DOMINION ITEMS.

Hokitika Guardian, 8 October 1925, Page 3

DOMINION ITEMS.

[by TELEGRAPH —PER FREES ASSOCIATION

VICE-REGAL VISIT. HASTINGS. October 7

At tile Chamber of Commerce luncheon to-day, at which he was a guest of honour, Ills Excellency the Gover-nor-General said that dining the few months he had been in the Dominion ho had not seen as much of the country as he would have liked. He considered the best plan was to pay a living visit to each district, and biter pay longer visits to see the country in greater detail. From his cursory inspection he could easily see that it would he difficult to find a finer country from an agricultural point of view than that surrounding Hastings, and it was obvious that Hawke's Bay contributed largely to the success of the .Dominion as a whole.

Their Excellencies. Miss Ferguson, and her brother, and Major llaviland. who have had a strenuous three days here, visiting schools in the day time and attending social functions at night return by to-morrow’s express to Wellington. They visit (his district again on the 21st of October, when His Excellency will open the new Show Grounds at Hastings for the A. and P. Society's spring show. THE U.S.A. DESERTERS. WELLINGTON, October 7. The story of seven Americans who forsook life on the ocean for that of members of an orchestra at a Wellington cabaret, was unfolded at llte local Court to-day. .May Campbell, the proprietress of a cabaret. proceeded against Sims -Millar, formerly a member of the crew of the U.S.S. Oklahoma, who. with six comrades left the ship in order to play in the' orchestra. The seven were engaged at 230 a week and signed a contract not to engage in other business. The agreement said they were liable to forleit 230 should they not comply with the conditions of the contract. It; war alleged that .Millar broke the contract and joined the Kid Boots Coy. The defence was that the men wen deserters and the defendant an infant, the contract being illegal. They said they stayed at a place on the hills while on shore and had dodged the shore patrols. The ease was adjourn ed. PUBLIC TRUST BENEFITS. CHRISTCHURCH. Oct. 8. The Premier (the Hon. .1. <H Coates) announced in connection with the Public Trust Ofiiee that from January the first next there would lie an increase of a quarter per rent in the rate of interest on moneys invested in I lie eotnmon fund of the office.

The next most, important change is a reduction in the commission charged on the adminisl ration of estates of the value of tinder BRKIO. It was intended to substitute a fixed rate of two and a. half per cent, thus making a uni form charge in all eases except tor the collect ion of hook debts. For the administration of estates ol considerable value there would he a reduction of 3s per cent after a value ol £23,000 had been reached. It is promised to apply a policy of reduction of the. fees to persons other than beneficiaries in estates. The first class to he benefited under the extended policy will he the' ofiiee mortgagers in respect ol t lie cost ol raising loans from the Public Trustee. SEPTEMBER WEATHER. WELLINGTON, October 7. Alt D. C. Bates, Director o| the ,'leterorological Ofiiee, has issued the lollowing summary ol the weather for the month of September:— * The weather during September was, fin the whole, unsettled. bleak ami squally. The atmospheric pressure was below llte average over the Dominion for nearly the whole ol the month, ami westerly disl urbama .-> predominated. life rainfall wits therelore above the average m all nails with a westerly a-peet, bill it "as deficient i:i Itmsl <• i ihe "a -1 i"a“I <!i - I »si t There w ere several hard imMs in bnth islands, and especially on the east coast ot the South Island, which, however, experienced very trying weather between 12th and lltli, when the barometer was highest ill the south. Stormy weather prevailed in most parts Iron) the fil'd to the Bth, when there were some heavy falls of snow in the South Island. The weather conditions were also severe between the 19th and 27th and the West. Coast rivers were in high Hood. Some rather severe hail storms were reported, with occasional thunderstorms. The season’s conditions seem In have been rather unfavourable to agriculture and pastoral pursuits. LEAGUE CRICKET SCORE. CHRISTCHURCH, October 8. In an exhibition Lou tie game yesterday Queensland defeated Canterbury by 38 to 10. TICE-REGAL. HASTINGS, (let. 8. At a citizens reeepiiott at Cornwall Park, his Excellency, the GovernorGeneral (leveled much of Ins speech to the subject of children's welfare. YiecRegal visits, he said, were necessarily short, hut it gave them the opportunity of seeing most of the children, and lie would say without a desire please, that they were children of which they and New Zealand should he nrond. He had seen children in both islands and had been invariably struck with their well-being, happiness, care and training. Those children were well worthy of their consideration, as they wort' going to !o flu* men and women who were going to make or mar New Zealand in the years to come. As the towns enlarged and the population increased they would he confronted with industrial problems of which they had now hut little experience of what could he dune to meet, those problems. They-must uphold the traditions of \ew Zealand : “Self-reliance, industry, determination to stteeeed. and loyalty to the Empire and King.’’ ’I ho only way to preserve these traditions was to devote careful attention to the upbringing of the youth of the country. There were many ways to help our youth and ihc responsibility rested on the people to educate the children in the great traditions of their country, without which the Empire would fall to pieces. He appealed to them to give every support they could to movements making for the training of youths. There were two movements which called for their special attention. hov scouts and girl guides. The GovernorGeneral. Lady Alice Ferguson and party, who attended the citizens’ eonv• t-sazional lu>t night were given an enthusiastic semi off this morning at the railway station. CHURCH TOO DULL. A PARSONS ADVICE . AUCKLAND. Oct. 8. The Baptist, Union Assemble was opened by the president, the Rev. F. K. Harry, who said the Church needed life to carry it forward and the dull drove should forsake the pulpit and become undertakers. Their work should be red blooded and virile. No one charged them to-dav with being full of new wine and they were forced to a>k themselves whether they were too cold, too cautious and calculating. He was not a pessimist, hut there were widespread sermons on immorality and unrest. Order must prevail in the church, whose crown was not chaos, but Christ.