LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 198, 16 May 1919, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Sir Andrew Russell has been with the New Zealandors since the Main Body and not even had a furlough in New Zealand, etates a Press Association messago from Christchurch. In an interview he expressed himself anxious to return to civil life. On the subject of repatriation, (he General declined an opinion. "I have been a farmer all my life, and it is no usn my going into iiuother man's paddock to teach him fanning," he said. The report of the Hpideiuio lioyal Commission's report is completed, but it is not yet available. The Ifnii. CI, W. Russell, Minister of Public Health, made" the following statement in rcTeiolire to it yesterday: "In ronsocuumco of the Commission having jnlteii the nnu.-ual mid unconstitutional course of forwarding their report direct to His instead of through tho Government, (h'p report is not to hand, and can he said in connection with it." The estimated population of the l)n----minion on March !il lust was 1,187,203, made up oi' 568,372 males, and s'JB.S:il females. The Native population was estimated at i! 1,776, being composed of 25,933 males and 23,813 females.

The formal authority to the Minister of Public Works to go on with the Maugahao electric power scheme is gazetted. liv Onler-in-Council gazetted the Public Trustee is authorised to sell on the prisoner's behalf tho whole or any pnrt of the real or personal property of any enemy alien prisoner who has left Now Zealand, or to act as custodian of his property iu accordance with powers conferred bv the prisoner in any instrument executed by him. A lad named Leslie Clifford Long, residing nr Brown Street, fell down the stairs of tho' Hoys' Institute, Tasman Street, last evening, sustaining injuries to his head. He was removed to the hospital, being admitted at 9 p.in. The Magisterial inquiry into the circumstances connected with the wreck of the coasting vessel Queen of the South, at Cape Campbell last week, will be held at Wellington on Saturday morning at 10.30 o'clock, before Jtr. D. G. A., Cooper, S.M.. who will have with him as assessors Captains C. M'Arthur and W. Manning. The returns of the licensing poll have not changed materially during tho last two days. Some additional counts of soldiers' votes will become availablo during the nest few. days. At the conclusion of the parade of the sth Eegimeut at the Garrison Hall last night, a parade of the. n.c.o.'s of No. 31 Company, Senior Cadets, commanded by Lieutenant Mills, was inspected by Colonel It. 1\ C. Campbell, Coast Defence Commander, Colonel Sleeman, Director of .Military Training, and other-officers. Tho Cadets were undergoing instruction' by Sergeant-Major Lees, a n.c.o. of the company, who undertook the work voluntarily to give his comrades tho benefit of the training he had received during a course at Trentham. The visiting-' officers complimented tho Cadets on the enthusiasm which they evinced in their work, and paid a tribute to tho thoroughness and soundness of the instruction. Colonel Sleeman pointed out the importance of the work done in the special courses at Trentham, and said that arrangements had been made for Cadet n.c.o.'s to spend a period of about six weeks in camp in order that full advantage might be taken of all that was to be learned. In addition to the threatened water famine. Witihi is now faced with the possibility of having it§ gas service seriously reduced owing to .shortage of coal supplied, says a northern paper. The manager of" the municipal gas works is recommending immediate action on the part of the Borough Council, suggesting that street lighting bo cut off in order to conserve the present supply of coal, which is estimated to last only three weeks. In , the course ,of cross-examination in, the Supreme Court yesterday afternoon, a witness (a Dane), when asked why ne. made a false' statement to .a police sergeant, replied: "I was not on my oath." The Auckland Tramways Union has. passed the following resolution:—"Thai this union enter an emphatic protest against the action of th,e Auckland Tramways Company in discharging men who could be employed in giving tho public a inoro efficient ear 'service. Further, we deplore the excessive and dangerous overcrowding at present existing, and we app&il to the travelling public to givo their assistance jn remedying the present state of affairs." The action of the company in giving the men notice is in accordance 'with their decision to keep the positions of. men on active service open.—Press Assn. In ovdei to provide for visiting footballers playing, at Petone and Lower ITutt, a speciul train will leuve Wellington at 2.15 p.m. on Saturday, May 17, and each successive Saturday until further notice. An interesting feature of Papuan development, according- to Judge Murray, has beOL the extent to which natives of the Territory have come by degrees co take a moro important, part in it (says the "South Australian l'egister"). He refers particularly to the remarkable way in which these natives—"savages of the stone age, all of them, not much more than a generation ago"—have adapted themselves to civilisation. At present, he says, nearly ail the oil launches in the territory are ran by natives; many of the failing bouts tire sailed by them; they build boats and house's, and .are beginning to find employment as clerks, and can even be taught such delicate work as skin grafting. The medical' officer at Samarai even entrusts to a native the administration cl anaesthetics for surgical operations. The Government will shortly be able to do something to assist in the education of the native, both primary and technical. The necessary funds will be raised by native taxation, a Bill for which has already been passed. . . In the course of a discussion on the value and teaching of domestic science, a report on which was presented to the Auckland Education Board on Tuesday by Miss Juniper, lady supervisor, on tho subject, Mrs. Baume asked if nothing could be done to give domestic service a more definite and satisfactory status by the institution of a regular domestic course, tiud'tho issue to qualified pupils of certificates or diplomas. She suggested that by thus giving domestic service an improved status, girls might be more readily induced to train for it rather than drift to factories, shops, and offices. Miss Juniper expressed the opinion that such a course, though greatly to be desired, would be. difficult to securo unless some system could be introduced under which girls would be able to.attend continuation classes after leaving school up to the age of eighteen. Mr. Kalaugher suggested that the best way towards attaining such an object would be to have the compulsory continuation classes held in the day time. Mrs. Baume urged that such a course, while helpful, would not arrive at the object she had in mind, which was' to make domestic science n continuous and progressive study till a certificate or dipInimicy of efficiency were won by the girl, fitting her for n vocation in domestic work. Something like a record has been establishwl 'by the Conciliation Council for the Auckland industrial district. During the year ended March 31 last, 50 disputes came before the Commissioner, Mr. T Hnrle Giles, with tho very gratifying result that complete settlements were arrived at in no fewer than 40 enses, while eight others were partially settled, only Iwo being referred to the. Arbitni- , tion. Court. In addition, during the year Mr. Giles presided at a number of conferences. The persistency of a Tomnkn Native lad. who has since "gone West" through endeavouring to serve his country, was disclosed in the Native Land Court at. Temtika the other day (says the Timarn "Herald")." On an application for letters of administration of n deceased soldier's estate it became necessary to explain that the Native soldier's name va!> not his real , one, and how he canie- to adopt the one recognised by the. military authorities. It appeared that he enlisted under his own name, but the-authori-ties later discovered that ho was under ago and discharged him from camp. Nothing daunted, the young .fellow n.*sumed another name and re-enlisted. This time he was not discovered, ami succeeded in realising his ambition to get to tho front, which ho did in company v|ith his elder brother. In the West he did his share, and being wounded was returning to tho Dominion when ho died at sp;i. His life was not a long om, but sufficiently long to prove that lie had inherited the dauntless spirit if his Maori ancestors. "I sincerely hope there will bo no revival of such a destructive process of ?old recovery as that of dredging," said tho Hon. G. M. Thomson in his presidential address to the dingo Institute, which is .just entering on the fiftieth year of its existence. "It is difficult to estimate how much every ounce of cold "recovered by this process in Ota'.'o has cost—probably nihri'-thnn its own value—but one fact is clear: that in striving to satisfy 11,., )....( (■„,. m-i|| hundreds of acres of valuable land have been destroyed and have been added to the wnsto places of the earth." "I don't like to send a young man to prison and thus run n risk of making him a criminal for life," remarked 51 r. V, V. Frazer, S.M., at th« Magistrate's Court yesterday. "If there is a prospect of reforming him without imprisonment for his first offence, then I am glad to take that opportunity,"

An amusing incident, illustrative of the ■unwillingness of many landladies to accept pfirl boarders occurred recently in Dtiiicdin. A young girl interviewed i> prospective landlady, and was informed that (he house was full and that she could not be. accommodated. Feeling suspicious, elie went to a slot telephone- box, called np the same, house, and, assuming a gruff, manly voice, repeated her request i'or lodgings, indicating that slio belonged to the male sex. She was at once acceptetl, and cordially invited to move iu at once. She spoiled the climax ,of a. good joke by her failure to return tc> the landlady and take justifiablo ro-A-ciige by the exposure of her i'use. Votes for churchwonien with the right to hold church office was approved by parishioners at an annual church meeting held at Wha'katane on Wednesday night (6tatee a Press Association riiessage). At the Christchurch Magistrate's Court yesterday a list of eight chnrges of fraudulently omitting to .account for moneys received, amounting approximately to JU2OO, was brought against John William Watkins, an employee of the New Zealand Shipping Company. Accused was remanded until May 23, bail being allowed in a personal bond of .£2OO and two sureties of X'loo each—Press Assii. When coal mining commenced at Mount Keira-(N.S.AV.), upwards of 6U years ago, the small coal made in driving the <lit. seam was thrown out on the mbuntuin-side as so much waste (says the Sydney "Evening News"). In this way was formed a slack heap which ignited by spontaneous combustion. Later on a new tunnel was driven on tho top seam (wl» : ch.is still being worked)! and the original slack' heap was Mr. James Emery, a deputy employed in the Mount Kcirii Colliery, was gathering some firewood on this hillside recently, when his foot sank in the ground. He withdrew his leg as quickly as possible, but not belore it was so severely burnt that lie has since been incapacitated. The only feasible explanation \i lhat the old slack heap lire has been smouldering away at iiic core for GO years, and nas commenced to break through to the surface in patches. It was undoubtedly such a patcli or vein, covered by a thin crust of earth,, that Emery had the misfortune to walk upon. Some of the men decided to .examine the slack heap at close quarters, but there was some trepidity about advancing too lav fyoni the solid ground, and the hent radiating from thh. as* beds was so intense that they were persuaded to retreat. In tho Supreme Court yesterday, when Charles Edward Bossiter Ituddick -.appeared in the dock charged with the , theft of a, five-seater Ford motor-car, the property of B. S. Baldwin, the prisoner, addressing the Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout), stated that when he was arrested he had in his possession ,£37 25., and asked for tho return of this money so that he might engago counsel. His Honour said that the money was part of the proceeds of the sale of a.stolen motor-car, and lie thought it was somewhat cheeky of the prisoner to want that money returned. It was not iiis money. "However," remarked His Honour, "if you can give me any reason for it, I will provide you with cotaneel." The prisoner was remanded until this morning. A sold medal donated by Lieutenant W. H. Jones, officer commanding No. 21 Company (St. Anne's) Senior Cadets, i'or the best shooting during the past twelve months, was presented to Corporal K. N. Bromley at Wednesday evening's parade of the company. The presentation was made by Captain W. M. Bell, officer commanding. No. 5 Group. According to the Hon. G. M. Thomson, epeaking as president of the Otago Institv?»i. those at the head.of our chief industries are largely innocent of scientific knowledge. A great many of our industries have been kept going, he snytf only by high protective tariffs, and if they were removed either the industry would die or Us methods would have to be raised and improved scientifically. It seemed a paradox, but lie thought he was right in saying that a high tariff in New Zealand had been associated with defective training. More severe conditions would lead to greater effort and improved methods if the industry was to survive. In America it was recognised now that the best training the' universities could offer was required-for the men at the head-of large commercial concerns. The same idea would no doubt develop here in time, but it had not done eo to anv extent yet, though accountancy and cognate subjects were now raised to university rank. '