LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 1 June 1911, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

To-morrow, at noon, the Otaki Electorate Licensing 'Bench will Bit at Otaki. Amongst tho business will be the matter of granting a renewal of license to the Albion. Hotel, Shannon, which is to be opposed: by til® police. Toby Ransfield, for having got upon a train while in motion at Levin railway station, o:n the lUtii Mav last, was fined 10s 'and costs, by.'Mr Thomson, S.M., at the S.M. Court this morning.

Weraroa Experimental Farm records for May show that the "total rainfall for the month was I.M. inches, being much less than tlve total for Mav, 1910, when 3.22 inches fell, the maximum amount that fell on any one day of last month was .48, on 26th May. in all .there were nine wet days.

The Auckland Education Board lias adopted! the following scale for granting leave of absence to teachers oiOaccount of illness- only : —Up to five years' service, maximum two weeks; over five and up to 10 years' service, maximum one month; over 10 and nip to 15 yeais service, maximum two months; over 15 and up to 25 years' •maximum three months; over 25 years'- service, maximum four months. . The little Breton, port of Groix (France) was tlnlown into a. state of great excitement recently by tilie return of a fishing boat, the Narval, which had for long been considered' lost, with its crew of nine men. The Narval left Le Crosic last September to fish for sardines, off the coast of Morocco. No more was heard of it, and the crew were considered 'to be dead. A mausoleum was put up to their memory, Masses were said for the dead, and tlhe "widows" put on weeds. Some ol were still in mourning when tho Narval after seven months' absence, appeared in port, safe and sound. They had been detained on account of the, poor fishing and difficulties with native fishermen, but finally the 'dead' men sailed home with 30,000 sardines, and a good catch of other fish.

Court proceedings at Levin were brief this morning. On the civil side Mr A. D. Thomson, S.M., gave judgment for plaintiffs in the following undefended cases :—■ W. S. Park v. J. C. Burns, £5 9s 6d, costs 3s: I). S. Mackenzie v. H. S. Collvns, £2 10s, costs 10s ; W. S. Park v. 0. E. Newport, £4 13s sd, costs 9s; .1. P. Kennedy v. George Wilson, £1. costs 16s ;E. K. Millies and G. E. Milnes v. Kingi Pufhi, £19 Os 3d, costs £1 17s Gel; Harper and Harper v. F. C. Wilson, £3 18s 9d, costs ss; Levin Borough Council v. .T. Hassell, £1 19s -Id, costs ss; same v. A. J. Tockov. £2 17s, costs ss; W. J. Orr v. J. Leadbeater. £1 18s Gd, costs 6s. _On a judgment summons, Francis Schramka was ordered to pay forthwith to Bessie Smith, £2 13s, in. default to go to pris'on for three days.

Four Maoris from Ohau (respectively named! Toti Hone, Huiku Wilson, Hob Pore and Warena. Ivcrihi) were charged at Levin S.M. Court, th'is morning, with having killed one .sheep-, the property of Mr G. H. Stiles. They were defended by Mr W. S. Park, who raised .the defence that they were awav from home and hungry, ae.'l had shot the sheep for food, and without criminal intent. After hearing evidence, Mr Thomson, S.M.. intimated that he believed it probable-'de-fendants did not realise the seriousness of their act. At the same time he explained to the accused that even if they actually werein a position whore thev wero lacking i' :od. and shot tho sheep to keep tliem from starving, it would be their duty to notify the owner of the sli-eep at oneoj and to pay him the value of it. All four defendants in the pro-sent case would helined 10s ea"h and costs, and' ordered to pay Mr Stiles £1 for the v:ilue of the sheep. " The penalty and costs and levy aggregated 17s !.'d for each defendant.

" Can our Borough Council Sehenes he Justified ; i.e., the lowering of Oxford street," formed the subject of <i debate in connection with t.'ie Literary and Debating Society of the Levin branch of the Y.M .C.A. list evening. Mr Y l . E. Parker 11resided, and gave a hearty welcome to visitors. Ho explained fiat fifteen minutes was allowed to i'ie leaders, fiye minutes to the subsquont, speakers, and five minutes to reply by the leaders. The method of voting was to decide which side presented the better else. Mr -Tamos Pronse, speaking in the affirmative, declared that the Borough Council had fully justified its existence. He eulogised the water supply scheme, and said that if the people were asked to reverse its former vote on the matter they would refuse to do so. Tlie public were obtaining an excellent supply of water at a (nominal cost. Ho supported the water supply schemo fiom 'a health point of view, 'and in regard to the gas undertaking said fiat it was undoubtedly a revenue producer, and a successful undertaking, which would supply a very rr:ich larger population than the one it was, now serving. Tn regard' to t':e reserves lie maintained tTiat the a tion of the Borough Council was a sound and equitable one, while ho q:oted the fire brigade and free library as being indicative of the progressive spirit of the council. r l lie council's action in lowering Oxford street was based wi a report of its surveyor, rind he adduced reasons in support of the council's decision. Mr T. G. Vincent, in taking the negative side, said that the council 'had done some good work, but urged that considerable sums of .money had been wasted. He criticised the council's act-ion in the matter of Oxford street reserves. The insecure tenancy; he said, in 1909 caused the loss of various tenants and therefore of revenue. He considered the £3000 road loan had been mostly .spent on channelling far o:i,t 'of the centre. He declared t':at on the water works money had 'bren mis-spcuit, and 1 said that by continuing round the road they would'" have gained revenue from houses adjacent thereto, and also from those people who now were granted the supply free of cost on account of the mains crossing their lands. Mr Vincent 'maintained that there were far more necessary works t'o be done- than the lowering of Oxford street, and considered that the cost might run up to £200 for metalling. The work was not warranted, and so far as the. rise was concerned' it was not perceptible. In regard to asphalting he declared that men . engaged in this work lacked experience, and criticised tlie way in which it was laid in Oxford street. He also animadverted upon the way in which the work of. the. stonecrusher was carried out. Mr Howell considered that the roads were better under " the Wirokino Road' Board l than; at the. present time. Mr Braid asked whether it was wise to repair three roads at one time? This involved shifting from 3f one street to another, and leaving the three streets in a state of chaos. Tlie chairman said that he hoped some of the councillors present would say a few words, and said that possibly if they would not their wives would for , them. -Mrs Arcus said that on this occasion she must decline. (Laughter). "After Mr Pro use and Mr Vincent had replied, a vote was taken and Mr Vincent won, i we are officially informed "by a unanimous vote." On .Tune 7th there will be a debate on " American v'. English Literature, 19tli Century," by 'Mr G. P. Brown (American), and Mr R. Oar-rosso-(English).

Two. Englishmen have made a cycling tour tliTOiigli India at a* cost of 10s per week.

Nearly 23",000 children have now been sent to Canada through tho agency of the Barn ado Homes.

v Tlie jockeys Mid! others around Riccarton are. entering into .tilvo spirit of the new Defence Act. They •have forwarded their applications, to tho local department, and has expressed a desire to form a corps of their own.

Levin Horticultural Society holds its annual meeting this even rig (Thursday), at 7.30 o'clock, in tae Century Hall. A good attendance of members is earnestly desired, as some important proposals arc to i.e discussed.

The late Mr Olaf Adam Sutherland, of Lawrence, Otago, who was buried on Wednesday, lived tlie life of a. recluse, but managed to amass £30,000. Tt is understood that he willed his estate _ for. division amongst his nephews in Norway.

A farmer in one of tlve upper districts of the Ashburton County computes his loss as a. result of the destruction wrought by the grass grubs this season at over £1000. Tho pests have lactually devoured close on 1000 acres of newlv-laid down grass pasture, which was sown at considerable expense.

Of the winning two-year-olds ol the season, Culprit (writes "Gerabut") was an easy first with £2665, thus beating Multiform's record. Peireno was second, with £1570, and Counterfeit was third with £1405, or £5 more than Miscount's winnings. Royal Scotch, who did not start racing until late_ in . the season, did well to win £710. So far, Peirene is the only 'one of the Achilles stock to race.

An Irish soho'ol inspector was examining a class in geography. He had propounded a question regarding longitude and received a. correct answer from a lad undergoing the ordeal. " And now," he said, "what is Latitude?" After a. hriof silence a bright youngster with a merry twinkle in his eye, said : "Please, sir, Ave have no latitude in Ireland. Father says tho British Government won't allow us anv."

In an interview with a Lyttelton Times reporter, Mr I'Ya.nei.s K. Cassels, of Quilmes, Argentina, who is on >a. visit to New Zealand, expressed much surprise at the amount whicli could be taken off land in New Zealand. In the Argentine wheat averaged eleven bushels to the acre. Thirty busihels was considered to bo a. phenomenal yield. Dairy fanning had been commenced in the Argentine, but it wa-s making very .slow progress. The immigrants from Italy and Spain did not underst-aiud the industry like the nations from the north.of Europe, and he'considered is would be a long time before thev did.

The Farmers' Union conference at Woodville (says the Manawatu Times)-had before it yesterday the question of its attitude towards politics. The Levin branch wished to protest against the endorsement of the Canterbury Political Protection Association, and the question of the Auckland body was raised. Tho president (Mr J. G. Wilson), in referring to the matter, said that the advisory committee of the Union had approved of the platform of the Canterbury body, and that it was not intended to outer into the field of party politics. The conference left it at that.

At the Fanners' Union Conference at Woodville it was seriously proposed that legislation be introduced making it compulsory that all dogs be chained up at -nights to prevent the worrying of sheep, and that the executive committee lie requested to strengthen the hands of those members of Parliament who are trying to bring pressure on the Government to give farmers whose sheep are -being worried by dogs adequate protection. "It's all very well to suggest that poison will work a remedy, but thero is a. serious aspect to the matter, and something should be done to remedy the existing state of affairs," said one delegate. "You should look further," urged another. "Tho country would be overrun with inspectors if what is suggested was carried out. Yon have to take account of what a proposal like this means." Delegates agreed, and promptly killed the motion on a division.—Mnirawatu Times.

One of the -higget grievances of the police force of Now South Wales is to lie abolished forthwith. Henceforward the officers of the force will he clad in the ordinary navy blue ■uniform winter and summer. Never agaiir (.says a Sydney paper) will the locomotive machinery of the police be dressed in bags of dazzling whiteness that make it impossible for the wearer to sit down without all beiholdcrs knowing about it as .soon as he moves on. For years there have been grievous and bitter complaints 'by the members of the force against the compulsory use of the duck trousers dairing certnin months. Til icy have complained that the starched article is hotter than the loose serge, that it is unpleasant in the wearing, and that it involves the wearers in much hardship of expense in the keeping clean. Appeal after appeal has been made for the abolition of .the objectionable garments, but without result. Now. however, the prayers of the police in this matter have been granted, and the white trousers are to he. worn no more.