LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 211, 25 May 1918, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

I The roadway in front of the Xiovernl ment Buildings was flooded' during yqs-. I lerday's heavy rain. Water simply, p'uur- ! Ed in a torrent down Boulcott Street i and Upper Willis Street, and some wood:en blocks on the western side of "Willis Street, just below the intersection of Manners and Boulcott Streets, were dieplaced, and .washed across the thoroughfare. As a result of the lightning during the thunderstorm in the morning, ] many 'telephones were disconnected, but I steps ivero immediately taken by the. J Department to effect repairs. '~ ■/,' i An important judgment wns delivered i by Mr. 'Barton, S.AI., yesterday, says a ■ Press Association telegram from Gis- ! borne, in the case of James Perry, .-■ of ! Uisborne (Mr.' Uurnard) v. Lazarus Wolfe i Bixlkind, of Ckristchurcli, • moneylender : (Mr. Colcman). Plaintiff borrowed a sum of .£lO from defendant, and had rnnaid on account of the said loan and interest .£ls Gs. lid., and according to ! defendant's deiiiands was still liable for I n further sum of about 4M-. Plaintiff [.claimed n refund of interest, which ho ! claimed was excessive, and also that.the I 'security, given to defendant bo set aside. I After reviewing the law and this circuiu- ! stances of the case, His Worship" said ho J had come (6 the conplusion t:lu\t thirty , per cent, was a .reasonable rate | est, and found that defendant was'liableI to refund plaintiff JX 9s. Bd., for which ' amount judgment was entered with costs. I His Worship nlso.ordeied that the securi ily given by plaintiff to defendant be ■ set aside. On the application of dc- • i'cndanl's counsel, who, said an importi ant principle was involved, and other leases were.likely to follow on His Wor- , ship's judgment,' leavo to appeal was ! granted. ' ! The high wind which prevailed in Wellington yesterday afternoon was responsible for an, accident in the harbour. .Shortly ucl'oru 5 o'clock, a hulk-keeper named Whitsey put out iu a dinghy'.from tlie-Tiiorudou Esplanade for the Black-, ball Coal Company's hulk Blackwall, anchored off Xaiwarra, and when about 300 yards from'the shore his boat was swamped during a heavy, squall. The craft was almost completely .submerged, l)iit Whitsey managed to keep afloat until another hulk-keeper named Adderley, belonging to the. hulk Arawata, assisted' by a man named. Nichol,' .went out and rescued him from his perilous predicament. Pilot Spence, on the Wellington Harbour' Board's staff, and a motorboat under Captain' Grey, also set out to render aid, but their services were not required. Whitsey was little the worse for his experience. ' A by-election was held yesterday, says a Press Association telegram from Westport to fill the vacancy in the Borougli Council caused by the .resignation of Mr. J. W. Fair, who goes into camp. Tht> weather wns boisterous, and the polling small. The result is:—K. Wicks,. 321); W. J. Wilson, 232; T. Samuel, SG. The successful candidate was the nominee, of the Labour representation people.

Owing to the continuation of the war there was no conference culled by the New Zealand Acclinintisiiti'on Association last , year, and as Parliament''docs not meet until October this year if is not probable that there will bo a conference this year.

The Asliburton "Guardian" states Hint tho local Second Division League executive is now receiving support lroiii on unexJK'clcd quarter in regard to obtain, ing information for the Appeal Board upon die men who, it is alleged, should b<l in camp. Heads of scvuriil families; wlio ure well represented with sons in the firing line have taken tho matter up, and are collecting informal ion to send in private reports, to-the authorl.ties.in regard to alleged wheat-growers in their respective districts, and about men who: have obtained exemptions for spociilo purposes, but arc making* Very poor use of tlieir time in helping-.to keep up the production of the country,' •

I Appiicalions arc still being made to (ho Uliour Department from Unauts who '•'insider that they are entitled to relief under the. rent restriction provisions of the War legislation Act, but the number or applications lias been lees' than was expected, and it has lately slimvn » tendency ti decline. TJp.fo March 31 last the number of inquiries, personal and by letter, was 20(1, and arising out nt the inquiries 105 applications were ac'Uiilly proceeded with. Of these 27 were settled favourably to the applicants without reference .to the Court; 43 applicants ''ore advised I hat they had no cause nt" action ; and 21 applications were filed in tho Court. Of these cases in which actual reference was made to the Court, 7 were settled out of Court by a reduction of rent,' 3 were withnrawirowingto the tenants leaving the houses before the application was heard, I) were settled in favour of the landlord, ami 5 in favour of the tenant. This left 8 cases under consideration at the end of the year. During Aprii there were 8 applications, of which i were settled in favour of the tenants, and in the remaining 4 the tenants were advised that they had no cause of action. This month there have been only three applications!

Autesian water agrees with trout. Re-

porting to tlie Wellington Acclimatisation Society, the Palmw-ston, No-rlh subcommittee said:—"As an experiment, a number of rainbow yearlings were nlaced in an artificial lako on Mr, Tanner's property at Kareie, the, water'supply being drawn from three artesian wells. The fish bave done exceedingly well and some splendid fish are to be seen in this lake. These fish were liberated about two years ayo." At tho Police Court yesterday, says a Press Association telegram from Auckland, Henry Edgar Forgie was lined .£1(10 for betting at the Auckland trotting meeting on April 13. - An Ashburton resident was greatly surprised on' Tuesday, by receiving a cable message from England purporting to be signed by his sou. The message contained the following words:—"Well, cabk- six pounds." 'Iho sou referred to was invalided home some sis months ago."

Referring to poaching, the annual report of the Wellington. Acclimatisation bociety says:—"Only six convictions wero obtained during the ,year, but this is not due to the lack of ranging; on the contrary, the indefatigable efforts of the rangers, ably backed up by several gentlemen acting as honorary, rangers, have had two good results. -They have induced many persons to take out licenses and have convinced others that their attention should be turned- to eafer pursuits. Of course, there will always be cases of poaching in out of the way parts, by groups of week-enders and others, who travel loiir distances by motor-car, commit breaches of the Acts and return undetected; but on the whole, a distinctly more sportsmanlike- feeling prevails in the Wellington Society's district."

Tho secretary of the Second Division League; Mr. C. 11. Chapman, writes replying lo a letter published in our issue of.- May SO over the signature "T. J. Stanley, Upturned Soldier." Mr. Chapman's letter, which ho says is based ou information supplied to the league "by ono who claims to know him,", .challenges. Mr. Stanley's criticism on the ground that he has never had to face'the probli'ins which the'league is grappling with. 'In support of this contention Mr. Chapman quotes'- his anonymous informant concerning Mr. Stanley , !; family affairs, the position alleged being that Mr. Stanley, though he had several children when he and his eldest son enlisted, yet had to provide for the -maintenance of only ono of the, children. We havb not been ablo tn communicate wjth Mr. Stanley, and do not pretend to know ■ whether the league secretary's information is correct or. not. But in our opinion, even if the facts are as alleged,-it is Mr. Stanley and not tho leagno who appears to advantage in the matter... On,tho league's own showing Mr. Stanley and his son. enlisted voluntarily and served* their country, without bargaining p'ver' the terms;.and Mr. Stanley had at leist ono child to support when he offered his services. Mr. Chapman says Mr.-Stanley,.a. returned soldier, '"shows little appreciation of good taste" to attack the league. It seems to us the, boot is on the other H- j ■. - - • ..: ■ The Primate of New Zealand 'lias nr.ranged that Sunday (May 2G) will lie observed as a day :of special intercession in most of tlhj Anglican churches of 'New Zealand for the success, of the British and Allied forces in the coming battle; on the Western front;-' There will be special, intercession's in".the churches- in I lie Wellington diocese, and it'is anticipated that large congregations will meet to take part in these eervices. ~

"Opossums are increasing steadily in the Tararuas, at Pnrapnraumn, Raugiiikei, Wainui, and other places, but as ■they are absolutely protected in the Wellington district,. no trapping season can ho opened until an amendment of the Act, enabling differentiation to bo made, has been sanctioned by Parliament."— Extract from > the annual report of the Wellington Acclimatisation Society.

Referring, to the breeding of deer at Wellington Acclimatisation Deer Park, the society's annual report says tunately tho last remaining stag imported from Mr. C. Lucas's celebrated Warnham Court herd, in attempting to jump out of the deer yards, ruptured a bloodvessel and died almost at once. Although a- savage animal and a source of constant tiouble, it was a splendid stud stag, and its death is a loss.- The three-year-old stag purchased from tho Otago herd never recovered from the journey • up from the south, and was destroyed. A post-mortem disclosed a fractured spinal J column and two dislocated ribs. The koiily stag.with the herd-is a two-year-old I which came from the forest, reserve. Another stag is required, but the Otago Society cannot supply anything other than a ISI7 calf. The Tourist Department; generously offered to to the society two stag calves from the Werribec Park herd, Victoria, but tho council was unabio to accept the gift, as it was thought to be n mistaken policy to cross the Warnham Court strain, which has been freely used for many years, with deer from Australia. When Uic times again become normal somo stags should be imported from tho herd at Warnham Court, England."

The attention of secretaries to hospital boards is (says the official "Public Health Journal") called to.the fact that Section 8 of the Amendment Act of 1913 enacts that before- making an apportionment of'estimated expenditure among the contributory local authorities, pursuant to Section -.11 of the principal Act, tho board shall give each contributory local authority no less than .fourteen days' notice of its estimates of \ apportionment. Tho attention of secretaries is called to the request that has been made that tho proposed cstimatea'shall be submitted to tho Minister for, his .approval before tho levies i.ro made. This course does not seem to have been followed, and in somo cases tho levies havo already been mado before the Minister has been notified. .•; The gaiuo which may be taken under license from May 1 to July 31 is (says the annuiil report of tho Wellington Acclimatisation Society) as follows:—Hares, cock pheasants, Australian and Californiun quail. Native game consists of grey ducks, teal ducks, and black swans. Paradise ducks; native pigeons and pukeko are again protected. Native 'pigeons are us usual absolutely protected throughout, tho Dominion, and a heavy penalty is imposed, in the ovont of a conviction,, on a charge of taking these birds. The following subscriptions and donations have been received during April by the 'Wellington Returned Soldiers' Clubhouse Society.—Wellington Amateur Swimming Club (proceeds of car? •nival), i'M 7s. Kkl.j Messrs. Smith-and Smith, .CI; Mrs. Seville, .£3; Mrs. Temple Perkins, '.£1; Messrs. Bell, Gully, llcll, and-Myers, <E,j; Bristol Piano Co., £\; S.D., per Henry Hall, £2; Sir Robert Stout, ,£2 25.; Mr. M'Kay, 55.; Mr. n. li, Wallace, JCI; Mr. Grant, ,C 1; Dr. Hiddell, £5.