DOMINION ITEMS.

Hokitika Guardian, 20 May 1929, Page 5

DOMINION ITEMS.

PURL ICI TV DEPA RTMENT

By Telegraph—Press Assn., Copyright

WELLINGTON, May 20

Cabinet is considering the erection ol a Publicity Oflice into separate Departments, which will incllue the work both in and out- of Mew Zealand. The object is to make New Zealand better Known to New Zealanders as well as to outsidei s.

R. \V. Fenton (assistant officer) will visit Australia ne.-.fc month and arrange an active advertis.ng campaign in all tlie States.

Colonel Tapper is on the way back to the United States with coloured slides depicting the wonders of New Zealand and will undertake a lecture tour, lie is enthus.astic as to the possibilities of New Zealand as a tourist resort. BODY FOUND. PALMERSTON X.. May 20. The body of a man was found on the riverhank at Tiakiatahnna yesterday. No injuries were apparent. It is believed the deceased had been drowned and the body carried there by the re cent flood. The spot where the body was found was covered last week with several feet of water. Deceased was apparently between thirty and' thirtyfive years of age, of strong build, red moustache, body fully dressed except Tor no coat. IN THE Alii. Hastings, May 20.' Tin* value of an aero])lane as a means of quick transport was again locally illustrated this morning. Mr W, G. Stead, having urgent business in Rotorua, left Hastings at 7.20 as Captain White's passenger in the Club’s D.H. Moth and was in Rotorua one hour and forty minutes later. S. G. GUTHRIE M.C. HASTINGS, May 20. News has been received of the death at Hawera yesterday of Stanley Gordon Guthrie, M..C. During the war lie was one ol the bravest and most popular iieutenants of the First Battalion of Wellington Regiment.

MOTOR MENACE. A LENIENT S.M. ' ; (BLENHEIM-, May 18. : ' A fine of £l, with a stern warning, was.imposed on William Francis,Funnell, a Blenheim taxinmn, who pleaded guilty to a charge of being intoxicated when in charge of a motor car. Application for suppression of liis name was refused. CHEQUE FRAUDS ALLEGED. ASHBURTON, May 18.’ G. Mason, aged 49, veterinary surgeon, of no fixed abode; was cnargod with having at Ashburton obtained. £lO by means of a valueless cheque. Accused, it is alleged; came to Ashburton yesterday, and obtained .a-, cheque book at a local bank, where-, bo represented himself as Mason, of Gore. He was arrested at Rakaia in the evening, and was remanded till May 28th, the police stating thatother charges are pending. STUDENT BREAKS CONTRACT.

WELLINGTON, May 18. In Iris reserved judgment in a case in which a clerk named Skoglund had arranged to take a course of instruction from the Alexander Hamilton Institute, and was proceeded against to recover the balance of the money due after he had failed to carry out his part of the undertaking, Magistrate Page holds that it was a breach of contract, and that plaintiff’s proper remedy was by way of damages for the failure of defendant to cairy out the contract. He amended the claim accordingly, and awarded an amount of £ls. with costs. The original claim was for £3l, the balance of unpaid monthly fees. STEAM THROUGH OTTR A. CHRISTCHURCH, May 20. . ■Steam engines took the exclusion train through the Otira tunnel yesterday, without the slightest hitch, the journey taking twenty-two minutes or the average time taken by the electric.

FRUTT DUTIES WANTED. CHRISTCHURCH, May 20

The Canterbury Stone Fruitgrowers’ and Tomato Growers’ Association approved of a petition to the Minister of Customs suggesting the following duties on imported fruit:— Cherries 4d per lb; apples 2d per lb all the year round; cucumbers and grapes Gd per lb all the year round; raspberries pulp 4d per lb; imported dried fruits, apricots, peaches and canned fruits that can be produced here, 50 per cent. COURT SENTENCE. WELLINGTON, May 20. Tn the Suprome Court, Charles Barrie Sutcliffe, was admitted to probation for two years and ordered to pay £6 5s towards the cost of the prosecution and make restitution of i£B 9s Gd, having been found by the jury to be guilty of fraud, in that lie had obtained the money as a commission by representing he had obtained 19 bona fide orders for enlargements whereas 17 of them were given by himself. He was employed as a canvasser, by the Dominion Portrait Coy.