DOMINION NEWS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVII, Issue 16, 19 May 1915, Page 2

DOMINION NEWS.

HAWERA SLANDER CASE. Ijkb1 j kb PitKBH Association. Haw era, May IT. The slander action Maude Carrol \. Robert Garden, a clain for £2OO damages, which has occupied the Lou it at intervals for a month, "as concluded to-day when Mr Kenriex, S.M., gave judgment for defendant. ' l R ‘ Magistrate held some eommunuations I were privileged and s. 1113 not, but held that the plea of ju.st iicat.on had succeeded. SMUGGLING OPIUM. ! Wellington. May IS. [ Karl Alfredson, a seaman, on the Invedtay, as lined £25 for smuggling ten tins of opium. BREACH OF ELECTORAL ACT. Te Kuiti, May 18. A resolution as passed at a meeting of the Liberal Labor League, and thranones, and forwarded to Mr Ma«suggesting the advisability ol superseding Mr Schramm, Registrar :of Electors in the Taumarnnui elec- | torate, on the ground that a nioic 'experienced officer is required. Several [points regarding Mr Schramm’s methods of compiling the roll are alleged; also the admission in the election Court case that he went to New Plymouth for the purpose of being consulted regarding the petition case by petitioner, and he had his expenses paid by Mr Johnstone. Also that Air Schramm displayed bias during the hearing of the election petition. James Burns Young, charged with a breach of the Electoral Act, in attesting his signature on an enrolment claim without having seen it signed pleaded guilty. He was fined £2O and costs, in default a month’s imprisonment.

taupiri coal CO. Auckland, May 18. The annual general meeting of the Taupiri Coal Mines, Ltd., was held to-day. Mr E. W. Alison, chairman of directors, presided. In moving the adoption of the annual report and balance-sheet, the chairman expressed regret that owing to the serious 1 disaster which occurred in Ralph’s Mine on Septemeber 12, 1914, the financial results of the year’s work were very unsatisfactory, and quite' preclude the possibility of the payment of a dividend. The profit for the year, after providing for depreciation, amounted to the sum of £IOBO Os 9d only. To this must lie added the sum of £2419 10s Id brought forward from last year, making a total of £3499 16s lOd, which under existing circumstances the directors recommended should be carried forward to next year’s accounts. It would be observed that the report stated that heavy claims for compensation in respect of lives lost in the disaster were now pending before the Supreme Court. Some twenty-six writs were issued against the company, making plairas totalling in all the very large sum of £32,500. There were in addition a number of claims in respect of which writs had not been issued of which six had been settled by the company for amounts aggregating £2950. “Negotiations have been proceeding with a view to a settlement of the majority of the claims for which writs were issued.” continued Air Alison. “The directors are hopeful that a settlement may be made out of Court, thus avoiding long and costly legal proceedings.”