LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 January 1921, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Taranaki dairy factory workers’ application for an award covering wages and conditions of employment will be heard before the Conciliation Council at New Plymouth to-day. A shipment of cement for Taranaki is being brought by the Union Company’s Kamona, which left Whangarei on Friday night, and is due at New Plymouth to-day. The consignment totals 1400 tons.

Prices for pigs at Newton King, Ltd.’s, New Plymouth haymarket, on Saturday, reflected the general dull state of the market. There was a good penning. Weaners made up to 7s fid, slips up to 12s, and stores to 33s fid.

During last month a great increase was shown in the quantity of milk received at the White Cliffs factory, Pukearuhe, the total being half a million gallons, or nearly a 100 per cent advance, the test being 3.6 to 4.8. It is stated that on one holding of 100 acres 54 cows yielded 2037 lbs of butterfat, which is a great record.

The Hon. Sir W. 11. Herries, Minister of Labor, has replied to the telegram sent by the president of the Stratford Retailers’ Association and the chairman of the Stratford branch of the Drapers’ Association, stating that their representations in regard to the half holiday question in' Stratford have been noted and he is inquiring into the matter.

A Press cable from Sydney states that a special meeting of the Australian Mutual Provident Society considered a motion advocating repayment of all war risk premiums taken out by sailors and soldiers' going to the war. The directorate strongly opposed the idea, and the motion was defeated by 68 votes to 35, necessitating a special ballot, which resulted: For a refund, 5494 votes; against, 40,120.

Some time ago Mr. R. . asters, M.P., made representations to the Minister of Public Works in the direction of securing a grant for the metalling of the Autawa Road, and the Hon. J. G. Coates agreed to issue an authority of £5OO (£1 for £1) immediately, this being the amount on r» current year’s estimates. He ‘ o that he would issue a further £l for £1) after March 31. Since then the Inglewood County Council has submitted proposals estimated to cost £4BOO, and a further authority for £5OO (£1 for £1) has been issued in respect to this work.

An interesting carff*e visitor to New Plymouth on Saturday; was Floss, wearing on its coat two ribbons indicative of war service. Floss is a clever little fox terrier, which has the distinction of being a mascot of the N.Z.E.F. Floss joined the N.Z.E.F. at Codford in 1917. coming as a puppy from the home of Sir Walter Long to Sergt. Lowndes, who found that she has a wonderful intelligence She was taught many extraordinary tricks, and as an entertainer she was popular in many camps on the Salisbury Plains, at children’s hospitals throughout Britain, and at patriotic functions. Permission to bring her to New was not granted, and she therefore embarked on the Rimutaka in a kit bag. She was allowed to live, but had to undergo a very strict quarantine test after reaching New Zealand.

Regulations gazetted last week provide/that in cases where the establishment of full-time or of part-time schools is impracticable, itinerant teachers may, with the approval of the Minister, be appointed by an education board to give house-to-house instruction to pupils of school age in isolated districts. No such teacher, however, is to be appointed until suitable accommodation in the locality has been guaranteed for him. Itinerant teachers are to give instruction for not less than twenty hours or not less than five days in each week; and every itinerant teacher must, when required, furnish the senior inspector with such evidence of the progress of his pupils as may be required. An itinerant teacher is to receive a salary of £2OO per annum, together with a travelling allowance of £5O per annum, with certain additions, and in ‘the case of a married teacher house allowance at the rate of £3O per annum is also to be paid.

Amended overtime regulations for the Public Service were gazetted last week. These regulations provide that only work which the Commissioner considers special in its character, and which cannot be performed during the regular hours of duty, shall be regarded as overtime work for which extra payment may be made. Officers not working under close supervision or whose hours of duty cannot be definitely determined shall not be entitled to claim payment for overtime, nor shall any officer in receipt of salary exceeding £5OO per annum be so entitled. The following is to be the rate of payment for overtime. which is. to apply only to officers of the professional and clerical divisions:—Officers receiving a salary not exceeding £205 per annum. Is fid per hour: £205 to £2s'B, 2s per hour: £258 to £320, 2s fid: £320 to £4OO. 3s; £4OO to £s'oo, 3s fid per hour. Officers called upon to perform relieving duty which necessitates their absence at night from home are to be paid relieving allowances at the following rates: Officers drawing salaries not exceeding £l6O, actual and reasonable expenses; £lOO to los per day: £320 to £5OO. 12s 6d: over £5OO. 15s a day. Provision is also made fpr proportionately higher payments to officers performing the duties of a position of a higher class or grade than those in which they are classified.

The monthly meeting of the W.C.T.U. will be held in the Whiteley Hall on Wednesday, January 26, at 3 p.m. All members specially asked to attend. Businew

The Tofua, with passengers and mails, left Sydney on Saturday night for Auckland (says a Press cable). The Eltham school picnic will be held at New Plymouth on Thursday, February 24.

The Moeraki, due at Wellington from Sydney to-day, carries 210 bags of mails, including three bags from Africa, and seven bags from San Francisco. The question of a soldiers’ memorial at Eltham has been taken up by the Eltham Progress League, and a committee has been appointed to go into the matter. The consent of the Government has been obtained by the following local bodies to raise loans: Stratford County £l7OO, Ohura County £4OO, Clifton County £9OO. The value of lucerne in Taranaki was again brought out by the experience of a Ngaere farmer. During the dry spell the general report was that cows were falling away in yield and factory returns lessening. He advises on January 14 that he has a lovely crop of lucerne, which he has been feeding out to the cows, and they are keeping up splendidly.—Hawera Star. Glorious weather in New Plymouth during the week end induced a large number of people to spend the time out of doors. Yesterday the beaches were frequented by very large crowds, of which the trams carried a big quota, crowded cars being a feature of the afternoon. A change in the weather yesterday evening brought good showers of rain, and the fall will have a very beneficial effect generally. The results will bear fruit in stimulating the growth in the dairy farmers’ pastures, and the householders who have been carefully tending their garden plots also welcomed the showers. It was reported that the rain was general in northern Taranaki.

The half-holiday question was discussed at the meeting of the Eltham Progress League on Friday night. It was suggested that the various' local bodies in Taranaki be written to asking them to make arrangements for a po/1 throughout the province with the idea of deciding upon a universal day. After a desultory discussion, in which a general desire was expressed for a universal day, a motion to report progress was carried, the idea being that matters will before long attract the attention of the Government, who would legislate in the direction of fixing a universal day. A meeting held at the New Plymouth bandroom yesterday with the idea of reorganising the New Plymouth Citizens’ Band was attended by about thirty-five bandsmen, and apologies for absence were received from several others. Mr. R. Taylor was appointed temporary conductor, and a committee, with Mr. A. Handley as chairman, was elected to act in conjunction with the citizens’ committee. Matters in connection with forthcoming engagements were discussed, and it was x decided that this week three practices be held, the first being to-night (Monday), and the others will be on Wednesday and Friday. Baconers are selling in the Thames Valley district at fid per lb., the lowest price -for years, writes the Auckland Herald’s Morrinsville correspondent. The price not long ago was lid. Bacon has been 2s per lb. in the retail shops at Morrinsville for some time past, but it ife understood that there is likely to. be an appreciable drop in the retail price before long, and that bacon will be cheaper than it was before the war. One shopkeeper in Morrinsville said that the bacon factories had been trying to get rid of large quantities of bacon since before Christmas. • Sides of bacon have been sold lately by farmers at Is 3d per lb. Before Mr. T. A. B. Bailey, S.M., at the Inglewood Court on Friday, Albert Rea, licensee of the Tariki Hotel, was charged with keeping open and selling liquor after hours, and two men, Langley and Kendrick, were charged with being unalwfully on licensed premises. Mr. P O’Dea (Hawera) appeared for alj the defendants, who pleaded not guilty, and Constable Longbottom prosecuted. About half-past seven on the evening of December 16 last Constable Longbottom and a party of Inglewood bowlers, who had been playing at Hawera, stopped at the Tariki Hotel, and Constable Longbottom entered and found the men in question at the bar drinking. The explanation of the licensee was that Kendrick was driving his (the licensee’s) wife, Langley and a boarder named Thompson to a dance at Stratford, and he had invited the men to have a drink before they left for the dance. Mr. O’Dea submitted that a licensee had a right to entertain his bona fide guests. The Magistrate said he was satisfied with the bona fides of the defendants’ statements, and dismissed all the informations. Mr. Powdrell, M.P., who has been moving in the matter of having the Ball road railway station placed upon a better footing, has received the following letter from Mr. W. F Massey (Minister of Railways): “With reference to your representations urging the appointment of a stationmaster or caretaker at the Ball Road station, I have the honor to inform you that a return specially compiled shows that the average inward traffic is altogether insufficient to warrant the appointment of a stationmaster, and Ils there are no funds available for the erection of a cottage at this station, I regret that I. cannot see my way to comply with your request to place a ganger in charge of the yard for the purpose of keeping check on the goods.”—Hawera Star. To a New Zealand Times reporter the Hon. W. F. Massey (Minister for Mines) said that in a recent report to hand from the Chief Inspector of Coal Mines, he points out that during the year 1920 only one fatal colliery accident occurred in the Dominion, the sufferer, a co-operative miner, being solely responsible for the fall which killed him, as he neglected to timber his working place. The death rate per 1000 persons employed at coal-mining in the Dominion was 0.3 G, that rate being the lowest for 34 years, and is one-third of the lowest proportion ever attained in the United Kingdom, which country is more immune from colliery accidents in proportion to the number of persons employed than any foreign country. The exceptional record obtained in the New Zealand collieries for the year 1920 is very satisfactory, and the management staffs of the collieries, as well as the miners themselves, are to be highly commended for their efforts in obtaining such a record. The inspection staff of the Mines Department may also be congatulated on the fine results obtained.

The social evening at the Victoria League rooms at New Plymouth was such a success that it was decided to have a progressive games party this (Monday) evening at 7.30 o’clock. All members are invited to be present, and to bring their young friends. The small sum of Is helps’ the piano fund, and also pays for supper.