LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Waikato Times, Volume 90, Issue 14066, 20 May 1919, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The whole seienco or life: Avoid sowing the seeds of regret.—Ruskin. The Hamilton High School commenced a three weeks' -term holiday yesterday. There arc on view in Messrs Booth and Chapman's shop vviadow a number of handsome trophies presented by Messrs Frank Winsloao and Co., .of Auckland, for competition ai the Waikato Winter Show. These include solid silver cup, rose bowl and entree dishes, to be won in the b-iinip and swede classes. The demand for a: •ommodation for Winter Show Week continues keen. One private hotel'-lcct -per endeavoured iosj\<?ure a iitfthe vicinity in which to put extrvi Deds.' It is said that the shortage'oTTirusee in Hamilton lias-im importuhT>sc?ariug upon the position, for most of the boardingliouses are so full' of residents unable to obtain a house that they have little accommodation for't.'ic casual visitor. Wo are now showing our winter stock of eider-down quilts. Strange to say, these goods are only a very little higher in price than last season, and have not risen in price nearly to the extent of other linos. The kapok quiJts "are 22s Cd, iSs Gd, aad 35s for double bed sitw. We have-u nice range of down quilts, starting from 55s to 105 a. all of which are in dainty and artistic colourings. For blanket 3, quiltvs, sheotip.g3 .i.-vd' all household drapery, there is no place like Hair's Drapery Stores-*

The engineer reported to yesterday's meeting of the Piako County Council that plans and specifications were be- ! ing propared for formation work on the Sanatorium road, through the Te Miro settlement. The length of the work was about 60 chain*. "It will give us indigestion yet," re- ■ marked Cr. Walters at the Piako County 'meeting yesterday. The rolling-stock question, which rivelted thoughts on •the .ever-increasing difficulty: of local , bodies' metal supply, was before the Council at the moment. The Piako County Council, at yesterday's meeting, unanimously agreed to increase the salary of its clerk by £SO per annum, bringing it to the figure of £350. Councillors recognised that with the increased work of the county, set alongside tlie advance in the cost of living, the increase was thoroughly warranted to a competent official. The Chairman of the Piako County Council stated yesterday as his opinion that local bodies should have their own insurance scheme to'cover employees. Unity among them in that department would be a sound policy to adopt. If one local body suffered more than the rest, the mutual support of all would be at hand. He thought that the Counties' Conference should give the matter consideration. A telegram from Palmerstoiv North states that the Flaxmill Owners' Association have given notice to the secretary of the Employees' Union that it is their intention to cancel the agreement under which they have been working, and which provides for a minimum wage of 14s a day. The Union -will hold a meeting on Saturday next to consider the situation which has arisen. The general rate for 1919-20 was struck by the Piako County Council yesterday over the different ridings, as follows:—Walton riding, 1918-19 3d, 1919-20 14d; Kiwitahi, ljd and ljd; Morrinsville, ljd and ljd; Waitoa, ljd and 1-S; Waihou, l}d and ljd; Te Aroha, lid and ljd; Manawaru, ljd and ljd. The Sydney Morning Herald states: "Peter Halfpenny, of Horton Park, Tibooburra, had been dingo hunting i'u the open country, and one of his horses perished. He utilised the carcase for bait, and secured 140 dingoes in four weeks, the best haul being 45 in one night. As the Milparinka Pastures Protection Board pay £1 per scalp, it will be seen that the dead horse realised £l4o—no doubt a record price for a carcase. Dingoes and foxes axe numerous around this district how and doing" a-, c ,lot of damage amongst sheep, which" are very weak," . When thO'-chalrman, at yesterday's meeting of the Piako County Council, was referring ,to an area of Waihou land, he mentioned that it had been set aside for a town belt. Cr. Thomas was not certain what was the real reason why the area had been so scheduled, but, he humorously commented, perhaps it might have been the mind of the original framers to erect statues of the councillors there. To this Cr. Walters wittily retorted that the order would be a pretty big one if the statues were to be built to life-size ; as the Council was at present constituted! Those who are conversant with the personnel of the Council to-day recognise that the Councillor's rejoinder can be substantiated. The Council thoroughly appreciated "the hit" which was passed off at its expense. . The method which is adopted by the authorities in returning members of the Expeditionary Force from abroad does not meet with, the approval of at least one father in the communjty. A deputatioriist before the Piako ..County Council yesterday, /who was accorded the financial assistance of the Council towards oertain drainage work in front of his farm, stated that the labour question was a difficulty not easily to be met job was to be completed* as he wished, before the wet weather set in.permanently. "If I had ray,boys back from the front I could do the work all right." He followed lip this observation by stating-that he did not quite see wisdom in the Government's methods. His boys had been away four years, yet there were men coming back who left on service long after his sons had departed. The Council could offer no palliative. The ratepayer remarked that his sons' absence was a handicap, but, he concluded in philosophic vein, "I am living in hopes." For-a long ti,ii.ie now the running, of. the. evening train to Frankton, which caters for gogds ; ,and passenger traffic from Thame?)--: and ltotorua branches has been anything but satisfactory so far as promptness, in accordance with scheduled running is concerned. There has been considerable comment and agitation among. Chambers of Commerce and other public institutions in regard to the frequent late running of the train to its destination, but whatever representations have been made to the department, practice proves that they have borne no beneficial result. Last night provided yet another illustration, when the train was over an hour late when it reached Hamilton. The d,elay always, or nearly always, occurs on the Rotorua branch. Last night's train from that direction reached the Junction after 7 p.m., or. anproximatety about the time Hamilton should have been reached. Meanwhile the Thames branch passengers were held at the junction. It is obvious that tho volume of traffic on the Rotorua section is beyond the provision of the service to cope with and keep to schedule time-table. Nevertheless, the department has a remedy against the holding-up of the usei's of its services, with the irritating frequency that obtains at Morrinsville. The Elstow Drainage Board members have felt for some time past that in , the matter of the disposal of the spoil from roadside drains their policy is not entirely in sympathy with that of the Piako County Council. The point at issue between the two bodies just now concerns drain-deepening operations on Te Kawana rood, near Waihou, tin? best of the spoil from which was placed on the roadside in the hope thai, the Council would utilise it for road improvements, for which the spoil was particularly adaptable. Apparently the spoil had been thrown too far on to the roadway, as the Council sought to have it removed, and it was placed on adjoining land, where it was unwelcome. When these facts were made known to the County at its meeting yesterday it was stated that intimation from drainage boards' officials %vos expected when situations arose where suitable spoil was available and it was wished to have, it utilised from roadside drains. If not, it was held, the Council would be perfectly justified in refusing. permission for the' boards to put j tho. spoil''oW'tho county ro'tt'ds.- ''•' ' The'present week will be an -intorcstm<f+>ne for the' ladies of--Hamilton, for-: the • opportunity '■ of - saving many ■ pounds: O" your hoUsC' furnishings is not nnTovery-day ' occurrence. Commencing on Monc|ay, May 19I!k and continuing unt'l Saturday, the 24th inst., Messrs Hooker and Kingston, l,td.. are holding a big "Furnishinf.;; Week." All prices in these goods are substantially reduced. On sheetings ! you will bo saving a clear shilling a vard. Marcelln (Wilts for double beds are quoted at 25s 9d for 2b 9d. Hor- I rockses' calicoes, usually 2s 3d, for 18s ! fid dozen: Forfar tea towelling, extra wide. 2s Sd for Is G-id; blankets for double beds, 4os. lor 39s lid; and our discount "!' 3d bark in 5s allowed -is • usual. Make your purchases during "Furnishing Week" at Hooker and , Kingston's'. You'll lie surprised bow i far your money goes.* i

j The annual "meeting of t]je Waikatp;. • Prohibition League took plate in HamI ilton last night, whan arAingeinenfcs I were made for the forthcofiiing- eani^ paign in connection with t the next poll. Advices received from Calcutta report a rise of 2 l-32d in the rupee rate of exchange, duo to the increased price of silver. .-This will make the rupee worth ds 8 Jd. In New Zealand the number of volunteers who went into camp during the waif,was 83,024. In addition there were 720 volunteers waiting to be l taken into camp when the armistice was signed, so that the total number of fit volunteers was 83,744. At yesterday's meeting the engineer told Piako County Council members that long delays were at times experienced in the metal supplies coming to hand. The cause was, in cases, attributable to the railway service, and he mentioned that it had come to his knowledge that metal trucks had been held up at Frankton, in one particular instance, as long as six days. An important decision concerning the offence of bigamy was made at the Supreme Court, Wellington, when the Chief Justice, following a rGcent decision of the Court of Appeal that section 224 of the Crimes Act dealing with _the offence is ultra vires, quashed an indictment of bigamy on the ground that it could not now be held to be good. A series of meetings are advertised in this issue in connection with the Sudan United Mission. Mr D. N. MacDiarmid, formerly Australian organiser for the Mission, and who has since been with the troops in Egypt in the capacity of Field Secretary to the Y.M.C.A., will deliver an address at each meeting, the first of which will be held in the Baptist, Church, Hamilton, to-mofrow night. Thomas William Addison, a farmer near Waitetuna, was charged at the Police Court, •Hamilton, this morning before Messrs Hutson and Gosling, J's.P., with committing incest with his two daughters, aged 14 and 12 years respectively. He was represented by Mr C. L. Mac Diarmid, and DetectiveSergeant Cooney appeared for the, police. The case was heard with closed doors. Accused was committed for trial at the Supreme Court sittings in Hamilton in June. Bail was refused. The Piako County Council yesterday had a busy time with deputations, some seven or eight appearing, i These deliberations cut very deeply into the time available for ordinary business. Quite a number were in : respect to drainage matters, which prompted Cr.'Fitzgerald to enquire if the Council had transformed .itself ; into a drainage board. The breaking 0 f the. drought and the probability of a permanent sot in of wet weather no doubt ws the primary cause for settlers rousing themselves with the object of having water blockages minimised as much as possible to meet winter requirements. The secretary of • the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce (Mr Nelson) has received several replies to the circular sent out to local bodies, asking them to appoint delegates.to the conference to. be held in Hamilton with the object of setting up a 'HydroElectric Power Board for the Waikato. The Cambridge Borough Council notified that its representatives would be Messrs C. H. Bycroft and H. Roche, C.E., and the Waitomo County Council wrote that it was sending Cr. F. Potts, of Pirongia. The Te Awamutu Electric Power Committee promised to ; be represented, and the Ohaupo Town '. vßoard Wrote that it had joined the Te Awamufeu Committee. ' , Messrs Moore-Jones Bcos., the wellknown and long-established firm of land agents, Auckland, have opened » branch in Hamilton, and have secured central offices-adjacent to Hannah's Boot Emporium, -in Victoria Street. The branch: is under the management of Mr H. Travers Twiss, who for seven. - years occupied the important..position of Crown Lands Ranger in Taranaki, and for the last two years has acted as ranger for the Public Trust'Office in. the Auckland province. He thus has had wide experience of land values, and this he is prepared to .place at the service of clients of the firm, the scope of whose business extends throughout the Dominion. Their announcement appears on page 2. In March last, .the National War Funds Council' decided .to grant our- • saries to"those members of the forces who, having matriculated, had by reason of their overseas war service, been compelled to relinquish their studies Tlie allotment of these bursaries was. governed "by the'financial position of the applicants and.as the,number of bursaries to.be granted was limited by funds at the disposal of the Council, the greatest-care has been necessary in selecting the most necessitous cases, Up to the present 193 applications have been received, and of these 51 have been granted, the bursaries amounting to £2200 per annum. The maximum amount granted in any case was £SO per annum, but in many cases where the applicants were living at home, or were earning an average in«omc, smaller amounts were allotted, the average amount working out at £43 per head. Many of the applicants were in receipt of war pensions, but in no case had' such pension been taken into consideration in arriving at the financial position of the applicant. Regarding the 1913 applications received to May 15, the position was as follows: —Bursaries allotted, 51; applications declined, 56; applications deferred, 23; applications withdrawn, '>; applications under action, 57. The expenditure of.moneys on peace memorials by local bodies was referred to by the Hon. G. W. ftuss'*H in Wellington. "The question has been raised," said the .Minister, "as to the erection of memorials of peace, and the matter has been considered with a view to the issuing of a circular to local bodies as to their powers. It may be stated that local bodies, especially borough councils, have already ' wide powers regarding the expenditure of moneys on such" objects as baths, pleasure grounds, gardens, libraries, museums, and so on. There does not appear to be any power under the law for the expenditure of money on statues, fountains, or things of this kind. Consequently it appears desirable that the operation of the law should be widened, and the Government proposes to bring down legislation enabling local bodies to expend moneys for any purpose connected with the celebrations of peace, and on war memorials, subject to the proviso that no moneys required by.law;to bo. used for a specific purpose shall be -used for these other purposes. Authority will also be given to local, bodies, to horrow money for ■ the erection :of. memorials, subject in .every case..Co'a- poll of the ratepayers. Amongst the 'things that are recommended as peace memorials are town halls, libraries, swimming baths, fountains, avenues of trees, band rotundas, parks, recreation grounds, and statue's.' Legislation will be provided to enable expenditure to be made for sucii' purposes." ■ '.„.. The picnic—green, sw«et-smellin<T grass under foot and Ashady -'trees' . overhead. You lie at case or wander I ore- the swarf'. Lwhch-bime —overy\ic(\r hungry—frrsb lux-md -T-ntl bntterr r-d a newl"-oi>ene<.! tin of de'ici>VtJS C.M.C. Sheer. Tories. C.M.C. Tongues have Hi,, rich, tasty flavour tlmt appeals to pie.nicfcprs—they're p-ood, and the reduced price makes I them most economical. 7