DOMINION NEWS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 50, 20 June 1914, Page 7

DOMINION NEWS.

'.;ivV !) > ‘f sv Christchurch, June 19. A deputation of the Mayor and local members of Parliament waited on the Hon. Bell and requested the Government to hand over to the City Council the old Provincial Council buildings and land-. It was urged that the Government did not require the buildings since the Departmental buildings have been erected in the city, fllxe Minister replied offering to exchange the buildings and l.| acres of land for a similar area of level land suitable for Government buildings at the same distance from Cathedral Square., Wanganuij June 19. A fire .occurred at seven o’clock this morning in a two-storeyed wooden, shop in the Avenue occupied by the Victoria tea rooms, Frost, drappr, and Poynter, bookseller. 1 The outbreak originated in the tearooms upstairs, and th<h*e was a clean sweep on the floor. The shops downstairs were damaged seriously by water. The building is owned by Mrs John Anderson and is insured for £9OO. Other insurances’*.; Teh room furnishJugs' '£2do; di-ap'et , s stock £2OC)o?'Pointer’s damage is not covered, Hamilton, June 18. Frederick Aaron •. Smith, in < whoso whare at Hairaini a complete set of excellent moulds, stamps, and counterfeit’ coins wa& found last week, appeared before Mr Justice Edwards in the Supreme Court. ( Counsel for accused said that while in his infancy Smith had suffered an injury which affected his brain and his mind was like a child’s. His Honor said probably it! would ho wrong to send him to gaol and ordered the costs and come up for sentence when called' on. , Cp;. ■ b Te Kuiti, June 18. The Prime Minister, Mr Massey, arrived at Te Kuiti this morning, and was entertained at luncheon by the Mayor and councillors. In the evening he addressed a crowded meeting at the Town Hall, and at the conclusion votes of thanks and, confidence in'the Government and in the member for the district were carried by a large majority, with cheers for Mr'Massey. Timaru, June 18.

A heavy sea has been running for the last two days. During last night the 33ft trawler Wakatipu, the property of Wm, Robinson, got adrift and went to sea unobserved, and foundered or was wrecked. With the gear aboard she was valued at £450. There was no insurance. Invercargill, June 18. A representative meeting of the Methodist ministers of the Southland district passed resolutions :—(1) That this meeting, representing over fifty congregations in Southland, requests a referendum of the people of the Dominion to decide the question of Bible teaching in State schools; (2) enters an emphatic protest against any proposal to increase the number of totalisator permits, as inimical to the best interests of the people; (3) earnestly urges on the Government the necessity for reducing or altogether removing the present undemocratic handicap upon no-license reform. Auckland, June 18. After having successfully operated three burglaries in Auckland during the Christmas holidays, an Australian criminal named Albert Gordon Smith, alias John Ross, bolted south, to bo ingloriously tripped up when he tried a simple theft at Culverden. Smith had on him at the time of his arrest various articles of jewellery that connected him with the Auckland burglaries, and, after having been sentenced for theft down South, he was sent up here to stand his trial for three burglaries. Smith pleaded guilty, and was committed to the Supreme Court for sentence.