LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 May 1919, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The housing question again. The Education' Board's overseer, reporting to yesterday's meeting of the board, called attention to the arrears of work, owing to the shortage of labor. "We could get liny number of men from other districts if there was housing accommodation available," he said. "It seems you've got to put it all up in smoke," said a councillor at last night's meeting of the New Plymouth Borough Council, when the question of the expenditure of local bodies' funds on permanent war memorials and Government subsidies thereon was under discussion.

The Minister for Mines (Hon. W.-S. D., McDonald) arrived at Greymouth on Tuesday, and received various deputations. The Blackball Medical Association drew the Minister's attention to the town's lack of sanitation. There were sixty patients in hospital, and if something was not done the people would abandon the town. The Minister said he would make a report to the Health Department on the conditions, and stated that something would be done. The employers would have to foot the bill. The miners must have decent living conditions. .•;; .s*Hfe Last night at 11.16 the New Plymouth Fire Brigade received an alarm, and promptly proceeded to the Sash and Door Factory's premises in Liardct Street, where it was found that some timber and Bhavings were ablaze in the machinery department. Assisted by a good water supply, the brigade, under the charge of Supt. F. G. Bellringer, soon put out the Are.

T><» following subscriptions have been received for the Plunket motor-car by the Plunket Society: Anonymous £2, Anwiy'ious ,4?.'» 2a, Mrs M, J. Williams £l. Subscriptions: Mrs W. A., ss; Mrs Condy, ss; Miss Ga-sooigne, ss; Mrs S. Smith,, 10s; Mrs Ambury, 10s; Mrs St.«,:-..icn. 10s; Mrs. Newton King, £1; Mrs X'Lcod, ss; Mrs Phillips, ss; Mrs Bia'j.ihiU'd, 3s. Mr. 6i. a. Smith, M.P., has been in (!www.:njm.t)on with the Acting Minister of labor (the Hon. W. H. Herries) on i.h<? ?r>ai.ier of workers' dwellings in New Fiyjuisvith. and has received a reply to the. '-fieet that similar representations

j 1.-;vyc! been received from many parts of j the Dominion, and inquiries were being ! made with a view to reducing cost of j by some scheme of standard'maj (-ion. The agents of the department wore being asked to furnish OHtJrnntps of the ! 1 cost of the erection of the dwellings i desired at the present time. Tf the in- j formation proved satisfactory it was! proposed to call for tenders, and if the prices were reasonable it was probable that authority would be given for the erection of a number of dwellings. Another enjoyable and successful euetn"' -parly Was held at the K&waroa Park Bungalow on Tuesday evening, 24 tables being engaged in play. For the ladies' prizes Mrs Gilbert secured first (box tea) with 161 games. Miss Andrews and Mrs Milman tied for second prize (251b bag flour), Miss Andrew? winning in the play-off. For the men's prizes Mr Mathieson and Mr Parker tied with 13 games each, Mr j Mathieson winning in the play-off and I taking a box of tea, and Mr Parker i winning second prize (251b hag of flour). After the cards supper was served by the ladies' committee.

In regard to the Government's decision a a to the payment of retrospective separation allowances, Mr. S. G. Smith, M.P., lias telegraphed to the Minister of Defence pointing out that the present regulations will penalise many men who were held in camp because of special fitness for camp duty, such as tradesmen, etc., who subsequently had much service overseas, and urging that the position be reviewed, with a view to providing for the payment of increased separation allowance from the date of entering camp, instead of from the date of embarkation. An instruction has been issued that men who have secured employment in Defence branches through the Public Service Commissioner are not to Wear uniform. It has been the practice of some ex-soldiers so engaged to wear uniform at work. They did not wear it continuously, and, as they were not soldiers, subject to military rules, the custom is considered to be subversive of discipline. Uniform may be worn only by members of the forces.

A letter was read at last night's meeting of the New Plymouth Borough Council from a local resident, who asked a long list of questions in regard to certain matters of administration, authorisations for certain works and councillors' votes thereon. The letter also referred to the payment of borough employees, and to the "£SOO-a-year heads of departments," and further asked if certain improvements in particular localities were effected because some councillors, who were members of the same friendly society, were also interested in the localities referred to. The Mayor said that, while every ratepayer was entitled to ask for information, and the borough officers would be prepared to supply the same, if possible, the council was, at least, entitled to be addressed in a courteous manner, and he thought the letter should not be received. The town clerk stated that he had replied to the effect that, on account of the tenor of the letter, no information could be given until the letter had been placed before the council. Several councillors expressed strong disapproval of the terms in which the letter was couched, And it was decided to allow the letter to "lie on the table."

Mr. S. G. Smith, M.P., has been in communication with the Minister of Railways, desiring that the morning train from Hawera should arrive in New Plymouth earlier than at present scheduled, 10.48 a.m., and also'suggesting, that the train hitherto arriving in town at 5.30 p.in. should be reinstated. Last night he received a reply from the Hon. W. fl. Herries, regretting that he could not make any immediate alteration. The latter thought that the Hawera people would object to the train being despatched at an earlier hour than at present, and, regarding the 5.30 train, ho stated that this came from Wanganui, and doubted Whether it would fit in with Hawera and Stratford to revert to the old order of things. He requestefl Mr. Smith to forward further reasons for desiring a change. [ At the annual meeting of the Hawera Acclimatisation Society on Tuesday, Mr. B. C. Bennett presiding, the balancesheet showed that revenue from fishing licenses was £BO 8e 6d ( £77 4s previous year) and shooting licenses £GS (is Cd ( £7B Is 6d), and a credit of £lO7 3s Bd, which included £53 8s from the previous year. The thanks of the society were aloo due to Messrs H. De Launay, Vincent (Elthain), Pilkington, Marx (Mangatoki), Betts, Law, Ward, Baigent (Kaponga), Rutherford (Waverley), Bennett, Bell, Spragg, Goodwin, Bauchop, T. and M. Bolger, Petersen, E. Thurston, Bargh, Seaton, and the late Mr. A. Palmer (Hawera) for assistance in liberating fish and for services at the hatcheries. Mr. Bennett was re-elected president, Messrs C. Goodwin and N. C. Young vice-presidents, and Messrs W. J. Bell. W. A. Spragg, C. E. Betts, J. G. Rutherford, P. Eastbury, F. Vincent, Struthers, Dr. Thomson, and W. Lambie the council. It was mentioned that the New Plymouth Society did not intend to endorse licenses from other districts. A resolution was carried disapproving of the proposal, and it was decided that it be a recommendation for the Dominion Conference that game licenses be available throughout New Zealand. The president stated that there was a proposal to amalgamate the three societies in Taranaki, and this would be a good thing for the province.

The technical classes in the Taranaki Education district will break up for the. mid-winter vacation on June 6th, andi will resume on June 34th.

At the meeting of the Education Board yesterday it was decided that the question of the appointment of an organising teacher be referred to the Teachers' Selection Committee and the senior inspector. Mr E. A. Armstrong, Dominion organiser of the Moderate League, writes: "The statement attributed to me regarding the price of liquor and the quality of the whisky was made by a member of the audience. Kindly correct."

A woman who was .arretted in New Plymouth on Tuesday morning by Constable Blaikie on a charge of drunkenness, appeared before the Magistrate yesterday morning. She was a first offender, and the Magistrate adopted the course intimated recently, and fined accused 5s and costs, in default 24 hours' imprisonment. At the Supreme Court yesterday morning Mr A. H. Johnstone mentioned the matter of the fine of £5 inflicted on Mr G. Fox, who failed to attend on Monday for service on the Grand Jury. Mr Johnstone stated Mr Fox had been called to Auckland on account of the health of his wife, who was in the north, and in leaving hurriedly had overlooked bis summons for service. The judge accepted the explanation and the fine was remitted.

What may prove to be an important discovery has been made in Auckland district, namely, a large hill of black prawtß. A sam|ple examined recently, wjiich had one side polished, proved of very fine texture, with an excellent face. This granite is situated on a safe harbor front, and presents no engineering difficulties to handle, ns it can readily be quarried and landed on wows.

Accommodation in Hamilton is very difficult to obtain at present, and except at hotels, where permanent board is not required, it is almost impossible for visitors to /ind lodging. The hoardinghouses are filled, and people who want board and lodging with private families are unable to obtain it. So acute lias the position become that instances have occurred of persons offering to take up domestic duties in order to have a roof over them.

As far as can be gathered in Christchurch the movement to form a bank clerks' association has been received with mixed feelings. The opinion of some officers was that bank oilicers are working under satisfactory arrangements at present, and that any movement of a hostile nature against the employers would be detrimental to members of the staff. On the other hand, it is held that the object of the association .in no way tends towards extreme measures. It is not intended to register as a trade union, and the principle purpose of forming the association is that grievances may go to headquarters through a body, instead of through individuals as at present.

"I was nnder the impression," writes a correspondent in the British Weekly, "that America had secured the copyright of the term 'God's own country,' and had definitely applied it to the United States. But I find that our colonial troops have pirated the phrase, and are applying it unblushingly to whichever corner of the Empire they happen to hail from. The other day in a 'bus a soldier with a red band round his wideawake hat was explaining to his neighbor how pleasant it was to be going back in a few days to God's own country. *Why, I didn't know you were an American,' remarked the neighbor, in an accent that left no doubt on which side of. the Atlantic he was at home. 'Who said I was?' complained the other. Well, you claimed God's own country as your home, and that's America, sure.' 'America,' repeated red-band. 'Yes, I daresay God had something to do with the making of it. But New Zealand is His Masterpiece, and don't you forget it,'"

At the Kaupokonui Dairy Company's annual meeting the dried milk question was briefly referred to by Mr. Powdrell in his address. He said that there would not be much information available until the return of the two delegates from America. As soon, however, as they returned, a meeting of the advisory committee would be held- Mr. Cooper, Mangatoki, had been round the South Island, and secured all available information. But it was difficult to get any reliable data in New Zealand. He stressed the need for getting the best information, and instanced the case of a company which had to throw out machinery and plant valued at £40,000. He believed in the policy of securing the best and most economical machinery. At Patea the Freezing Works would scrap any out of date plant. This was the policy of all modern works. He strongly advocated sending to America for reliable information, but could say, in reference to the report that he was looking for a trip, that he would not go if paid 12000. At a meeting at Opunake to consider the question of bringing returned soldiers there into connection with the Returned Soldiers' Association, it was suggested that the Opunake committee should use the funds they have in hand to furnish a committee room and secretary's office. Mr Spratt did not hold with this view. He said (the Opunake Times reports) the main object of the Association was to get the men back into civil life. These rooms were likely to become, later on, gambling dens and a place for men to loaf about. Unless the committee could guarantee that no drinking or gambling would creep in, then they had better not have anything to do with club rooms in any form. During the discussion Mr Gomer expressed the opinion that the best way to get returned men to settle down into civil life was to get them to take the Government holiday, and after having this the men usually came back so thoroughly disgusted with everything that they would settle down to work without a murmur. I

A stunning line of men's winterweight pyjamas is being shown by the Melbourne, Ltd. The fabrics used are UTorrockses' best ideal cloths, which are guaranteed to give extra long service. Prices 1«/ C and 17/6 a suit. Plenty of sizes in stock. Owing to the Foresters' Hall being engaged for the Maori Land Court and other meetings, the Waireka Sports Club will hold its usual long-night dance at the Roland Hall to-night. In this issue Miss Dora Bedford advertises that she will commence a class of pupils desirous of learning the latest fashionable dances, fox trot and one step, in the Rolland Hall on Monday next, ami a class of ball-room dancing will be held on Friday, 23rd inst. * Members of the Returned Soldiers' Association are invited to attend this afternoon at the residence of Colonel and Mrs. F. G. Evans, Johns Street. Good attendance is desired. Particulars are advertised in, another column.