LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 72, 18 December 1920, Page 10

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Postal authorities have received advice that the Paloona sailed from Melbonrno at' 5 p.m. on December 14, fpr Bluff, -with 500 .bags of mails for }Co\v Zealand, including 290 Iwgs from the United Kingdom.

A peculiar form of cold is prevalent in-Jlasterton just now, says our special correspondent. The- malady manifests itself suddenly, usually in the throat and-1 tings,afterwards developing into a head' cold.

In pointing out that prize certificates only had been, awarded in the sports '■vents, of the school, the headmaster of Hanks College (Air. \V. T. I'oster) said at the prize-giving yesterday: "Our object is to. eliminate the 'pot-hunter' in •snort, to create the team spirit anion? our boys,-and to, encourage the love of sport for its oini sake." •

The secretary of the G.P.O. advises 1 that "from December 20 to January 2 inclusive, Christmas and New Ycav greetings telegrams may be accepted for Apia and Earotonga at .a charge of !id. per word. The te'.egrains rnuec nut contain code or business reference, but aro not .confined to any particular wordij.ig as in inland Christmas telegrams."

On.- the eve of closing down for the Christmas vacation, the. students, under: the vocational training branch.-ut tlip Trenthnm- Military IL'osnital foregatheredat a picnic held -lit.-Moonshine Volley, tipper Hutt, on Thursday.--..The responsibility of running: the uicnic rested in tho hands of n committee elccted from unions -the students. During the afternoon an excellent prosvamme of fports was earned through, the various cvdnfo ß . including'races for the nursing staff and wives of the students being- well contostcd. The gathering comprised about 200persons. ■ '

."The annual inter-collegiate. rowing competitions,", stated a Press Association message received from Cliristchiircli last night, "take place oyer a mile .course at Corsair-Bay .to-morrow? afternoon. The schools taking part arc Christ's'\Cdl!eee, Christehurch ■ Boys' .High School,'- W.ni-. taki Boys' High Sclibol, and. Wangnhiii. Collegiate School.". .

The Academy of Eitie Ai'ts .hns arranged with the (jovctnmo'nf. 'tu; haiig'tvirof the more' imporbint. work's*' of ' the late 1-. W. Christinas, B.B.A.;'in the Art Gallery,',Whitnipfe .Street'- Mr;. Christmas was 'at one time a iiicinljor of' the Aciul-' (•my, and the. decision of the council to ■temporarily "remove a' section of the permanent collcction to enable his .ivories, to li, shown ,is .a ftrtico£ul ; tribute-:to' the memory of the deceased artist. The pictuns will be on view for about three weeks..,,, , ... ~

The monthly meeting of the Wellington Harbour . Board ivill tako .placc on Wednesday evening next.

■ The -.offices •of the ■ "Wellington ■ Education Board closed yesterday •• for ' the Christmas and New Year holidays.. The staff "»• to resume on January 10.

Brigadier Bray, 6upervisr of the property branch; of tlie Salvation Army ri> tuwieii to Wellington from .the north yesterday. On December G ho was present nt. the opening in Hamilton of a new home for children. The homo will accommodate 30 children between the ages of one and five years: This work—which consisted of the modernising and- extension of an .existing building. ,ivas mnda passible .by the generosity of- -Mr. Ewan M'Gregor, who donated the sum of XI2IIO for,-,the purpose. .Commissioner 11. C. Hoddori presided, and- theJioiuewns for-mcrly.declared-,opon' by .Mr.i.M'Or.fgor. The home has been placed in charge of Adjutant and Mrs. Hughson.

A Rood proportion of Hie Newcastle coal that is being imported into Wellington for general 'uso is" not', wc'nclly suitable for specially-constructl'l . furnaces. Tho coal mentioned is hard, grey slatey coal, which is mined in largo lumps, and comrx to Wellington in blocks sometimes eighteen inches square. ;As the. chain-grate./tokers- at tho. .electric lient power- house cannot denl,.fnvour r ably with coal that will not go throughn two-inch mesh,, men have to be; em ployed to. break up the . blocks or coal with 81b.. hammers. This work nlon? has ,*«rt. the City Corporation hundreds of pounds'■ during the vear and, has V'O" the cause of-much of the complaint on the part of .the, city authorities. There is at the present/time a-fairly large stoclc of such coal in the Harris Street yard, all of which will have to be pulverised 'by hand before it can be fed to the furnaces. At the now power-house, to be erected at Shag l'oint, Evans Bay. it is proposed to obviate tlio possibility of such added expense and labour by providing a coal-crusher. When lh< coal arrives at the works it, will be hoisted by a bucket elevator to, a hopper, but just before it enters the bin or hopper the coal will pass through heavy rollers, which will ensure that every piece that passes through is a certain size 01 less. TTrom the hopper it will be carried along by conveyors to the furnaces in the ordinary way.

With a sublime confidence ill the ability of the military authorities to unravel the tangle, quite a number of would-be purchasers of .surplus Defence stores last week forwarded orders for various articles with'money attached, but omitted to give their name or address. Many others with a careless disregard for preciseuess in matters sartorial sent in orders for boots and other articles of attire without staling whether the.v wanted size three or number'eleven. Nothing daunted, 'the Defence officers made up complete/orders in the case of the "unknown," in- the sanguine belief that sooner or Inter the senders thereof would write, to the newspapers or' to Headquarters complaining of the "shortcomings" of the unfortunate staff who wer* detailed to dispose of the surp'iis equipment. In cases where the Department was unablo to fulfil orders through shortage of supplies the monev is being returned through the post office as quickly as possible. Some idea of .the magnitude of the sale—the accountancy end of which was handled by Captain G. C. ]< el ton—may be gleaned from the fact that in round figures it realised at Wellington alone , the sum of- .£27,000. Iho only unsaleable lines were sizes ten and eleven in boots. ■

In tho course of his annual report, tho managing director of Hanks College (Mi'. H. Amos) had much to say on the value of education. Inter alia, lie stated: "The cultural background of every person should be • as rich as possible, because that.means he has a better chance of looking beyond the range of narrow class interests,..and of sympathising with the viewpoint' of his fellowmen. Never were -the opportunities of servicc so ample for the. broadly, educated person with'tolerant ideas—the result of npo scholarship—as at tho present day. . , . I wish to urge upon every boy to mm high. 'Hitch your wagon to n slur, as Kmerson has said. Do not be satiafied with mediocrity. Even if he ilm-s not reach the goal for which lie luis been striving, lie will at least have the satisfaction of knowing that ho has vrieil. and his constant striving, whether crowned with Complete success or not, will make him a stronger and-better man and a more worthy citizen."

Double booking of seals on the Main Trunk .exprws is complained of by a correspondent -who si'ntea that luthongh he was at the railway .station half an hour before the plat-form pates were opened last .evening, ho found on boarding llio train that the seats ho had been allotted had been taken up bv other imsselisbrs who claimed that they also had been allotted the teats in question, the guard, according to the correspondent, was iinable to-do anything, .and could only blamo tho booking stahs., . •

The ; . annual report, of Banks*, fcollqgo states, that the college ~has now a' ;'rnll number of 2159 students, and nearly 3000 students hiro passed through it this year. For tlio last November and December university examinations the college presented 238 candidates for', the accountancy examinations, I'.'!! lor llto law professional and 1.L.1i.. 117 for the malriculation and entrance, and 0 lor the pharmacy, section A.

l'einarks made on Ihe subject, of discipline in schools, and the need tor llic maintenance of order among pupils, by Mr. J. P. Firth. the retiring headmaster of Wellington College, werd endorsed bv Mr. 11. Amos, the managing dimeter ol Banks College, at the animal pmc-giv-iug of 'that institution yesterday. "I' would like to strongly support Mr. Firth, in what lie said," remarked Mr." Amos.

"1 am equally convinced how indispensable the element of discipline is in a *ound scheane of education, and I. linnly deprecate any attempt'to degrade education to the level or a mere 'amusement." '

The members of the N;-w South \\ ales tennis team which* is to tour "Now Zealand in January are still in Australia. They were ;(o have left by the Uli.n.iaroa, and were expected here on Monday, but owing to the trouble in Australia' the vessel is not leaving Sydney. .The players. Messrs. 51. 11. Marsh, N: and I',. Peach. A. S. Watt, S. H. Henderson, aliaDir. K. 'Gregg, hope to cross aboard n Union Company vessel, but it is Hot yet known hero if they will be able to obtain ■accommodation on one o; the lied Funnel lleet it has been definitely decidcu not to play the New South ales team 'ngainst a combined 'Tarannki-AYangan'uv team. In the report of the draw for tlio New Zealand championships, ing in yesterday's Dominion, the names of Miss X. ATantell and Miss Ba;n were i.nadverten.ily oinitied. These two 'ladies have been drawn to play one another in the ladies' singles: it was not noted in the draw that. Messrs. .Darby and Storey are Australians.

Tho New Zealand -Loan and Mercantile Agency Company. Limitid, liavs receivocl a cablegram'from their, head office .in London, advising that, at ijie annual general meeting held op, December 16, a final dividend was declared for the year ended June 30. at the rjite of 2i per cent, (les-r- English incoine tax at;-K. *G«. .in the £1 on the 5 -pet' cent, cumulative prefer-, enco stock, and a finnl dividend at the rate of 2 per ccnc. and bonus of 2 per cent, (both free of . English income, tax) on the ordinary stock. A notice ,to New Zealand stockholders regarding payment of ..tho dividends and bonus will be found in our advertisement columns.

The Waterside Workers Hand will play at Lyall Bay at 3 o'clock to-morrow afternoon.

' During the course of his address ai the annual prize-giving function of Banks College ytslerday afternoon, Mr. Amos, the. director, stated that * Banks CoUene would be known in tho future as Wellesley College. ;.

A heavy gale, almost of cyclonic' until re. raged on Wednesday night'•and completely interrupted telephone and telegraph communication, which .wiis subsequently restored (says a il'resa Association telegram from Thames}.'' Orcliardists. suffered se«u ely. '

"I should like :lo say , romething to farmers-about skins,"-said Mr. Li- D. Greenwood, at Wednesday's* meeting of 'shareholders of the North Canterbury Sheep Fivrniers' Co-operative Company, Ltd: "No doubt." he added, "the happy times of recent high prices have ended for -a few years, and the men on the land may not find their cheques at iho end of the year so handsome figures. They must, therefore, make tho most of n'.l their' products, doing away with waste. There had ' been a waste of skins of sheep killed on' the .stations. A lit'.'Je trouble should be taken to have these skins taken off properly, and instead of being left to dry in the sun on tlio ground, they should be taken inside the shed, and spread on -the wool' table. If put on n fence to dry, they- should bo hung properly."—'"Lyt clton Times."

-Quite aft original; proposal was"nifi'de to the council of the Canterbury Progress Leaguo on Wednesday, -whin Mr. ju E. Steero suggested that the league should co-operato with the Chanibcr of Comiiiiree in asking the' Government to stop imports for a period.He explained that goods were pouring into tlio Dominion at such .a rate'that imporWvi were' having difficulty in meeting their liabilities. Many shipments had arrived ahead of their indent time. Some importers hadcabled to cancel.their orders, bjit'.cancel-' latioii was not accepl?(L Tlifc Govern-' meat lmd iwwer to stop the export' of meat, so it could surely prohibit 'the import of merchandise for a few months. Was it iio t pns'Hble for the league, in conjunction wi lli the Chamber of Commerce, to do something in the matter? If the present rush of imports continued it uiight cause disaster to some people. Mr. W. M. Tyers, president of the C'nnterburv Chamber of Commerce, said 'Hint the chamber believed in f its members keeping what contracts they had. made. The nresident of the league (Mr. A. G. ■Henderson) said-that it seemed rather a matter for the banks, but if Mr. S'Wre would. forward hi* question in writing, the executive would consider it. —"Sun." . Tho problem of 'providing a hungry schoolb-.iv with a two-course meal at n cost of less than 4d. has been solved in the Ohristchurch Ti»;hnicnl High School. Speaking at i;he bvJnk-up ceremony, Dr. D. R. Hansen, director of the school, said that there was reason to be particularly gratified at one feature in tlio ■Homo Science Department—that was the prepnvaion of lunches for toys and girls attending the school from a distance. This work find iv.iw been carried out by the totalling ftaff,- during the daily lessons in the cookery rooms, for TO to SO persons, tho charge made for a two-course meal being only Id. And investigation of ■ecc-iii'iN made recently --liowi'd that a s'iglit profit was being made even at that charge. ,

"We learn Mint it has been definitely decided." reports (he "Otago Daily Tunes," "that the directorate of- the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand is. to remain in; Dunedin. . There is a measure of satisfaction to Dunedin people -in this, and it j>ves us great idea ure to bo ab'c to limlce tlie announcement. It is a some of deep repvet iSi.it the headquarters stalf are to be transferred to Wellington, but we. shall hava tite satisfaction of knowing that (lie liead office as reprcsnn'til bv the directorate is still to remain in the city which lias the honour of.founding one of the big shii)ownin? companies of the world."

Authority has been issued to, tli.i Publie Works Deportment tor the formation of ii road to the Whakaiiapanui hut, where eventuallv a hostel is (o be built, which will serve for visitors to both liunpehii and Nuaunihoe, writes the Waimarino correspondent of 111* "New '/.calami ilernld." The L'ublic Works l)cpartrac»t's enjrinrcr ami road overseer have b«en looking over tho line of tho road, and a start is to bo uiade with pei!jjijig it out shortly. U Is intended to gel the work started as scon as possible, and, as most of (lie formation can lie dono by liors,. work, tl»e road should be completed by the- end. of 111* summer. It does not appear to be generally known that now the •Wniinarino-Tokaanu Hoad is metalled to a point opposite jSgauruthis mountain call be easily climbed in a day from Waimarino. A Welling* ii-.u laiiy staying at Waimarino recently motored' to the lop of the hill, aliout !! miles from Waimarino, where the rond reaches an altitude of well over 300011. Walking from there over tussock country In the base of N'gauriilioe she climbed the mountain, visited also the soda spring on the side of Tongariro, and got back to the motor well befon> dart. Authority has hft;n issued by'the Minister for tlie formation of trucks ftoiu the Wliakapnpanui hut towards Kunpehu and N'gauruhoe. These will be • completed this summer, and, 'besides giving easy nccess to numerous places of interest, will considerably reduce the time taken in climbing the mountains, O

"I understand," snid Dr. 1). 10. linnsen, director of tile. Christchiirch 'Technical College, at tho prize-giviitg cef'eniony tufts week (says an exchange)

"that the statistics' prepared reeuitly show that though the great majority cl boyß and girls leaving the primary schools ill town go 011 for secondary instruction, too larg., a proportion of the country boys are put early to heavy farm work, before they have had an. opportunity of developing further the intelligence which is Incoming particularly keen in young people 'from 12 years of aje and upwards, lioys put so early to work have not the same ojiportunilk'S of physical development, whilst they also miss the chance of rubbing shoulders with their fellows, which, in itself is calculated to make them keener mid more intelligent."