YESTERDAY’S TELEGRAMS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2050, 29 November 1907, Page 1

YESTERDAY’S TELEGRAMS.

Press Association. . AUCKLAND

A conferonco tool; place. last night between a number of members, of •the medical and teaching; lire, fee.sions regarding tilio medical inspection' of school children. A scheme pro--1 pounded by Dr. Mason, chief health 'officer, received general support. Dr. Purdy, district health officer, said liis original scliemo was lor 1000 children to bo examined at Auckland, and the results compared with those obtained in Southern centres: The support received, liowever, enabled 5000 children to b e examined.

■ Mr. -Bagnall, chairman of tho Education' Board, said 'that members {welcomed any movement tending to t'lio improvement of tlio conditions under which school children worked. Dr. ..M'ason, chief health officer,emphasised the fact that : th%; examination .was optional. Teachers were doing a large amount of the' work. It was proposed to take some of this off their shoulders, ttii.tili respect to the reported carelessness of parents, he pointed out that it was not a'l-kvia-ys. want-of-carp,- huh-phreats " did • hot see’the children under the same conditions as the teacher did. His idea was. that four inspectors should be appointed for New Zealand, and tflicir whole time' occupied. Ten or ‘twelve per'cent, of the 127,000 ch ildren attending the .schools of the {Dominion were below the average standard of health. Tlieso should 'be sett aside for a medical officer to sec. He expressed bis pleasure at (the support accorded to the scheme, ;and anticipated a good result.

i Henry Johnston, .flax merchant, liras filed a petition in bankruptcy. .T'lio debts total £ll2l It's 3d, the (creditors being all unsecured. _ The assets are estimated at 11 05 las 4d. • The dearth of ministers and missionaries for New Zealand was .rejferred to at the Synod to-day. diesolutions were carried . . requesting ■the, Methodist Conference. to renew .its annlication to. tile British Conference for at least four trained ministers, and to apply to the authorities at Cliff College, England, 'for at,least four men as home missionaries in New Zealand. OHRISTCH'C ItCili.

A conference of representatives of the different master printers of the ■Master Printers’ Associations of New ■Zealand was held yesterday, when lit was .decided to form a federation of the Associations. The following {executive was elected:—(President, '{Mr. P. Seliig (manager of the Christchurch Press Company) j vico-presi-jdent, Mr. IV. G. Somerville (Dunedin) ; council,. Messrs. G. H. AYliit,combe (Christchurch), L. D. Banks AAAlson (Auckland), :I<\ Pirani (Fcildi.ng), and AV. Stone, i(Dunedin). A motion was carried .■affirming the desirability of fixing a standard | basis for. the cost of composing and letterpress machining, and each affiliated association was ,requested to lay the matter before {its members, and to forward tho result to- the federation-.

. The .following notice of motion liras given by Mr. J. A. Frostick at |the .Chamber of Commerce meeting {yesterday: “Tliat in the opinion of ithis Chamber it is. neither, necessary i.nor. desirable that Dominion Day ..should be observed as a public lioli.,day, but it suggests that it would be desirable to constitute the an.ni- , versa ry days in the different nrovdnices as public" holidays in place ■ of (the Labor Dai' holiday as at present fixed, the Anniversary Day holiday to be known as ..Provincial Labor .Day.” i DU'NEDiIN.

. A special . meeting of the City {Council was held last night to conjsider Noyes Bros.’ claim for com.mission for. work done in connection ■with the AAAaipori electrical scheme. |Noycvi Bros., originally claimed £lO,--953; the Council offered £7500, and the, former afterwards offered to acjeept £10,041. After considerable .discussion in committee ,tho. Coun|cil decided to adhere to the offer of ;£7500. . An issue of 66 debentures of £IOC {each by the Otago Hiarbor Board /has been taken up in one parcel at {£lo9 7s 6d each.

. Obituary : Thomas Sneddon, the 'well-known bowler, who visited-Aus-tralia with the “All AAihites.” His jdeath (Pas sudden, due to congestion of the lungs, supervening upon •an attack of influenza.

, Blackls bakery, stable, and cairt{sbed at Maori Hill were burned {down this morning. Two- horses .were destroyed. The premises and jStock were ,Insured for £255 in the office.

: The Argus publishes the following {synopsis of evidence - gathered, re {child slavery, in nearly all the .schools in the. district from S'fcratjford towards Huwera: —(1) No .porjsdn interviewed. would endorse th( .charge of child slavery. - (2) No {school teacher was prepared to state jthat there is a case of hardship am,ong children attending school at the preseiat time. (3) Some teachers {found it difficult to get home-work {done. '(5) One teacher said his pu,'pils were sometimes drowsy. (6 Afedical men can cite no instance of ■illness induced by children working on farms. (7) No children have .been known to buffer . physically .from milking. (8) The weight of'evjidene'e is that children."a-r-e as intellectual here as elsewhere". (9) Milking by children lias decreased rapiicl.ly during recent years. (10) The {hour at which the children rise is ,about 5.30 a.m. (11) The . number 'of cows milked varies from cix to {ten at tho height of the season. (12. (During a considerable portion c( • this time schools arc closed. • {• HASTINGS'.

The Borough Council, having separate and contradictory sewerage ■reports submitted by Messrs. 0 • [Rogers, C.iE., late of .Palmerston ; North, and James' Rochford,. Napier and Hastings,' invited Air. {Ferguson, consulting engineer to ;t'lio AVefllinigfon Harbor Board, to advise aud recO'mmend the West scheme. Mr. Ferguson . replies that ‘his engagements with the Harbor Board precludes him taking outside uoik. ■ N AIMER.

Tho Aletlliodist Synod appointed tlio Rev. A. C. Lawr.v representative to tho Conference, and the Rev. J. N. Buttle substitute .represenfat/ive. NELSON.

After a somewhat • long . spell of dry weather, following a very wot spring, welcome steady rain I'eilL for Several hours to-day, continuing to do immense good to. the crops, as it will come Inst in time to avert the effects of an early drought.

WELLINGTON. T)bo first opposed application for extension of a patent in'the Dominion was decided by the Chief Justice to-day. It referred to AV.ado’s patent skylight. Tilio evidence showed that £9OOO bad been already made out of tho patent, of which the patentee himself only mlado £SOO, tlio balance going to tho licensees. His Honor recommended an extension for three years only, but imposed conditions 'that the licensee/must pay AVadd a royalty of 2d—mb' foot on tlio output, while the 'maximum price to be charged tile public shall bo 2s Gd a foot, .