LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 7, Issue 435, 17 December 1918, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Owing to the Christmas and New Year holidays there will be no issue of the ''Times" on Tuesday, Dec 24th, or on Tuesday, Dec. 31st. By advertisement in this issue the Auckland Education Board make.' announcement of boundaries fixed for the Aka Aka school district and of amended boundaries of the Otaua and Waiuku school districts. At the annual meeting of the Raglan County Council, held on Wednesday last, Cr Campbell Johnstone was, on the motion of Cr Cobourne, seconded by Cr Crawford, unanimously re-elected Chairman for the ensuing year. The salary of Dr Pomare, Minister representing the Maori race, lus beeL raised from £7OO to £BOO. It is gratifying to find his services in procuring a holiday at Rotorua for Dr Endletzberger are not being forgotten. "It is true that Auckland has slums, but the slums did not bring to the city the virulent disease that we have experienced, and the advent of which could and should have been prevented, as in Australia," said Bishop Cleary at the citizens' indignation meeting in Auckland last Tuesday. Whilst giving evidence in a case at the Pukekohe Magistrate's Court last Thursday a witness remarked that it was a common occurrence for people to go into a motor garage and to borrow a spanner, but they never came back. " Who never came back—the spanner or the man ? " asked the Magistrate (Mr F. K Hunt, S.M.) " Neither,'" ' replied witness, and the Court "smiled." That the Niagara was responsible for the introduction of the acute form of influenza into Auckland is borne out by a statement made by Mr C. J. Tunks at the citizens' indignation meeting held in Auckland last Tuesday. Mr Tunks said that he had been officially informed that there was not a single case of influenza in the Auckland Hospital until after the arrival of the Niagara. In one of his earlier telegrams despatched to the Mayor of Auckland, in reply to His Worship's request for vigorous action to be pursued to stay the spread of the recent epidemic, the Minister of Internal Affairs (Hon. G W. Russell) stated that the early symptoms of influenza were not di-tinguishable from catarrh, and that the disease was not more prevalent in Auckland than in other places. The reading of this communication at the public meeting held in Auckland last Tuesday to protest against the Minister's discourtesy to the Mayor provoked a oud burst of laughter at the ignornce displayed by the Minister. Mr Frank Perkins, Chairman of the Pukekohe District High School Committee, recently received intimation from the Prime Minister (Kight Hon. W. V. Massey) that a grant had-been approved by Cabinet for the erection of a Techntcal High School at Pukekohe, and that ar rangements for the building wou'd bo put in hand as soon as the neces saiy preliminaries were completed This movement has been on foot for many years, and it is pleasing to record that the efforts of the Scho >l Committee have at last been attended with success. Ample testimony that thn population of Pukekohe is gradually increasing is borne hy the fact that th ; accommodation at the Pukekohe public school is totally inadequate to comfortably accommodate the numbt r of pupils attending. To meet with the steady inciease in the attendance it has been found necessary to effect various additions to the school, and with this objeci in view plans of th-< proposed enlargements have Loon prepared. The woik will bo of rather an extensive scale, itnd it is expected that it will take from thn c to four months to complex it. " A man can be cruel to his wife in many ways," said IWr F K. Hunt BM. at the Pukekohe Magistrate's Court last Thursday during the hearing of an application by a wifo for a maintenance order. He continued " It is not necessary for him to illtreat her to be cruel For instance, , if a man is living in the same house I with his wife and will not speak to her, that is cruelty. Another j instance of cruelty is when \ man ' deprives his wife of the rights of. controlling a household by not al- , lowing her the run of the purse ; strings "

A special holiday program-mj " Captain Sunlight's Last R:.i ' " will be showi! it the Premier FI» ! ! on Thureday. December 26th, B v ing Night. (Advt). Attention is called to an advertisement elsewhere in this is«-i; - relative to a shipment of gasoler. ■ just landed by Messrs Wright, Stephenson and Co., Ltd Messrs J. T. St°mbridge and »'■■. advertise in this issue particular.- .[ entries for tin 1 usual weekly sale ■ o bo held at their Pukekohe aucti n mart next Friday. A reminder is given of the clearing sale to be held to-morrow (Wednesday), by Messrs J. T. Stembridge and Co., on beh«lf of Mr 0. A. Kidd on his farm at the Elbow, Puii. For particulars see advertisement. As will be seen from a lett-r appearing under our Correspondence column, ihe proprietor of the Book ery, Pukekohe, announces "on the word of an Englishman" that Santa Clans will arrive at his establishment at noon on Monday next, and will welcome all the children assembly! there. In view of the referendum on the licensing question, electors are informed by advertisement in this issu-i that changes of address within tlw Franklin electorate should be notified to the Registrar, and further, that objection may be raised to the retention on the electoral roll of the name ! of any person who does not reside at - the address appearing on the roll. The Pukekohe temporary hospital ! is to be closed on Thursday next j This morning four patients were transferred to the Auckland public | hospital, leaving seven in the hospital at Pukekohe, but all the latter are convalescent, and will be able to be discharged by Thursday. There have been no admissions since the 9th inst. In all, 39 cases have been dealt with, five deaths occurring. During the course of the hearing of an application for a maintenance order by a wife against a husband at the Pukekohe Court on Thursday last the defendant's Counsel, a comparatively young man, suggested that the fact that his client had paid 25s for a hat for his wife afforded proof that he adequately supported her. " When you have been married long enough you will know that 2.5s is not an exhorbitant price for a woman's hat," was the reply given by the Magistrate (Mr F. K. Hunt S.M.) to Counsel. No little time was occupied at the Pukekohe Magistrate's Court last Thursday in the hearing by Mr F. K. Hunt, S.M., of an application made by a Government official's wife under the Destitute Persons' Act for an order of maintenance against her husband in respect of herself and child, the sum of £3 5s per week being asked for. The parties had been married ten years and were living together but it was suggested that although the defendant supplied food he did not provide the applicant or his daughter with sufficient clothing. It, however, transpired that the defendant had advanced his wife the sum of £2O-1 to enable her and her sister to enter upon a business speculation, which had not proved successful, only £-50 of the money advanced having been repaid him. After evidence for the applicant had been given the defendant agreed to pay his wife £2 15s a week, out of which all household requirements were to be purchased. His Worship did not make an order but adjourned trie case until January 16th to see how the parties got on in the meantime and the Magistrate advised the complainant that she would have to give her husband three meals a day and a good bed to sleep on. " You can come up to my house and get the money " was the contention raised by a defendant in a civil action that came before Mr P. K. Hunt S.M. at the Pukekohe Magistrate's Court last Thursday in support of his plea that when the debt under dispute was contracted he had offered payment to the plaintiff. " It is the duty of a man who owes money to go and pay if and not for a creditor to call for it" was however the explanation of the law as given by His Worship to the defendant I'he e iso concerned the purchase of ,-ome hay, the parties having disputed ns to the amount of hay sold. After th" summons had been issued the plaintiff had accepted the defendant's p.-timate of the quantity bought at.d the latter had paid the amount as agreed upon into Court, the point then arising as ro whether or not ihe defendant should make good tic c is's incurred. Under the eircum-tauces and as the amount of costs was :-mall the Magistrate de chned t i ni ike an order. A prop i.ed new method of road surfacing, which he suggested could be inaugurated in Minukau County with advantage, was under rhe Council's notice at its tu< eting on Tuevlav last, in a le'tor from Mr L G. P Spencer, of Otahuhu. The writer pointed out th't his proposal was made as the result of his observations ih it many roads in the County were considerably more worn in the wheel tracks than in the cv.tre dun to motor traffic, which would no doubt increase with the corresponding decrease in horse traffic in the very near future. His proposal was to c instruct c mcrete wheel-tracks three feet wide, with tar macadam in the centie. The advantages he claimed under th" system would be --!. Durability; 2. Cheapness in first c ist, as compared with concrete for the full width; ■'!. If necessary, only one sid.i could b" constructed lir.-t, leiving the other for the traffic meanwhile; I Utilisation of existing metal for centre portion and widening out; and o Less wear on horses' shoos, and better for their legs Mr Spencer added that for side roads the width could be increased with a corresponding ducreasd iu the cost or a lighter gauge of steel-wire used. He estimated that the cost would be {."2,1(10 per mile. ~ Cr House letuarked that the late Engineer (Mr | Dixon! had intended to bring a similar t-clu iic under the Council's notice ; —Cr Wat'is considered that if the j cost worked out at £2,100 por mile, j it was not going to be much good j for them No action was taken. j

The Bishop of Auckland, Dr Averill, will minister confirmation in St Andrew's Ohurch, Pukekohe, next Thursday afternoon at 2 30 p.m. Parishioners are invited to meet the Bishop in the Masonic Hall after the service. Another of the gallant band of nurses to sacrifice her life in the cause of humanity is Miss Ella Cathlene Barriball, fourth daughter of Mrs E. J. Barriball, and of the late Mr C. T. Barriball, of Waiuku, who passed away on Saturday last in Auckland, from influenza pneumonia. The deceased lady, who was 34 years of age, was a nurse by profession, having been trained at the Auckland hospital, and it was whilst attending to sufferers in a private institution that she contracted the disease. The Organising Secretary of the Farmers' Union reports that there is every reason to believe that New Zealand will be able to secure a share of the phosphate deposit on Ngaru Island In 1917 it was reported that the German interests in this Island had been sold to an English syndicate. The Franklin SubProvincial Executive made a number of protests to the Prime Minister against the disposal of these phosphate deposits, and urged the desirability of securing these supplies of fertilisers for New Zealand. Mr Massey recently received a cable from the Imperial Government, stating that the question of Ngaru Island would be settled at the ' Peace Conference." By a report made by Cr Brownhill at last Tuesday's meeting of the Manukau County Council ample testimony was afforded that motor traction methods of metal carting are far cheaper than the now antique mode of horse and dray. He pointed out that the Council's motor lorry was doing excellent work in his (the Turanga) riding In 18 broken days, he said, the lorry had carted 260 yards of metal to distances of four and five miles, for a consumption of 12 cases of benzine. The cost per yard was estimated at 2s 6d, including 6d depreciation, as compared with 6s 8d with horses on the same run eight years ago.