This man moved a motion, and though it could not he seconded, it was adopted. A thrilling accident, with a miraculous escape from death, occurred to a workman in Adelaide last week. He was engaged 011 the third storey of a. building in the course of construction, and when testing the scaffolding fell and took some of it with him. Luckily the heel of one boot caught in the stonework of the building, and tlic man hung suspended. A fellow employee immediately held the heel in the crack., and the man pulled himself to a nearby window and made bis escape from a terrible predicament. having sustained only a few bruises. The agricultural implement factories of the city were inspected yesterday by Mr T. Shoa, Assistant Consul lor China in New Zealand, who has been spending* a few days in the city. Mr Shoa was accompanied by Mr M. J. Jenkin, president of the Industrial Association, and Mr Holland, vice-president. He j stated that he was particularly interested in the subject, because an association had been formed with the object of improving agricultural conditions of China, and New Zealand agricultural implements, he believed, had the durability and mechanical efficiency of English implements. A good deal of interest lias attached to the tendering for the Government contract of erecting sixtv-one cottages at Otira arid Arthur’s Pass, in connection with the Otira tunnel scheme (says the ” Otago I>aily Times.”) It is the intention of the Railway Department to use electric traction in the Otira tunnel, and this necessitates the presence of a considerable staff of assistants in the vicinity. It is to accommodate* them that the sixty-one cottages are to be built. Messrs Love Bros., builders. Port Chalmers, are the successful tenderers for erecting the cottages, and it is understood the contract price is in the vicinity of £44,000. The school master at Parnassus (Mr AV. G. Henderson) waited on tlio Hon E. P. Lee as he passed through Parnassus yesterday and pointed out how inadequate the accommodation was at the local school, which had been built for seven pupils, but now had thirty-three, with an average attendance of twenty-seven. The committee had communicated with the Education Board, pointing out. that pious insignis could be obtained at 22s a hundred feet, and there should be no difficulty in proceeding with the necessary additions. The Minister said that he had seen the school and would refer the matter to the Minister of Education in "Wellington. While 110 did not lay his cloak in the roadway for the lady to walk on, a man in New Plymouth* on Thursday afternoon gave quite a worthy rendering of the modern equivalent of Sir Walter Raleigh’s exploit, states the ‘‘ Herald.” During the heavy downpour a tramcar pulled up for passengers to alight at a point where the roadway was covered by several inches of water. The gallant man lighted and got his feet very wet. Several lady passengers cast longing eyes at the footpath, but were dismayed by the thought of splashing their way to it. The difficulty was solved for them by a pair of strong arms which gripped them one by ono and conveyed them to the sheltered dryness of the footpath, undampened but no doubt a little tremulous. The on- ! lookers expressed appreciation of the ! spectacle and a desire to see more.. Mr AV. Goss, chairman of the North ‘ Canterbury Uneniploy men t Comm i ttee, and Mr W. E. Readier, secretary of the Christchurch Returned Soldiers’ Association, waited on the Minister of Public Works yesterday afternoon, with a view to ascertaining what measure of assistance the Government would be able to give during the coming winter in providing work for the unemployed. The Minister stated that he could take ten men at once for work at the Otira tunnel, and that ho hoped to find work for more men at Otira shortly. He anticipated that tho Government would l>e. able to give more assistance towards relieving unemployment during the coming winter than it had been able to give last winter. As a result of the interview* ten returned soldiers will leave to take up work at Otira to-day.

Numerous travellers and writers who have studied the workings of American institutions have remarked upon the profound admiration and reverence with which the constitution is regarded throughout the country. Speaking at the Rotary Club luncheon in Melbourne recently, Mr Mark Sheldon declared that, although he had conversed with people of all classes and nationalities, he had never heard any American cast a reflection on the Constitution, which was the great means of assimilating newcomers of diverse nationalities. About a year ago Mr G. K. Chesterton came to New York and delivered a paradoxical lecture ori “ The Ignorance of the Educated.” He electrified jiis audience by a reference to the Constitution, after making them laugh for an hour. “Your Constitution,” said Mr Chesterton, “is one of the most wonderful documents in the world; it is a beautiful thing; it ranks with tho Bible, and is far above anything else ia literature in its conception of man. In fact, it is so good that you have not been able to live up to it.” Anyone who went to America, and sought to understand its people, said Mr Sheldon, must realise the pre-eminent character of the Constitution as the mainspring of their national life. A photograph to send each of your friends is the best way to solve tho gift problem. Let Steffano Webb take it. Petersen’s Buildings, High Street. Telephone 1989. 16iy