LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 214, 4 June 1919, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Acting-Prime Minister (Sir James Allen) states Hint he has been authorised by the Hight Hon. AY. F. Massey (Prime Minister nud Leader of the I'eform Party) to issue the following statement:—"The Reform Party will continue strictly loyal to the compact entered iuto at the time the National Government was formed until the separation of the two parties to the compact lakes place. On the return of the leaders (Mr. and Sir Joseph Ward) to New Zealand, should it then bo decided to end the compact, a progressive programme consistent with the requirements of the country and its position as an important part of the Empire will be issued."

On Monday evening members of the Sixth Mounted RiSos (Africa) met in Wellington to renew long-standing friendshins formed on the Transvaal veldt, and to re-tell old stories and spin new ones. It; was mentioned that many who had answered the call in 11)00 had faced the Hun and won honours with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. The gathering was presided over by Mr. F. Beamish, and the usual loyal toasts were honoured with enthusiasm.

A New Zealand soldier, writing to his parents in New Plymouth, says:— "Things aro moving nlong in tho air "now; on fine days there is a. regular air bus service from London to Paris. You have a fair amount of room in a closed cabin, sit in wicker chairs secured (o the floor, and passengers change scats at various times so as to have u. change of view. They have just assembled a .new .machine, to-day, which, compared to the flandley-Pnge, our biggest lumber, is r.s a Newfoundland to a fox terrier. U win fly /or 40 hours without a stop, and can carry 100 people for 500, miles at 90* miles per hour. We will y«t have an air mail service from New Zealand to London."

Taking advantage of tho holiday and the fine weather, the members of the Outlying Districts Committee and the Reserves .Committed, with tho Mavor (Mr. J. P. Luke), Mr. A. J. Paterson, assistant engineer, Mr. H. Tail, superintendent of the Fire Brigade, and Jlr. M'Kepjsie, Superintendent of Reserves, paid a visit to some of the outlying portions of the city yesterday morning with u view to gaining a personal nc-qnainta-ncq ' with those districts. Tho party, which was accommodated in mo-tor-cars, first called at (he Botanical Gardens, whero the proposed alteration to tho main entrance was explained to the new members of the two committees. From the Gardens, the cars proceeded to Northland, a hilltop suburb that bids fair to become a popular nnd populous residential district in tho noar future, and the residents of which arc at present urging tramway communication (to con-nect-with the Wellington-Karori line at that point where the Northland !Road branches ofY, on tho city side of .the tunnel. From Northland the party traversed the back round, visited Wilton's Bush —one of our much-neg)ccted arboreal reeei'ves—went through Wndestown, then down hill to Kaiwarra. From this point the journey was continued to Nsaio and Khandallah— Wellington's new dominion —where councillors were afforded the o\ypoi'tunily of an exhaustive survey of tho borough so recently merged in the city. The trip was. a highly instructive and enjoyable one to all concerned.

Tho Auckland Posi Office is dispensing with the services of temporary girl clerk* employed during the war. Seven girls left the servico on Saturday; seventeen remain, and these, it is anticipated, will bo out of the service by the end of September. The Postal Department's action in dispensing with their services is in accordance with tho terms of their nngageinent, to temporarily hold tho positions for men on activo service. Nnw tliat these men are returning and art anxious to take up their former duties the Department is meeting them.

Among the passengere to Auckland from Vancouver by the R.M.R. Niagara was the Hon. Sir Timothy Coghlan, formerly Agent-General in London for the Slate" of New South Wales, and now Commonwealth representative on the. Pacific Cable Board. Sir Timothy, who has been almost continuously absent from Australia since 1!M)5, when he wns appointed Agent-General, reliiuinislied the laiter appointment in 1017, but remained in England for (lie pnri>o-:e of seeing through tlie Pi'MS his monuinentfl] work "Labour and Industry in which. wns published in February last in four volumes by the Oxford University Press. This work, which represents the labour of about nine years, is proctionllv a history of Auslrnlia from (he early years of last cenlnrv lo (he foundation of (be CommonwenUh. II <lcnls rahiunlively vith welling of colonisation, himl s>l. tlement, public works, economic progress, iminigriilion. f-winl nml imlii«fri;il legislation, iind political liislory generally.

The divorce suit of Brooks v.Hrookn oi'J another, eraanalin? fnnii Uawko's liiiy. will be heard by His Honour the Chief Justice (Sir Jloberl SlouU and a iui'V of iwelve to-day. Sir John findlay. K.C., will appenr for the nctilioiior and Mr. A. Gray, K.C., Tor Iho eo-rea-Dondcnt.

A short sitting of the Mngisl rate's Court to deal with pemms arrested for insobriety wns held yesterday morning. Mr. F. V. Frazer, 5.51,, occupied the bench, Minnie Pomeroy, once previously convicted within the past six months, was fined .£l, the amount of her bail. One first offender wns convicted nnd discharged, and two others were, fined ss. each.

On Monday evening iho Rev. Bruce Todd, who is resigning from the charge of the Presbyterian Church, at Pctonc, was met by a large number nf friends and given a .farewell .social. The Ifev. .1. M'Caw from llic Hull, was in the (■hair, and there were also present Hie Mayor nf IMone (Mr. -f. W. M'Ewan) ami oilier ministers from local churches. J-lulugist.ic references to the work and the liiipularily of. the departing minister were made by' Messrs. M'Kwan, Kcrr, and Roberts. During the evening presentations were made by the Rev. M'Caw to tho Rev. Todd, and Mrs. and Miss Todd. ■ Sours were given by Misses Cotlon and Joyce Morris and by Messrs. Borrows and Chamberlain, while a piano duet was contributed by Misses Todd and Roberts.

A fitting and, in its way, a permanent reran! is made'of the men of tho Post and Telegrnuh Department who parliciDated actively in the great war by devoting the first few pages of the official gazette rontaining the new classification list to the publication of their names. The roll includes the names of 203 men who made the supreme sacrifice; viz., Iffi who were killed in action, 51 who died ' i»j ofijinds, and one accidentally killed. Tbii honours list is headed by the name of Private J. Crichton, V.C. There are altogether 51 names in this list, and lb« honours won are British and foreign, which were secured in pretty well every theatre of war. The idea of publishing such a list in regard to one Department suggests tho propriety of prefacing the le-classificntion list , , of every Department in order to inak« a complete record of the Public Service staffs "bit" in the war.

The Hon. John Topi Patuki, M.L.C., recently wrote to the Inyercargill Technical College Board, stating that he had previously communicated with the Minister of Education asking him if there were a chance of a school in navigation and engineering being started in BlulF for the benefit of Maoris, half-castes, and Europeans. The upkeep, it was intended, should come from the interest on the ,£20(10 set aside for the, education of Maori children out of the purchase money for Stewart Island. The Minister had replied that he was unable to do more than to advise the writer to request the Technical Board to institute a special class at Bluff, 'file board decided to inquire fully regarding tho money available for the maintenance of such a school.

The fall in the prices of corrugated iron and wire which was reported to have taken place in Wellington, has also manifested itself in Invefcargill although prices are slated now to have reached a stage where they are likely to remain firm for some time to come, says an exchange. Towards the end of last year the price of iron was nominally about .£9B. but tho present price in the local market is n little over £&). Fencing wire, black galvanised, and barb, wire nails, and staples Aow a similar decline in price, but are not likely to show any marked alteration from their present price for a few months at least, It is not anticipated that there will bn any difficulty in obtaining sufficient supplies of iron! and there is at; present enough in stock to cope with builders' requirein en ta.

The Parliamentary Industries Commission will resume taking evidence in Wellington at 11 a.m. to-day..

Mastorton is now fully equipped with automatic telephones. The "cut-over" from tho manual to the Western Electric automatic system took place on Saturday evening without a hitch, in the presence of the Chief Telegraph Engineer (Mr. A. E. Shrimpton), The system which has been supplied to Sluatertou is not the same as that partially operating in Wellington (tiie Strowger). Two diriVronces, as far as subscribers are concerned, uxtst in the uuii numbering (which rends round from left to right on the Western Electric 'phones), and the fact that tiie subscriber is warned that tho connection is complete by a "buzzer." It ia hie Western Electric system that Wellington ia to hb provided with in due course. The Courtenay Place eub-station (ready for work as soon as tho telephones are erected; is a Western Electric installation, and its marvels of mechanical ingenuity r.re such as to hold one fasciuateu.

In the caee in which Magnus, Sander, son and Co., Ltd., claimed the sum of £bss for the sale of a 'i'jiurnejcroft-motor-lorry aud accessories from Jl'lintee and Guilland, of Auckland, the jury brought in a verdict for the full amount claimed, and judgment wus entered, but leave was reserved to the delendants to move to set aside the verdict if it were proved to be wrong in law. The case was an interesting one in law, ue the verdict of the jury and judgment hung ou a Court of Appeal precedent which held that innocent misrepresentation of goods sold did not protect tlfo buyer of such goods if he were subsequently dissatisfied with hie bargain.

An agricultural conference in connection with the Education Department will open to-day in the old Parliamentary Buildings. It is hoped that, as ti result of the conference, agricultural instruction' in schools will be put on a much sounder basis than at present.

A special report from the Dunodin Harbour Board's engineer, on the necessary dredging required to give at least 35ft. or 10ft. of water at low tide from tho Heads to Port Chalmers, was roceived by the board last week. Tho engineer estimated that a 300-ft. channel, with a minimum depth of 3511., could be completed in five and n half years at a cost of ,£55,000. This was thu smallest width the harbourmaster thought safe. If towards the end of the five and a half years it was thought advisable to widen and deepen further it would bo lov Hie board of that day to decide.- The board hold tho matter over for further inquiry.

In the opinion of Bishop Sndlier one of the most irksome duties a padre has to perioral on board ship in the ennsoring of letters. In an address to Senior Cadets at Nelson the Bishop said that at times, especially when neaiing a port, the' number of letters to bo dealt with sometimes reached as many as 91)0 pur day, nnd required an augmented stall'. Speaking generally, he said that fully 80 per cent, of the letters might have been written by a Sixth Standard schoolboy, and it was surprising how many times a small "i" was used instead of the capital letter. Of the large number of letters censored only four had to be destroyed.

The scarcity of houses to bo.rented and tho high prices that are now demanded for those for sale has had tho effect of causing Auckland rents to be advanced pretty generally (says tho Auckland "Herald"). In eomo cases rents which had been temporarily reduced during tho war have eince been raised to tho old figure. Regarding euch action tile complaint is not so sorious as in cases where (here has not been any reduction and higher rents are now demanded. The Soldiers' Mothers' League has been making inquiries into such cases, and the following instances have been reported as having occurred: (1) A tenant in the. same house for 13 years has had tho rent raised 2s. Cd. on 15s. per week, , (2) tenant three years in n house, rent raised from 20s. to 255.; (3) soldier's mother living with hor daughter in two unfurnished rooms for which the rent paid is Ids., now to be raised to l(is. Notice served upon a tenant to vacate a-house or pay 30s. por week with an increase of ss. per week for each additional weak the house is still retained. That moans £i 10s. per week at the end of a month. Tho notice ends: "If you study your own interests you will vacate tho 'premises at once."

At the auuuiil meeting of the subscribers to tlio Wairarapn, Anzac Club it wn.s decided that Brigadier-General 11. Hart bo naked to provido a photograph for placing in the club building. A l'l't's Association message from Dunedin .states that the body of Florence Jjtiy Owen- :\ married woman residing in Fiilcon Street, Ttoslyn, as found in the wnsnliouso ut her residence yesterday niorniii" At an iiique&t tlio evidence showed that deceased hud been worrying because her child ngud three months was not gettin" on a-- well as it should. When her husband left the house at 7 a.m. deceased was quite bright. A note tound on a table slated that deceased iutemkd to do away with herself. The iiiqusl was adjourned to secure the evidence of Or. Ross, who had attended the deceased.