LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 21, 19 October 1918, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Registration' of code addresses for cablo messages is suspended until.further notice The suspension does not apply to addresses registered prior- to July 1, 1914, which, may be used on. the published conditions. ■ After one of the windiest, Vettest, and certainly the coldest winters , that anyone cares to. remember, Wellington is being inflicted with the most changeable and hoisterous spring on. record. For. the past month the weather, which should on the iivei-age be warm and bright., has been anything but that. There lias been a succession of violent north-westerly gales,'broken'; only by an occasional fine dny or perbaps a cold snap from the south. Spring is backward in the Wellington.district, -and- the fact is likely to affect the wool season to somo extent. In connection-with the City Council's .approval-of: the plans of:the General Manager of Railways-(Mr. E. H. Hiley) for' the reclamation of a considerable strip of Kaiwarra Bight for railway works extension and further port facilities, the Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke) stated yesterday that the only difference of opinion among councillors was upon the question of compensation for the. loss to tho city of the Thorndon Esplanade, upoii which a good deal of public money had been spent in the past Mis idea was tba.t if monetary , compensation were paid it should be spent on tho acquisition of another reserve and baths for Wellington North, seeing that it was that part of the city which was losing the Rsplanado and the' existing municipal baths. As to the baths, the 1 council.would not receive any compensation,- as it was'permitted to erect the same on sufferance, pending the time reclamation works would oiicroach on that part of the waterfront. Some members of the council liiid argued that the city would ho benefited if the compensation took the form of a grant'of land adjoining the present corporation yards at Te Aro, land at present in the occupation of the Harboui-s Board (the- old''dock site) and the Railway Department. This was a matter that would yet have to be thrashed out, but ho leaned to the view that the people nf Wellington .North should! get :a quid pro quo for wbatj they were, .to,lose in the .promulgation of the sciieino now' approved \ by the council.

A lad who on the.night of the Wellington Central election s.lnw; some rotten fruit at the Hon. \V. D. S. UncDimald, Minister of Mines, and was caught in the act by the police, appeared in the Magistrate's Court yesterday to answer'the (ihiirge. and Alt'. 11. ]'\ O'Leary, ivho-appeared on his ije'lmTf. pleaded guilty. • The 'Magistrate, Mr. F. V. l'Vazer, said that mi reading the charge in the book ho thought the accused was some burk , watersido worker who disagreed with the Minister's politic.il views. He did not think ho would have to deal with a boy. ,Probably it was .a bqyjsh prank. After lecturing the, lad oi some length the Magistrate said that in order to bring the matter home to him he would convict him and order him to come up for sentence when called upon within the next twelve months and to report tn the Probation Officer at intervals', diiriiig - the'• period. ■';

An important notice to "residents in and around l'almerstou North appears in this issue. From Monday next dia chief Dominion'agency will be conducted by Messrs. G. H. Bennett and Co., from their new premises in Broadway. Advertising, subscriptions, and printing orders will 'be received and forwarded promptly, and every facility'afforded to readers of the paper.

.The- question .as-to whether a tramcar or motor-car should be given precedenceon the. roads was discussedm the course-of a case-heard-by Mi;.-.] ,, . K. Hunt, S.Jt, at Auckland, ,Mr,H. H. Ostler, asked a -motor, driver..if it was

iot a rule of the. road that! a-motor

•ar should -wait for a .tramcar.to pass. L'he witness said it depended on circumstances, and. where! a traffic constable ,vas stationed, it, .was .generally, .a mat-

ter of tal-ing-ttirns. the ■Magistrate, ■himecjl' a motorist, , said, that the motorist had as much right to the road as the tramcar. Mr. Ostler suggested that the tramcar served the pul)lic;nul the motor-car only a few, to which Mr. Hunt retorted that there might ho only a few in the tramcar, and said, in any ease, a tramcar had no more right to the road -tlinn any -other vehicle.

.. 86,964 Private. A. .J. Morris. Dp-tails, found guilty by District Court-martial at Trenthain Gump of disobeying in such manner, as to show a w ilful defiance- of authority, ■ a lawful command oiven personally by liis superior officer, m tlio execution of his office, lias been sentenced to imprisonment wtyh liard labour" for two , years. '. 86,977 Private A. F. Cole, Details, found guilty on a similar charge, has also been sentenced to imprisonment with hard labour for two years. ■ ■',-.■■■ ' •' • ■- ■

.. A..'deputation representing the; WangkmiL Education.-. Board.'. interviewed the Minister oE Education'ltli.o. Hon. J. A. Hanan) yesterday..to..ask..for in.creased grants for school buildings. II r. A. 'Eraser. ' acting-chairman .of the board, ..said ' theie , was . a" strong ftelincr, -nob merely"... in. ."Wajiganqi, . but throughout the " Dominion, ' that theeducation vote ought to be largely increased. The country needed moro 'schools.' bottec sohqqls/.'and stronger teaching staffs. The Education Department ought to have more money to spend than it had at the present time, a iicl-'tJie'salaries" pa-iiV'to teVchers ought to be large enough , to.,attract;.to the profession tho best of the young men. Tho supply of single male teachers had almost, run out .now, and that was a matter of grave'concern to , educational authorities throughout' New.'Zealand. Other , members of-the- deputation spoke in eiinilar terms, The Minister,-, in the course of liis reply,: said , that ho-would do whatever he could to meet a national need, which he fully recognised. •The-problem -waa almost entirely one of finance,, and'he hoped that the day was coming'when money would be available to do all that was. required for the children,'- ■ '•■"..'■'■'•

' -Mr'. M. : Cnrr. .organiser..of : the Red Cross drive, states that''if there is .one,, section of tho Wellington community wjiich is loyal in its giving it is; the- ' Chinese: ' --I"don't suppose," said Jlr. Carr, "that there is one Chinese fruit shop or laundry in Wellington that is not sporting.a Red Cross emblem, and some of thoin liave-piircjmsed.'four or five The Chinese are absolutely liberal. When the 'Copper Trail' was started tliey came down handsomely, and as sooii as'they ■•heard' of the drive, down caine/.a-' member' of 'the ■.Chinese •Association;'• -secured-a.- number,of the. emblems,'-and ; soldi 1 them -ail: .to. the Chinese of the. city/ and anyone may see them "to-day-•on ilieir-'Windows. I tell you' what it is," ■ said Mr. : CaiT, "there are many prosperous shopkeepers' in Wellington who should profit by their fine example!"' • • :■;'

On Friday, l,.'.the Chief Municipal Inspector (Mr. .J, Doyle) will, sell by auction the right' to take -possession of. certain stands for fruit-.-, hawkers':inV the city. ' Some sixteen, stands are included' in the inspector s box plan, and oach will be disposed of to the highest bidder, of, course-,, to his being a man of 20011 repute'. - It is the intention of the inspector to sell the stands every three months as from January 1 next. Thefirst term will therefore only be for.two months—November mid Decembei.. It is; considered the best policy to anchor the street hawkers:, in .certain known stands'or pitches instead of -having 'them wandering hither -and-.■.thither; about the town. This arrangement is' best, too, for the straight-dealing; hawker, who is able to work up a clientele: by remaining in the same spot every day.

At a meeting representative of all Taranaki local bodies held at Stratford it was decided to. : form the Taranaki Hydro-Electric' League., :.A : motion was pa'ssed urging the Government '.to proneed with the' North .Island scheme 1 . .

' The New' Zealand "Natives' -Association' Band will play a programme ol music at .L.vall Buy to-morrow at 8 p.in. '. ' : ' . ... :.

The proposal of the Government to take over the Boys' Orphanage at Timaru for orthopaedic, purposes -was discussed by the governing body, at. Saviour's Guild, at the annual meeting yesterday," says : a • -Press-.-Association telegram' from Ghristchurclu •'.. It was I'stated that the guild.had'no power to lease or sell any of its property,. and that consequently it had no power to negotiate for any lease or sale even it it desired to. do so. In these circumstances the guild had 1 decided to carry cm its' work, leaving the Government to decide whether it would exercise any_ statutory -powers it might -possess com-' pulso'rily to 'take -over- the buildings for orthopaedic work. ■■ Bishop Julius said hp wished to emphasise one point. It bad been represented' by not a few that the guild would -be only too glad' to pet rill of tlieir .new buildings ft Timaru. tlmt they were "white elephants," etc. Such a statement was absolutely unjustifiable. The orphanace was not iv "white elephant." an-.l they were only' too'willing','■'ready, and ■anxious, to undertake the upkeep of it, and if the Government would use some other place for their 'very laudable purpose he himself would be most pleased.. The .Bishop went on to remark, apropos of the excellence of. th'j buildings, that he .'hoped , the- time would never ' come again when the Church'-of England in' this ' din<-oso would be content to put up'."slmddy.wlicu it could do its 'best. II" thorp \va,s any chance of retaining the buildings he would be most delighted. It Uii<! si'to! , '.! to await events, the generii'l feeling being that the guild would not object to the orphanage boimi taken for sucli a good purpose: bill, ; t the Government could find some other place -to bouse its ■ soldiers the. guild woultl Iki much more, pleased.,,. ■ Savage Club members are reminded in another column of a .special korero lo bo held to-night in the .Masonic Hall, to welcome the .Right-Hon. : Mr. Mnssey ■'•(Ghief Savage) ' and 1 - Sir 'Joseph WiwcJu - ' ■ ■ ' ■'■

An active.policy ie being pursued by the Mayor of Auckland to connection with the proposal to develop the Tongariro National Park. .'Mr. Gunson has communicated with the Mayors of Wellington, Hamilton, Napier, Palmerston North, and Wanganui, asking for their support, principally in regard to securing more suitable' hut accommodation for tourists who visit the , , mountains, road access from .Wnimarino", and the construction of the proposed road deviation to Tokaanu, by which the distance to the latter place will be reduced by' twelve miles. Mr. Gunson has suggested that as the development of the valuable area at Tongariro is primarily, a North Island matter, joint action should be taken. A public meeting proposed to be convened in ''Auckland in respect to tho matter will' be deferral, ponding the receipt of replies from the Mayors of other towns. . The matter of effecting an alteration in the method -or Parliamentary repreeentation and introducing a systemi ot government, by an elective; execnti.e was briefly by the AucUand Farmers'. Union Executive th s week, ffi■ D. H. Lusk said the opinion was Spread that the time for an alteration in the system of g» crnment. He had recently obtained iiinent-iWoiile l .'inc.idingseyeialn™ liers of Parliament and tl ev tint a chance was desirable. m-.*>"*• gSedthat'a committee, be appo.ig to obtain information on ' *e >nntter. with a view to submitting; definite-piy posals to the Dominion toemit e H ' ~ (leci'led to appoint Jlaior liUsk SMr^winHaWooManniormalinn vcardiii" govermuent by an cipl "ami regarding proportional' representation. . - . .