LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 266, 4 August 1921, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The necessity for concentration in railway construction was touched upon, by the Hon. J. G. Coates during an address in Auckland. In the past he said the Government liad endeavoured to do too much, and the money was too widely distributed. Although a policy of concentration on certain lines had been put into practice, there was necessity lor further concentration. It was evident that certain lines could be advantageously dropped, and the development of others expedited. ' It did not mean that the completion of those dropped would bo put off. It was just a matter of getting less line laid down at a time and at a quicker rate of progress. The following additional donations to the Technical College Fund have .been received by Mr. G. Mitchell M.P. :-A. de B. Brandon, £25; Murphy Bros., £65. Quite an. unusual accompaniment to the famous duet, "Two Jolly Beggars" sung last night by ■duettists at the Male Choir concert, was tho rattling of pennies on to the platform. The hand feeding of cattle has become practically universal all over Hawke’s Bay, states an exchange. What little growth there is in the grass is quite insufficient to keep stock satisfied, and hay nnd root crops are -now being fed. The indications of an. early spring, however, are still prominent, and there dhou’ld be a good growth of feed- during , the next month. Willow trees in the Mangateretere district are bursting into leaf, and other signs of an early spring are fairly plentiful. Owing to so many senior members of the Police Force being required -to attend at tho Supreme Court criminal sessions. the work .at the Magistrate’s Court is being restricted. Even the civil business is curtailed, because many of tho solicitors are engaged in the Supreme Court.

The memliers of the "Chu Chin Chow” Company have arranged to visit the Public Hospital this afternoon, and gave an entertainment for the benefit of th<MO patients who cannot leave the hospital to enjoy theatrical offerings.

A packed and enthusiastic meeting was held in Dunedin last night, when an address on the League of Nations was delivered by Professor Pringle, of Otago University, who read t’ho following cablegram from Lord Robert Cecil:— "The support of world public opinion is the League’s greatest need. I welcome the formation of a New Zealand League of Nations Union." Ait ho close of an eloquent and convincing address tho meeting heartily agreed to form a branch of the League of Nations’ Union, and set up a strong representative committee to give effect to tho resolution.—Press Assn.

Tuesday night was the most boisterous experienced here for a very lung time, says our Greytown correspondent. A heavy wind was accompanied by lightning and thunder. Fences suffered, and the iron was ripped off eorne of tho house*.

A thanksgiving and valedictory service was held in St. Paul's Pro-Cathedral last night in connection with the return of three missionaries and the departure of another. The returnted missionaries were Misses A. M. D. Dineen (Central China). E. Stinson (South China), and G. Opie (Ceylon). Misses Dineen and Stinson were on their second furlough, and Miss Opio on her first. The departing missionary was Miss D. N. Flux, who is to sail in September for Melanesia. Tho Bishop of Christchurch (ActingPrimate) and the Bishops of Auckland, Wellington, Nelson, and Waiapu took part in the service, which was conducted bv the Ven. Archdeacon Johnson. The Bishop of Nelson presented the missionaries to tho Acting-l’rimate. The vicar of Lower Hutt (Rev. A. L. Hansell) preached an appropriate sermon, taking for his text Acts xiii, 2 and 4. ‘ Buyers for butter and cheese are on the warpath in Taranaki, stated the “Taranaki Daily Nows” recently. It is reflorted\ that one offer for cheese would enable the factory concerned to pay suppliers 2s. 3 Id. per lb. of butter-fat for the season. The factory did not close, believing these prices would further improve.

It has been reported to the police that William Robinson, aged about 70 years, dropped dead yesterday at his residence, Pine Avenue, Upper Hutt. Death was due to heart failure.

Judgment will be delivered at 11 a.m. to-dav in the Supreme Court in the cases of G. Nash v. Barnes, Public Trustee v. Munro and others, L. H. Greenaway v. F. K. Hunt, S.M., and V. Weggery. To-dav is the last day on which divorce cases may bo set down for hearing at the forthcoming sessions.

Joseph H. Cornish was charged in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday with obtaining from M. H. Tisdall the sum of .£4 bv moans of a valueless cheque, with intent to defraud. On the application of Acting-Chief Detective Andrews he was remanded for a week, and bail was allowed in one surety of .£lOO, or two of each.

Mr. J. Maughan Barnett, Auckland city organist, will give a recital here shortly.

At the present time the Plunket Society is seriously handicapped by having two very small rooms in Courtenay Place. In each of the other principal centres the Plunket Society is well equipped in this regard, and women cr.n go with their babies and receive adequate attention. Under existing circumstances here a mother has to take her turn in a room sometimes with about fourteen others, an arrangement that is not satisfactory to tho individual nor to tho society. For many years the society has carried on without calling upon the public—thanks to the splendid efforts of a strong local committee. But in regard to capital expenditure ’accessary for acquiring a home, it is felt that an appeal should be made direct to the public. An option has been obtained over a very desirable property in Kent Terrace, opposite tho Queen’s statue. The whole property can bo acquired for something like XBOOO. but .£lO,OOO is needed to put the society on a proper footing. It is felt that this is not the time to appeal to individuals or concerns for large donations. but it is felt that .£lO,OOO can be quickly secured if the right effort is put behind the spheme. Already the active co-oneration of a large slumber of business men is assured. A meeting of business men to consider plans and l ideas to raise this money is to be held this evening.

He had evidently seen better days, and stilt retained some of the pride of race, states the Auckland "Star.” Using, the long slab mirror flanking a shop wipdow in Queen Street as a looking-glass, he calmlv trimmed his beard and moustache with a pair of scissors, and as it was early morning, and mot many people about, he did the job leisurely, and not without a certain amount of meticulous care that accorded ill with the rest of his appearance. This strange street-barbering is just on a par with the al fresco toilets which some of the flappers make in side streets. It is quite a common thing to see an artificiallooking miss pull up in front of a shop window with a good reflecting glass front, haul out her little bag and powder. and carefully repair the ravages of a hot or a windy day. Still another strange freak of human nature may be seen any morning on the ferry boats among a seatful of hurried young shop girls, who evidently are hard to waken, or else have a terrible lot of house-work to do before they set off for their daily sojourn in the business quarters of. the great city. As soon as they get nicely settled, out come their bags, and in full view they calmly set about manicuring themselves. It never seems to strike them that boudoir tasks may be out of place on the deck of a public ferry steamer.

A great deal of controversy has been caused in Auckland by an address, “The Tragedy of the Theatre," given by the Rev. J. W. Kemp. The speaker said he did not intend to make a wholesale attack upon every performance or say actors and actresses were without an ordinary share of morality, but what he did consider was whether he should patronise the theatre. Literature was the handmaid of the theatre, and he was not condemning literature. The theatre itself. said the speaker, was a commercial business that had become a vital factor in life, and its power was so great that it ranked next to the pulpit and the Press as a teacher of the people. Since it had all this influence, it called for a searching inquiry. Numerous authorities. ancient and modern, had spoken against the theatre. Macready, the actor. had said ho would never consent to his children visiting the theatre, or be acquaintances of actors or actresses. An actor’s character sometimes was demoralised by the assimilation of characters played. The theatre condemned itself, said the speaker, by its effects upon tho audience. Scarcely an incident, however debasing, might not be learned at the theatre, and its positive teaching of crime made it a university of vice and immorality for the youthful mind. Many others had begun with Shakespearean plays, and had steadily gone downwards, and he had asked his hearers not to do the same. Especially he exhorted tho young men and women to leave the theatre alone. If they cared for safety or moral strength, or for thoir i souls, they would leave the theatres alone. It was wrong as an institution.