DOMINION ITEMS.

Hokitika Guardian, 4 July 1924, Page 4

DOMINION ITEMS.

BY TFXEGPAPI7—PJIESS ASSN., COPYUIOIIT,

found hanging. NA PI Kit., July

I*rank .Leslie Darker., tliirtyone, married, with three children, was found dead bunging in a wasli-liou.se at the residence of liis wife’s father. Deceased had been depressed and complained of violnt pains in the head.

LXDKravKrfjrn: silvkr. coins

CALLMI) IN Hi' BANKS

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WEU.IN'GTOa, July 2

The hanks are withdrawing all worn and mutilated silver at the request of the i I ova i .Mint. Such coins must ho of the old fineness, that is, they must have been issued prior to ISHO, and their weight must have heroine less by at least B per rent. Jfr I’, fl. Cox, chairman of the Associated Banks, states that ordinary mutilated silver coins of the old fineness will also he taken, but not in large quantities. The Royal Mint will allow tlio lull nominal face value in new silver for old coins. The ordinary silver coin in circulation is roughly three per cent to four j or cent lielmv standard weight. The Royal Mint is prepared to take £!)(3.oof> of worn silver from New Zealand itself, and £IOOO Irom Western Samoa, hut it is believed that there will not he much more than £I'D.OOO to go from both countries. The almost trJta'l disappearance of the sovereign and half sovereign from circa In t ion, and the comparatively small cumhersomeness of silver money has made the ten shilling note, very popular, more so than 10s in silver, in the pocket, so that silver is not now used nearly so much as it Used to he in New Zealand and the pound note has quite taken tho place of the golden sovereign. Australian minted silver will not tome into the collection of worn and mutilated coins called for by the Royal Mint. Silver containing an alloy and having a yellow tinge, known to some peiple iis '-win- silver,” apparently will not he taken. In any ease il will not he sullicienllv worn.

CASK OIK THAOK. DI'NKDIX, July

The over-increasing use of oil fuel in ships was touched upon by .Mr I). .Jamieson at a meeting of t,lie executive of the .Manufacturers’ Association. Mr Jamieson said that all the companies were now going in for oil burners, and unless the port of Otago had tanks, capable of holding thousands of gallons of oil. it would sooner or Inter bo left ip the cold. Kariier in the meeting it was mentioned that the Imperial Oil Company was going to erect huge tanks at Wellington, where all the oil for New Zealand consumption would he tinned. This meant, said .Mr Jamieson, that Wellington would lie the port of arrival and departure for the Dominion unless all-tho other ports moved.

Members of the Association considered the matter of such great importance that it was decided to bring it under the notice of the Importers’ Association, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Harbour Board.

STATE KIKE OI'TICK, HKISATE A\ EI.I.IXCiTOX. July :i In a statement <lonlin.'-i with

Fire Insurance, Mon Sir Heaton IMioiles has announced that the Jinarcl whose duty it is to tee that the funds of the Office are sufficient to meet all actual and coutiut'enl. Nubilities, before |;rantin(Jt a rebate, considers that the (intinciid position of the Olfiee jtistilies the deebtrtition of another rebate, to apply as from the Ist of 11 ->t next, for twelve months. The percentage fixed an litis occasion will he 10 per lent.

WKLLI.VCT.'IN. .lnlv

In an address given here lust night. Professor Kirk gave ;i lirief resume nl the linhits of the opossum. lie said iL was not likely to multiply phenomenally, like the rnhl.it. as. though it hretl sometimes twiee :i year, the general rule wiis once, and only tnj .ruling ones were produced at. a time, lie freely admitted that the opossums ruined orchards, hut said that pet mils could at once he obtained lor their removal, which lias possible, as

well as lucrative. Irma his investigations. There was no proof that oj osseins attacked exotic mailers in New Zeal and as severely as they did elsewhere, hut they did feed oil' the .voting ■shoots and pollen, it was therefore inadvisable to bring opossums into contact with plantations of these trees.

lie was convinced that they did ringbnrk or kill trees or kill the undergrowth, most of this damage being trm cable to hoofed animals, amongst the worst of which were deer. If was also incorrect to say that they killed the native fitseliia. the death of which was due to parasites or physical causes, hut they did attaei; "five-tinger” ami

sumo other native trees. Tin* theory that they caused damage to shoots and tHit's by Invoking them was largely erroneous, and such damage as was done in this way was isnllicient to kill trees and sliruhs. lie cave instances of native forests thriving where opo.sstims were most nnnieroits, when cattle were excluded. While egg remains had hcvn loand in opossums out o! some animals examined only two had such remains in them. which showed that the damage they did to native birds was small. The revenue from the duty on their skins 1 rod need, in 102:1. LTol 2. ami nthe expenses in collecting it were only £o<-. the t.anitrv henelited to a considerable extent. The trade in the skins was worth some aunitally. wiiieli would increase in a few years to

lie advocated some process of selective cullin'; if passible, and the c-tah-lislunent by the Government on some island in the southern districts. of

supervised brooding grounds, whence thi> forests of the country could he stocked. Now Zealand opossum skins were already being recognised as .second to none.