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LOCAL AND GENERAL

I The rush of telegraphic traffic at the ! General Post Office during the Christmas : period has been exceedingly heavy, and far surpasses the business done last yeai. ; To cope wilh the demands Hie operating i staff worked at high pre.-sure. bijt despite 1 tho strain to which they were subjected they we.™ able to deal with the work I expeditiously. For the four day previous to Christmas Day, 400<i. more ] messages of all codes were handled than ' for the correspnutV'ng period of 1918. On December 21 alone 2300 more telegrams wore handed over the counter than was the case on the previous Christmas Eve. The milliter of "received" messages of , all codes was 13,70S greater than for the ' Christmas period last year, and the in- . crease in tho number of transmitted j messages was 12,37-1. In certain figures eiven by Sir James j Allen published on Wednesday morninf. ;an error occurred. Sir Jaines Alien I was made to sav that in eight months | the expenditure exceeded the revenue by j .€330,10"). In actual fact the expenditure exceeded the revenue by some three millions more than this sum. What Sir James Allen said was that the increase in expenditure in the first eight months of the financial year 'had exceeded the I increase in revenue by .£1130,-105. Kiv James Allen went on to say that the excess of expenditure need not cause alarm, as the best revenue months of the year-meaning thereby the months in which tho income tax is colleotcd—iliave yet to come. It is not at all impossible, he thinks, that tho deficit of £3,300.000 will be overtaken before the end of the year. On Tuesday afternoon a horse attached to a baker's cart belonging lo the Denhard Automatic Baking Company bolted in Grant Road, and collided with an electric light post, with the result that tho driver, Bertie Daniel Mahoncy, was thrown on to tho road in front of tho cart, a wheel of which passed over him. Dr. Litchfield was summoned, and on examination it was found that Mahoney, though bruised and shaken, had no bones broken, and after resting ho was able to proceed to his home, 20 Boyd Terrace. Tho cart was only slightly damaged. , The Archbishop of Canterbury has sent the following cablegram lo the Primate of New Zealand-.—"Appeal is being made bv the archbishops, together with the Free Clnmli leaders and'a contemporaneous anneal by the Pope for collections on Innocents'' Day, December 28, for tho reiief of the famine-stricken areas, and esueciallv for children." We havo been wiuesled to ".'cmind tho public that a collection for 'his purpose will bo made to-morrow. Owing to the extraordinary weather wliielr characterised the recent spring and the late date at which the poiiutakaiva trees began to show now growth it was thought that t'lie trees would not bloom in time for the Christmas this year, but true to tradition the beautiful dark red blooms began to peep out here and there a week ago, and before Christmas Day some of tho trees were well laden with blossoms. A good show of pohutakawas in bloom, may bo seen in the Courtenay Place reserve' opposite the tram-stop. Thcro some trees are aglow with full blooms, wiliilst.in others the buds aro just about to burst. The Catholic picnic which was to havo been held at Seatoun yesterday was postponed till 'Now Year's Day, The Dunedin branch of tho Loco. Engineers, Firemen, and Cleaners' Association discussed the question of tho reinstatement of Sunday train services, and entered an emphatic protest. It was decided to demnnd double pay for all Sunday work. It was suggested at. tho meeting that u penal rate for Sunday travelling would make up for any increased demands made, whilst discouraging Sunday traffic.—Press Assn. A sitting of tho Mount Cook Police Court yesterday morning was presided over by Mr. W. J. Coy, J.T\ For insobriety Rupert J, Thomson was lined Jil, in dofault three days' imprisonment, and ono first offender was fined 10s., with the alternative of forty-eight 1 hours' detention. < Tho Watcisido Workers' Band, which "carolled" tho city in sections throughout Wednesday, left the same night for Auckland, whero a concert tour of tho North Islaud is to be inaugurated. Tho strength of tho band has been made up to about forty for tho purposes of this tour. T'lio Tramway Military Band will play selections at Island Bay to-morrow after-

The trams recommenced running along the western truck in Lnmhtnn Quay on Wednesday morning, which greatly convonicuccd the very largo crowds vliieli wero in town, mostly bent on tho allimporfeuit business 'that attaches to Christmas Eve, The new tracks, which aro solidly ballasted in foncrete, with an asphalt filling and surface, arc six inches higher than those displaced, a fact which will give Lainbton Quay, between the Bank of New Zealand and Grey Street, a crown instead of being flat a 6 hitherto. Tho new tracks also do away with a slight dip in Ihe lino at tho head of Ecathorston Si reel , which mado t.ho spot a miniature lake in wet weather. Tim work of Ihe nurses at tho lain Lowry Bay Mililary Hospital is not forcollen by some of their patients. One ol' i.lioni has made use of our advertising columns this morning to convey his Christmas greetings In the now scattered staff of that institution. Durinsr ths election, Mr. E. Newman, M J 5 ., was asked where standardised boots could bo procured. and promised to write to the Government and get the informa.t.ion desired and publish the same. In reply, Mr. Massey has informed Mr. Newman that most of tho largo manufacturers in New Zealand are now applying for licenses to manufacture Ihese boots. The Board of Trade expects tho footwear to lie available for sale to the public about the end of January. Tho following communication has been received by a lending Duncdin house from a New York firm-.—"Your letter of August 7, 'directed to our Now York office, readied us on September 12, and we could not placo Dunedin in any country that wo knew of, unfortunately, not having an atlas that would indicate cities without referring to the countries. We consequently assumed that it was Scotland, and sent your letter to our English agents for their attention. They have just returned it to us, with the information that they have called up your London office and were informed that Ihmedin is in New Zealand. Thi», (herefore, accounts for our delay in replying to your letter." . There is likely to bo an increase in the price of mutton birds next year, not becauso of the scarcity of slock and tho high price of meat, but the industrious Maori is having some difficulty in obtaining totara bark and kelp bark (stales the lfiverton correspondent of the "Southland News"). A substitute has been discovered for bark by way of tho "ranpo," a huge kind of rush which grows about six feel high in swampy places and aronud tho edges of lakes in the North Island: but the bugs are made from kelp which grown among the rocks along the coast, and to find a substitute is not an r?.sy matter, as Hie bag must lie both airtight and durable. Last year there was a shortage of kelp duo to heavy seas and rough weather, but. during 'the past year the weather has been so unusually boisterous that tho kelp lias been battered to pieces 011 the rocks with Ihe heavy seas. Hence Ihe scarcity of kelp bags. It is anticipated that the coming season will be a good ouo. for mutton birds, tho whale-feed being so plentiful in Fovoaux Strait. A number of fiaxniills in the Waikato, which have been idle for several monllis, will probably resume operations shortly. The president of the Northern Flaxinillors' Association, Mr. I'. Henry, stated this week dial the high freight rales have made (laxmilling really nil unprofitable undertaking. lt> eon c eoMeiice. Ihnnsands of acres of flax have been left untouched, which in Ihe ordinary course would have been milled months ago.

"The widespread resentment that has been given voice lo in Auckland at the fact that Dr. Endlctsberger was recently supplied with a telephone while many citizens, including roturned soldiers, were on the wailing list, and in some cases lmd been waiting for months to obtain one, would appear to have had its effect, as yesterday the telephone was quietly removed by the Post and Telegraph Department," remarks the Auckland "Star" of Wednesday's date. Officers of tho Department refuse to make any statement regarding the .incident, and merely affirm the fact that the instrument was removed yesterday. A Press Association telegram from Christchurch states that the holiday vos completely spoiled by heavy, southerly rain, which fell nil the afternoon and necessitated the abandonment of all outdoor gatherinm. The rain cleared off nhont f> p.m., but the night was exceptionally cold "Builders making fortunes! Don't you believe it," said a. master builder in Taranaki the other day. "I will show you. I've just finished the erection of a five-roomed house that I started for myself when I had no work in hand for riiv staff. T'vo iust checked the accounts and made np the cost. The building, which is well constructed of tho best timber, has run out at .E!W. A few yenrs ago I could have built it for ,C 550." The reporter asked him how he accounted for this huge increase. TTp replied that in 101-1 h» landed a shinninnt of timber at New Plymouth for Bs.' 3d. per 100 ft. Tt is now costing .18*. Roofing iron was then' -f!ls per ion: it is now from -i 55 to ,£(10. Cement wa.s X-T 7s. 6<l Tt is now .£7. Wanes were: Is. 3d. camcnters, Is. Id. labourers; now tliey are "s. 3d. to 2s. (id. for carnenters and Is. Sd. for labourers. "We used to cast up the cost-of a house at fid. per cubic foot; the amount is novIs. fid. Will prices ever come down? Tlmt's difficult to say. T know this, I could make more money out of building Wore at low nriccs than I can now out of high ones." The Mayor of • Ohristchurch has sent, tho following teleijram to the Prime Minister:—'"My council urgently requires finance to the extent of ,£'200,000 for a comprehensive housing scheme. We are. rentlv to start forthwith. The local health authorities are condemning houses, the occupiers of which cannot get other (abodes. This matter is extremely urgent, as wo want some of our houses completed before next winter. Doles of per annum are useless. Please advise how you can assist us." The message concluded with "Compliments of the season."

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19191227.2.26

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 78, 27 December 1919, Page 6

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,787

LOCAL AND GENERAL Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 78, 27 December 1919, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 78, 27 December 1919, Page 6

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