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Otago Daily Times, Issue 17690, 30 July 1919, Page 4

A conference of group commanders will bo held in the local Defence Office on Thur&day with the object of reorganising the staff and rearranging their- duties. There arrived at Christ church yesterday morning, ex the troopship Ruapehu, for Christcirarch and suburbs 28 men, 16 wives, and sis children; for South Canterbury seven men four wives and three children; for ■M r est Coast seven men three wives, and two children; and for Otago 26 men and 17 wives. The southern portion of the returning draft left Christ-church under, the of Captain Dobson, and arrive in Dunedin by the 5.35 p.m. train to-day. The Makura arrived, in. Auckland on Monday with 100 bags of American mail matter. The souihe.rn portion, which will leavo Auckland to-day by the Pateena, should roach Dunedin about the end of this week. The following are tho statistics of infectious disease cases dealt with at tho Dunedin and Infectious Diseases Hospitals during the week ended at noon on Monday: bcarlet fever, admitted throe, discharged five, remaining' 23; diphtheria, admitted six, discharged eight, remaining 23; erysipelas, discharged one, none remaining;—total remaining, 46. Applications for the five Gladbrook Estate runs, which have been opened up for discharged soldiers, will close at 4 p.m. on I'riday, August 8. The total area of the runs is 22,841 acres. Applicants will b© examined on August 12, and the ballot will bo held as soon afterwards as possibleDp to and including December 31, 1919, officers of the New Zealand Defence Forces may be promoted to the next higher rank than that which they held substantively in the Nenr Zealand Expeditionary Force without being required to pass the qualifying examination of that rank provide;! they are otherwise qualified for such promotion. At a meeting of the Ladies' Committee of St. Mary's Orphanage, held in the diocesan rooms yesterday afternoon, it was unanimously decided to appoint Miss Harrow a/5 matron of tho orphanage. Miss 1* arrow has had considerable nursing and

Hospital experience in England and New Zealand, and is at present matron of the Maniototo Hospital at Naseby. The officers of th e Bank of Australasia in the dominion have received notification that the directors have authorised a temporary addition of 25 per cent, to the salaries this year of all members of the bank's stall. Early in the course of the war tho officers of tho bank received a 10 par cent, bonus which whs supplemented in the past two years by an addition of 10 per,cent, to their salaries. A conference is set down to take on Thursday between the Tramways Union and the .proprietaries of the" hill trams. It will be- remembered that when the agreement between the city tramway employees and the Dunedin City Corporation was arrived at a partial agreement only was come to with tho employees of th 0 hill companies, the latter proprietaries declining to fall into line with' the wages agreed to be paid by th 3 corporation until they had obtained an enabling them to advance their fares. This Order-in-Council has now been obtained. The Conciliation Commissioner (Mr W. H. Hagger) "will preside over the conference. Qno of our reporters yastexday made inquiry at the head office of the Westport Coal Company into the statement of Mr W. T. Young, general secretary of the Seamen's Tjnionr that "he had fairly reliable information that there were thousands of tons of coal on tho West Coast to-day, only waiting to be taken The reporter was informed that Mi- Woong's allegation could not apply so far as tho Westport Coal Company was concerned, and further that for some months past the company had had ho cause for complaint as regards the supply of ships to transport its coal from the West Coast There was, however, a shortage of miners on the coast, and tho position was further accentuated when the armistice was signed as a considerable number of miners °then took the opportunity to leave the Coast and seek other avenues of employment. Several of these ixiiners are at present employed on the waterfront at Wellington. As showing the extensive effect which the seamen's strike in Australia is having on the coal supply of tho dominion it need only be stated that in normal timei anything from 250,000 to 400,000 tons of. coal are annually brought from Newcastle to New Zealand but since the strike commenced the supply from New South Wales has been practically cut off. J . Press Association message from Wellington states that the Gowernmejit Astronomer has received information of tho occupation of a star by the planet Venus v*abl© m New Zealand. Tty star is of rather faint magnitude, 8.6, land the occupation will take place on Saturday August 2, between 6 p.m.. and 7 p.m. At the time of the oocultation the altitude

of Venus will be about 20deg. Observations are required of tho time the star disappear behind Vonus and ihe time wlien the star reappears. Astronomers who require exact should 'make early application to the IJector Observatory, Wellington, and if possible accurate tame signals v/ill be sent to them. Q The following resolution was adopted by tho Executive Committee of the Returned !sotellers Association last night on the motion of Mr R. Jones: —"That this' committee, representing the Otago returned solclicrs, desires to place on rocord its approciation of the Otago Women's Patriotic Association for their untiring and generous ettorts in the running of the canteen for soldiers during the pcaco celebrations." The motion was carried with enthusiasm. Inoonveniencc to the travelling public is apparently not the only effect of the restricted train service. Wo understand that a number of men on the perxrlanent stall who, on the inauguration of the new timeoablc, wore sent on their annual leave, aro now about to replace soveral casual employees in tile goods department. The majority of the latter are married men, and include some returned soldiers.The need for tlie Prisons Board having power to put a prisoner on probaticta be°yond the period of his sentenco was mentioned by the Chief Justice (Sir Robert btout) in tho Supreme Court at Wellington ?n Friday. "If, for instance," he said, "a man is sentenced to imprisonment for 12 months, tho Prisons Board has no control over him beyond that period. If tho board had power to give liiin probation for, say, a further three years, it would give it greater power in dealing with certain eases." The Chief Justice ;ukled that, seeing this power did not exist, the only remedy was' for the court to sentence men to longer terms of reformative treatment.

A Press .Association telegram states that the Mayor of Wellington (IVIr J. P. Luke) lias received the following cablegram from London:—'Tiio London County Council sends its wannest congratulations upon tho Mctarious conclusion of tlie war, in tiio attainment of ayhich all parts of the British j'jri ipi i- c . played so noble a part, and expresses tho hope that tho greai sacrifices havo been made will result in peace aud goodwill throughout the world.— (>.,ign<sd), Downiiam, chairman." Complaint was made by Mr E. R. Stewart at the meeting of tiio executive of the Ke turned Soldiers' Association last night, that _ many employee in Dunedin were -not piaying tho game" by failing to discharge heir female employees to make room i-or returned men. Ho moved—'"That tho a lention of the Employers' Association bo drawn to tho fact that some firms are emP °>" In S female labour in positions wliie.Lt w rn b y returned soldiers." Mr *i 'i. °p rk ' w l lc ! seoondod tlie motion, said t lat this retaining of female employees was going on all over tho country. Mr M'Lean pointed out that tho discharging of female labour was a very big question, but ho thought they might reasonably ask that men should be employed in positions held by men before the war. Tlie motion was earned -without opposition. A healthy absence of tho kind of race prejudice that is such an ugly problem hi man y ports of the world was shewn at the meeting o£ tho Executive Committee of the Keturned Soldiers' Association last night. Iho committee had before it for opinion Mid advico a motion emanating' from tho i almerston North Returned Soldiers' Association, "That the Maoris be encouraged to . form aa association and to bo affiliated with the New Zealand Returned Soldiers' Association.," The Chairman (Mr J. H. Moir) said he thought they ought to support the Maoris throughout. They had worked

■very well on Gallipoli, and he miderstood that they worked equally well in Franco. -Anything they could do to enoourago and support tlie Maoris should be done. Mr Calvert disagreed with the proposal on the ground that it would have the effect of excluding Maoris from tho white associations. It would tend to division in their ranks, and ho thought tho present method of wording which gave Maoris tho same ngnts as their palieha brothers showed the true soldierly spirit. On the motion of J-ir AX Nish it was resolved—'"That as Maoris are entitled to tho samo privileges as other members of tho N.Z.E.F., thev be encouraged to join the local association nearest to their homes." The meeting of members of th© Dunedin Amateur Operatic Society, called for last evening, was not sufficiently well attencled to decide on any definite action as to the future. The object of tho meeting was to revive an interest in tho production "of comio opera,, but unfortunately the largo majority of those whoso inclinations and desires lie in that direc-' tion were engaged in so many different ways that they could not be present. It was consequently decided to call a meeting at •some future date. Those presentchiefly ladies—exhibited a good deal of enthusiasm over reviving amateur performances of comic opera, and it was decided, in the meantime, to appoint Messrs N. Smith, T. Harvey, and Miss Helen Gard'ner an interim committee to further the object m view. Sir James Allen has advised , tho clerk to the Western Taieri Land Drainage Board (states our Mosgiel correspondent) that the question of carrying out improvements on tho Taieri and Waipori Rivers has been referred to. the Rivers Commission which is now inquiring into several rivers in the Soath Island. A Royal Commission inquired into th© two rivers about two years ago. This commission, which was set up by the Lands Department, spent several thousands of pounds iu having surveys of the rivers made. It propounded a scheme and submitted it with elaborate plans and a lengthy report.- Tho Government has already had seven coinmisions (or reports) on the Taieri Jttiver question. If "commissions" will solve the problem, surely it will bo solved. The Museum and Library Committee of

the Canterbury College Board of Governors is to co-operate with, the Canterbury Progress League in the formation of a travelling library system for Canterbury. The scheme is to bo tried for 12 months, after which the matter will bo reconsidered. ]\lr C. 11. Opie explained that about a dozen country branches of the Progress League \vero co-operating. These wore undertakes' th e care and distribution of the books, and would provide boxes for their transport,' also each branch was guaranteeing a grant of £5. so that the library would derive an income of £60 or -so. The branches desired to have books of a useful nature, and fiction would be excluded. Two women patrols who are at work in Christ:church under the direction of the District Health Office, have reported several cases of disease amongst women and children, and steps have been taken to see that the persons suffering receive proper treat mcnt, live in clean and sanitary conditions, and take the curative measures prescribed by the medical authorities. The patrols have extensive powers, but their work is not of a detcctive character. If they find i girl in company that seems to be undesirable, they may ascertain where she lives and report the matter to her parents and advise them to exercise more restraint on her, but their actual positions are those of investigating nurses. One is a trained nurse, and tho other has had nursing experience. Both are capable and are enthusiastic in their work. • The experiment of their work and tho appointments, it is expected, will provo very satisfactory as far as discovering victims of special diseases and preventing them from spreading are concerned. "New Zealanders made splendid fighters in the air, ' said Colonel Bettington, in a lecture at Wellington, "and they did marvellously good work. I mention tho names of Brandon and Park, amongst many others The Now Zealander is left a good deal to his own resources when he is young, and he generally is a much bettor man in tho air than the average Londoner. He learns to think and to act quickly in his ordinary life, so that when ho becomes an aerial

fighter iio has more initiative and more general oapacity than the others. The same remark applies to all the other colonial lighters—they were splendid men." It is belioved (says the New Zealand Times) that some employers are in the habit of engaging tho services of schoolbovs or even small boys not attending schools, to work m the early hours of the morn or late at night. 'Ike practice is regarded as most reprehensible, and th e Inspector of factories is determined it shall cease. In ® case wherein two defendants, J it. Physick. baker, and Felix Diamond (father of tho lad) were charged with a contravention of the law, Mr R. T. Bailey (Inspector of Factories) said tho lad was but 11 years of age. He worked both before and after going to school, and received irom 6s to 8s per week. The practice was a common one, and tho consequences to the boys, both physically and mentally, were serious. They were unable to carry out their school work and become fitted for the stern battle of life. There was a duty cast on parents to educate their children, and not to exhaust them with labour before and after school, so that, as in some cases, tho little ones hed dropped off to sleep during school hours. Parents must be made to realise their obligations to their children in this respect. The hearing of the eases was adjourned. A man named Alfred Gregory, of Waihola, who created a most unseemly disturbance on the Dunodin-Clin ton train last Wednesday afternoon, was charged on five different counts arising out of tho affair at the Milton Magistrate's Court on Monday Whisky drinking was the cause of tho trouble. The accused assaulfcod one passengor, blackening an eye and biting him in several places, whUo ho ako attacked another passe T wlx> remonstrated with him. On charges of drunkenness, violent behaviour, and assault tho accusod wns »n----victed and discharged. He was fined 40*, with costs (7a), for indecent language (in dry fault 14 days' imprisonment) ; and wps ordered to pay 12s 6d, damages, on a chanr"; of mischief, with 6s witnesses' expenses (in default 43 hours' imprisonment). A prohibition order was issued against the accrs'-d on his own application. Tho magistrate ( E- D - Mosley) gave tho accuses a severe homily, remarking that ho felt inchned to send him to gaol. Ho had no sympathy for the man assaulted, who should Ujio keot his whisky to himself. . I

"That it is in th© best interests of tho dominion that the Government establish 'a Stat© ferry service between Wellington and Lyttclton for the transference of passengers, mails, goods, etc.,".was the text of a resolution received from a. sister organisation, and read at a meeting of the Masterton Chamber of Oommeroo on Friday. Mr Cooper agreed that the ferry and railway services should bo under tho same control Tlie question was whether it wao advisable to purchase tho present service, seeing that when tho main railway line reached Picton the service would be so' much shorter, and could consequently be purchased so much cheaper. Mx 11. H. Donald considered that the question should be dealt with at onco k? the Government. Mr Cooper moved— J- hat tins chamber is of opinion that tho ferry service connecting the North and couth Islands should form part of the railway service, and that a copy of tho resolution bg forwarded to tho member for the district." This was carried. Corporal Roy Weston, only son of Mr I'. W Weston, of th e Hansard staff, returned fioiu his service at the front by tho isnton last week. In the early part of last 3 : ear, Corporal Weston had a very narrow escape irom losing his life. When ins company was assisting to close the - ;.p near Hebuterne, after the retreat of tiio infill Army, ho was almost completely buried by a shell explosion. Captain Yorcoc, seeing a pair of feet protruding from a mould, scooped the earth away with lii., hands, and dragged out an unconscious •body, which proved to be Weston's. I-Y.r this axrt, performed under hoavy firo, cJoss. V<?fCoo waa vardocl tho Military A certain amount of trouble and con-

lusion has been caused in the past through soldiers falling ill and having to bo admitted to hospital while travelling on privilege tickets given to them after, their return to New Zealand. Quit© naturally the men concerned have claimed that 'thev should b© al.owed an extension of ticket, to enable them to. make us© of it at some later tune, but there has never been any aefinite arrangement by which this could be done. A scheme has now been considered by tlie Defeno© Minister, and it will probably be that agreed upon (says tho Wellington Post). Th© schome will bo sometiling lflto this: A man who has used a ticket .for a week before ho falls sick will be given another for three weeks, and tho man who has used his ticket for two weeks will be given a fresh ticket for two weeks, and the man who has used his ticket tor three weeks will be given a fresh ticket or one week. There is th© question of Pay^? Ut r T , f , OT ticbet still to bo determined The charge win bo £1 for a three weeks extension, 15s for two weeks' extenand 10s for an extension of one week. 1 )n format-ion is yet available as to who pay these amounts-the soldier or tho fbut it seems probable . thai.tho Defend! Department will pay. 'Iho i sjßa.ilway Department must be paid by someone, just as it is paid now for these privi- ' lireak a*® nsed without a

You are losing a lot of fun-buv a Harley-Davidson Motor Cycle to-day The? , are the goods. 1919 models to hand— Otago Agents, W. A. Justice and Co 290 : Princes street, Dunedia.—Advt. ' ' «ladies' N.Z. knitted wool hose, tho Peerless, in light and dark grey; sale , P" 00 & H postage 2d.—Mollisons Ltd.— Advt. , A. E. J. Blakeley, dentist, Bank of Auj. ( tralasia, corner of Bond and Rattray streets (next Telegraph Office). Telephone 1559 — Advt. The art of washing clothes clean without • ,?g 1 SI , IC S 'sto5 to «>PPer 6oz of the pure Golden Rule ' Soap, add small packet of 'No Rubbing' Laundry Help; boil briskly ' for thirty minutes, then rinse thoroughlv 1 blue, and hang out Result will delist : you.—Hunter and Etheridge (Ltd.).—Advt. • Electric Incandescent Lamps, Drawn Wiiv, 1 Metallic Filament. Philips Manufacture, 16 > 25, 32, and 50 candle-power. Prioe sa" I each. Special terms for quantity orders.— Turnbnll and Jones (Ltd.), Electric Eniri. [ neers.—Advt. Woods' Great Peppermint Cure, for Cougns and Colds, never fails.—Advt Whisky perfection—Watson's No. 10 the favourite of all who know. Order it.—Advt. . Eyestrain!—Consult Mr Peter G. Dick s D.8.0.A., F.LO. (London), consulting and . oculists optician.—Peter Dick, jeweller? eto. 490 Moray place. Dunedin.—Advt