LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 308, 24 September 1919, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

■ The Postal authorities advise that mails, dispatched on August 11 arrived in London on September 21. to the, Financial Statement, cTahns amounting to .£Bl6 were made (Hiring tn» year ligamsv. Inc. special fund established for the purpose of meeting lossis on' account .of public buildings dcstroyw'l Lv fire. Including the annual eontribuito'j of ,£10,009, which was duly paid OTer to the Public Trustee, the credit balance now stands at' ,£05,008. . During the past year 1739 kiuematograph films, amounting to -f),-J-79,SU0ft., have been examined by the Censor, and ices amounting have been received. The receipts were in excess of• the e.xpnditure. , ' A request for' the restoration of the late tram to Johnsonville from Wellington on Saturday night was made by Mr. li. A. Wright in the House of Representatives yesterday. Mr. Wright 6aid that a train leaving Wellington at. 11.15 P.m. on Saturday would be well supported. Complaint against the proposals of the Racing Conference for the distribution of racing permits in the North Island was made by Mr. Ci. V. Pearce in the House of Representatives yesterday. Ho asked the Minister of Internal Affairs not to follow the unfair, allocation proposed by the' Pacing Conference, by which it was proposed ,to give 2-f days to Ifawke's Bay and 11 days to T'nranaki, this being . out of all proportion to the. relative populations of the two districts. Prices of piper, stationery, and printing male-rials have been a little easier than was the case lest year, and since the signing otMhe armistice the shiuping position has improved, says .the. Finan-' iTfil Statement referring to the Government Printing and Stationery Department. Tho Department has had a.-particularly busy year, and the difficulty* of obtaining, machinery''has' intensified the ' position. To keep pace with tho work the best maehincrv available must be installed, and for, this purpose a substantial vote is asked. Very little new machinery has been installed'since the mil break'of war"" The total value of printing for the vear (exclusive of stamps) was .{!ir>n,9!Hl,. l and the vaiuo of the stationery supplied was .£32.39.1. '~..'' Last night the police received advice that.at i o'clock yesterday n mnc-ycar-old boy, Leslie Minin, was accidentally killed, rrt Greytown through a telegraph pole falling on him. The polo was being greeted, and through the loop of tho derrick breaking it fell, striking the lad. Pending final arrangements regarding . distribution,' file German field guns which were on view outside the Town Hall have been removed to the yard. of the tit) To Aro railway station. ' A considerable, qu<intity of 'war' trophy' material has yet to arrive in tlie Dominion, but until,ail of it has. come to hand the Defence authorities will be unable to make allocations to tho various regimental areas.' The Hon. G. ,1. Garland yesterday asked in the Legislative Council what steps tho, Government was taking to copo with the cattle tick, now ,in the Dominion, and to prevent further in. traduction, of the pest from Australia; Ho explained that'farmers from the north hud asked him to make the inquiry, as they declared that. tho tick was in the country. It had been stated Hint the cattlo tick was notihert, but lie was •inclined to believe that it was. Tho Hon. Sir Francis Bell, in reply, said, that, very strict and comprehensive regulations to deal with tho pest had been prepared, and were to hs gazetted at once. . The Wellington wholesale sloremcii, it is stated, intend to apply to the Arbitration Court at its next sittings for a rise in wages from .£3 10a. psir week to ,£! 17s. lid. They consider that tho higher cost of living in Wellington entitles them to a higher rate of payment than that awarded to workers in tho suhio trudo in other centred. ■ Replying to a question nslwl bv tho Hon. W. J. Geddis in the Legislative Council yesterday, tho Hon.' Sir Francis 801 l said that applications for the posts of Director of Forestry and of AssistantDirector of Forestry in New Zealand hart been invited for somo timo past. The applications would close next month. Light car loads of artists from ,T. C. Williamson's "Goody Two Shoes" Pantomime Company will journey to TYenllmm this morning to give an entertainment to the convalescent soldiers there. This is a most coinmondablo action on the part of tho n.rtisfs, and the returned men will doubtless thoroughly appreciate the visit

11l tlu' House of Keprestmtativc-j; yesterday, llr. .). I'. Jiiikc '(Wellington North) giiTi- notii-o of his intention to ask the Primo Minister wli-.'thor tlio Goveniinenl. will, for- tlie purposo of promoting tlio housing scheme, give instruction for raising the umounts advanced by the Stale Advances Department. In'lho last, liiuincial year the' Government paid JMIWi for postage stamp papa'. h'oars a.ro entertained by tlio police for the safety of George Arthur I'egg, 'a married man with six children, who resided at No. (I Vikherberf Street, retone. Tegs disappeared from his homft at 1.30 p.m. on Thursday last. Ho is a wharf bibouror, flnd the following is a description of his appearance:—47- years cl'. age, sft. 7in. in Height, .thin build, grey eyes, pale complexion, dark hair turning groy and moustache the' same, dressed in dark coat, grey trousers, black boots, brown raincoat, hard, black hat, .and is inclined to stoop. .Sir. 3!. A, Wright (member for Wellington Suburbs) gave notice in the House yesterday 'to ask tho : Postmaster-General whether he will establish a post office at Lyall Bay, with u receiving and dispatching office for telegrams, moneyorders, and savings bank attached, i The revenue of the Hegistrai'-General's Department, though itsteadily increased up to tlie year 1315-30, showed a drop from .£1(1,865 in that.year to ,£12,#0 for the year WJ7-18, says the Financial Statement. During tlio lust financial year, however, tlu; revenue ro.se. to .Cl-.TIU, iin iniuroveinent which sliuuld be well maintained in succeeding years. Colonel B. H. Uhodes, M.P.,-who. in ."November, 1917, proceeded to England to iiitjuiro into the organisation and distribution of tho funds of the branch of the New Zealand Red Cross Society, in London, returned by the Corinthic. Chatting .with a Dominion representative, Colonel lihndes. who travelled somewhat- extensively during his mission,'.said..-that ho had found that wounded New Zealand soldiers suffered from no lack of medical attention and Hod Cross requisites. Iu fact, they were as well looked after in this respect as any troops. Incidentally Colonel Rhodes pointed out that at first our men were not very much at homo in.-English hospitals. They, could not get used to the strict discipline that tlio "Tommies" submitted to, and the nurses and sislers <lid not-understand our hoys. Later on, however, all .concerned got to understand each other, with tho i\«ilt that at Christinas last, a number of wounded New Zenlandors asked that they be a'llowed to remain over the festive season in tho English hospitals. Business taking him near to the frontier,. Colonel I'hodes took, .the opportunity of visiting the. New Zealand internment depot in Switzerland established during the war. He found that on the whole the men were well treated, but . the Swiss authorities—at least in «>mo of thy (listriers—were inclined, to, be very strict, nnd this proved somewhat irksome to our men. Kefcrring briefly to tlie.administra. t.ion of the TC'ed Cross Society's funds, Colonel Miotics snid that any balanco would bo returned to the executive in Wellington, and the proceeds of the fnSe of building- ami surplus stores would also be remitted.

The Town Board .has abandoned its intention of erecting a concrete retaining dam for water supply, vjrom the outset this work had , been, Hampered by successive delays .culminating in the refusal of the Railway Department to\ carry the material" for the .erection, of the dam.

/ The State Fire Insurance Office Ims experienced a most successful .year, according to the Financial Statement presented to Parliament yesterday. The surplus amounted to .l'2S,'t7:! after providing .£IOO2 for reserve for unearned premiums, i£looo for investment fluctuation reserve, and ,£13,793 for income, tax. This exceeds die record figures of the vear 1917 by ,£5871. , The amount underwritten totalled and the net income increased by .£Bo7B—from ,£91,380 to ,£99.4.">8. During the year the sum of .fM."i.oo(l was invested.in New Zealand war Linus.' The war loan investments, at the end of the year amounted to .£IOO,OOO. The accumulated fluids at. that date, stood at J:2U,020, an increase of ,£31,375 for the period, . . ,

Comment was made by' Sub-Inspector Emerson at the'■ Magistrate's Court yesterday on the use of obscene language. He stated that that class of offence was becoming altogether too common. Ho also drew attention to the increase in the number of cases of grossly indecent acts which were brooming almost daily offences. lii one such case yesterday, tho Magistrate, Mr. E. Page, S.M., sentenced an offender to seven days' imprisonment.

The plea of a defendant.when charged with exceeding the speed limit on Lanibtqn Quay was that she was on an errand of mercy, and while going fast she was driving carefully. His Worship (Mr. ;E. Page, S.M.) entered a conviction and ordered tho defendant to pay court costs-.

A. number of persons were yesterday fined nt the Magistrate's Court for driving motor-cars along Lambton Quay at •an excessive rale of speed. Tlie by-law lays down that tho not exceed 10 miles,an hour, but the evidenco given showed' that the defendants proceeded at a speed of 20 miles per hour and over. The police trap to catch tho offenders was stationed between Ballanco Street and Government Buildings. A distance of one-sixteenth of a mite was measured off, and a policeman stationed at each point. Another policeman was stationed further along the road, and at a given signal he stopped offenders and' informed them of their offence. The trap worked very successfully, and the defendants were much amazed (o find (hat they had been so neatly trapped, . Tho fact that the law prohibits people from loitering on the footpaths was emphasised at the Magistrate's Court yesterday, when two men were convicted and ordered, to pay costs 7s. for failing .to ■move on when ordered to'do so by,a policeman. The City Solicitor intimated (hat these were the first cases of tho kind which had been brought for soma time, and he did not press for a heavy penally, The police'coiislable ordered the defendants to move .on, but they refused to.do so. . • , ... At. the meeting of •members "of 'the Returned Soldiers' Association on Friday night, nominations were received for tho vacancies on tho clubhouse society, clubhouse committee of management, and for the .special committee of sia to draw u;t .questions to bo submitted to members of ■ Parliament. The ballot papers wer» distributed, but the scrutineers were unable to make known the results at tho meeting on account of the large'number of votes recorded. The balloting resulted as follows: Committee to draw up questions for political candidates: Messrs. Harper,-Sievwright, Clutha Mackenzie, ,1. M'lvenzie, Gorrigim, and • Curtayne; clubhouse- society: Colonel Hughes, Messrs. Harper, Sievwright,' Morpeth, anil Mimro; members to complete committee of management of clubhouse: Messrs. Siovwriglit, Kyle, and Corrigan.