LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 21 May 1921, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

In the Supreme Court, New Plymouth, yesterday,, a motion for discharge in bankruptcy by Francis P. Corkill was granted by His Honor Mr. Justice Reed.

The number of unemployed at present registered at Napier is 90, and at Hastings 60. It is hoped to despatch 60 men to work under the Public Works Department. —Press Association. The tender of Mr. A. B. Burrell, of Hawera, has been accepted for the building of a chib house opposite the Terminus Hotel, for the Taranaki Club. The price is over £ 10,000.

Two men out of work, who tramped from Wanganui to New Plymouth by stages, were sent to public works yesterday when they applied to the New Plymouth labor bureau for employment.

There is still in the Dominion 2,820.604 acres of land remaining for future disposal, the largest area (795,139 acres) being situated in the Auckland district.

There are 6.471,293 acres of native land in New Zealand, situated in the follow ing districts: —North Auckland, 569,000 acres; Auckland, 2,839,997 acres; Hawke’s Bay, 1,273,424 acres; Taranaki, 259,09? acres; Wellington, 1,500,146 acres; and Nelson 30,629 acres.

The inquest on the unidentified body found-ou the Waitoitoi beach on Wednesday was held at Waitoitoi yesterday, but up till a late hour last night the police had not returned to Waitara, and no information was available. The funeral of Hugh Mackin, fireman of the Australcrag 5 which is now at New Plymouth, took place yesterday morning. Mackin lost his life by drowning, having accidentally fallen at night between a vessel and the wharf. The whole of the ship’s officers and crew attended the funeral as a last tribute to their Tate comrade. The service was conducted by the Rev. O. Blundell. An application for a new trial in the case of Raymond Strong v. Arthur Knapton has been filed by defendant in the Supreme Court, New Plymouth. The case, which was heard at the present sessions of the Court, concerns alleged unlawful interference with a motor car, and the jury awarded plaintiff £BO. The re-trial will probably take place next week.

A farewell social and dance will be tendered to Miss O. Paterson, of Puniho, jn the Ware* Hall on Friday> May 27.

The nautical inquiry into the loss of the auxiliary launch Turanga at the entrance to the Mokau river on April 29, has been fixed for next Friday, May 27, at New Plymouth, subject to the assessors being able to attend on that date. Mr. Orr Walker, S.M., 'Will preside, and the assessors will be Captain Wm. Waller, harbor-master at Nev' Plymouth, and Captain J. L. Berg, of Waitara. A collision between a motor lorry from Paul’s brewery and a motor cycle ridden by Mr. Gunson, of Fitzroy, took place at the corner of Devon and Eliot (Streets yesterday morning, with the result that Gunson received a severe shaking, and an elderly man. who was sitting on the back of the lorry, was also thrown on to the roadway. At the time of the accident the lorry was coming along Eliot Street from the direction of the Coronation Hall, and the motor cyclist was going towards Devon Street East. The motor cycle was damaged considerably. The coastal steamer Kapuni, which has been held up in Wellington for some time owing to the crew refusing to sail if the vessel carries benzine, sailed on Thursday afternoon for Patea. It is understood that the bulkhead, which the crew allege is in a leaky condition, has been examined by a Government inspector, and he has certified that the ship is quite safe for the carriage of benzine cargoes. The Shipowners’ Federation has considdrtd the whole position, but it is not known whether they have arrived at a settlement with the seamen. The Kapuni on Thursday had her benzine cargo transferred from the hold to the deck, and portion of it was put ashore. A bright, intelligent lad of fifteen years of age appeared before Mr, C. R. Orr Walker, S.M., at the Stratford Magistrate’s Court yesterday on a charge of converting a bicycle to his own use. Sergeant Dale said there was nothing known against the lad previously, and he wished the case to serve as a ca - tion to others. The police in Stratford had on an average four or five bicycles, motor cycles, and even motor cars reported as stolen each week, and they desired the case to act as a deterrent. The Magistrate commented on the absence of the lad’s parents, stating that it did not seem right that the lad should have to face the charge alone. Addressing the lad, he said he had gone further than just taking the bicycle. He had gone to the extent of changing certain parts and then trying to sell it, and if it was a man charged with that offence he would be sent to prison. However, he thought the lad realised the seriousness of his action, and accordinglythe case would be adjourned for three months to see if he behaved himself.

The 68th annual meeting of the Mount Egmont Lodge, No. 670, E.C., was held at the Masonic Hall, New Plymouth, on Thursday evening, there being a large gathering of Freemasons to assist at the installation of Bro. A. G. Mason as Worshipful Master. Bro. D. Ritchie was in the chair, and welcomed the visitors. Wor. Bro. P. J. White, P.D.G'J.W., acted as master of ceremonies, while the .musical portion of the ceremony was in the hands of Bro P. Fredric. The worshipful master invested his officers for the ensuing year as follows: —Immediate past master, Wor. Bro. D. Ritchie; senior warden, Bro. E. H. Carter; junior warden, Bro. E. Turner; chaplain, Rev. Bro. J. F. Martin; treasurer, Rev. Bro. E. Chatterton, D.G.J.W.; secretary, Wor Bro. F. C. J. Bellringer, P.D. G.D.C ; director of ceremonies, Wor. Bro. R L. Parkin; senior deacon, Bro. W. Jones; junior deacon, Bro .C. F. A. Waters; organist, Bro. F. R. P. Fredric; inner guard, Bro. M. J. I. Armstrong; stewards, Bros. W. J. T. Ranger, A. W. Morrison, A. B. Gibson, J. Buttimore; tylor, Wor. Bro. A. Case.

A grave charge has been made regarding the maternity mortality rate of the Dominion. The Chief of the Children’s Bureau of the United States reports that the New Zealand rate of deaths of mothers in childbed is 6 per 1000. As the Minister for Public Health (Mr. Parr) is calling for a full, report on this subject from the chief officers of his Department, but little can be conclusively said upon it in the meantime. However, t'he rate per 1000 of such deaths increased from 3.62 in 1913 to 6.05 in 1917, falling to 5.12 in 1919. The 6 per 1000 quoted 'by the American authority will probably be approximately correct. It is, as the* Evening Post contends, manifestly much too high. Accidents will never be wholly avoidable; but it is questionable whether cases of septicaemia—which far exceed all other causes of deaths from puerperal accidents and diseases—are not mftch too frequent How many cases of blood-poisoning, asks cur Wellington contemporary, are attributable to neglect or incompetence ? Mr. Parr will do well to have the whole matter of the deaths of mothers in childbed thoroughly investigated. In so doing, he may do much to remove the impression that far too many of such deaths are due to want of sufficient care, especially where septicaemia is the cause.

It has, of course, long been recognised that bees are the chief offenders .in the spread of what we call blossom infection of fireblight, remarked Dr. Tillyard, of the Cawthron Institute, in a lecture delivered at Nelson. The reason for this ,is that the nectaries of hawthorn, apple, and pear become rapidly infected during the blossoming period, and the 'bees, visiting the diseased flowers, gather fireblight bacilli' with the nectar which they take from them. Passing on to healthy flowers, they in turn infect the nectaries of these, and thus the disease is quickly spread from one flower-cluster to another. Many other insects, in fact, all flower-haunting insects, spread the disease in this mariner. Apple tree bluehoppers and other , insects also spread the disease., “1 spent a whole morning at Hamilton,” added Dr Tiffyard, “collecting living blue-hoppers from the hawthorn hedges and apple trees', taking only those which I had seen suekipg infected twigs. These were taken alive down to Wellington and handed over to Mr. Waters, the plant bacteriologist. The bodies of eighteen of these were dissected, and their digestive organs cut out. From these organs cultures were made, and fireblight bacillus was discovered. We may state this position clearly as follows:—(1) If hawthorn is absent,, then fireblight can be controlled by vigorous cutting-out of infected stock. Consequently, orcharding can still be carried on, as it is in America, in spite of the disease. (2) If hawthorn is present, then remedial measures are futile, anil infection will continue from the hedges to the orchards until the whole of the pip-fruit industry in the district is brought to the verge of ruin. The Wanganui Steam Laundry are large users of “Fairy Wonder” washing powder. Surely if a concern like this, whose business is purely and solely the washing of clothes, chooses “Fairy” it is good enough for the average housewife. Try a packet of “Fairy.” You’ll be amazed with its wonderful accomplishments. All grocers.

White marks warning vehicular traffic to keep to the correct side of the road were last night placed by Inspector Day at the intersections of Currie and Brougham Streets with Devon Street. To-day the effect of these warnings will be watched in view of the proposed permanent institution of marks of this kind to control traffic. Mr. G. A. Green, organiser of the Nurserymen’s Association, quotes an instance of the value of forestry on the farm. A pinus insignia tree on a Motueka farm felled recently returned its owner £42. It was grown, a single tree, in a corner of the land 40 years ago. When felled it yielded 4500 ft. of timber, bringing in the good royalty of 5s per 100 ft. The cones yielded 401 b of seed at 5s per lb, and the branches, cones, etc., when marketed for firewood, brought the value of the tree to £42. from which, of course, the cost of the labor in sawing the firewood had to be deducted. The nurserymen, recognising that there will be a big expansion in tree-planting in the next few years, are making efforts to cope with the expected demand for trees. A million pine trees are held in stock by nurserymen in and near Christchurch.

A party of five Australian miners ar rived in Auckland by the Maheno recently, and, hearing that work was plentiful at Huntly, proceeded to that centre on Wednesday (states tin* Star). The whole party returned to the city, having been unable to find either employment or accommodation at the mining township. The men state that they were informed at Huntly that there wa a dispute between the miners and the mine owners, in consequence of which no more men were being engaged. “Even if we had got work,” said one, “we could not have taken it, for we could not get a place to have a wash, let alone to sleep in. We tried everywhere there, but there \was absolutely no accommodation.” One o-f the party was accompanied by his ivife and child, and he had actually to buy a house for £3OO to get them a place to sleep in. He paid a deposit on the deal, and has left his family there until he secure* employment. “But it was a cheap house,” he said, philosophically. “If I don’t get work there later and have to settle somewhere else I will be able to sell it again, perhaps at a profit. Anyway it can easily be let at a good rent.” Members of the Male Choir are notified that a practice has been definitely arranged for Monday night, to be held in the Whiteley Hall. Entries for the Poultry Show, to be held in conjunction with the Taranaki A. and P. Society’s twelfth annual winter show close at 9 p.m. to-night.

Attention is directed to a notice under Newton King, Ltd.’s, heading in this paper referring to the alteration in sale days to work in with the change in the weekly half-holiday. Catalogues for the New Plymouth Jersey Breeders’ sale are nearing completion, and will be obtainable at the beginning of next week. Railway arrangements in connection with the Hunt Club races at Hawera next Wednesday are advertised in this issue.

“A Question No Man Can ’ Answer,” will be the subject of the address by the Rev W. J. Elliott at the monthly popular service at Whiteley Church on Sunday evening. The musical service will begin at. fl 45 when well-known hymns will be sdng, and also the anthems “Incline Thine Ear” (Himmel),, in which the baritone solo will be taken by Mr. Baden Bellringer, Garrett’s “The Lord is Loving,” and “A Day in Thy Courts” (Macfarren), will be given by the choir and orchestra.

To-day (Saturday) is the last day of the Melbourne’s sensational Price Reduction Sale. Further wonderful bargains will be offered to round off what has proved to 'be the greatest sale ever held in the firm’s history. Don’t fail to visit the store to-day.