LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 199, 17 May 1919, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Some time ago the Midnight clearanco of all street letter-boxes in tho city and suburbs was resumed.' The notice-plates in many cases do not indicate this, as it is not 1 intended to .change- thorn, until -t.lie full service has been restored. •The restoration of the full service is expected in the- course of the' next few weeks.

Tlio officer in charge of Ghuzneo Street Men's Employment ■Bureau , stated - yesterday tlirtt (luring the week ended on Thursday the bureau had found employment for l',t men, including six returned soldiers who had accepted work as labourers.. Eight, of the 13 men placed had gone -to private employment and five. to Government employment. The end of the-week hitd foumf five applicants for labourers' jobs still unplaced, Light work was becoming a little easier to obtain than it liad been. ; The demand for skilled labour was as keen as ever.- Good carpenters were particularly wanted for Government work.

' The Military Court that has been holding ail inquiry into the disappearance of Kiflenian John. Russell, .X.Z.E.F,, from the ferry steamer, Mararba on the night of.October 24-23,'.1918, did not sit yesterday. afternoon oiving to the delayed arrival of the only witness who had yet to bo examined. An adjournment was inado. till :tO a.m. to-day.

The Wellington Tailors' . Union will shortly apply to the- Arbitration Court under tho War Legislation and S.fatiito Law Amendment Act; lSlij, for increased wages to meet the increased cost of living. The union rccentlv invited the. employers' to- a conference upon its demands. but tho invitation was ignored. The increases asked fur are as follow:— For pieceworkers, a rise from Is. ~]d. to. is, Id. per hour;' for weekly wageworkers, a rise., from J;3 ss. to £-1 ss. per week; for overtime, a rise from the present rate of 41d. per hour extra to yd. p,er hour extra. The ■Wellington, timber workers have also. been negotiating to obtain by agreement with" the employers an increase" in their wages. The negotiations liavftig failed to bear fruit, the Timber Workers' Union will also go before the 'Court, and ask that the wages clause of the award be amended.

• A special meeting of the Wellington branch of tho Australasian Marine Engineers' Institute -was held yesterday, Mr. .1. llankino presiding. The meet-' ing was for the purpose of discussing internal all'airs and was not open to the Press. None of the business of the meeting was available'for jmblica'tion.

It is not every day .that-the Post and. Telegraph Department is presented with a post office, yet this is what actually took place in llawke's Bay recently. Mr. Jonalnau Holden, of Makotuku, staled that lie would be pleased tu defray the cost of a ilew post ofiice.for the township, so the Department found the sito and erected a very comfortable combined residence ami post oltico with its own stall that is quite a credit to liie place. A brass plate has been engraved setting forth the fa< I 'thai the building was presented by Mr. .limatlian llolden,

The I'ress message that Christohureh lias been supplied with automatic telephones must not be taken 100 literally. ,\s a mailer of fact, the Cliristcliurch system i-; not anything like so fully automatic as 'Wellington's, and is not likely io lie for some little.time te come. The fact is that recently it was found neees'Knry to extend the board, and as a matter of convenience a section of Rtowgo! 1 automatics were put in. This is only a I niiio'.-ar.v iHi-angement, as the'contract !'oi Cliristcliurch provides for ihe.instalia'tion of Weslern Electric (lint Stowgcr) automatic, telephones,-vo that ill due course Ihe latter telephones will lie removed for vse elsewhere.

"A Magistrate docs not givti' liis decision by'counting the lieiuls of witnesses," remarked llr. IV \". .l-razer, S.M.,at Mia Magistrate's Court yesterday; "At. any rati;, I do not db business that way,"

It' will still .be some days before the report of tlio Influenza Epidemic Commission will be available for publication. The report was in the first instance sent to His Excellency the Governor-General instead of to the Minister. His Excellency has sent it back, and it has again been forwarded In Hi.- Excellency in accordance with USURP.

The Lytteltoii ferry- boat' last night was the Union Company's Monowai, which arrived earlier in the - day from Auckland uiul Napier. She sailed l'or Lytteltoii and Ihinedin in her usual running in ilie East Coast passenger service. It was again impossible'for the Union Company to dispatch the .Maori, as eight or nine firemen were wanted i'of tluit vessel.. All the intending passengers wanting berths on the .Monowai ' could not be taken. There is a possibility of-the Monowai returning lo this pott to-morrow morning.

The ■ Supreme Court will sit at iUO a.m. to-day, wlien • twelve prisoners will come 'up'for sentence by the Chief .lustice (Sir Robert Stonlj. it is also intended lo hear another criminal 'case. '

A return showing the. Auckland public school-statistics, lor the (|iiarlcr ended March 31 was submitted at the last meeting of the Board of Education. This showed the number of schools ;in the district to be GSI!, including 127 half-time schools. The total uumher of pupils on the roll was given, as, 0'J,7(1-1, and average attendance ISJi'J, an. increase of The number of boys exceeds that,of girls by about 2200. ■

The Auckland "Star" states:- Tlie vigilt of the Press lo report proceedings iu open Court'was the subject of a discussion at the Supreme .Court! When it had been announced that a Settlement- had been reached in the ease of Menzies v. the Bay of Islands Hospital Board, 'Mr. .T. It. Eeed (for the'deleuee). staled that it had been agreed between himself and Mr. Ostler (for the plaintiff) that he should read a statement in reply to certain allegations made by'the plaintiff. As tlieso allegations had not appeared in the newspaper reports 'of the case, lie and Mr. Ostler had agreed that the- statement should not be published fi) the I're.-s. However, he proposed to read it in open Court, ill order that it might 1)2 heard •by the jury and others before whom the (illegal ions were made. Mr. Jnst'ico ('Duller remarked that lie had no power to order the reporters, to refrain from taking down and publishing anything Mr. Heed might \say in open Coilrt iu the present case, though iie could probably- prevent 1 hem from seeing the document afterwards. The matter must be left to'their discretion,' and the most: lie could do would be lo suggest Uwlliem that it would.be advisable not to publish the statement.

The other ilii.y a Maovi hoy named Taku Pure, seven years old, was ""badly scalded on, the Kuira.u reserve, lie was gatherins m ud 011 (lw edge of a.hot pool to make a I'biill," when he slipped in up tu bis tliishs—Auckland "Star."

-i. development arising out of the apparently incurable difhculty iu getting domestic help has taken place in Weilingtuii ilurius. the. past year, one that li'ih doubtless cause a good ileal of surprise in some quarter!;. Tne new development is the result of the enterprise of a linn which provides men to do scrubbing, window-cleaning, carpet-heating, and any other sort of household work almost, at so much per hour, .and the linn's books disclose Uw astonishing fact that there arc people prepared, to pay as much as 2s. Gd. and even-3s. per hour per man for such labour. At tliis wurk a gbod scrubber can nam good money, and a general cleaner who knows his ivorkcan make quite enough to live comfortably on even in these hard times. This incursion by man into a sphere of labour usually relegated to the female general servant i,s the first. - indication that he is not prepared -to see all his avenues of employment entrenched upon by women without getting one back.

The question of waterside labour will 1)6-further discussed at the next meet i'ng. of. the. Wellington' Harbour Board, wlveii-llr. K.'A. Wright, will move:--"That the Wellington Harbour . Board invite.ft conference .of .employers of waterside .labour, in Wellington, !to meet at the earliest possible date, in ordci to consider the best method'of improving existing conditions and _of formulating a schemo which will tend to. the. greatest permanency and efficiency of. waterside labour, in- the mutual, intere-t alike of employees, employers, and the general public." ' . , - - -

For the year -ended . March 31, the .JVnnganui municipal, electric-, tram's carried 3,21"',5 m passengers. .Financially, the y.enr showed a.ileficit. of '■£917'35.-9d., o. loss which was brought down to £271 19s. 7d. when certain items were deduct-, ed which- should have been paid for out of -capital expenditure and not ordinary revenue. The loss attributed' to the breakdown at tho power-house was .£ISOO, and. in addition, a- considerable loss : was entailed .-through the stoppage of the cor.i during the height of (he epidemic in November last. • -Underthese circumstances the'year's working is - considered satisfactory.

. Mr. !W. .Cable has given not ice to. movo as follows at the next meeting of' the. Wellington • Harbour. Board"That. tho engineer be .instructed f;o roviso, tho plans, of. the Thorndon reclamation, so as to make provision therein for a .floating dock berth, with access. The. whole to bs embodied in the finished reclamation scheme, and'that : the board take the necessary' steps to-ask that Parliamentary'powers be granted to * tli'd board, so that, the work can be proceeded with when the board decides to do 'so."

■Messrs. Harcourt and Co. report that, thoro was an excellent attendance at their rooms, yesterday, when a section in Cuba' Street; having a frontage' of 36 feet 5 inches by a depth' of GO feet was offered. The bidding started at ,CSO per foot and quickly advanced to' .£G3 per foot, at'which figure it was sold to' Mr. P. ]). pavis, of Upper Hutt. '

The; following is an extract from the London "Gazette,"'telling how Lieutenant .1; Maopherson (of Luinsdoti) won his D.G.jr."On one occasion, during an attack from our troops, ho dashed through _an intense barrage, and established himself single-handed in a shellbole. and engaged enemy'snipers and rna-ch'ine-Kunners till-dark." His services on patrol have yielded valuable'"results, and his example of. coolness and resource has been worthy of the highest praise. His U.C.M. has been awarded for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to' duty."

"'lie Hon. J. A. linnau (Minister of when asked by.n-representa-tive of the "Lyilellon Times" how tlio plans for the exchange 'of teachers between New Zealand and oilier countries were progressing, stated that he was heartily in accord with the idea. Tlio' actual arrangements, however, would need to be made by the education boards who employed the teachers. It was diliicult to make- arrangements cither in Canada or in .Ihe United States owing to the fact that there .were so many practically; independent school ■ systems and authorities in those two countries. Ho had veil instructions for information to be obtained as to what the Departments of Kducation Hi Canada and the .. States' would lie prepared to do ill the, way ol briiiKins the. mutter of exchanges of leathers before their education authorities. and furnishing,' the .New Zealand' MiiuciiLioii Department with a list of authorities prepared to consider exchanges.

it will, says the "Olago Unil.v Times," .piobably. ..come as a surprise ' -to -ninny I hat a scientist of such .standing as the lion. G. M. Thomson classes belief in water-divining as one of the ignorant popular errors that persist-; .merely for lack of- a little scientific training." In the course of his presidential address t.o the (Hugo Institute.on Tuesday night he i-eniarki'ii, thai lie had even heard of hosnital boards. ''wi.-,c>l surely" of all ligneous structures," employing' a walerdivinei to bieati; a source of 'water for Iht'in. '"I his, 'he said, "is ime of the heresies that dies hardest, vet it is as i',re-.ii a niyt.li as the long-belicved power of the iiionn to decompose fish or lwi«l 111" far in I muV.es. lijlh are. larg'elv believed ;n still.'