LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Star, Issue 19792, 16 February 1928, Page 13

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The ratepayers of Palmerston __North rejected a proposal to spend £55,700 on improvements to the water reticulation by 11 votes. The proposed loan of £16,000 for sewerage extensions was agreed to. At Christchurch, Cuthbert Harold Flanaghan, an accountant, was found not guilty on a charge of having forged a cheque for £3O purporting to be drawn by James M'Kenzie, whose books the accused kept. It was admitted that the writing in the body of the cheque was the accused’s, but he alleged and M'Kenzie denied that the signature was M'Kenzie’s. The explanation of the defence was that M'Keuzie had promised to lend the accused £3O. This also was denied. Oliver Victor Tuckwell, a circus hand, who was charged with having indecently assaulted a girl aged fourteen, was found guilty of common assault.

Spirited bidding for the best lots was- the chief feature at the auction in , Auckland last night of the first batch- of sections in the Orakei garden suburb, which will be about two miles and a-half from the city when the new waterfront road is opened. The top price of the sale was paid for a section of 1 rood 27 perches, which brought £1,400. Other sections, round about a quarter of an acre, brought from £1,375 to £1,255. Other sections, smaller and not facing the harbor, were sold at round about £675 to £735, while several were passed in at £6OO. The sale generally was regarded as a good one. In the course of a speech at the Masterton A. and P. Association’s annual reunion, the Prime Minister (Mr J. G. Coates) referred to the Government’s desire to alleviate unemployment. He mentioned that a further 3,000 men would shortly bo placed on public works, and appealed to the farmers to assist the Government to overcome the difficulty by using all the labor offering wherever possible. Mr Coates congratulated the country on the favorable turn of its hanking and trading, and also the farming community on the manner in which it had answered the call for increased production. There was, he said, a tremendous field for development in pork export, and while the Government did not believe that its scheme to assist this industry was the only one, it did feel that it would be an incentive to the fanner to do more to develop this highly profitable industry. The Prime Minister also referred to the efforts of the Government to assist the farmer through the application of scientific methods to his industry, and intimated that the Cawthron Institute hoped shortly to make an announcement concerning the eradication of some of the dominion’s noxious weeds. The weekly meeting of the Rescue Lodge, 1.0.G.T., No. 105, was held on Tuesday night in the Oddfellows’ Hall, King Edward street, Chief Templar Bro. E. J. lies presiding. Four candidates were initiated. The lodge bids fair to retain the premier position in the dominion. The installation of officers for the ensuing quarter was carried out by Grand Chief Templar Bro. T. H. Dalton, assisted by Bro. Chapman (installing marshal) and Bro. Churchill (deputy marshal), both of Hope of Dunedin Lodge - , as follows;—P.C.T., Bro. E. J. lies; C.T., Bro. D. Holland; V.T., Sister T. Williams; secretary, Bro. J. A. Kinch; assistant secretary, Sister K. Kinch; treasurer, Bro. J. Hilton; F.S., Sister L. Baird; chaplain, Sister Woodcock; marshal, Sister V. Dray; deputy marshal, Bro. W. Dickison; guard, Sister E. Cochrane; sentinel, Bro. Geo. Dongal; pianists—Sisters Mrs Williams. Mrs Morwood, and V. Waldron. Nominations for other offices were as follow:—L.D., Bro. S. Sell; E.D.. Bro. H. Ramsay; D.D., Bro. W. E. O’Neill; superintendent and assistant superintendent, Star of South Temple, Bro. J. Hilton and Sister D. Baird; superintendent and assistant superintendent. Ever Hopeful Temple, Bros. J. Hilton and E. J. lies. A visitor to Wellington (says a Press Association telegram) is Mr W. Bennett, a member of the New South Wales Legislature, returning after forty years’ absence. He said he noticed that there had been a good deal said about the 6d per pound duty placed on New Zealand butter in Australia, and he could realise that it was a serious thing over here. He had always advocated reciprocity in trade between the dominion and the Commonwealth, as they were all under the Union Jack and should seek to help one another as much as possible. He mentioned that Mr P.ratten, Commonwealth Minister of Customs, was coming to New Zealand for a holiday, and he suggested that he should be interviewed with a view to getting more favorable conditions.