LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 156, 27 March 1919, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Minister of Marine has been advised that the wreckage found on the beatfh at Waikaie, between Napier and Wairoa. is not part of the mi3sing echooner Awanui, as the marks on the wreckage do not correspond with any part of the ship.

Soon after his arrival in England the Prime Minister of New Zealand received from Lord Phinket a letter relating to the good work done by Dr. Truby King in arousing popular interest and enthusiasm in the protection of infant life. On behalf of Mrs. Lloyd George, Sir Alexander 'Roger, and himself, as representing the Babies of the Empiro Society, Lord Phinket thanked the heads of the Government of New Zealand for having given permission for Dr. King to stay in England for eo long to carry on the splendid work he was doing for the society and for the Empire. Owing to Dr. King's unrivalled knowledge and enthusiasm the society wns, he said, making great strides in educating public opinion on the lines eo successfully carried out by Dr. Truby Ki.ng in New Zealand.

Seme people may have gathered from correspondence which has appeared in The Dominion that there is only one delivery of mail matter per day throughout the city. It is true that there is only one delivery per diem in residential localities, but there a.ro three deliveries— and sometimes four—per day in the business section of the city. The reason why Wellington has been the last centre to have tho two deliveries per day (to residential areas) restored is the proud one that more of her letter-carriers went to tho war than from any other city. Their positions are being kept open for them, and it is held that it would not be failto train men in AVellin»ton. deliveries with the prospect of dismissal when the postal men return to Wellington in tho course of a month or two. Anyone can call at the G.P.O. for letters in betweon deliveries.

The Waterside Workers' Federation in not yet in possession of the Teply of the employers to the recent request for a conference- to discuss the question of wages. A stop-work meeting of tho Wellington Waterside, Union has been called for eight o'clock this morning to consider the position.

Two Rarotongan soldiers, who were tried at Earotonga on a charge of having participated in tho riot, and wore sentenced to a term of live years' imprisonment, were brought to Wellington by tho Moaim. They were handed over to the military authorities as soon as the vessel berthed, and conveyed to the detention barracks at Mount Cook.

The resolution of the Dovonport. Borough Council urging the Government to repatriate all interned aliens, whether military or civilian, led to some discussion at the meeting of tho Mount Eden Borough Council. Mr. ,T. W. Shackelford moved that the council heartily support tho resolution. He snid it did not matter whether an enemy alien was formerly a prominent merchant and well known in society. The Government should be encouraged to send evory intorned enemy alien away. Mr. H. Seabrook: "Turn them out, every one of them!" The Mayor, Mr. C. Hudson, said ha thought it was none of the council's business. Surely it was the Government's duty to act without being dictated to by borough councils. "We are rapidly becoming a nation of Soviets instructing the Government," he said. He moved that the letter be recoived. The amendment was lost, none of the councillors beins in favour of it, and tho motion vas carried.

Tho thoroughness of the inquiry into the conditions of Hie fishing industry by the commission which flnisliod its public sittings lost week is shown by the fact that G2 witnesses were examined, representing all interests—the trawler-owners, the lino and net fishermen of Auckland, Thames, Manukau, and Kaipara, th» wholowile and retail lislwlenbre, and coastal settlers. Twenty-six sittings were held bv the commission, of which two wore at the Thames and one at ITelenevillo. The commission's report will be for. warded to the Government in due course. An affinity between the completion of the Arthur's Puss tunnel and the promotion of public health was established by the Hon. G. W. Russell in the course of his reply to a deputation which waited on him in Christchurcli on Monday. Tho Minister said that a great deal of difiiuulty of building adequate houses for the population of the country, thus avoiding slums, was caused by the enormous increase in the price of timber, and wiylli ing that would connect Canterbury with the large timl>er districts of the West Coast must command Uio consideration of the Government. The absolute necessity for railway carriage was emphasised iii tho most glaring manner recently (says nn exchange) when it was ascertained that the freight byeea to the West Coast had increased by 71 per cent., aa;l notice was given of a further rise. The responsibility of the fashion of late marriages for the declining birth-rate, and incidentally for other ills to the national weal, are reviewed in the polite wnv of the statist in an official record of the year 1917-18 in Victoria (states an •Vustral'ian paper). The age constitution of brides, it is recorded, shows, a_ very marked alteration in recent periods. Ut every 1000 women who were married during the year under review, only 406 were under 25"years of age, as against 612 at the corresponding age from the years lbSl to 1890. Owing to the altered age distribution of wives, the potential births to every 1000 marriages are fewer than hitherto. Some idea of the age constitution of the parties to these la e marriages mav be gleaned from the .announcement that in 1917, out of ijoOfi brides in Victoria, 1(108 were between the ages or 30 and 35, 527 between 35 and 40, .-4fi between W and 45, 181 between 45 piul 50, 12 between 55 and GO. 21 between bfl and 65, and 12 between 65 and iO, yh U three of them-bolievers apparently in t lie wisdom of Shakespeare's advice, lake not. too short a time to make a wo lwide bargain." took the plunge only wli'.n over 70 years of age. Action was taken by Hie £a b ° ur . Department, before Mr. W. 6. Elddel , S.M., at the Magistrate's Court jesteiday, under the provisions of the Rent Restriction Act, to have the rental of each of two houses assessed. Ine Act provides that tho amount of rent charged shall not exceed S per cent, of the capital value In one caso tho owner of a property was Mr. C. A. Lβ Seur. who had asked 355. per week. The Magistrate fixed the capital value of the house at ,£IOSO, and the rental at .12s. Grl. The landlord in the other case was Mr. Lr. •\ Hurley, who considered the rent tit iiin property should bo £2 per week. His Worship assessed the capital value at .£IOOO, and ordered that the rent should not exceed .£1 10s. 10(1. per week.

A deputation, composed chiefly of Labour aspirants for municipal office, visited the city milk stntiou on lueselay night by invitation of tho City Council. They spent quite an interesting tinie in viewing the operations of the plant.

Ail old couple living at Himatangi, and ivbo for years past havo derived tho best part of their living from bee-keeping, had their swarms and hivce destroyed last week by a Departmental officer owing to non-compliance with the regulations conterning bee-farming.

A Hokowhitu resident Is the possessor of a horse which is 49 years of age and which, though practically toothless, still lus every appearance of good health. The proud owner thought until he visited England recently that his horse was the oldest ever, but he discovered ouo in tho Old Country 62 years of ago. Strangely enough, this animal was born in Waverley, New Zealand.

Tho ox-Wellington cricketer. l\ Midlaiie, has been playing very good cricket this month. Ho has been to the wicket lour times, and his scores read:—l2(i against Wellington, i against Wellington, 110 against Parnell, and IUS (not out) against University, at Auckland, on Saturday last.

Speaking at the meeting of the Wellington Harbour Board last evening on the prevailing dearth of house-room in Wellington, Mr. K. A. Wright, IM'.P., said that he had met a returned! soldier who had told 'him that the position was so bad that-he had had to tako lodgings in one house and his wife in another. They simply could not get house-room or lodgings together. He did not know what was to happen if that sort of thing went on. The soldier had said that he was only one out of hundreds who ivore in the same predicament. If the board could help at all (in the direction of erecting workers' homes) it would be doing a good work.

A Press Association message from Christchurch states that the- council of the Canterbury Progressive League passed the following remit yesterday:—(l) That the school age be extended. (2) That additional provision be made for medical. inspection, and that dental treatment he provided for children of remote country oistricts. (3) That greater attention be given to equipment and to hygienic conditions of schools in general, and that in towns ample spaces be provided for the healthful exercise of children. (4) That the Education Department be asked to make experiments in suitable localities in Canterbury in the consolidation of the schools, and that proper adequate provision be made for the conveyance of the children.

At the meeting of 'he Harbour Board last evening, a. copy of a resolution passed by the Hastings Borough Council recommending the appointment of General Sir Andrew Russoil as GovernorGeneral of the Dominion was received. The chairman (Mr. C. E. Daniell) stated that tlie resolution evidently emanated from his neighbours in Hawlte's Bay. He did not think that it wns the business of the board to interfere with what was a political question. Hβ moved that the lotterhe "received." The motion was adopted without further comment.

Speaking at Northland last night, Mr. F. C. Evans, Labour candidate for the City Council, stated that during last year the city trams carried 33,150,953 passengers, the Id. section fares contributiiifi ,£138,154 in revenue. Some 13,827,684 passengers travelled various other sections and paid in fares somo c£&i.o6o. If the whole of the 33,156,953 passengera had been carried at a universal fare of 2d., the revenue for the year would have been £276,308, or .£74,094 more than, was actually collected by the present moans. It could bo seen that if the -universal faro of 2d. was brought into operation the trams would be a paying proposition, on a par with the Union Company. Ho considered it was the duty of the new council to immediately «et up a universal fare of 2d.

A boy aged 111 years was charged before Mr. i< , . V. Frazer, S.M:., in the Juvenile Court yesterday with having stolen, on March 17, a razor and hairbrush, valued at 125., the property of James Brown. It appeared that the boy took the- articles from a room which he was sharing with Brown at the Salvation Army Home. He sold them afterwards to ii. second-hand dealer for 3s. Gd. .Sergeant Wade said that the lad was before, the Court, recently on a charge of theft, and was placed on probation. He then gave his age as 19|, but it had since transpired that he was only U\. In a statement which he made to Constable Qninn the boy said lie sold the articles in order to get money, as he did not want to write to his mother in Christchurch for any. He admitted yesterday that his mother was not in Christchurch, and that the statement he made was untrue. "Unfortunately you have, piled up rather a bad record for a, hoy," said Mr. Frnzer, "and have not been particularly truthful about'your'wrongdoing." His Worship committed the boy to the Weraroa Training Farm. A petition is being numerously signed by residents of Clyde Quay and that vicinitv against tho housing of stray dogs at the destructor yards at Clydo Quay, on the grounds that the noise they create is a great a.nd almost continuous nuisance to the whole of the neighbourhood, and has been a very grave menace to the health of people suffering from illness. Almost the whole night through tho dogs join in a chorus of barks which can be lieard l for a considerable radius round the corporation yards, and the clamour the dogs raise, especially on still nights, is a continual nightmare to many people. One councillor who was approached on the matter said that he adreitled that the nuisance existed, but snid' that wherever the dogs wore placed a similar outcry would_ result. He thought that better provision might be made for the stray dogs if tho council was to continue for all time to take poseossion of them. They might build underground pens for their reception, so that their clamour could bo, in a very largo measure, 6ilenced.

The suicide in mid-ocean of one of the male steerage passengers was reported bv those on board the American mail boat Moana when sho berthed at Wellinßron yesterday afternoon. The man, vho was a fireman on the' Paloona, was put ashore at Papeete, Tahiti, owing to his peculiar behaviour, a call being made there on that vessel's outward trip from Wellington to San I'rancisco. It was stated on the Moana. that the. man suffered from insomnia, and was troubled with hallucinations, but as he «as quite harmless the freedom of the deck was allowed him. Two days after leaving Karotonga for Wellington, on Wednesday last, passengers saw him suddenly jump overboard. The alarm was raised, and the ship was stopped. One of the witnesses of the tragedy quiokly threw the man a lifebuoy, and though it went so near ae nearly to hit him, the man inado no effort to grasp it, and soon was lost to view in the waves. There was ft heavy sea at the time, and this, coupled with the fact that darkness was setting in, made tho task of finding the man a difficult one, Tho Monna cruised about the locality for nearly on hour, but no sign of i.he unfortunate nan was obtained.

The good feeling existing , between employers and employees in the butchering trade was referred to last night at a gathering held in the Scottish Hall to welcome homo several members of the Wellington Butchers , Union who have been on active service. In the course of a brief speech, Mr. l>. C. Luxford, one of the ranster butchers, said lie thought the butchers had made a great mistake in tho pnst in paying small wages, which did not attract young fellows to tho trade. "A wage of ,£2 16s. or .£3 was not enough for a man to live on," ho said. "We all know that wages are up now, and, personally, I should not like to see them come down again. In our business there are happy relations between employers and employees, and I hope they will continue." "Tilings are running very • smoothly in our trade," remarked another speaker, "and you never hea ,, of strikes. In some other trades you hear of nothing olse."