LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 152, 23 March 1921, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Before every holiday a long queue used to be fqund in waiting outside the Railwav Deuartfient’s passenger bureau in Willis Street. This system has . been checked to a great extent, by the management closing the doors when the office is quite full, and announcing on the window that the doors will not be opened again until a specified time. For example, at noon yesterday the following notice appeared: "Officefull of people. Will not reopen until 1 p.m." The result of this announcement was that many folk were saved a long wait in the dusty street.

The Postal authorities advise that the following hours of attendance will bo observed at the General Post Office during Easter: —On Good Friday, the .Post Office will be. closed in all its branches. All mails will be closed the previous evening, with the exception of Auckland and district, which will close at 8 a.hi. There- will bo no delivery by postmen, but such correspondence may be obtained from the postmen’s branch, on first floor (entrance from Featherston Street) from Bto 9 n.m. on March 24. The Post Office will be open as usual on Easter Saturday. and on Easter Monday from 9 to 10 a.m. in all branches, with tho exception of the Money-Order and Savings Bank. There will be no postmen’s delivery on Easter Monday, but there will bo a delivery of such correspondence from the postmen’s branch on Saturday evening from 8 to 9 p.m. x Mr. Hugh C. Jenkins has resigned his position as sub-editor of the "Mercantile Gazette” and publisher of the Gazette Law Reports and the Magistrate Court Reports, at Wellington, in order to return to his old profession of the law. Mr. Jenkins, who is joining the office of Mr. A. A. Wilson, Crown Solicitor at Westport, spent five years in Fleet Street Journalism before coming to New Zealand in 1910. He commenced reading for the law in 1916, and passed his solicitor’s examination in 1919. Mr. Jenkins is New Zealand correspondent of the "Empire Mail" and other overßeas publications. During last year he acted as lagal reporter in the Court of Appeal.

An inquiry concerning the cost of the 6500 tons of coal brought from Vancouver by the Waihora was addressed to the Prime Minister yesterday by Mr. P. Fraser (Wellington Central). The vessel, he said, had gone to Newcastle to load coal. From there she had proceeded to Vancouver, where there had been considerable delay in obtaining a cargo, so that eventually the whole voyage had occupied four months and fifteen days. The cost of the coal must have been exceedingly high, and he thought it was to the public interest that it should be given. ■ Wages alone for the period would amount to £2506. Mr. Massey said that he regretted he could not supply the information, for it had not yet coine to him. The cost would be high, for there was very serious delay. The vessel could not get coal at Newcastle, and arrangements were made to load at Vancouver. It was an experiment that would not be repeated. It would be possible to get Welsh coal at a lower cost, considering the quality, than from Newcastle. He did not want to go out of the country at all for coal, and the position was improving in that direction. The output was increasing, and he hoped that it would continue to increase.

Complaint was made at last night’s meeting of the Wellington Cricket Association’s Management Committee that parades of Territorials and Senior Cadets on Saturday afternoons were interfering with cricket matches. It was explained that some years ago the Defence Department had agreed to meet sports bodies in this matter by holding parades at times when championships would not be imperilled, but, somehow or other, the arrangement was not now being carried out. The committee decided to communicate with the Defence authorities, asking if a scheme could be devised whereby young players would not be penalised in regard to sport. Members of the N.Z.E.F., who were successful at sports gatherings at the military bases in the United Kingdom, wore awarded medals bv the Sports Control Board. A number of these medals has reached the Dominion. These have been forwarded to the addresses of those entitled to them, but in a number of instances they have been returned through the Post Office, the addressees having moved to some other place. That every child, before leaving school, should see at least two or three veilacted Shakespearean plays was the belief expressed by Professor J. Shelley in a recent address at Canterbury College. He stated that, during the past year, crowds of school children attending the London County Council schools had had their admission money paid by the council, and had witnessed Shakespearean plays at the "Old Vic." Theatre, London.

“A very noticeable feature in connection with#professional boxing,” ran n. passage m the annual report of the Wellington Boxing Association, which was adopted last night, "has been the influx of a large number of professionals from Australia throughout the year. This was probably due to a considerable extent to the activities of local associations making the Dominion an attractive field of operation, and to the general excellent reports made by those professionals who had come to New Zealand to fulfil engagements and been cordially •welcomed by patrons of the sport whenever they appeared in public. Your committee considers it desirable to direct attention to the fact that there have been a number of instances in which associations. competed against each other in endeavouring to obtain the services of visiting professionals, the consequence being that larger amounts were expended than would otherwise have been necessary, and the financial success of the project was inevitably affected detrimentally. Once the principle of largo purses is established, associations may find it increasingly difficult to make ends meet, and the encouragement of the amateur side of the sport for which associations were primarily founded. is liable to be neglected.”

In consequence of the milk trouble in Sydney a record sale of daily cows took place there recently. Altogether 158 cows were yarded. "I have boon attending the 'sales here for 31 years,” an official remarked, "and I can’t remember any previous yarding as great as this one. Buvers attended in great force, but a number of local dairymen, who had gone to buy, found that they could not afford to pay the fancy prices which ruled. Still, the auctioneer found it an easy matter to pick up bids, and it was the general opinion that'-every cow oftered would be sold. One cow sold nt £42 10s —which brought a comment from one ot the bystanders that its price a month ago would have been £2B. It was expected that th® sale would realise between £3OOO and £4OOO

A claim for recovery of a deposit paid to a land' agent was made in the Magistrate’s'Court yesterday before Mr. W. G. Riddell. S.M.. when Gustav, Erie, and Eric George Miller (Mr. J. O’Donovan) sued Matthew Murdoch (Mr. R. Kennedy) for the refund of .£.50, alleged, to have been paid to a land agent as a deposit on a house owned by Murdoch. It was further alleged (hat the agent in question had failed to deliver possession of the premises, and in addition had misrepresented the number of the tenant s children. The plaintiffs were nonsuited on the ground that until the contract to purchase the bouse was completed, the money was held by the agent for the owner, and not the purchaser. Plaintiff's remedy was to sue the land agent.

A silver cup has been presented by Mr. H. Spear, oculist, to the National Defence League for competition as a shooting trophy among Senior Cadets at the Community Club at Buckle Street when the club is established. This is the first trophy to be presented to the club, and the general council of the league, in accepting Mr. Spear’s generous and handsome gift, expressed the hone that others would be stimulated to follow his example. The cup is now on view in Mr. Spear’s window in Willis Street. There was an exceptionally heavy thunderstorm at Te Aroha W<-A on Mondav afternoon. Mr. Maurice Kiely’s six-roomed residence was struck by lightning, which caused ft fire that destroyed the build-, iug. The lightning also split a large telegraph post nearby. Mr. Kiely and his family w - ere on holiday at the Thames beach, and the house was unoccupied.—Press Assn.

The Chinese Consul fMr. Liu Shih Yuan) acknowledges the following further subscriptions to the Chinese Famine Relief Fund, and particularly! the kindl.v exertions of tbc Rev. Alexander Don, of Dunedin:— "ILF.,” Wellington, £1 ls.j "F.." Wellington, £1 Is.; “W.8.M., Wellington, £5; "A.D.,” Wellington, 55.; "Country Friends,” £2 135.; Otaki citizens’ (through town clerk, Otaki), £l3 Us. fid.: Mr. J. D. 1 Hockings, Feilding, .£5: from the Rev. Alexander Don, Dunedin. covering 187 contributions, including £25 from Mr. H. F. Christie, Wanganui; .£1 from Mr. A. Aitken, Hokitika; .£1 ss. from Bible classes (through Mr. Aitken. Hokitika); £5 16s. sd. from Presbyterian Church, Petone (through Mr. J. O. Duff. Petone): £5 2s. 9d. from Devonport Presbyterian Church (through Mr. A. Wilson. Auckland!; and £7 from Devonport Presbyterion Church Sunday School): .£350 15s

Excellent fishing is now being obtained in tho streams running into Loire Rotorua. Last week one angler, fishing with the fly on the Waited, took eighty trout out of one “hole” in five days. His largest take was thirty fish, ami his biggest fish weighed nearly ten pounds. All the others were good fish in fine condition.

Tho tramway traffic arrangements for the Easter holidays are advertised in this issue.

The Tramways Military. Band will play at Oriental Bay at 8 o'clock io-hight.

"I desire to thank and congratulate the Press of New Zealand for their support of my mission and for the nwst accurate and exact shape in which all my public activities and speeches in the various centres of the Dominion have been reported," remarked M. Henri Segaert, Belgian Consul-General for Australasia, in his address to members of the New Zealand Club yesterday. “I have," he added, “been through many interviews in my life, but seldom have met reporters who wanted to report my ideas and impressions rather than their own. and I am glad of this opportunity to pay a well-deserved tribute in this respect to the Press of New Zealand, and to thank them for the help and sympathy they have bestowed on me in all the towns of the Dominion.” “The influence of suggestion is seen in sentiments arising out of things seen.” said Mr. C. W. Colee, president of the North Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Educational Institute, last week, quoting examples in a paper on "The Place of Suggestion in Education." “These, like habitual suggestions, are apt to transform themselves into deeds such as the outbreak of juvenile crime, the use of revolvers, and thefts, caused by the suggestions given in certain types of pictures. The details of a suicide narrated in the newspapers at influenza time started quite a small epidemic of suicides—suggestion again. These instances show how harmful the want of understanding of the power of suggestion may be. It may be, when understood and wisely used, just as great a factor for good.”—"Lyttelton Times." Some very valuable books have- just been received by the Auckland Public Library from the Carnegie Institute. Washington, which was endowed by the late millionaire ironmaster for the encouragement of investigation, research, and discovery, and the application of knowledge to ddie improvement of mankind. As soon as they are classified and catalogued the books will be placed on the shelves. The only other institution in New Zealand which receives the publications of the institute is the Victoria College, Wellington. Auckland came to be added to the list by correspondence which followed the request of the-chief-librarian for a copy of a work he saw reviewed. The institute explained that volumes were not given individually, but certain institutions were selected to receive all the publications of the institute. The chief librarian at once sent particulars of the Auckland library, and the result has been that it has been added to the list of those institutions appointed to be receivers of the institute s valuable publications. The books will be of special use to students.—" Star.”

Nominations for the several officers of the executive, of the Wellington Return' ed Soldiers’ Association must be in the hands of the secretary before Saturday next. The nominees must be financial members of the Wellington Returned .Soldiers’ Association,-and their proposers and seconders also. Voting papers containing the names of the nominees will be sent out to financial members, together with the annual report and bal-ance-sheet. Attention is drawn to the fact that, all overdue subscripions must be -paid before March 31. The results of the Tramway Band art union are advertised in this issue.