NEWS OF THE DAY

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 10285, 21 May 1919, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

"X doubt if there be any better field for the plentiful scattering of p latitudes than the subject on which I am asked to address you." observed Dr J. P. Frengley at the commencement of a town-planning address at tho big conference yesterday.

"There is an old idea that everyone has to have a fence," remarked Dr A. IC. Newman, M.P., at tho Townplanning Conference yesterday. "That is an abominable, antiquated idea. J.'ull down the fence and .let the gardens and tho shrubs be open to- tho view of the public."

A letter of welcome to Admiral Lord Jellicoe and those on board H.M.S. New Zealand, now in Australia, has been forwarded on behalf of the Merchant Service Guild by the secretary, Captain F. A. Maciudoe. It was intimated in tho letter that it is the intention of the guild to welcome the Admiral personally on his arrival at Wellington.

Referring, to the difficulties of transport, during the course of his reply to the Arthur's Pass Tunnel League's deputation on Saturday, the Hon. W. D. S. MacDonald said that iron for the Public Works Department was held vp in Australia, also 40,000 telegraph poles. Ear the transport of 2 000,00<J bushels oF wheat bought by his department, there- was only one ship available at present.

"When I'went to serve the summons on the'defeh'dant,'he ran'away and I chased him all round the quay,'' said a woman who took action yesterday in the Magistrate's Court against a man to obtain possession of a tenement. "I want the premises for my own occupation and the defendant is not a fit man to have a house. It is in a iiitl-y condition, and a. disgrace to Wellington," added the complainant. ••There, are 'a good few places likes that,'' replied Mr F._ V. Frazer, S.M.

A word on the importance of hydroelectricity Was said by the Hon. G. W. Russell at tho Town-planning ' Conference yesterday. As a national utility, he placed the hydro-electric power of the Dominion as a thing which would in the future prove to be one of our greatest assets. He felt sure that the hydro-electric service which would b° rapidly developed during the next ten years would be of untold benefit in increasing the happiness of town dwellers, as well as improving tihe conditions of the people generally throughout the country districts.

The subject of the settlement of soldiers on the land was alluded to by the Governor at the Town-planning Conference yesterday. "So far us this aspect is concerned, I think 1 may say. it is not such an easy task to settle as the uninitiated think," he observed. "It is certainly hoped that men will not bo placed on the land who have no knowledge of agricultural and pastoral pursuits. That hardly comes within the four coiners of our conference, but what does is the arrangement whereby these new settlements shall have access to all the modern conveniences of everyday life, and in this your conference can greatly assist."

Many appreciative references to the work of iirigadior-General Richardson arc made from time to time, by upturned soldiers. One- man stated in Christchurch that the first time he saw General Richardson was when ho was in "kl.iuk," doing r, period of detention for somo misdemeanour. The- General came in to inquire how ho was (i-Mting along, and asked the man 1. So had any complaints regarding + <-«- food supplied to hi.m, or his general treatment, concluding with a little advice on the wisdom of avoiding getting into trouble with the "heads." '{General Richardson ift crer.y inch a man," said the soldier, "and he was more like a father to us in England than a highlyplaced military officer."

The position with regard to the supply of coal for industries at Dunedin (says an exchange) is much brighter, and any anxiety that may have been folt concerning tho shortage of supplies will bo relieved. During this week two very heavy shipments of coal will reach Dunedin from Newcastle, which will bo tho first supplies received from the New South Wales port for somo timo vast. Tho steamer Perth (which passed Stephens Island at 12.30 p.m. ycsterday) r is duo nt Dunedin to-morrow with a mil shipment, about 2000 tons of which is consigned to tho Dunedin gasworks. Tho steamer Barwon was loading nt Nowcastlo on Monday for Dunedin. This vessol will bring over 3000 tons, about 1500 of which will bo distributed between tho' gasworks and tho fade. Tho balance of the Barwon's xhipm-mt will be for the New Zealand railways. Theso two shipments, supplemented by supplies from the West Const, fO'ould keep tho Dunedin gasworks goiti? for two or three months. The aa:.v/orks are nt present using about 50 tons a dnv, and the shpments by the .Perth and Barwon for the trade and industries should greatly relievo tho pressure.

Messrs "W. H. Edwards and Son hare received an order for the supply ot seating accommodation for the public in the new Legislative Council Chambor. Some 134 leather lounge seats will be installed.

The following vessels will be within wireless range of Wellington to-night: —Mararoa. Pateena, Mokoia, JMonowai, Kaiapoi, and Kaikoura. lhe Paparoa, will be. within range of the Chatham Islands station.

The Hon. W. D. S. MacDonald stated in . Christchurch on Saturday tnat, so far, no arrangements had been made in regard to the Parliamentary session, and he could not say anything concerning its duration. No overtures had been made to him as acting-leader of the Liberals, regarding an amalgamation of the two principal parties, and the matter had never been discussed by the parties as far as he knew.

The warm rain which set in at Masterton on Sunday continued throughout Monday (states the Wairarapa "Age"). it was just the ram that was wanted by farmers, and will ao an immense amount of good m the country. From all accounts the rain has been general throughout tho Wairarapa. The prospects for the w:nter are now much brighter than they were a few days ago, and the stock .market will probably recover.

The Industries Committee of the House of Representatives met at Parliament Buildings yesterday morning, but as some of the members wished to attend the opening of the Town-plan-ning Conference, the committeo adjourned till the afternoon, when various matters were discussed in committee. The hearing of evidence is to be resumed at 10 o'clock this morning. On Saturday next the committee will hold a sitting at Martinborough.

The North Island draft (45 in all) of the soldiers who arrived in Lyttelton on Sunday by the transport Carpentaria, were brought on to Wellington by the Mararoa yesterday. Five of the men wore for Auckland and 40 for the Wellington district. The Auckland men left by yesterday's Main Trunk express. The draft was welcomed on arrival by the returned soldiers' next-of-kin and. a. number of citizens, and members of the volunteer motor corps conveyed the men without delay to their several destinations.

A substantial increase is shown in the number of cattle slaughtered at the municipal abattoir during tho month o* A-uril. The figures are as follow, with the increases over the corresponding mouth last year in parentheses: —Cows, 119 (35); bullocks, 605 (129); bulls, lb (IB); sheep, 4551 (1598); lambs, 1981 (892); calves, 174 (106) ; pi"s, 81 (24). The total fees collected were £539 Is, being £2B 19s 3id increase on last month, and £156 13s increase on the corresponding month last year.

A remarkable tale was told by a lad of fifteen, John William Hand, who was charged at Rhyl recently with unlawfully wearing Canadian uniform at Kinmel Camp. He was discovered in Camp, having gone to England witu the troops from Kipon, and was passed as a friendless Belgian whose lather and sister were shot and his mother burnt at the stake by the Germans. Ho said that Canadian troops smuggled him to England in a bundle of blankets. When faced by a Belgian :he admitted being a Yorkshireman. Recently he stated to the authorities that he was with the rioters, and saw a soldier shot down. He also saw a lot of rioting whilst up a tree The bench remanded the lad for inquiries, as ho had papers showing he had been at the Crystal Palace in connection with the Navy, and had a certificate for gunnery and good conduct.

"One of the most important matters in connection with town-planning is tho proper location of noxious trades,' 1 remarked the Minister for Internal Affairs at yesterday's conference. "As our industries develop it will be manifest that there will be demands for the establishment of noxious trades, such as fellmongery, meat, manure, and other works of that description. Tho tendency of our present railway mileage basis is to force all industries ot these classes as near, as possible to the port. One effect of the zonal system would he that those interested m these trades would have a much wider area for sites, seeing that the railway charges would' not increase with the distance from the port within a given area. The ideal is that as far as possible the manufactories of the countryshould be confined to specific areas, and the residential portions segregated from the manufacturing and trading, thus enabling a more artistic system of town-planning to obtain."

There was a touching scene recently in the office of M. Olemenceau when ho pinned on the breast of a i'rench girl, Louis© Thuliez, the Cross of the Legion of Honour and the.AVar Cross with palm. jUdlle. Thuliez was accompanied by members of her family, and the eyes of all shone with pleasure as they heard ii. Clemenceau recall the circumstances of duty performed which had merited the decorations. The girl lives at Valenciennes, where aho was twice arrested on charges of assisting French soldiers to escape. On the first-occasion she was sentenced to death as a spy. On the intervention of the Spanish Ambasaadoi tho sentence was commuted to one of lifo imprisonment; but a fortnignt later another court-martial tried her on a. charge of having assisted French sol diers who had remained in the Mormal Forest after tile capitulation of Maubeuge and the battle of Charleroi. Again the girl was sentenced to death, and once more tho sentence was commuted. She had served three years' imprisonment when the fighting end<=d.

In some areas not more than .50 per cent, of the Belgian refugees in England have availed themselves of tho British Government's otter of free repatriation. These are taking with them anything from £IOO to £t) u apiece—undreamt of wealth to many who before the war. earned ridiculously small wages. A Belgian interested in the welfare of refugees stated that those who returned would never work for tho old wages. "At present prices it would, of course, be impossible," he added. "The cost of Jiving is so exorbitant that those who aro working aro receiving aoout five francs n. day above thoir recognised wage in order to enable them to live.'' Throughout the war and since tho Armistice a colony for Belgian women—chiefly the wives of soldiers —and their children has existed in tho Manchester area. The average number housed, fed, and clothed has been one hundred. The colony, since tho beginning, has been largely self-supporting in regard to food, anil even clothing. Each member of tho colony received a weekly money allowance of a few shillings, of which some ( refugees have saved as much as £SO.

The Hon. .1. T. Paul, a speaker -it the Town-planning Conference yesterday, did not agree wtih an observation that someone or something must be kept clear of ralitics. Politics, -ho said should bo kept free of humbug. It was a misti&s that all sorts or [things should he kept out of politics. If politics had a detrimental eifect or. j things and men, then they should close Parliament.

A sight to break the monotony of ploughing through the mud to roa was to be seen in a paddock on the other side of Waikare on Monday (states a Hawke's Bay paper). A driver reported seventeen big fat bullocks lying dead in the paddock, having apparently been poisoned through eating tutu berries. A Maori of the district expressed the hope that the bullocks will be "berried berry soon.

Mr A. Kohn has given notice that he will move as follows at a meeting of the Napier Chamber of Commerce to-morrow:—"That this Chamber is of opinion that the time has arrived when Parliament should amend the present law in respect to the half-holiday so as to make Saturday the universal compulsory half-holiday throughout the Dominion. That a copy of this resolution be sent to all members o. Parliament and Chambers of Commerce throughout the Dominion asking them to support legislation giving effect to this resolution."

In all, 83,024 volunteers went into camp in New Zealand during the war, while'72o were waiting to go into camp when the Armistice was signed. The vrumber of fit men who volunteered for service was thus 83,744. From August, 19] 4, to September, 1916, when the Military Service Act came into operation, there had been 104,467 vountary registrations, but in many cases men volunteered several times in an endeavour to pass the doctors. It is estimated that there were 85,000 actual volunteers to September, 1916. Subsequently 24,105 men vounteered, so that the total for the war was, approxi mately, 109,000, or about 10 per cent, of the total population.

A sad accident occured at Takawhare, four miles from Coromandel, on Friday (as briefly reported by Press Association message), resulting in tht. death from burns of Miss Grace Tiernan, aged twenty-one years, daughter of the late Mr F. Tiernan. Late in the afternoon Miss Tiernan was attending to an open fireplace outside the house, when her pinafore caugnt lire, her clothing being.'destroyed and her body fearfully burned.. As there was no one else at home, Miss Tiernan wrapped a cloak round herself and walked to Mr Campbell's house. Sho was removed to the hospital at Coromandel, where she died' at 11 o'clock at night.

On Thursday a special meeting of the City Council is to be held to pass, by way of special order, a resolution accepting the surrender and granting a new lease of lots 18 and 19, block 2, Te Aro reclaimed land, held by Messrs Laery and Co., Ltd. The new lease is to be upon the same terms and conditions as are fixed by the . surrendered leases, with the following variations: (1) There shall be no building covenant in the new leases; (2) the term under the provisions for renewal in the new leases shall be for 21 years, in lieu of 14 years; (3) the provisions to- be inserted in the new leases as. to the valuation of the rentals "for''the-first renewal period of 21 years shall' be varied as the city, solicitor thinks necessary.

Increased wages and amendments to the hours clause are to be asked for when fcho Wellington Storemen's Union approaches the Arbitration Court. The union will ask that in general 44 hours ibe made to constitute a week's work, and that the hours of work be from 8 a.m. to 5 p':Tn."on ordinary weekdays and from 8 d.ra. to IS noon oh Saturdays; that in the case of establishments in wjiich no work is done on Saturday, the hours of work be BJper day, extending from 8 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.; and that in the case of establishments handling perishable goods, 7.30 a-ni. be the earliest time for commencing the eight hours' work on any day and 5 p.m. the latest for ending. . The following, increases in wages are applied.,for:—For ordinary storemen, a rise from £3 6s to £4 per week; for head storemen, a rise from £3 IV s to £4 10s per week; for juniors, a rise of 10 per cent.; for casuals, a rise from Is od to Is lOd per hour.

Finding that they cannot afford to pay the existing rate of wages, tho naxmill owners have' filvea notice to the FJmplovers' Union to cancel the agreement of December, 1917 (states the "Manawatu Times"). The agreement in question was substituted lor the award, which is still in force, but 'its operation was suspended by mutual agreement between the the. union. There is a very material difference in the rates of pay provided for m • the award and those actualJy obtaining under the agreement. Taking the minimum wage as a basis, the (men are at present being paid from 4s 6d to os per day more than the award .stipulates. For instance, under the award the minimum for the lowest paid labour was approximately Is p*i hour, while under the agreement which the employers are now cancelling it is Is 9d per hour. The employers point out that when the' agreement was come to the price of fibre was £65 t.o.b. Wellington. The market is now down to £3O a'ton. On top of this the shipping freights continue abnormal, notwithstanding the absence of war risk. Before the war, the rate was 84s per ton, plus 10 per cent. It has now gone up to £ls a ton, plus lO per cent., and other charges have run the price up to nearly £2O a ton. It is understood that the millers are prepared to resume. operations if a satisfactory arrangement can ha como to; otherwise not. The flaxworkers are to hold a meeting on Saturday to go into the whole question.