LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2273, 6 October 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

By proclamation in a Gazette Extraordinary published last night, bank notes are declared to be legal tender until January, 7, 1915. This is, of merely an extension of the proclamation which expires on October 7.

A confidence trick at P-olmerston North over a £5 note got Charles Anderson three mnoths' imprisonment at the Palmerston Police Court yesterday, and his accomplice, Charles Good, oiio month's probation on condition that he refunded the £5. The victim in tho case was W. H. Death, who gave Good a £s'note to change prior to buying a railway ticket for Marton. Good vanished with the note, and was Inter arrested with' Anderson. Both had previous convictions.—Palmerston correspondent. ' At the meeting of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce yesterday, Mr. J. G. Harkness made mention "of a peculiar method which, ho states, is adopted by the Customs Department in entering up exports entries. He said that ho understood the Customs Department had a special waj ; of arranging special districts. The exports from special districts were credited to a certain port, irrespective of whether they Vent from that port or not. As an instance ho said that Wangamii got tho credit for exports from areas down to Palmerston North, whereas it was a well-known fact that the produce of the whole of the Manawatu was shipped from Wellington. The secretary was instructed to inquire into the matter. The Government decided at the last mooting of Cabinet to authorise the erection, of ten additional workers' dwellings in Wellington. This brings the total authorised this year in Wellington up to thirty. Tho Prime Minister informed a reporter last night that ono object of the authorisation was to give work to carpenters, many of whom are now out or employment. A total amount of £17 Is. has been received at this office from tho employcos of tho Wellington Gas Company's Miramar works, to bo distributed as follows":—War Fund, £5 19s. 6d.; Belgian Relief Fund, £1 os. 9d.; Mayor's Distress Fund, £2 19s. 3d.; and the fund for the poor of Groat Britain and Ireland and Belgium, £6 16s. Gd. We kavo had pleasure in handing' the respwtivo tuuounts to the authorised oommittees, ' ,-. ' : ..■•

Appearing as counsel for an objector to a State valuation of his property, Mr. T. Neave submitted to the Assessment Court yesterday that buildings should be valued by architects —men who could put a price upon every portion of the fabric. Subsequently, when the City Valuer (Mr. James Ameii) was giving evidence, Mr. M. Myers (counsel for the Valuation Department) asked a few questions on this point. Mr. Myor's: "Is it not a fact that under the bylaws a permit has to bo obtained before a building is erected, and that the cpntract price has to be stated?" Mr. Ames: "It is." Mr. Myers: "And you ,hsive an opportunity of seeing whether the contract price is a fair one?" Mr. Ames: "Yes." Mr. Myers: "So that when you come to make a revaluation you have before you not only the previous valuation, but the whole of the corporation records?" Mr. Aires: "That is tho position."

Mrs. J. Trine, who returned .from Lcudon yesterday, says that Mrs. W. H. Levin, formerly of. Wellington, has given up Nettey Park, "her beautiful home in Surrey, to be used as a military hospital. Mrs. Tripe commends tho splendid work that is beine done by tho English women during tho present crisis. A-letter from the Invercargill Chamber of .Commerce was read at yesterday's meeting of tlie Wellington Chamber, enclosing a circular sent to the Prime Minister, in which attention was drawn to prohibitive war risks, arid increases jji ordinary insurance. The Wellington Chamber decided to co-oper-ate with the Invercargill Chamber in any way to prevent excessive rates. At the same tune the secretary was instructed to write pointing.out that the matter was now before a Parliamentary Committee. The fire brigade received a call at about 6 p.m. yesterday to suppress a gorse fire. . A special. general order just issued by tho Defence Department sets out the composition of the Expeditionary Force to Samoa, and the main Expeditionary Force for service abroad. The publication is a useful record. A northern engineering firm strike an optimistic note .in a circular letter to their clients. They say, inter alia: "There is no reason why business should not go on as usual. Certainly, jf any diise should be optimistic it is the farming community, for the future hold's out very bright prospects_ for the men on the land. The Dominion as a food-producing country has absolutely nothing to fear, and as our trade routes are open there is no excuse for any serious dislocation of business. Optimism is 'catching.' If you can affect your customers to look on the brightr— and riglit—side of things, you will get your orders as usual. We ourselves are so confident regarding' the future that we are keeping our full staff employed, and look forward to keeping all hands busy supplying orders."

The problem of the deserted wife is caueiiig the Auckland Charitable Aid Board just now to think over the defects of legislation in this respect, says the "Herald." The army of wivea seeking fugitive husbands is aesuming such alarming proportions that recently there have been exceptional calls u]x>u the resources of the Charitable Aid Committee by those unfortunate womon who have been left by their callous husbands -with the burden of a family upon their hands. Recently there were no fewer than seven such applications before the committee, which felt so strongly on the subject that it passed a resolution recommending the boa'rd to draw the attention of the Government to the increasing number of cases of wife desertion, and urging it to instruct the police to bring the deserters back. That committee's resolution further expressed the opinion that the, pres.ejn£. s.vs.tenuof/rdemanding a guarantee' 3f 'expnses'before taking steps to bring the runaways back was a. premium upon this form of crime. .