LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 59, 3 December 1920, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

What with the difficulty of raising money and the obstacles in the. way of obtaining a supply of cement, the work of piercing a "new tunnel through Mount Victoria recedes into the dim perspective. It has been suggested by residents of Kilbirnie that when the municipal authorities are ablo to commence this work much good could bo done to the whole of tho district if the spoil were utilised to build up tho lower areas of the gullies on the Kilbirnie side of the range. This area of Town Belt now consists of :i series of spurs and valleys between them, and high up little good could be done without dinging into the bill, but lower down a great deal of excavation—which will be nerded later on when recreation grounds are formed all down tho valleycould l)e dispensed with if the spoil from the tunnel were deposited along tho lower ground at tho foot of the hill. Tho Governor-General is a. keen allround sport, and does not intend that any of his ability in that direction should go to rust. Ho i 9 keen on yachting, so is having a craft built for summer sailing and cruising round tho island-dotted waters of the Waieemata. Lord Jollicoe is also no mean hand at tennis, nnd he is not at all avcrso to a game of quash rackets, when tennis is not so readily available. He is able to hanellc u fishing rod, and at cricleot recently he carried his bat through an innings. Next weok lie proposes to produce a couple of rinks from Government House to try conclusions at bowls with the officials of the Wellington Club, who have invited him l» their green in Aro Street. The match will take place on a morning to bo solected, bowls being essentially a finewenther gnme. Owing to the long and serious illness of the City Valuer (Mr. James Ames) tho big task of revaluing tho city was retarded for two or three months. Aow that Mr Ames has recovered, tho work is being pushed on as quickly as possible nnder the, circumstances. Mr. Arthur Ames is assisting Ins lather in the work-

From what was said in the Arbitration Court vesterdav afternoon, it appeared that some employer? regarded a certain remark made by Mr. Juistico Stringer on Monday as a slur upon them. His Honour's remark was to the effect 1.-at the general public should be represented n> Arbitration Court proceedings, and the, when bonuses were paid without protest' merely because they could be passed 'on toUhe public and collected nicng with a prollt, it was nothing mqre than a combination on the part of the vorkevs ana tho employers to rob the gi-neral public. Mr. W. IVyor (secretary cf the Employers' Federation) said I hat because of requests made to Iwii by employers he was compelled to refer' to the matter. Bp did not think His Honour's suggestion that the public should be represented in proceedings before tho Court was practicable even if it were desirable.' He submitted thnt the public was represented by His Honour. His Honour said that too much seriousness should r.ot bo attached to casual observations. Jv u=ing the word "rob" perhaps ho hatT used too strong t term. He should hnvo said "exploit." What he had meant to 6ay was that tho reason for which he thought the public to be represented was thnt it appeared to le general that where the employer was satisfied he could pass it on «unl colteet ii with a profit, he raised no objection lo Ihe granting of an increase in wages. H" had meant to say that if that were the public should lie. represented in order to see that the iiassip,g-on process was not unduly practised, and a tax, a? it were, levied upon the public to increase tho profits of the workers and the employers respectively.

Since its inception, the Repatriation Department has placed 21,250 discharged soldiera in suitable employment, and, according to the latest return, there, aro only/110 men awaiting placement. Of this number only two have been out of employment for more than one weekj and these men aro being paid unemployment 6iistenance allowances until placed in positions._ The total amount paid out to dafj- in the form of unemployment sustenance is an average, expenditure of Is. id. per demobilised soldier.

About eighteen months ago the Pnlm- ■ erston Borough Council put down an experimental strip of concreto roadway on one of tho streets lending out of" the borough on the norfchurn side. Members of tho party who accompanied Mr. Massey on his tour of the district on Wednesday examined this piece of road with some interest. They found that tho concrete is shewing signs of wear at several points. Some holes hnvo appeared, and it is apparent that disintegration has proceeded fairly rapidly onco the top surface ha 9 been broken.

So voluminous is the business being done at tho Buckle Street Garrison Hall in the sale of Army stores thnt the Postal authorities have set up there a parcels post branch, with a staff which is kept busily employed the whole day.

As a result of the heavy slump in rabbit skins, the number of men engaged in trapping rabbits in the south is said to have suddenly diminished, and "bunnv" will be permitted a greater degree of relief from such harassing measures in the immediate fnturo. The money some men have made by rabbit-trapping during the past three years is said to be fabulous. The membors of Williamson's 'Tw<siiiir Show Company left for Sydney yesterday afternoon by the Ulimaroa. Most of them will figure at the end of ttu« month in either the Williamson or the J. and N. Tait pantomime in Melbourne.

' In the Magistrate's Court yesterday af. ternoon, Mr. W. C. fliddcil, S.M.' delivered reserved judgment, in the case of V. J. Hale, of Petonc, engineer (Mr. W G. Mcllish), against T. W. .Orr, Lower Hutt, nurseryman (Mr. ,T. C. Peacock), in respect to a claim for £67 IBs. Gd„ being the amount, of damage done to plaintiff's motor-car on June 2, 1920, the result of a collision on the Hutt Uoad. The Magistrate held that the defendant was driving on tho wrong side of the road anil therefore gave judgment for plaintiff for Mo 16s. Gd., together with coats aud expenses totalling .£9 15s. .

Passengers by the ferry train from Lyttelton to Christchurch yesterday morning had an unpleasant capoi-ionce. When tho train was passing through the tunnel the Westinghouse, brake hose on a wagon.neav the end of'the train broke, and the train was 'brought to a standstill. There* were eleven carriages, carrying between three and four hundred passongers, Tho crew of the train succeeded in effecting repairs after a delay of over half an hour.

The following have been re-appointed members of the Hoi-owbeiiua Luke 'Domain Board:—Messrs. A. Dcmpsev, H. B. France, S. A. Broadbelt, and F. F. Parker. Tutaun Ilurinui has brsn appointed to the board in plnco of Mohi Tangatakino Eakuraku, deceased.

The rainfall in Wellington for November wa3 2.70 inches. Contrary to the ideas most people have had, this rainfall is a good deal below thci Wellington mean for that month, which is 3-18 inches. Rain fell on fifteen out of the thirty davs, but tho fall on a few days was 100 small to register in the rain gauges.

Tho new lint- of footpath along the southern side of Courtenay Place, from the Cuba Street intersection eastwards, is now defined by tho electric light poles whieh have been erected just inside the alignment of the new ketostoms. This means that at a point opposite the ■backwall of the Boyal Oak Hotel the road is to be made about 7 feet wider than it is at nrcs<™t. which strip will cud in nothing a t the corner of Cuba Street and Pomtenav 'Place. This work should 'be finished before Christmas.

it a mooting of the Navy League, sain a Press Association telegram from Cur'istchui-ch. a letter was read from Captain 0. J-eßKftt.* formerly of the HM S New Zealand, regarding the disposal of the f"iW contributed, by the people'o'f the Dominion for ilie purpose if nvovidiue prlze=Jor nunnery ciropetiti('m=. Captain Xcggctt pointed out tliat 11.M.5. New Zealand bad been placed in tho reserve, end thorefore no competition would henceforth bo helfr. It was resolved that the '.rustees of the fund should bo instructed lo take steps to have the moneys transferred for the purposes of gunnery prizes in H.M.S. Chatham nnd other training ships in New Zealand waters.

Tho Town Clerk advises . that commencing to-day Manners Street (botween Taranaki Street and Cuba Street) will be closed for westerly-bound tinffie. The restriction will bo maintained until further notic*.

Teachers in the employ of the Aucklaud Kdutution Board are new free to apply for any appointment that becomes vacant (states, the Auckland "Star"). Hitherto they have been subject to certain restrictions. I'or instance, a man applying for the post of headmaster of a school of Grade VI.A and Upwards was required to have served in a country school for live years, and no teacher was allowed to apply for a new post until he served in the position he then occupied for two years. These and other similar restrictions have now been rescinded, and teachers are free to apply for any position that becomes vacant. The now order will remain in force, until next July, when tho Dominion grading scheme coiihh into operation, and it is expected that the Government will then issue regulations which will, apply to tho whole' Dominion.

The many friends in Now Zealand a» well as in this country Will deeply sympathise with Mr. J. G."Craster in the loss ))y a terrible accident of his wife, a Now Zealand lady, formerly Miss F, B. D'Oyly, of Wellington (states tho Auckland "Herald's" London correspondent). Her mother and sister arc. at present living in Knglnnd. lire. Ouster left Sutton for Hendon early one afternoon. Then came the tragic news l;hat her body had been found on the line noar the Kentish Town station, having evidently been dragged for some yards into tho tunnel by tho train from which she fell. Mrs, Craster had taken a ticket from Goodge Street to Golder's Green, which is tho nearest elation to Hendon, and that the fatality occurred at Kentish Town, which is on the line not to Gohler's Green, but Highgate, seems to make it clear that, having discovered her iuistako, Mrs. Craster attempted too late to leave the train to go back to the junction station. She must liavo hit hor head against the lunnerV and clung to tho train, and from n bruise on her forehead' it is believed that she was rendered unconscious before the train '•an over her and caused her death.

Splendid fishing was secured by Mr. J. '-alien, honorary warden of the Tongariro National Park, from tlio southern shoro of Lnke Taupo, near Tokaanu, a fortnight ago (states the "New Zealand Herald"). Tho trout were in. excellent condition, and neither Mr. Ctillen nor any other anglers who were there at the time took a "slab." It was ascertained that there arc splendid fish in Lake Roto Aim, which is halfway between Waimarino and Tokaanu. At the end of Inst season a lllh, fish was taken from it, besides numerous smaller ones, and during the winter a Maori at Oram hauled out of a pool in a small stream running into the lake a h'sli of a similar size. Mr. Ciillon explained-.that the Maoris, having rai?;d objections to trout being placed in Lake Roto Aira, the Government had agreed not to do so. Someone had put in fish surreptitiously, probably in September, mis, a consignment of fish liavinc gone, to Waunarino from Rotorua in that month which hnd not been accounted for. Thus, in two years, some of thyse fish had grown to 141b.. which was phenomenal. Tho fish feed i" Hie lako was remarkably good. During Ihe spawning season tho Maoris at. Otukou Pa had made great hauls of fish from the Wai. rchu Stream, which runs into Lako Roto Aira, men, women, and children going into water waist-high, and rabbiters had reported good trout, in the head waters of this stream in the gorges of Tongariro. Otukou is between 20 and 25 miles from Wniinnrino. the road for that distaneo being in good order. Mr. Cullen states (hat judging by his experience at loknanu. anglers can depend upon getting go'.-d sport and fish from Lake Taupo this season.

Kven the representative, of the King is not immune from inconvenience and disappointments entailed by the house shortage, says a I'rc?s - Association telegram from (jhristchurch. Lord Jellicoe had hoped to mako a prolonged stay in Christchurch, but, the following letter rend ut n meeting of the, Wavy League last night from his urivato secretary show? that Christchurch cannot at present have the honour of shaving thb Governor-General resident in l !, e city:— "In reply to your letter 'of I'cvjmber 19 I have to inform voir that Their Excellencies had intended to go into rc-idencc in Christchurch', but that owing to it being impossible to procure a suitable house they are now unable to rio co, and I am unable to say when they ore likely to be in residence there."

Tn the course of a private letter received in Wellington yesterday, Mr. Ernest Drake, the young Auckland tenor (who is well known in Wellington), sa.v/i that he has just concluded a successful tour of the north of "nglnnd with Madame Kirkby Lunn, the tmineut English contralto.

At 8 o'clock yesterday morning Captain W. Jl. Buckley, chief pilot of the New Zealand Aero Transport Co., which is operating at Timaru, circled in a IJ.H. '•> aeroplane round Mt. Cook. Captain Buckley took with him Mr. Mercer, ground engineer of the company, and two other passengers. The tctal'woight of the passengers carried was 115 stone.'

On liisTij.it to the proposed new sites for AVellington schools tho Minister of Education (the lion. tJ. J. Parr) on Wednesday inspected tho two sites suggested to take the place of the ptesent Newtown School. One site has been approved, and the Education Board has received authority to acquire it. The procedure will probably be under the Public Works Act. A • forward 6top has also, been taken with reference to the-second site, but as its selection would involve the acquisition of house property the matter is a difficult one to decide. Tho Minister also examined the gaol site where the new Te Aro Infant School is to be erected. The personal inspection will enable the Minister to give his decision respecting the request of the Te Aro School Committee for alterations in tho school plans. The Minister also visited Victoria College' in company with the chairman and members of the council, who wish to obtain land for the erection of a hostel, and who have been considering the taking over of the residence immediately at the back of the Terrace School, the property of the Wellington Hospital Board.

A clever littlo fox terrier named Flo=s. which has the distinction of being tho only mascot of the N.Z.E.F. to come tn the Dominion, has pa*=ecl through quarantine, and was greeted by many fripnds in Auckland on Tuesday, states the "N«w Zealand Herald." She* joined tho N.Z.K.F. at Codford in 1517, coming an a, puppy from the home of Sir Walter Long to Sergeant Lowndes, pvlio found that she had a wonderful Intelligence. She was taught many extraordinary tricks, and as an entertainer she was popular in many camps on tho Salisbury Plain, t at children's hospitals tlvrouehout. Britain, and at patriotic gatherings. Permission to bring her to New Zea land was not granted, and she therefore embarked on the Eimutaka in a kit liair. She was allowed to live, but had to undergo a very strict nuarantinn test after reaching New Zealand.

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