LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 160740, 28 August 1920, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

A regulation published in the Gazette, and now in force, roads; “Any person who loiters in a post office or telegraph office, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding £o, and any person found so loitering, may be ejected.” The Bay of Plenty Hospital Board has instructed its architect to proceed immediately to erect an up-to-date hospital at Whakatane, as approved by the .Minister. T'b© structure will be built by day labour at a cost of .£13,000 or £20,000. An incident wbiclx happened recently emphasises ioncc again Marlborough’s poor means of communication with th* outside world (says the Express). A Blenheim man went across to Wellington to see a brother away by the Sydney boat recently. The brother reached Sydney before the Blenheim man could return to his home, though lie came by the first steamer from Wellington. A taxi-cab belonging to a resident of Tcmuka has disappeared in strange cir* cumstanccs (says a Christchurch paper). The ear was engaged by a man to take him to Christchurch on Saturday. On arrival being made at Christchurch at about 9 p.m., the owner asked the fare if lie would mind driving the car to a garage, as he was not very well. The man acquiesced, and drove off, since when neither he nor the car has been seen. An old landmark in New Plymouth, in the shape of the old Drill Hall, was sold by auction the other day by the Commissioner of Crown Lands. There were only four prospective buyers present, and only one hid was received, that being the upset price of £I7OO, at wbicli figure it was knocked down. It is understood I.he oldest parts of the building were, erected in the late sixties or early seventies, and were used as the colonial militia headquarters for some time in those troublous years.

Clad in deep mourning, a young woman called on a Paris fortune-teller. She asked to be told what the future had in store for her. The fortune-teller went into a hypnotic sleep, in the course of which she predicted that her client would shortly acquire a large sum of money. The prediction was quite true, for after the fortune-teller had shown, her visitor out, she discovered that the young woman in mourning had stolen .£4OO in notes from the cash-box which she kept in the room. The through cars running between Christchurch and Akaroa have had a rough time this week in negotiating flooded stretches of country near Little River, caused by the abnormal rising of Lake Forsyth. On two days most of the cars found the task beyond them. The mails, however, were got through safely. The drivers of the mail cars showed considerable skill in taking cross-country cuts where the depth of water in the dips in the road had made the King’s highway impassable. At one time wellnigh half a dozen cars—mostly privately owned—were to be seen waterlogged, or stranded, waiting until the floods had subsided.

“People who drive motor-cars are apparently not familiar with their responsibilities,” said Ilis Honor Mr Justice Herdmau, addressing the Grand Jury at Christchurch. “It is notorious that motor-cars and motor-bicycles are driven in a most reckless manner about the streets.” The case under notice was one in which a man was charged with manslaughter as the result of a fatal motor smash. “Cases of this kind are becoming quite common,” continued Ilis Honor. “jSome of the drivers of motor-cars don’t recognise that they have a duty to the public, and that if they commit a » reach of that duty they render themselves liable to criminal as well as civil proceedings.” The- necessity for standardising the fees of public accountants was stressed by a speaker at tin- annual meeting of the New Zealand Society of Accountants in Wellington. 11c stated that in Christchurch recently ho was asked to give a quotation for certain work and his estimate was 30 guineas. .Later on, lio learned that another -member of the society had agreed to do the work for 6 guineas. That showed that there was urgent need for standardising a scale of foes. Mr W. Green, who presided, stated that the question of fees had several times been fully discussed by the council of the society, and the conclusion had been arrived at that, for the present at any rate, the council was not in a position to recommend any fixed scale of fees. “In America 18,000 schools are closed for want of teachers/’ remarked Mr J. Caughley, M.A., Assistant-Director of Education, in the course of an address to members of the Central Chamber of Commerce at Wellington. He added that although there were quite a number of areas in America where full-time schools were in operation, i here were other districts in which Congress was at present striving to make it compulsory for children to attend school a minimum of twenty weeks ,ji vear. Incidentally statistics showed ‘'that the • American teacher staved on an average only five years at ' his calling, and four-fifths of the teachers had not reached a standard of education higher than_ the New Zealand matriculation examination. Air Veitch has given notice in the House to ask the Government what was the price paid for a house in Fairlie terrace, Wellington, recently bought by the Department of Agriculture 0 for occupation by its Biological Branch? How far is it from the head office? From whom was it bought? By whom was it occupied? Was iffie occupier the owner? Was the occupier or owner an officer of the Department of Agriculture? What was the Public Works Department’s valuation of it? What was the Government valuation? Were officers of the Public Service employed during the Governments time in removing and packing furniture stored free of charge on the premises of a public Department. What was its occupier s relationship to the owner? 'lt is understood that for various reasons a considerable number ol Returned Soldiers have not yet made use of the orders for privilege railway tickets, enabling tnem to trave free for 28 days over the railways of to Dominion. However a ”^ ou ” u * Defence Department and the R- J Authorities may bo to mamte n the privileges rr rantcd to soldiers, finality i»,te?o» effect, d • . ed fa a soldier will railway 30tii November, when S/i S Owing to tk. Sr/Lavy dmandt that willtn niada u2i the time of the railway staffs -a -I parts of the. Dominion from November onwards, soldiers entitled to claim the privilege tickets are requested make application for them as early as possible.

«Thc new woman is fastidious.” That’s why “Golden Rule Soap” appeals to hor. She buys the. best, because it lathers freely and is cheapest in tha end.

The first aerial Derby was raced from the Serpentine to Melbourne, 116 miles, yesterday. Four planes competed. The race was won by Lieutenant Trelaw. Extension of Hie Australian shearers’ strike is foreshadowed, the Australian V. orkers’ Union stating that wool from non-union sheds may be boycotted by other unions, Mr W. H. .Stranger (secretary) and Mr Hodge (architect), of the Wanganui Education Board, are at present on a tour of inspection of school buildings in this district. A Sydney cable states that although the coal tribunal has not reached finality in the dispute, a conciliatory spirit ’s now apparent. There appears to be no danger of an upheaval of the industry. A Castlecliff resident states that during the stormy weather, the tides have been exceptionally high and on various occasions the seas came right up to the new bathing sheds with waves occasionally- breaking against the building. The Wanganui cheese factories are now working full time after the usual winter spell, and the supply jef milk coming to hand is very satisfactory for this season of the year. The factories have again consigned their output through the usual channels. Word was received by the Auckland office of the Board of Trade from Wellington this morning that the reail price of milk has been definitely fixed. It is to remain at 8d per quart from September Ist to April 30th, while during the winter months of May Ist to August 31st it may be sold at 9d per quart. Owing to the inadequacy of the supply of metal available from Belmont, and the prospect of increased railway .tariff, the Waitotara County Council is faced with the troubles of finding other sources of supply or a substitute. With this object in view the members of the Council proposed to make a tour of inspection of varous shell rock deposits in the county next week, A meeting of superannuated public servants at Napier yesterday formed a branch of the Wellington Association, and resolved to send a representative to Wellington to join the deputation to the Government, xae representative was instructed to recommend a fiat rate increase of at least 25 per cent, to pensions of all superannuitants during the continuance of high prices. A local retailer state that this is the first season during his experience in business in Wanganui that such an extensive demand has been made for packets of vegetable seeds. He considers this is an indication of the pinch of the nigh cost of living being felt, particularly in regard to the retail prices of vegetables during the winter months, and a desire to counteract it by householders cultivating their own garden patches. Yesterday s 'lorro has done practically no damage to the .South Spit at allThis morning there was very little water going over at high tide. Mr Haszard. tho Board’s Engineer, inspected the Spit this morning, and on his return ex' pressed himself as very pleased with the manner in which the stone groyne stood up to the heavy seas which have lee 1 ; experienced during the last few days Th l groyne did excellent service, and practically no ■•ettleineat has’occurred. At a meeting of die British .Scientific Association, says a London cable, the most outstanding declaration was a statement by Professor Eddington, president of the physical section, that the sun i an maintain its output of heat for fifteen billion years. This estimate is bo.sed on the contention that sun and stars do not depend for their heat upon contraction, according to Helmholtz and Kelvin’s theories, but upon some vast reservoir of sub-atomic energy. Professor E ding-ton declared that the sun must date to a lime so remote that there is no limit to the estimates of the earth’s age. Hie M d.val Congress sub-committee apT.oi ; ■ t > investigate the white ocof tropica! Australia reports tv.at it s stride to find anything point’•ug t •■-.i-*. nee of inherent iusuporao.. -- s : n way of die y. rmai eii: -■•/.•auati-.-n of tropical Australia bv a h< alt ay indigenous white race. Construe u ve .-ir/g-..-t:ous offered are summed up as the regulation or prohibition of the sale of alcohol and better housing and clothing conditions and hygienic education ef tho p-vjple. Mr ircdenck T. Nicholson was taken ill at .vy-duey wiien returning from a holidav trip to New Zealand, and died suu-aeniy iron: u oii-rc.- iwiilur-j iusi after landing. lie was a prominent Transvaaher, and was a member of the .South Afri'-an Parliament until recently, when he re-igutd. Previously he was private secret try .>, I’r-. .-i-tieut Kruger and General Bottia. H,- was prominently connected v.ith ;I.jthua , .su2 and the Toting Men’s ' !.: Association, and was visiting Australasia to recuperate after strenuous war work.

New demands ha.-o been filed by the Wtliu-.-f-a Country District Grocery I !:;<>:•. which ’.vi 11 bo considered bv the ' mnmn Council m the various couur t ■ 1 - - early next month. The de- ■ ■ ■•-'ii- b <ie a 4-1-hour week, which u.;;,- elimination of the late night; l:. ■ i-r.oiKc u: the usual statutory hoi Mays ana Anaae and Peace Davs, as -•■ i.. -ns an annual holiday of twelve ■working d.-’v on ; a.. t: v. Toe wages deman -t-a at- £T. LOs ioi the first vear et survive, ineu-asiag to ft 2s Cd" for ti.e_ fifth v,-:.r. and tL-iv.rit;.,- per W--- !-;. 1.U.11'-n sittings will ft- held at Pal::.- i.-t-.n North on Septe-nr her 0, Wanganui <. H the 7th. Napier on the Oth, and Mastcrum on the 11th. Mr J. M. Deem, Government Supervisor, has b-.-n; spending a few days in the Fed ding dirt-ri-.-t giviim ir Ttriict-ion to farrm-rs on v.,r;-.;;s a cultural matters. During an address Air L'u-ti pointed out the value of mangolds to both the -he.-o ctairy rarm>-r, trie - r-. ,-i-j r i-vtisacL-r----ing tnat as tais? pianv L- .-ast-cn-f;i,-k; to very few -nsea.-es, and M yields sacn a large quantity p;r imrc few could afford to do without* it. Tin le d ru-etor ai > > -■* ■;e or tne c-empotl- - run by the various organisations in Taranaki and elsewhere, in which prizes, etc., are awarded for the lies*, paddock of farm roots, etc. The com petitions ace run os follows; -ay th<j topic is swedes. The catrant states ac the time of entry; Treatment of p-\ land, kind and weight- of manure per acre, seed per acre, etc. When judging time comes, the persons iuterc-sbd gather at a certain place and visit the farms in turn. They then gather firsthand knowledge of treatment of crop,; and results, and are thus able to reap the benefit of rho experience of others. Pants are given by the judges for c uddy, quantity and cultivation, and the winning farmer holds the challenge tup or other trophy for the year. This scheme has been found to be productive of much good—the average yield py-r acre in one Taranaki swede contest being raised from 22 tons to 37 tons, and there is a likelihood of atmilai competitions being instituted here.