LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 144, 13 March 1920, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

■ The Westport .Coal Company and the Weslport-Stb'ckfon . Company have increased the-:prico. of .coal in, alt-grades by 2s. 6d;"per ton;- At present no such inhas -been made by the northern colliery" companies.' ■'

It is .announced in the- Gazelle that ■interest-on- Post Office, Savings Bank deposits frill;from April 1-be increased by a-quarter, per cent. On. deposits «uo. tothe,'interest wilt be; increased from ■3J -per 'cent-., to -1- per- cent'., and on deposits from- -..E.'KH)--to ..£IOOO-1 be rate will be 3| per cent., instead of 3J per cent.

Although due warning was given through, the: Press of the-Trainway Department's.intention to shut down on all traffic between 11' a.m. arid 11..30 a.m. arid 3-40-, p.m.-, and-■■ 4.10 p.m. vesterday, many people were calighr'napping. One indignant lady at C'burteiiay Place, who found that, sue would have to walk to Lambton Qiiayipi' wait, declared, much trt tliolamusenieiif. of 'hy-standers. '.'That this.'go-slow' business was-catehing, mid the' wliOle of .the; pfficials 'shpuld be Backed!". Tn .the slack hours a restricted service was' Vu'n and as enpd a service as possible whs' niaihtained.'diiring the rush '■' 'hours.'-'; '■ An'; improvement all rbund ' is . bv .:,Monila'y, pa'ticuiiirly if"ampio'suplies of Westport cojtl are available. ' ... ..

'flic thousands of persons who coolc by gne in Wellington will have- noticed ft very poor pressure between 4.M t>.in. and 1 f.m.-M' the last \je\v days. This has Von due'lo Ib'e Gas Company's being 1 forced to lower the pressure by about 40 .per cent,, in o'-der to keep up any sort of supply, The company ww in pretty desperate straits for coal at the beginning-.of the week, and with the assistance of a limited quantity from % a hulk, and the scrapings, of its own bins it' has jiist been able, to keep going. The manaiht- (Mr.' A. Dougall) staled ywtefdny'' that as far as lie could «eo< they would iiist be able to pull through 'niiltes' , 'anyth'ihg uirfordseen happened. The 'Inwferin? ■of the pressure was the r>'nl jl'iiltrtnh'tivA to' cuttin? 'off; altogether. The company'."hud never before been in such straits as during this week. The company expects • n. cargo of coal o* Afonday, which moans a continuation of low-pressure gns to-day and. to-morrow. : The prevalent!* of influenza in South ■ Otago has .not-abated: to. any extent during the past week, states the Otago Da.ily-.Times". ;■ in fapt,...there'would appear to -W a -fairly -large number of cases, although # none Have _been reported as pne-uuionic or oven serious. ' '= Queen Margaret College, for girls, .in Hoiison ■ Street, lias .been closed.jlurmg the TTOek in consequence'of-an outbreak of: influenza in/a.lis'lit form .-among the students. „• The. attendances in some of the schools, have also bewi slightly affected this week by the same cause.- ' , . ■

A boot and shoe trade journal published in. London states that- the introduction "of. thc : tack-on .rulllier sole for men's "bootsMifls" induced the work oi boot repairers in .-London by 50 per cent. Messrs. Palnie'r and Maliood, of Wellington, are engaged in - the preparation of a handsome illuminated address at tlio instance of Hie Very Kev. Dean MTvenna, on behalf of the Eomaii Catholic community of Pahintua, for presentation to His ltoyal Highness the Prince of-Wales. In a- letter to' : a friend in : .Wellington Mr. J. H. Cramsie, of the firm of Cranisie and .Lethbridgc, Ltd., fat stock salesmen, of Sydney, wroto oil- March' 2:— "Things have, been upset here for the last ten weeks on account of the engineers' ■ strike, as well as the trouble we have-experienced 1 in-.connection with the long-continiied drought-, which was, •only partially .broken.' and. in many places is settling-down worse than ever. I sincerely-hope that before the winter sets in, good general rains will fall; otherwise: I. am afraid extreme losses will take place during the winter. Our loss of. sheep for .1019 was over seven millions,'so you can understand we have been tlirongh .a pretty precarious time. At: one time , this State had 61 million shedu.: 'at • the -end of. last year we had only >2'millions, and if general rain fell no'tf-it is very, likely the total number would be about SO .millions: _ These drought conditions, combined with the industrial unrest, cnuse a great amount of work, and I am very much afraid that the conditions with regard to the latter are not going "to improve." The annual confe'rence of the United Commercial Travellers' and Warehousemen's Association of Nw Zealand will be'held <at°.the'local association's club rooms on Tuesda}'. and Wednesday of next week. The conference will be opened on TuesdaV by the Prime Minister. The Canterbury Commercial Travellers'' and Warehousemen's Association is bringing up a strong cricket team to play the Wellington Commercial Travellers' and Warehousemen's Association eleven

on Thursday. The Canterbury travellers are also bringing up their crack billiard>«fcs and-bowlers to try conclusions with tTie local men.' A valuable addition has just been made to .the -equipment of the mechanical en[jinocrinir workshop at the. Technical College in Toe shape of a new screw-cut! iiig Iptlie of 11-inch swing and lift, bed, capable of' cuttiii'r all standard threads, right and' left, from 3 to 72 to the inch. Tlie 'latlio, with it.- accessories, is pro-, vided at a cost of about .£2OO. The machine shop is now equipped with six crow-ciittiuK. lathes, 3 other lathes, in ii?-Ntie'i <o a universal milling machine ivnTT shaping, 'planing anil drilling machines. • '

This is one of the many letters of thanks received by'the secretary of the Wellington! War I'elief Association from men\whom the association has helped:— "No.doubt,you will wonder what I liavo written to, you- for, but- T thouslit -T would-like to, write anil toll you how I have besti getting on since you so kindly furnished this house for mo. T. am sure it has been tho lumpiest .twelve months T have luid out .of the four years. Sine your kind-gift of furniture to me, I have had my rooms let: at 10-\ and ifr. a week-;-and have been able lo keep my rent (255 ; a week) paid up here every week, and with my pension T hove managed merely, by. being very careful, nnd I have also received ,£B3 9s. from the war giatyii.ty. ■ < This luis fixed us up nicely. .1 am sure only for you R anting me such a ?ifl I would have had a very hard li ! fo, which I hud till you-lnoi; up my case. 1 now waul to once airnln thank you and vour interviewers ood other members. of your <:o!ii»iitlee who n'so he|pei' .ip . i"V case. T 1 -ive only. Hieni to. thank for bavin?. a ho:ni> today.". A petition..-in b-» ikriipk'.v lias been filed :in Wellington-by I!. ?.- Meuzios, a ffuitercri- ■ ■■• ■■■

A setiuel to the cost of footweor is that quite a dcmaml is said to exist for second-hand boots and slioi-s, state? tho Cln'istciiiuch "Sun." Dcnli;rs appear to be enyer buyers of discarded ioolu'c;!r. One nu>n .1 it was surprising the class of ncrson who was now prepjml, quiLe literally, to siep i-ito anothe;- man's shoe?." He found I hat m 1 v i'.mi'ls boucht a good pair o) shoes at first-haiid for. "best," and -jl'tained second-hand shoes to wear tor ordinary purposes.

At last nights meeting of the Wellington lieiv.rned Soldiers' Association the. secretary thai the as.-ociation was gathering information legn.rdins cses of tieneh nioutli. 't'lie contention of the dcr.tal authorities had been that, all easrs of trench month were enrod before tho men. were placed on board the transports, but as a m.atter of fact eases had occurred .in New .Zealand. Men had Buffered from this I '.oublo after discharge. . The association Avanted to.have '■lie names of jjien. who had suffered, afler dischaige. ..

A loyal address of welcome from tlu> Methodist Church of New Zealand to l't l nrcsented' to th (l Princ o ' of A\ oio? during Ws visit to the Dominion. The president and ex-president of the Methodist Conference -.have, been re quested by resolution to arrange for; tip presentation of the addren. .

A pircnlnv- was wfrd at tli« ".S.A. meetinc last night, from' the War (Expenses Branch statins .t!ia'. mauv, people entitled to .the retrospective children's allowance had not. made application for tho money. Tt.w» necessar tl.al apnlieation shonjd lie made in ail rises. Members contended, that the ilefencp. Department oug|ht i ti nay. over uvs nioney without waiting for applications, and ii motion to this eH'-eel was ?arrie'l.

Mr. J. Tf.-Teinplin, electrical cnginrei of Cliristchnrchj who is visiting the United States, in a letter dated January 20. states that- in n trip to Pittsburg, Washington. New York, and Schenectady, ■ ho- obtained, a great- deal of--«u formation, in regard to the use of electricity on farms. "There is one thing that is givilig great results," writes, "thnt : is; the use of' the electric light in fowlliouses to increase egg pvoduction; - : Tie light is turned on rtt; -i n.m. in the winter, and. until 9 p.m. The general' use'_ of" cleetricity ■ in the country is hot.evident here in the'east; Our own law, allowing local bodies'to reticulate country areas, is undoubtedly ft very -progressive step: it jives the far mev -an advantage that may - not :b8 realised untiV a 'person sees how- other farmers are handicapped. While in .Washington.,!, nisited -the. Department of Agriculture" 7 *;) see > the results of electricity for pasteurising milk,, and Tor stimulating,,crops... .As yet, neither has been successful,- and .1 was..given ...very littlo hope that.there .was'any'likelihood of success with the present methods .employed.. Due .to-the. abnormal labour, conditions existing.'here ,to-day, there, has been'a great .market, for very small electric motors for household 'electrical, conveniences, such .as .wnshjiig nia'cluncs,. vacuum cleaners,''..etc. -Two " of.. the largest' electrical . manufacturers. ' in America arb fill >jji of business*for. on small niot6rs, chiedy for washing machines. Aft®r careful investiirntioii. I can safely say that we are right- up-to-date in New Zealand as to- the (Mstribut'on and uses of electric current."