GENERAL NEWS.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16168, 23 March 1918, Page 8

GENERAL NEWS.

The auction announcements of E. ILatson and Co., Lavrrie and Dalton, Tonks, Norton and Co., Dalgetv ancl Co., Harris Bros., Charles Clark, Claridge and Smith, National Mortgage and Agency Co., and W. E. Simes and Co. will be found on page 15 of this issue. The formal opening of St. Andrew's Beys' College will take placo at Strowan this afternoon. The Christchurch Voice Choir will open the season in the Choral Hall with two concerts —on April 25tli and "7th. Subscribers may reserve teats, \ritliont ?ee. for either night.

With the exception of the Waimakariri, which was clear, all the Canterbury rivers were reported dirty yesterdny. "\\"e have received £5 for the lied Trinngle Fund from Mr Edward Speecnlv, of Timaru. The amount has !>>en forwarded to the secretary of teChristchurch fund. V The Education D-epartment has written to the Canterbury Education Board stating that a grant ha.s been made towards the cost of rebuilding the Sydenham school. The Board hopes to be able to put tho work in hand shortly. During Easter week the eighth annual conference of the New Zealand Poultry Association will be held at Wellington. Amongst matters to be considered are importation of Asiatic eggs, tax on poultry keepers, stamping cool store or chilled eggs, State po.utrv farms' experimental work, and Government controlled egg-laying competitions. For some considerable time past, there has been a great deal of dissatisfaction concerning the mufti allowance of oOs granted to discharged soldiers. At Thursday's meeting of the Wellington War Relief Association it was indicated bv the chairman (Mr L. O. H. Tripp) that the matter was going to be reconsidered, and the amount probably increased to £o. The general impression at the mooting was that the old allowance of 30s was an absurd one. The \ortii Canterbury grocers' agreement, which the Arbitration Court ha« .just dccided to convert into an award, comes into operation cu Monday next. Tho only alterations made on the old award are: Assistants and drivers over 22 years of age, ».-e to receive £3 (instead of £2 17s 6d) per week, and a war bonus of 10 >>er cent, is to bo paid to all workers coming within the scope of the award in jrciclition to the minimum rates provided for in the award. All the other conditions specified in the old awarl

continue. Dr. C. Coleridge Farr, Professor of Physics at Canterbury College, and Mr H. F. Skcy, officer in charge of the Magnetic Observatory in tho Botanic GardcnSj are working out results of magnetic observations taken in the Antarctic by Sir Douglas Mawson's expedition some years ago. Complicated calculations have to be made, and it will be a fairly long time before the work is completed. A party of eight or nine lady students at Canterbury College are engaged on the arithmetical and mathematical part of the work in their spare time. The results, as they are worked out. are being sent to Dr. C. Chree, Superintendent of Kew Observatory, England. According to a Press Association telegram from Diinedin, a deputation from the Licensed Victuallers' Association yesterday, waited on the Hon. T. M. Wilford, as Minister of Justice in charge of tho Magistrates, complaining of remarks alleged to have been made by Mr J. S. Evans, S.M.. while acting as chairman of the Canterbury Military Service Board. Mr Evans -was reported to havo said: "We look upon hotelkeepers not only as non-essential, but as more or less an evil." The deputation asked the Minister whether he would make enquiry and ascertain if Mr Evans had been correctly reported. Tho Minister said he would submit their representations to the Magistrate for his remarks, and communicate with the deputation later.

A correspondent of the "Manawatu Daily Times," writing on Mr Webb's case, says he ascertained during a visit to Tarnnaki that the contention that no one else could take the place of nn elected M.P. has boon disproved to tho complete satisfaction of a constituency up that way. A member of Parliament is now in the fighting-line, ancj during his absence his wife has been very activo in communicating with various departments on behalf of some of her husband's constituents. Tho effect, so it is said, is magical. In that district nowadays one never hears that "the matter will be kept steadily in view." On the contrary, a most commendable promptitude is displayed by tho authorities. Moral: In some instances a married M.P. is worth, two bachelor ones.

A protest was made by Mr C. S. Thomas in the Magistrate's Court yesterday against the police delaying taking action for three months against motorists charged with exceeding tiio speed limit. It was not fair, he said. The police took their notes and secured their witnesses at the time of tho alleged offence, whereas the person, charged might use the same road day after day and then when he was haled before the Court three months later all ho could say was that ho did not remember and, of course, there was only one result. In England provision was made for immediately informing an accused person that he was to be charged. The Magistrate (Mr T. A. B. Bailey, S.M.) agreed that throe months' delay was far too excessive. Senior-Sergeant Cumming stated that on the day in question there had been twenty cases of excessive speed, and the practice had been to issue no summonses uutil all tne cases on the file had been traced. In some cases there had been four or five changes of ownership which had not been registered, and this all meant delay. However, a new system tad been introduced, and the trouble would not occur in future.

As a result of a report by Superintendent Warner, of the City Fire Brigade, the town clerk of Christchurcli on February Bth last notified the Nevr Oolosseum Co., Ltd., proprietors of Everybody's Theatre, that the By-laws Committeo of the City Council could not issue a license tor Everybody's Theatre until certain structural alterations were effected. From this decision the company appealed, and the appeal was heard yesterdav afternoon by Mr T. A. B. Bailey, S.M. Mr S. G. Raymond, K.C., appeared for the appellant company and Mr Geo. Harper for tho Christcnurch Fire Board, whilst Mr H. R. Smith, town clerk, represented the Christclmrch City Council. Evidence was given for anpellants by Leslie Hardie and Thos. G. Blakcly, City Council inspectors, and by Edward H. Engarchitect, that the structural alterations suggested were not neccssary. Evidence to the contrary was given Ijy Superintendent Warner and by Thomas T. Hugo, Government Fire inspector. His Worship allowed tho appeal. Tho superintendent, he said, was wrong in his interpretation ol'_ magisterial remarks made in a previous cas?. He (Mr Bailpy) had never made any suggestion at all. Superintendent Warner had no right to take them as a recommendation at any time. The Otago Military Service Board conducted a sitting under unusual circumstances at Ranfurlv on Wednesday (says the "Otago Daily Times"). la the past it has been the custom of die Board to sit at Ranfurly in the afternoon, and then by courtesy of one oF its members to leave by motor-ear spend the night at a private residencp' and be ready for the Alexandra sitting on the following day. Owing to tho heavy rani and the consequent unsatisfactory condition of the roads and creeks, the members of the Board r';d not consider it wise to put their trust in motor transit, and in order to n:eec the convenience of the appellants t'liev decicVd upon the only possible alterna"tiva of holding the sitting on the rnilv.?.v station during the period u.sup'liv devoted to lunch. A telegram ;vas forthwith despatched to the local constable from a wayside station, and immediately on the arrival of the train at Ranfurlv the five appellants—fortunate',*; theit number was small—were ushered into a first-class smoking carriage, where the iustiiy-iniprovised sitting was held. Just before the departure of the train a raid that had been made on a nearby restaurant yielded a large iug of coffee and a ciuaniity of bread and biscuits, and on these the members of tho Board dined as thev continued their journey to AleAancha, one member being heard to munnur something about "the nob'tc army of martyrs." '

The railway arrangements for the Easter holidays are advertised on page 14. Fishing in the Rangitata river one day this week, Mr Arthur Hope caught a Very line 16-pound salmon. Bach's Passion music will be heard in the Christchurch Cathedral on \\ ednesday next, and on Good Friday, at 8 p.m. The collections will bo devoted to the St. Saviour's Orphanage Fund. The recent heavy gales and tides had serious results at Taylor's Mistake, a resort which is becoming more and popular with week-enders. Over lir.K a dozen or the huts have been completely washed away, no sign of them lie- | ing ieft, while others m atl d near thi'J Mistake have been badly damaged. All kinds of debris, including timber, .n't furnishings, clothing, etc., is strewn all over tl:c: beach.

Tho '.Music:;! Society has completed satisfactory arrangements for the commencement of its work for the season. The duties of honorary secretary are being undertaken by Mrs W. A\ilson, with the assistance of Miss ShirtclifTe. Coleridge Taylor's popular cantata. "A Tale of Old Japan," for soli, chorus, and orchestra, the poem by Alfred No yes, which is new to Christchurch .audiences, will be put into practice nest Tuesday for tho first coneort. T>r. Bradshaw, the conductor, is prepared to receive new members for tho chorus, tenors and hisses being specially needed. A carnival will he held in the Somerfield street school grounds, Spreydon, this atteniron, commencing at 1 o'clock. The proceeds will be devote:! to the Lady Liverpool Fund. Sweets, produce, woodwork, and flower stalls will bo oil the grounds, and for the children there will be swimming races, running races, sewing, knitting, and choking competitions. There will also be cooking eompetit'ons for women. One of the items on the programme is a tug-of-war, Snreydon Borough Council v. the world. All cooking exhibits must be at the Somerfield street school not later than 10.15 a.m. •V case which is exciting general interest amongss coal-miners will he heard at Kaitangata next month. A levy has been decided upon bv !ho New Zealand Coal-miners' Federation for the purpose of raising a fund to assist the employees of any of the mining unions affiliated to the Federation who may be injured while following xhei- occupation to obtain compensation, etc , from iho owners. The Federation has instructed the Kaitnngata Union, amongst others, to eo!Icct this levy, but some of the miners employed there decline to pay it. The question is whether the law can he invoked to conipcl the objectors to meet the levy.

Many business men who leave it until the last minute to dash out and board their homeward tram as it moves out a few minutes after noon -were astonished to find themselves apparently earlier than usual yesterday, but those who took their time by'the' Post Office clock and considered that their trams hncl not yet arrived, were equally astonished at the time they had to wait. The explanation was that the clock bad succumbed to its labours at 4 minutes after noon, and stopped. It was not long before it was in action again, but for some time it was some minutes behind standard time, a defect which was, however, rectified before the afternoon was far advanced.

In advocating the necessity for builders' and contractors' labourers receiving an additional ]0 per cent, war bonus before the Court of Arbitration yesterday. Mr E. J. Howard stated that on Thursday oven ins; be wp.s one of n committee who granted a bonus of £70 to a builder who had just completed a contract. Mr J. H. Maynard, iof erring to tlvs statement, s-iid that the bonus was paid out of public money, and, being public monev, the granting of the bonus was easily done. But a builder who was doing a bier contract for an ordinary employer had a very poor chanco of getting an extra bonus to pay any increased cost nf labour and so forth. His Honour Mr Justice Stringer remarked that in the instance cited by Mr Howard tho_ bonus might have been in rosnect of increased tost of material, and not of labour.

Want a Truss? Let Loasby ft yon. Large assortment just landed. Why suffer? Come and "ask Loasby about it." Advice and medicine, Us 6d; children, 2s. 1

Manning and Co., Grocers, 644 Colombo street, have decided to 4,ive up the grocery part of their business, and advertise in this issue a list of goods at wholesale prices. Sale commences on Monday, March 25th. 4

Messrs Fleming and Co. (Ltd) whoso oatmeal and cereal foods -lii'.s at Gore were seriously damaged by fire a week ago ; have purchased the well-known McGill's Mills at Miltoo, and will commence the manufacture of their oaten foods, Creamoata, Flaked Oats, and Special Grade Oatmeals, as soon as the required macliinerv can be transferred from the Gore Mills, 'lne Milton Mills were erected by the late Mr Peter McGill on particularly substantial lines, and they contain some of the finest machinery in Australia for the primary treatment of the raw oats used in the manufacture of Messrs Fleming and Co.'s special foods. The company is to bo congratulated on its energy and enterprise in noquiring so fine a plant in these days, when the problem of securing heavy machinery is so serious. G

When you send a soldier a "Steffano Webb" portrait you are suro to please him, for it will be the best you cau obtain 252 High street. Tel. 1959. 1 Eye Strain.—Persistent headaches are in most cases the result of muscular eyo strain. Have your eyesight scientifically tested by Walter J. Watson, D.B.O.A.London, of Watson's "''Jewellers" Limited. Glasses are only recommended when_ absolutely necessary, and are prepared in neat and becoming rimless desigus. (j The ''Sturgis" Collapsible Push-car embodies all the latest features in baby carriages. Faces mothor or father. Grey. Tan, or Black colours. Prices from £5 15s. Try "Draytons," 7G5 Co. lombo street. 6 Bradbury's Glorious Sweet Peas. New seeds now ready. Plant now .to secure strong, long-fiowering olants in the spring. A great variety in 3d and 6d packets. Catalogues free. Hastie. Bull and Pickering, Cashel street, sole agents. q General Carrying of all .sorts undertaken by J. M. Heywood and Co., Ltd. Their plant of horses and vehicles is | one of the largest in Now Zealand. 6 j Akaroa lias tho most perfect climate to bo found. A holiday there will convince you. The seasido without tho I noisy breakers. Fares from Christchurch, 2os return. 2 | Chribtchurch ladies are greatly pleased with tho quality of "No Rubbing" 1 .vimdry help, "Golden Rule" soap, "Golden Rule'' candles. Wardell Bros, and Co.

| FOR SALE—BUICK SIX-CYLINDER, | FIVE-SEATER. PRICE £350 NET CASH. Yve have for immediate sale a Buick five-sea ter (lUlii mode!). Ihis car is in exceptionally good order, having recently been overhauled and repainted. Complete, with electric lamps, horn, and self-starter. Price for i quick sale £3co. Adams. Ltd. 21<J I luain street. ' (j