LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 92, 13 January 1920, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The increased cost of homes and tho rising cost of building is having an appreciable ell'ect on insurance business in Wellington and elsewhere in A'civ Zealand. People have been realising that a home which cost, say JjIOOO, would cost .tiOOO to-day lo rebuild, and the result lias been for them to increase their insurance. Insurance authorities consulted yesterday slated that the increased cost of building was being taken into consideration, and, for the purposes of insurance, the present day value of a building was' taken into consideration when it was valued for insurance, 'i'ho increases so made by cautious peopie formed no inconsiderable part of tho business done in Wellington during the past year.

Mr. E. Page, S.JL, will on .Friday, at 10.30 a.m., at the Magistrate's Court, hold an inquiry into the circumstances under which certain iwstal matter vas found in the harbour during the general election.

At the Magistrate's Court yesterday tho name of Peter James Hunter appeared on tho charge sheet, 011 a charge of having been found helplessly drunk in Willis Street 011 January D. Hunter was removed to the hospital, and died there on Sunday. An inquest will be iiek!.

Petty thieving continues to give the householders of Lyall Bay sonic cause lor annoyance and worry. During Sunday night some miscreant removed the door mat from a porch of a bungalow dwelling, and other residents are complaining of the loss of some of their external household accessories.

Reference was made by the' Rev. Father Smyth. S.M., Adim, at t)io Basilica on Sunday to the impending departure for England and Europe of Archbishop Redwood. His Grace's journey, he said, was a matter of duty. 110 was now of advanced age, and on tl.o eve of his going away asked the prayers of the congregation for his sate return. Archbishop Redwood, lie added, hud during his long period of activity as hrad of the Church in New Zealand done faluable work in the cause of education; lie was a man of marvellous ability, and tact, and had endeared himself to all classes of the community, Catholic and I'rotestunt alike. Archbishop Redwood left by tho Tofua lost night.

A visitor to Wellington is Mr. Herbert 11. Davios. of Adelaide, who for eoiiie years past lias conducted a music academy in Adelaide, and whose health demanded a change. Mr. Davios is at present only looking round, but may eventually settle in New Zealand, perhaps in Wellington. Mr. Davies is a teacher of the violin, and fifteen Elder scholarships have been secured by his pupils. He is also a conductor, with a. thorough knowledge of all the string instruments.' Mr.- Davies has an idea, if liis present intentions mature, of coming to New Zealand, and initiating a proper school of music, 6uch as he, in partnership with Mr. Gordon Short, conducted with such success in Adelaide.

Genius has been described as a capacity for taking pains. At a supper party given at Hamilton after the concert bjr the N.S.W. State Orchestra. Mr. Henri Vcrbrugghon told a story which dives a certain point to the above definition. After one of Sarasate's recitals in New York Mr. Herman Finck, the critic, went round to the artist's room and congratulated him on his marvellous playing of Lalo's "Espagnole" conccrlo. Finck said: "It was the work of a giant—an effort of genius." "Genius," said Sarasate, "don't tell anyone. I have been practising it for thirty years."

Plain-clothes Constable Tricldebank arrested a, wharf labourer yesterday on a charge of stealing watches from a vessel in port. He will appear in the ALagistrate'fj Court this morning.

The sea fishing around Napier this season is better than it has been for .some years past, and a large number of kiiiglish are being" caught (says the Hnwke's Bay "Herald"). The schnapper are generally ir. poor condition, but tho kahawai, generally a coarse tisli, are very fat this year, and quite edible. Stingarco arc very plentiful in th(j Inner Harbour, and some monsters,' weighing several hundred pound:), havo been hooked. Hat iisli are not so plentiful, but sharks can be seen nightly at Wcstshore, pati oiling'. the beach.

A statement to tho effect that the use of tho telephone to enable an invalid, coniined to his house, to listen to tile concert given at Hamilton the other day by tiie New South Wales Orchestra, was the first occasion on which tho experiment was tried in New Zealand, is hardly correct (says the Auckland

"Star"). The .Maoris living between the Hay of Islands and llokiiiuga hit on tin; idea several years ago. They got • the telephone craze—piobably from seeing private wires run on to several of the fanners' places—and although many of ttioih hadn't « decent coat to wear u good deal of money was raked together, posts were hauled from, the bush, and a very creditable line was erected. As a result nearly every village in tho neighbourhood was connected up with tho system, and when Ihe toy was new the battened were kept working overtime ringing bells (this alone was a keen delight), and vibrating yards of excited Maori conversation through space. ft happened that one village on the circuit owned a gramophone—which was then not quite so common as it is to-day— and the great event in the daily round was iu the evenings when every telephone was switched in, the gramophone was started, and every earpiece had glued to it a dusky ear, which was changed as rapidly as the owner could be lorn from possession of the instrument by the next impatient member of t.io <iuilienee.

At last night's meeting of tho I'ctone Borough Council Councillor A, Anderson called attention to the unsatisfactory ■posinoii existing with regard to tho cual .supply, 110 asked ttie Mayor to see what could be <loue in the matter of arranging a conference with tho i'rimu Minister, and this Mr. M'Eivan promised to do. Several councillors cumpla&cd that although coal could be procured from private dealers in L'elojie li was impossible lor residents to obtain supplies iruin this Borough Council, who were the biggest dealers in .the district. For the purpose 'of bringing tho attractions of the I'ctone beacii before probable visitor* tho Tetone Borough Council decided last night to invite citizens prepared to assist in the organisation ol a carnival to ho hold on tne beach to meet representatives of the council to consider the mailer. A special invitation is to be extended to sports bodies. Considerable ditliculty is being experienced by the Fetone Borough Council ill getting labour to do the work of connecting tho drains ol houses in Collins Street to the sewerage system, and the-matter was mentioned at la>t night's meeting. Tho Mayor was of opinion that the cause ol the shortage of labour was the high rate of wages paid by tho freezing works, and the fact that most of the suitable men were employed there. Councillor Anderson attributed it to tho way that the Government were distributing the war gratuities, and although he agreed that the returned soldiers no doubt earned what lliev got, he thought some were disinclined to work while they had money. Jle referred to the amount of money "going through the totalisators. After tome discussion the engineer was authorised to advertise for the men re- j quired.

The borough engineer reported to the lower Itutt Borough Council at its meeting last night thai the gas pressure hud been ver.y satisfactory since tho date on which they received the increased pressure. Only on three days had tho pressure fallen below four inches at Wakefield Street, the minimum recorded during consumption being 3-85 inches.

At last night's meeting of the Potone Borough Council, Mr. A. C'owie (borough engineer) rciiortod that "thoro was no doubt that <i very considerable amount ot' water wastage wont on in this dry weather through garden hosing, inspection would be made during tho dry weather ami a lew of the worst wises token 11) Court. Little objection could bo taken' to the judicious uso of a garden hose, but when the water was left running till the footpath was wet on the street, then drastic action should bo taken."