Grey River Argus and Blackball News PUBLISHED DAILY THURSDAY, APRIL 13th, 1911.

Grey River Argus, 13 April 1911, Page 4

Grey River Argus and Blackball News PUBLISHED DAILY THURSDAY, APRIL 13th , 1911.

..-although Auckland has been advised that there *is no great cause for alarm because of the death of a hospital nurse from-plague, the example set by Sydney, when plague showed itself there, is about to. be followed as closely as. may be; and at Sydney, it. can be. .said to its credit, that a decrease in the death rate was shown during the visitation of the plague. We all recollect how thorough the Sydney clean : up was. Foulness disappeared from parts of the city where it had been long undisturbed. The good result of that treatment has been that Sydney has become a clean city, and a recurrence of plague is not feared. The case has been different with Auckland. The health officer has boldiy ' declared that plague has been endemic there. It

seems now tolerably .. , clear that the plague cases have .not been" the result ,of infection from outside places, though", the opinion has prevailed that Uie disease was brought there from foreign parts. One the first steps taken to stop the spread of the disease was .the destruction by fire of the building at Onehunga from which the first plague patients-, were taken. A match was applied to the house, while, the fire brigade; stood bye and played' water upon the telegraph wires to prevent .their . being damaged. It appears — and the coincidence fs worthy „.o f-. noter-that the Auckland City Council not. long ago tried to economise by reducing the number of its health, officers. . Sydney, "in the same way, suffered from an.; putbreak of plague < spon after venturing on a . wonderful fit .of economy in the .Health Department of the city, , BptFT cities lost -their- bill pf health for- a time. Sydney has since regained, her clean ticket, and Auckland: , evidently, intends to. • jfollpw the example of Sydney. Ifc was not be r fore.it was time; as Dr Magih, .the health; officer of the city.r^has^ Been for years fighting van uphill* baftle. in the cause,; of : sanitation. 1^ js urged that conditions haye. long been" in ex-

< lscence; at Auckland that were well x-cucuicueu 10 loster ana develop piuO uo. xc seems theretore pretty sate .0 bay cliat plague, Dotn oi me aeauly pneumonic and the ".bubonic'' torm mis uecii latent at AucKianu, ana 1-cwj.u to oreaK out at any ihOiunu when the conditions were lavourauic. rats nave ircciucnuy Ijccii uiund . aDout the purliens ana diamo ac mo water front. All those maications have been " onicialiy rtcOi.u^u iroai time *to time. The AucTvianu morning journal m dealing wuii vie question of sanitary inspection tor cue city, says :— "Tnere are parts ot Auckland wheh rival the worst parts or old-time .Sydney, and the municipal organisation: is inadequate to cope with the difficulties. The~City engineer asks the City Council to. employ four permanent sanitary officers in addition to "two.;,, whom our municipal wisdom has thought sufficient. The recommendation is. modest indeed. If s i x inspectors can deal effectively with the heavy work of watching in detail over the sanitary requirements of Auckland they will have to be good men,, and to do their utmost. Whatever the number of inspectors required to do the work well they should be provided, nor should any contusion of idea as .to what may or may not be permissible in the way of official interference with individual liberty, prevent prompt and sweeping action whereever" the health of our citizens— with that of their friends and families and of the strangers within our gates — is concerned." Apart from the plague danger, the paper recomzwends that a good water supply and an up-to-date fire brigade be maintained, and adds that if this is done the appearance of plague will prove a blessing in disguise. The City Council have given the Mayor full power to do all that is requisite in the circumstances.

li would appear from pur telegrams tnat Government have done nothing as; yet to ameliorate or avert the danger to people travelling by the Manawatu line over Paeka-keriki since the tragedy by which pppr^ Miss Power unhappily met with a sad and most untimely fate. This is p'rotoundly to be regretted,- though it seems quite inconceivable that the danger is to be allowed to remain in Us present condition. It is of course, possble that some step to protect travelers from the great danger that exists on that treacnerous spot is to oc taken, it appears, from the statements made by passengers as the result of actual experience that boulders still . come hurtling, down that steep incline beneath r which the railway line runs. Surely the'authorities are not to allow the . danger to remain as it is until another! fatality occurs. The dread .risk is still there, and any day a- great boulder. i'"ay come crashing down, leaving to cnance whether . some . one or more may De skilled or grievously, injured. The ■ experience/ of ; the two newsboys who were sitting, alongside where the boulder struck the carriage may be the experience of some less fortunate person. Only their good fortune caused the Boys to be out of the track of the flying lump of rock that struck the carriage at a strong part of the framework. Had. the boulder gone crashing through the window it might have been the cause of another dismal tragedy. : - There would appear to be not much doubt as to the correctness of the statement made Oy the newsboys, several Wellington rcsrdents who travelled : by the same tram being also witnesses. It is easy j enough to. understand the ignorance, assumed or otherwise, of the railway men, who might naturally be s 7l> ipos-* ed to be averse to engaging ma conversation on a. subject qf . so dangerous and . delicate a nature to the railway staff. That would, sufficiently account for the difficulty experienced by a reporter of The Dominion getting, any information of the incident. The fact that no .report of it appears to have been sent in by the railway guard would seem to cast doubt on . the statement ; but. to any

one who knows the dangerous sidling the probabilities .of such an occurrence are so strong" that the wonder is the public does not hear of r"ore instances of the same kind. Although the face of the hill cannot accurately be described as continually alive, the slightest thing is likely to set portion of it in motion, tieavy rain, heavy wind, or a broken branch of a tree falling might set tiie stones rolling down. The debris lit the obttom of the hill shows that stiowers of gravel interspersed with boulders have come down the hilL at some time; Some attempt should be made- to at least minimise the danger if it .cannot ,be entirely obviated. It, is possible that the authorities }iave had van engineer's report on the" dangerous spot, _. and intend to dp something to lessen or remove the. danger;. /,.. t0 travelers : b'y railway Qn that line. .;If,.*so it has escaped all mention in the . -newspapers of Wellington,, and * they. ...do not miss much of any consequence.^ If many incidents such- as -that .under notice should- happen they will be apt to induce a - good many careful persons to- -avoid that part of. the line at any ■rate-.v^v' •wv.'.t: .■_;

; The recent decision of. the Timaru Harbour", -Board 'to obtain- -a new tug was the 'result of lengthy deliberat tion. 'Referring- to -the) .matter just previously, the . chairman: of the Board said .that: a special committee had obtained from iLyttleton andiißluff Boards, the. cost .of their respective tugs, and, they found that, if they .grot., a second-hand.,tug- f it,Avould cost.. £6ooo or £7000 The committee considered that, if .. they . were grping- to , get. a tug- they should, gro in for -'a riew one. On a second-hand tug: the annual cost would run into £1500. or £1600 made up rougrhly as follows :— Con 7 and wa^es £600,. interest ,£3OO, bvci.- • haul £300, depreciation. £360. For a hew dredg;c.:costing- r £lo,ooo .tne-.-an-wai cost yogi be or :

Cape Otway has been ascertained to be a 'barrier to wireless communication with 'Melbourne from the south west, says the Age.. Mr C. A. Hill, "wireless" operator on the Aberdeen liner Themis tocles, and formerly of the R.M.S Morea, thinks that iron or other' mineral deposits- on the high land of the cape intercept the messages and smother them. On succes sive; voyages he has been unable to call up "wireless" ships in the baywhen on the other side of '••Cape Otway but immediately its parallel had been crossed could speak to -.them with ease. This was his experience of both the Morea and the Themistocles. He can account for it by ho 6th er theory than that advanced as the land is -not -nearly as high as many headlands which are flashed over every day in other parts of the world.

The Mormon president of the New Zealand- mission, who is about to return to.his home at Salt Lake City, in an interview at Auckland gave an emphatic denial tq the .cable from Switzerland published a few. days ago that during the- ' past five :' years Mormons had secured the annual immigration of 150 Swiss girls to Utah. None of their missionaries, he asserted, were allowed to baptise any -girl or wife without the consent or the parents, husband or guardian, as the case might be, and no one was allowed to emigrate under age without the full consent of the" parents or .guardians. A Press Association telegram states that by the San Francisco steamer to-day three families of; New eZaland converts to Mormonism, comprising twelve persons, will leave for America.

The American correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald says that the great Standard Oil Trust has .been forced to reduce the retail price of oil from 10 to 8 cents the gallon, because . the demand of automobiles for gasoline has made what was once a mere by-product for which a market Avas hard to find, or to make, a staple in excessive demand. The difficulty now is to get rid of the oil fast enough to satisfy the demand for this companion product:" and the nrice for gasoline cannot be raised further, for in that case it would meet the. rivalry. of. denatured alcohol, which, indeed, is already to some degree a competitor. Yet all the immense profits of the. Oil Trust are gathered from those petty percen tages. . : .

In view of the Antarctic ship Terra Nova being recmired for surv^v pufooses by the New Zealand 'Government, Mr M J. (Miller, jtrie roritrn ctor for carrvine- out th« ; repairs h>s start ed a staff of workman* on- t.h^ vpssel. The T>ort s'de of th* 1 Terra. -Nova's bow is 'bsinq: recaujked, and it has been decided to renew 'some of

the planking on the .bulwarks. As x soon as the crew return from holid?y leave the rigginer will receive attention. The engineroom staff is busy overhauling the boiler and engirt", and it is expected , that this work will take about two months to complete. Tt is likely that the -Terra Nova will be docked for about sib weeks.

To-morrow being- Good Friday there will be no issue of this paper.

Mrs Nazer arrived home from Christchurch last evening after spending a holiday in Christchurch.

The banks will observe holidays on

Good Friday, Saturday, Easter Monday and Tuesday.

Mark Sprot and Co. have a house for sale in the heart of Greymouth for £210 cash, as the owner is leaving the district the house must be sold.

A meeting" of the 'Grey District Hospital and Charitable Aid Board will be held in the County Council Chambers at 2 p.m.

The attention of the storekeepers on the West Coast is drawn to the disclainer published in this issue by Mr Cotter in regard to the Highlander Milk notice which appeared in yesterday's issue.

Members of the Greymouth Territorials are reminded of the inspection parade by Major-General Godley, which will be held this (Thursday evening at 7.30 o'clock. Fines for absentees wil be inflicted. — Advt.

The following team will represent the United Fourth Grade against Stars on the Park at 10 a.m. to-mor-row :— 4Russell, Pascoe, Good, Kerr, *.', Garth, Moynihan, ©etert, Neville, Tennent. Clements, Lindssav, Ryan, Morris, Good. Williamson. Emergencies: Wylde, Rothwell and Good. I

There, was on view yesterda3 r afternoon at the Hokitika police station -a nair of antlers off a red deer found hv M"ssi"s J. Me.harry, R. Mulh^lland C. Karnbach on the east side of Kanieri Lake. Constable Evendon took charge of the antlers, which are supposed to be from one of the red deer liberated in the district some years ago, and brought them from Kokatahi.

Mr W A. Beddoe, Trade Commissioner for Canada, .received an interesting letter from Dr C. Harriss, who lias ]put into operation the scheme for bringing the Sheffield Choir to Australia and (New Zealand. Dr Harriss will leave Vancouver by the Zealandia soon, and in his letter he states that he is looking forward with interest to his visit to this dominion, of which he has read and heard a great deal. Dr Harriss, like Mr Beddoe, is a Canadian. He lives at /Earnscliff, an historical house on the Ottawa River, formerly occupied by Sir J. A. Macdonald.

In another column Mr J. Kennedy notifies the general public that he has purchased the .business lately carried on by Mr J. Shrives, and at the same time wishes it to be distinctly understood that he is not the representative of another firm ibut is carrying the business entirely on his own account. An entirely new stock has been selected and only town prices are quoted. His extensive 'business should be sufficient guarantee of his ability to cater successfully for the public's requiremnets.

There was only one objector at the Revision Court for the Borough of Brunner, viz : Mi} R. Alison, as agent for the Tj'neside Proprietary, who objected to the high assessment placed on that property. Mr Guinness, solicitor for the Borough, raised a legal point, which he argued at some length, and cited some cases which the Judge (Mr A. W. Crooke) could not investigate at the moment. Tne case was therefore adjourned to enable him to look into the matter.

The ninth annual championship iind handicap meeting of the West Uoast iLawn Tennis Association will ue commenced in Hokitika on -Friday next. -Play will extend over three days and (five courts will be in use A record number of entries have) been received, totalling 177. These are distributed 'over ladies' and men's championship and handicap' singles, doubles, and mixed doubles. There are a large number of visitors from Westport, Gerymouth and ißeefton taking part in the tournament. Strong committees have the tournament matters in hand, and given fine weathchr, \cvje*ry'thiag # augurs for a very successful meeting.

The following passengers arrived from Christchurch 'by. the overland route on Tuesday night: — Misses Gunn, Jarman and Pearson; Mesdames Casserley, F. Courtney, Watson and family, Georg-e Nazer and.J. P. (Rogers; Messrs W.-J. Abigo, W. Brown, H. W. Overton, W. H. Young, J. A. Mitchell, Angus Keith, W. Fmmerson, E. Cooper, J. O'Neill, C. Lisson, J. Hensham, H. Granger, F. Courtney, W. INorman, J. C. Free, D. Malcolmson, J. Jamieson, W. Recce, J. P. Newman, and Mr and Mrs A. Frederick and two children.

In the Inspector's report presented to the annual meeting of the vSouthland Education Board, it was stated that of the 107 uncertified teachers m the Board's employ at the closing of the year 1909, about 70 per cent were in receipt of salaries averaging .less than £100. It was almost unreasonable to to "obtain certificated teachers for. such positions as those. Again, it should .be remembered that the 107 teachers referred to were not in sole charge of schools. About forty of them were employed as assistants under certificated teachers, most ly of considerable \extferiencc, and were -therefore, presumably under com potent supervision. Of the remainder fvillv half might 'be said to be doinK work WKch roulcl dp. descn^-i ns ?atisfactorv in thn ordiriafv _sense of the term., while of the rest a f-j- - were ■ showing ronsidera-bl^ irn-ntovpment in th' 71 - m?n.->gero"n.t o^ their srhools. A fair proi^rtion of n.nrpr>ifi.rp f ed tp->ch>rs v^re vminr n^rson^ who' had not 'vet. on account of thoiv youth, rereivod actual cb?s:fication. Baby had a horrid pain. Ohuckpd away his dtitr-mv. Squirmed ?nd screamed and squirmed nsrain. " Fi-i^-h*«Ti"rl Ims noo'r Murnr^i'. ir T':il "t l'" e t she 'could endxire r--v? ■'Wood*' Great Pepncrrrint Cnro Soo'liPd his little turorfv. Thr 'p".esi.ion of the linh'litv of fli c. r.oun'v Connril in the case of ncrirlrn( 5 h^trnenino- tr> o. enntrp^tor or his nmolovee<;. raxisod n con c ifl" rn l'> lr> "- »~'oiin«- n r rl.i«;rtif;c:fon. in thp Westipp/'l rnun'v Cotm^i on Tnesd^v. ,T t p^^ <-..*. n c o 1««"il /^-ni-niOT* r*" *h p cni^- .„ ,„■>.„ „..« .. ~-.r?. --,i <u~* r__ /i,. . ■> „_<■- --.- ■«., n # «^JT^ W . n^ n t^^' ■ *-■- r ,\ will ensi're this. — friiardi" ?..'•,* ' > ■■