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Evening Star, Issue 22450, 22 September 1936, Page 8

The postal authorities advise that the Wanganella left Sidney for Wellington on Saturday with 35 bags of Australian mail and the London air mad of September 5 for Dunedin. The air mail should he to hand on Wednesday afternoon, and the balance of the mails on Thursday. A crowd of over 100 adults and 100 children gathered at Benhar on Saturday afternoon for the opening of an attractive children’s playground, made possible by the generosity of Messrs M'Skimming and Son Ltd. and a number of anonymous donors. The grounds are situated on the site of an old farmhouse, and are beautifully sheltered by trees. On a gentle slope, seesaws, swings, a merry-go-round, chutes, and ocean waves have been erected, and here on Saturday afternoon, in glorious sunshine, a very happy time was spent. The grounds were officially opened for use by the Rev. Mr Coomber, Presbyterian minister, of Stirling, other speakers including Mr A. Hislop (chairman of the committee), Mr D. T. Fleming (Mayor of Balclutha), Mr A. Renton (Bruce County Council member) Mr Faulkner, jun. (Dunedin), and Mr P. M'Skimming, sen. Afternoon tea was provided by the ladies of Benhar, and during the afternoon Mr C. Williams, a member of the committee, presented a gold medal, suitably inscribed, to Mr Andrew Hislop, as a token of appreciation from the people of Benhar for originating the playground idea and being mainly responsible in bringing it about. Cheers were given for Mr Hislop and the anonymous donors and all who had assisted.

The first of the new season’s asparagus was sold on the local market late last week at 23s a dozen, while new hothouse tomatoes from Christchurch are now procurable at 2s fid and 2s 9d lb. Cauliflowers are in short supply, and consequently prices have risen to 11s 3d a sack, while on the other hand, rhubarb is plentiful and the value has dropped. The market is bare of oranges, but merchants are looking forward to the arrival of supplies from South Australia on September 29. One merchant reports that he is now receiving new potatoes from the Peninsula, those bringing Is 2Jd lb. “ This man finds himself in the dock through his own foolishness,” Sergeant P. Boulton informed Mr J. R. Bartholomew, S.M., in the Police Court to-day, when a charge of being idle and disorderly, in that he had insufficient lawful means of support, against a middle-aged man was withdrawn. The man had declined to give his correct name, address, or means of livelihood to the police when questioned about complaints from women in Dunedin North that he had been collecting money for a wooden leg. The police had found that the man had been provided with an artificial leg by the Pensions Department in April last, and that he was in receipt of a pension of £3 weekly. The magistrate told the man that if he had been candid and truthful he would not have been arrested, and warned him that a continuation of his begging would result in another charge. The secretary of the Otago Acclimatisation Society has received a telegram from the secretary of the Marine Department advising that, for the trout fishing season, which commences on October 1, the license fees have been altered as follows:—Whole season license for males over 16, £1 ss; ladies, over 16, 7s 6d; boys, under 16, ss; girls, under 16, ss. The concession hitherto granted to hoys over 16 who were attending school to buy a license for 5s has been eliminated. The proportion of the increased fees to be taken for research work will be prescribed by regulations not yet finally fixed. The decision of the Minister respecting the fee for half-season licenses is expected shortly. The City Fire Brigade answered a justifiable call to J. and A. P. Scott’s engineering workshops at 8.37 this morning. The Port Chalmers Council last night decided to ask the Government to continue the duplication of the railway line down the harbourside. That would provide the class of useful work the Minister of Labour was insisting on for relief workers. Local bodies did not have the means to go on with public works that would absorb up to 250 unemployed, as «as the case as Port Chalmers.

The case recently heard in the Supreme Court, in which Isabel Daisy Ingram claimed £7OO damages from Henry Walden Fitzgerald, surgeon, has, by consent of the parties, been referred to the Court of Appeal. In this ease, heard before His Honour Mr Justice Kennedy, it was contended by the plaintiff that the was vicariously responsible for the mistake of a sister in painting the plaintiff, prior to an operation, with iodised phenol, an injurious liquid, instead of with iodine. At the hearing Mr E. J. Anderson appeared for the plaintiff and Mr C. L. Calvert for the defendant.

Reunions of returned soldiers in the country districts of Otago are enthusiastic affairs, and always _ attract large attendances of “ex-diggers.” Two annual reunions are to be held on Saturday night, one at Balclutha and one at Roxburgh, and, as usual, the Dunedin Returned Soldiers’ Association, the parent body, will be represented at both places. Members of the Returned Soldiers’ Choir _ will also travel to Roxburgh to assist in the musical programme.

The very wide interest in philately nowadays was reflected in the sale of the Anzac commemoration stamp issued to mark the twenty-first anniversary of the landing of the New Zealand troops at Gallipoli. In the six weeks during which the stamps were on sale over 3,000,000 were sold. Of the half-penny denomination, sold at one penny, 1,840,810 were purchased, and of the penny issue, sold at twopence, 1,179,218 were bought. The total proceeds were over £17,000, of which half went to the Post Office and half to the New Zealand Returned Soldiers’ Association to establish _ a special fund to deal with cases of distressed ex-servicemen who are not eligible for assistance from other funds. Advice has been received from the Dunedin Metropolitan Fire Board _ by the Wakari Improvement Society (Incp.) that, in response to the society's 'request, a street alarm, box will be installed in the vicinity of Bunting’s Corner. It is expected that this box will be in operation ■within the next fortnight. Having been taken ill while on holiday at Auckland, Mrs M. A. Budge left for her home at Christchurch this morning in the Wellington Aero Club’s Waco, accompanied by her son (Mr C. H. Budd) and a trained nurse. An aluminium stretcher was installed in the aeroplane by the St. John Ambulance, and the machine left Mangere aerodrome shortly after 9. The party will lunch at Palmerston North, and expect to reach Christchurch between 2 and 3 o’clock this afternoon. —Press Association.

The warehouse of Messrs Sargood, Son, and Ewen, in High street, was entered last night, but whether or not any goods were removed was not ascertainable to-day. The burglar gained entry through a skylight, climbed along a steel girder, and descended to the crockery department by a pillar. He made his “getaway ” by breaking a window overlooking a right-of-way, the window being the only one which was not barred by steel rods.

Its decision to dismiss all the No. 5 scheme men in its employ, made at a special meeting a fortnight ago, was rescinded by the Christchurch City Council last night (says the ‘ Press ). The men, of whom there are about 150, will not, however, receive any subsidy from the council. This subsidy, it was stated, would cost not more than £1,700 a year. The council also decided to retain all the five-day men whose pay is subsidised by the Government. Until recently this subsidy was 45s a week, but the council was faced with the payment of an additional 8a a "week on its contribution of Recent representations to the Minister of Labour (the Hon. H. T. Armstrong) resulted, however, in the Government undertaking to find 5s of this additional amount; and the council last night accepted this offer. The proposal to retain the No. 6 scheme men without payment of subsidy was opposed by Labour members of the council and some of the Citizens Association representatives, who maintained that the council should not withdraw the subsidy. The decision to withdraw the subsidy was carried by 10 votes to 7. Some exceedingly frank observations from the inside of taxi-work were made at Wellington by a witness, Cyril Bartlett, a driver on commission, to the committee appointed by the Government to inquire into the operation of taxi and carrying businesses throughout the Dominion. Bartlett told the committee that there were two kinds of drivers in taxi work—“ legitimate and the outer ring “booze squad. The legitimate drivers were those who confined their activities to meeting trains and boats, and generally plying an ordinary business. The enter ring ” were those who secured liquor for clients and engaged in other forms of illegitimate work. As for operating in the “ booze squad,” said Bartlett, he had made more money by procuring, say, a bottle of whisky for a client, and charging him £1 for getting it, than in legitimate work. Often the fare would be doubled as well. There were times when drivers had to do it in order to retain popularity with regular customers.

Eye strain—for eye comfort, for better vision, consult Stunner and Watson Ltd., opticians, 2 Octagon, Dunedin.—[Advt.]