LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 22, 21 October 1919, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Postal authorities advise that tho mails dispatched from .New Zealand on September 9 arrived in London 011 October 19. A. reference lo the price of rice was made in the House of Representatives last night. Mr. Poole drew attention to 11 statement in the "Fiji Times" that the Government of that colony had obtained sufficient supplies of rice" for the needs of the population until March next and that regulations had been made prohibiting retail sale of the commodity at more than 3d. per pound. He asked the Prime Minister to draw the attention of the Board of Trade to this action of the Government of Fiji, for consideration nlong with other facts concerning the price of rice 111 this country. Mr. Massey said that he would bo "lad to pass on the information to the Board of Trade, but lie must point out thpt it was a much easier business to supply a population of Iflfl.OOfl than to supply the population of New Zealand. "That provision i= introduced for the. purpose of protecting those men who collie back and find that their old trade of mixing spotted paint for rockinghorses is dead," said a sneaker at the conference of returned soldiers yesterday. "The committee wi'llies to stress the principle that successful repatriation does not mean nutting a man into the position he occupied before enlisting, but putting him into the nlace to which litis most suited and of the greatest benefit to his country after ! 'ais service,"" reported the "Repatriation Committee in the conference of tho N.O.S.A. yesterday. "The policy of decentralisation follmn-d is. in the opinion of this committee, a most commendable one, and has contributed largely to the success of the Department." What should be the fata of the vandal who trespasses on a private property and ruthlessly cuts down beautiful well-nur-lured rose trees just as they were about to burst into bloom? To such an net of vandalism has Mr. Fred Prince, of TiiO'ev Street, Tsland Bay. been the victim. Mr. Prince had a lovely rose garden containing !K1 selected trees. Thanks to his unremitting carp and attention I bey hnd done very well during the spring, and the trees were laden with healthy buds when he retired to bed on Sunday nig' l !. During the night someone entered the garden, and nrmed with ro«epruners cut down 75 of tlie trees. The matter has been placed in the hands of the police.

Tlip Canterbury Chamber of Cn'nniem forwarded to the. Central (.'lmriljpv nf Commerce a remit it proposed to bring before the next conference of chambers of commerce on the subject, of railwy construction a"d mannirciiipnt. The ponMiern chamber inaiol-a ; ns Hint die ro'lwav service or New Borland i« wasttful, unbusinesslike. ad financially 1111•oiiinl. and recommended that the control of the rnilwave be placcd in tbe ham's of a. nnn-politicl board, ec'sisting of the Minister of Railways a»d seven other members, nnd went as f>v as to nominate tin" various industrial. comTnereial. fannin.?, nvd economic bodies ivhicb shetil ( | have rewsentaiion on fie lionrd. Tlie pro«id<>"t (Mr. C. if. T,"Vel said it was a liig thine to par whether or not they should rc-nrl-to commis; sioner or lwPTd control. Il'e iiroppsed th"t copies of Canterbury's proposal should b" typed c.nd cent out to members of the council for fiVm "tn ru;»innte upon." This course was agreed to.

Tim 'Repatriation Commitl»e <•£ the N.Z.TC.S.A. yesterday renorted lo the con. fwence Hint it had been announced th : >t arrangements w»re in (ruin to establish co-operative working parties of minora on th» W°st Coast, and the committee commended the scheme to returned soldi»rs in other district*. The conference supported the report of ttie committee.

The number of teachers at present Tenuirijig apno'ntmentii in the Auckland district is indicated by the fact t'mt for <1 positions recenllv advertised by the board PBB applicntrons were roceived. Sntiflfaetion was expressed at the lust meeting of the board tbnt numbers of returnwl «>ldiers were being 'ouiid positions in the service,

The peonlo of Hawera Save been waring long for a technical school in their town, and veHtprilny r. deputation from the town watted on the Prime Minister to ask for his good offices! in getting a grant to enable them to <ro on with tlio scheme for the establishment of a school. They drew attention to the case of the neighbouring town of Stratford, which, they declared. h:id begun Inter with the proposal to build a school, but it had a jjrnnt of .£13,000. and tils- school was now being built. Mr. Massey *aid tliatn very considerable sum was'being provided for education needs in the way of buildings, and lie lind no doubt that Hawera. was beine provided, for in the sum. He knew that fih» town wns progressing, and he nssuied the deuutntion of bis sympathy in the request they were ranking.

The By-laws Committee has reported to the City Council that it tins received a letter from the Minister of Internal Affairs with reference to the annual registration of motor vehicles, licensing of drivers, and authority to local bodies to supply number-plate? for vehicles of a type uniform throughout the Dominion, in which he elates that the importance of these matters is recognised, and that if ie hoped to bring down legislation at tho present session providing for tlvlicensing of drivers, but. that it will not he possible to deal with the other mntters, during the present session of Parlin. tnenl.

Tlip Tiepatriation Committee of the N.55.R.8.A. conference yesterday reported that it had found that the idea seemed to exist ivnong repatriation boards that the gratuity had to fome extent replaced the provisions to assist returned soldiers under the Repatriation Act. The Government h.-.d definitely announced that the. gratuity wns n, free gift, nnd did not in nnv sense affect the benefits for returned soldiers provided for by the land settlement or repatriation schemes. A motion was passed that ('lie association wisher] te press this noint, nnd thai except ill en=es of fraud or wilful default in payment no man should lw renuircd to repnv the. Department out of his gratuity.

The Mayor (Mr. J. P. I,uke) founil time to visit Island Bay yesterday, and as one result discovered a means of obviating tliu necessity of hiving to build on the Rest. Park n. residence for (he district turncock—a small matter which has raised a. big outcry at the Bay during the past week or two. The solution of the trouble was so simple that lie has, on bohalf of the council, instructed the Acting-City Engineer not to go forward with the work of building on the Park. Mr. Luke has discovered a jiiece of city land on the main road, adjacent to the. beach, which will servo as an excellent nito for the purpose referred ro, and one that will, too, suit the dual duties of turncock and custodian of the beael(, as it commands a view of the wliolo of the shore lino of the Bov.

Before Nannrotead's corner, at ih« junction of lluekle Street with Kent Terrace, was resumed by the Cily Council and ihe pathway sel hack, there was only four feet b.'tween the nearest tram rail and Ihe kerb. The side-walk was set hack last week, with the result that there is at present 30 feet between the rail and tlio kerb. This may not bo the correct measurempht when the tracks at that point are re-curved to a less acute angle, but that work will not; be undertaken until the City Engineer (.Mr. W. If. Morion) returns next month. Tho present kerb, too, is only temporary, as the Cily Engineer may think it advisable, now that the chance serves, to round off tho corner still more than has been done.

Base Piccords office announces that l.iciilenaiit: John Martin, an ex-New Zealander serving with Hie Imperial Forces, was repuited to be mining oil October S. and w.ti believed lo lie drowned. Lieutenant Martin's next-of-kin is his wile, whose address is llaveloek, Marlborough. Seeking the succour of the IMurned Soldiers' Association, an ex-naval man wrote to the local executive complaining that v.-hon he was operated 011 in a Ch.itham hospital he came out of the anae.sthetie to find that the operation had been performed on the wrong foot, which was perfectly sound (says the Auckland "Star"). When lie claimed compensation from the Imperial Government h? was referred to the Imperial Appeals Tribunal, and, as it was necessary lo support an application to that body by the appearance of a solicitor 111 order to get satisfaction, the appollant invoked the assistance of the association to this end. Members h;marked that: this was not the only occasion when an unoffending portion of tiifi anatomy had mistakenly been attacked by the army surgeon. There was n local mslaiioe where a, man had a perfectly sound finger removed, and to this day he was still the possessor of his useless crooked one, but as a solatium he liad received a substantial lump sum. \ phonetic script, by which to teach the illiterate of China to read, is in the possession of Dr. E. J. Stuckey, of Peking, who is at present in Christchurch (says the "Lyttelton Times"). Dr. Stuckey states that only from 1 to 5 per cent', of the people of China are able to read, and he rather thinks that the percentage is nearer one than five. Tho Bibk- has been translated into both colloquial and classical Chinese, but the mastery of Chinese writing is so involved that it O'-ennies an inordinate time even for young students. The script at present is a series of seventy comparatively simple siyns. and it has been proved that bv their use an ignorant. country woman has been taught to read in three we°ks. Speaking of ordinary Chinese writing, which is read downwards, Dr. Stuckey stales that the .Tiionicse have adopted the whole of the Chinese alphabet, although tliev have a different word or pronunciation for each sign. Therefor-' both a Chinaman and a .laparese could read the same book, but neither would understand tho other if he read it aloud.

The new service ribbon, recently issued to all men of the merchant service who passed over the submarine "danger zone" during the war, is worn by several members of the crew of the Aiaua (observed an exchange). The ribbon is in two colours, bright red and green, to represent the port and starboard light-), divided by n narrow white band, s'mr.fyi»g the white light on tin masthead. The ribbon was issued immediately prior to the sailing of the Ajana. from Finland. but the medal thai: is to accompany it had not then been sent out.

Mnnv bovs (says the "New 7!»alalid ]Ter:ild"l are applying to tlm Auckland city traffic inspector, Mr. ,T. fi. Lindsay, for licences as tram conductor*. Tn r»> iwlin" the matter to the City Council, that official stated that the *"ras of lho->e apnlicants ranged from 10 to 10 years. He said lie I bought provision should be made no person under the age of 10 should be allowed to aet as a conductor nf anv vehicle: The 'Finance and Leiral Committee vent a stnn further, and recommended that no licenses b" issued liv the traffic inwwtor to hds under 18 years of age. Thin was agreed to by tho council.

A motion exnressing npprohpnsion a' Ihe illness of 31 r. Woodraw Wilson was forwarded to the Auckland I're'bylerv liy Uio l'cv. .lames Milne, of Thames. Tho cleric, the. Dev. 1L Soni"rvillp. moved the motion un behalf of Mr. Milne and tbe, Pev. I. .Tolly seconded it b» ■Rev. .T. V. Shaw said that many people admired President Wilson and many did not, but after all it was a political wu«. He moved that the presbvt.'ry proceed with the next business. This "'as ''jrried with eight dissentients—"Herald, Auckland.

The conference of the N.Z.K.S.A, decided last night to ascertain whether members of tho N.Z.E.F. still abroad will have the right to vote at the coming elections.

A plea that the rata of pay of the New Zealand Tunnelling Company should be raised to lis. per day was put forward by Mr. T. Long (Auckland), at yesterday's sitting of the N.Z.H.S.A. Conference. Tho British tunnelling coinpjwies had received 6fl. por day, Pflid itr. Long, who contended that the last conference had demanded that the New Zealand Corps should receive the saiuo mount. He moved that the conference reaffirm the demand for Mie increased payment. Mr. C. I''. Andrews (Auckland) seconded the resolut'on. Mr. G. Mitchell (Balclutha) opposed tho motion, on tho ground that the Tunnelling Company had done no greater service than men who had been in the line. There wa6 a, viciouft principle in the British Army that the further buck one got from the l ! .ne the higher the-pay one received. The nfinc'nle existed until they sot bncV to t'h-e nmlr'ng of munitions, when tlmy became millionair?s. (Laughter.) He could find no evidence that thetunnellers wanted, nnd Imd been promised, an increase in pay. Mr, Long paid ft nroii'is? liii'l been made by someone that the pay of the company would ly? increased bv Is. per dnv. and he intended to take further action in the matt"'-. After 'imp. discussion. Mr. Lonij withdraw hi? motion, and substituted <n. other resolution. that, the maimer should lm referred to the executive for action, '('hi* wm'i carried.

The Now Zealand' Government Navai Adviser, Commander Williams, yestordliy j)nwßiite<l iNew Zealand Ensigns to the Jiritoinart Street and South Wellington bchools, over 1(H) pupils in each having joined the Navy league. Members of the school committees were present, iui« tlio commander was received with ciithuBinsm. The commander stressed the need of dieciplino in every stage of life, and taid lie felt sure the children would be proud of the flag. The chairman of the Navy League's Education Committed nddresseil the gatherings, ntid said that it was necessary to continue the work of tlio league although the war wits over. Ho pointed out tlint in all his speeches Admiral Lord Jellicoe showed the importance of this. ' The speaker asked the scholars to honour the llag now ,given to then), an our brave men 'had made it worthy of ifrea.t honour. In every part of the civilised world it wns now known n* tne emblem of a country whose men .md women had done great deeds. The proceedings closed with cheers for the British Navy and the singing of the Nnt'.onnl Anthem.

Walter Mildenhnll, residing at Johnsonville, was yesterday morning driving a spring dray from Bunny Street into Waterloo Quny when a sudden jolt threw liim out of the vehicle. He fell on the road and so injured his shoulder that he had to be removed to the hospital. The Eastbourne Perry Company announce Homo alterations in Ihe running of the. service during the slipping of the Cobar nnd Duchess. There will be no !1 o'clock steamer from the buys, nnd 110 12.15 p.m. boat from town. The coiniilete alteration in the time-table and tho bus arrangement?, will be found in our advertising columns.

Pending the seltlenient of the recent demands of the ga* workers at Miramar for increased wages the men have decided to discontinue overtime work. Tho attitude taken up by tlie men means that wilh the exception of the stokers' ordinary shifts, no work will be carried on after 5 o'clock on Saturday afternoons or Sundays. 11l the event of an accident to the machinery (not nil infrequent occurrence in grts works), this may prove a serioiH inconvenience, as, if a breakdown takes plaee it might be impossible to continue Kisinnking. It is essential that all accidents to machinery should be retired without delay, no mutter at what time of (he day or night they i)ia,v occur, otherwise th"re is grave danger of Ihe ;:as supply being flopped altogether without notice.