LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 15, Issue 23, 21 October 1921, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Postal authorities have received advice from Sydney that the Malieno sailed at 3 p.m. on October 19 for Wellington. She carries 321 tags of mails, including 10 from the East. The Secretary, General Tost Office, has received advice that legal time in France will be restored on the night of October 25-26.

Captain Fowler, one of the Canterbury Aviation Company's pilots stationed nt Invercargill, is waiting for favourable weather bulletins io undertake the most ambitious Hight yet attempted in New Zealand (states a southern exchange). It is his intention to fly from Invercargill to Auckland in a single day. The journey will be made in four stages. Leaving the West Plains aerodrome at daybreak, the first: stop will ta at Timaru and the next at Kaikoura, whence a course will be set fan- Hawera. Between Hawera and Auckland, the longest stage, there will be no step. Captain Fowler will be accompanied by a pilot and passenger. He expects to cover the journey in 12 hours’ flying time, so that the landing at Auckland will be effected in daylight. The machine to be used is an Avro. The flight was to have been, made last week, hut on the day fixed the Dominion meteorologist advised against it, and a. similar reason caused a second postponement.

His Honour Mr. Justice Herdman made an order on an application by the Auckland Law Society suspending’ Francis Tipping from practice pending the decision of the Court oL Appeal on a motion to strike Tipping off the roll. Iress Assn.

Before the Frencn sloop Aldebaran sailed from Port Chalmers for Hobart yesterday morning Commander de Soliminhac telegraphed to the French Consul at Auckland asking him to convey to the Governor-General (Viscount. Jellicoe) his appreciation of the Dominions hospitality.—Press Assn. With regard to th© land agency business, which is very sensitive to the fluctuations of the prosperity or otherwise of the. community as a whole, business, so far as th© sale of country ami farm lands is concerned, is very restricted, and is likely to continue so until some stability in the value of our primary products is established, says the annual report of the Land Agents and Auctioneers* Association of Wellington, but, with regard to house property and building sites, the turnover in which is, of course, greatly reduced as compared with recent years, and. at the present time, is particularly hampered owing to the extension of the moratorium lo deposits, etc., the executive cannot help thinking that the outlook is bright, as the community must have houses to live in. The extromo shortage has been alleviated to a vdi-y small extent, indeed, by Government and municipal activities, but the reduction in the cost of material, etc., that is now taking place should encourage building, both by owners and speculators. with a corresponding increase in the sale of vacant building sites, whilst the vastly-increased number of individual owners of their own dwellings, as compared with pre-war days, means that there is a greatly-increased volume ol business to be done.

The case of an injured woman who received only =857 out of .8168 damages awarded her by the Supreme Court, was mentioned in the last report of iho relief committee presented to the Auckland Hospital Board (stales an exchange). The report sflated that m consequence of mjuries sustained in an accident, the woman was awaixled -8168 damages and costs on the lowest scale. The defendants paid over to her lawyers 68183, of which lawvers’” fees amounted to 6866, and their disbursements to .816. Witnesses and other expenses finally left the plaintiff only =857, and the committee found it necessary to make her an allowance for Tnal’n finances

It is notified in the Gazette that the Industrial Exhibition to open in the Town Hall. AVellington, on Thursday next has been declared an industrial exhibition for the purposes of the Patents, Designs, and Trade Marks Act, 1911This means that inventions and designs that may be exhibited will be protected.

It is anticipated that there will be a rise in the price of loose cigarette tobacco shortly, and retailers are said to be purchasing rather heavy stocks at present. The cause is attributed to the belief that the Government intends to considerably increase the duty on this class of tobacco when the tariff is revised At present the duty on madeup cigarettes is 255. fid. per 1600, equal to aboitt 10s. 2d. per lb., while the duty on loose cigarette tobacco .is 3s. 6d. per.lb. Tn Australia there is one uniform charge of 12s. per lb., and it is staled that the New Zealand Government intends to adopt the same principle.

"Since the end of 1920 our trade has fallen off so much that we have had to discharge all our hands, and they have Nad io seek work in other trades, with, in some cases, poor success,” runs a letter 'received by Air. H. F. Allen, secretary (of the exhibition executive, from the manager of an Auckland firm which specialises in the manufacture of saddle trees. “We sp6nt some years in teaching those men the business. Unless wo can get some protection against foreign saddle trees being dumped into New Zealand, it may mean the closing down of an industry that proved one of the most useful during the late war. This firm uses the native silver beech, grown in the South Island. The impression that the manning scale on the Mararoa has been reduced by one man—nine firemen, instead of ten—is incorrect, states Air. AV. T. Young, secretary of the Seamen’s Federation. “The ship.” he says, “has always signed on nnd carried ten firemen? three greasers, and six trimmers, and exactly that number of men was signed on on October 18, I personally witnessing each man signing the articles. The manning of the ship was not reduced whatsoever, and it is possible that tho seamen’s organisation will see that it is not reduced in anv ship. It is understood that tho dispute was as to whether the wording of tho manning clause on the outside of Fie articles should bo changed from nine (o ton.

Sonic trouble arose over the discharging of the Waihomo’s cargo at Wellington late on Wednesday afternoon. I appears that at. about ten minutes to 5 o’clock on Wednesday evening the watersiders stopped working and left the ship, whereas, it is stated, they should not have ceased work until the whistle blew at six minutes to the hour. They were ordered back by the Union Company’s labour foreman, but refused to <*o and consequently I hey were ‘docked” from 4.30 Yesterday morning, when the whistle blew nt six minutes io 8 o’clock, the men refused to work unless they were paid for the half-hour from 4.30 to \ p.m. of the previous day. Their request" was acceded io, but the nlcn were dismissed, with a view to enmming new labour. I rish labour, however ” was not fort heoiniug, and the same two gangs were re-engaged from 10 a.in. yesterday, nnd tho work of the vessel proceeded with.

Ratana has always advocated that all churches should bo united (states the '7Star”). The church now being built at Orakei (Auckland) is in accordance with his wish to be strictly undenominational.

The Mayor and city councillors are to pay a visit to the tunnel works at Wninui to-day in connection with the firing of the first shot .in the tunnel through which the waters of the Orongorongo Stream are to be conducted info the basins at IVainui. The boiler and machinery are now installed on the flat talow the Morton Dam. and will supply compressed air lor the drills at the tunnel face, enabling the gelignite to be used for blasting out the solid rock of which most of the mountain range is composed. The party are to leave the Town Hall at 10.30 a.m. Control of traffic on beaches below high-water mark is wanted by harbour boards in New Zealand. Hie matter was brought up at the. Harbours Conference yesterday by Mr. E. J. Carr (Auckland)/ who moved a remit asking the Government to alter the Harbours Act to give this power to boards. Ho explained that at the present time a local body’s authority ceased at high-water mark, and between that and low water was "no man's land.’’ They had many beautiful beaches around Auckland, and the traffic on some of them was groat, so that the board should have control Of it. Mr. 11. R. Mackenzie said that the Auckland Harbour Board had a bylaw preventing horses being galloped along’ the beach, but had no power to enforce it if it came to a question of law. The remit was carried.