LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 21 September 1921, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A campaign is to be inaugurated in Auckland with the object of collecting £10,600, with which to purchase a supply of radium for the hospital.

On Friday the Taranaki HydroElectric Committee will meet delegates from the Taranaki Progress League in connection with the proposal that the committee shall enlarge the area of the suggested power board. The Wellington retail price of butter, standard brands first; grade, has been reduced by Id per pound, retailing at 2s 4<l. Other brands which have been selling at 2s 3d have been reduced to 2s 2d retail.—Press Assn.

Messrs. H. Blaekburne, J. W. Burgess, R. Paterson, F. M. Standish, and H. Wftite, have been appointed a Domain Board to control the Tarata .Domain of 8A acres in Tarata village.

The New Zealand Department of Agriculture has ascertained that the total area of the commercial orchards in the Dominion —in other words the orchards from which fruit is sold —is 29,896 acres.

There has been no further retrenchment of permanent officers of the Public. Service lately, but it. is stated that the services of temporary employees are still being dispensed with as circumstances permit. The first election of representatives for the Opunake electric power district resulted in the nomination of Messrs. F. Carter, W. L. Chambers, C. H. Hurst, M. O’Brien and H. Young. As there are only five vacancies the above have been duly appointed. Among the unemployed in Wellington at the present time are at least a score of officers of the merchant service. The laying up of ships has put these men out of employment, and some of them have taken jobs in unaccustomed lines in order to make ends meet pending the improvement of the shipping trade. The matter of exempting dairy farmers from juries was mentioned at the commencement, of the Ongaroto murder trial at Hamilton. Mr. Justice Stringer, addressing the Solicitor-General, suggested that perhaps dairy farmers should be exempted. He had had to excuse 15 to 20, and as some were milking a large number of cows, and had to be up at 4 a.m., it was impossible for them to serve. Mr. Macgregor said it was a matter deserving grave consideration. He could quite see the difficulty.

The Avenue Road Card Club are holding a euchre party and dance on October (». The prizes are the best that have ever been offered at a euchre party in New Plymouth. Full particulars will be advertised in the Daily News at a later date.

After the test match at Wellington, train and steamer passenger traffic was very heavy, and again on Monday the out-going trains were well patronised. The specials were all full, the numbers of cars being as follow:—Auckland 13, New Pymouth 11, Wanganui 9, Napier 15, Johnsonville 9. Accommodation on other trains was fully taken up. the 5.55 p.m. to Palmerston North having twelve cars. Monday’s ordinary trains were equally heavy—New Plymouth 13 cars, Auckland 13, and Napier 11. Trains to the Wairarapa, carried large complements. Accommodation on the ferry steamers was fully taken up. With the object of furthering the campaign for having the pensions of exsoldiers suffering over 50 per cent, disability as the result of their war services increased, the executive of the Auckland branch of the R.S.A. conferred last week with local members of Parliament. The subject was fully gone into, and instances were given of married men with families -who were suffering from severe disabilities, but were receiving a pension of only *32s a week. It was recognised that, however anxious employers might be to assist the disabled men, it was unreasonable to ask them to carry the whole burden. The members present agreed to express their viws on the question in writing.

On Thursday last a case of some interest to publicans was heard at the Takaka Magistrate’s Court, before Mr. J. S. Evans, S.M., when James Anderson, licensee of the Globe Hotel, Waitapu, was charged that on April 19 he connived at gambling on licensed premises. The evidence tendered on behalf of the polic.e was to the effect that two men played the game of “banker” on the date in question, a considerable sum of money being lost by one of the players, who later instituted civil proceedings for the recovery of £165, alleging that marked cards were used. It was stated that the loser had borrowed £5O from the licensee. Anderson was convicted and fined £lO, and his license was endorsed.

The Board of Governors of the New Plymouth High Schools met on Monday night, Mr. J. S. Fox presiding. The board authorised Mr. S. G. Smith, ALP., to negotiate with the council of t!.<- Victoria University College (Wellington) in regard to the proposed establishment of university extension lectures at New Plymouth. The headmaster of the boys’ school (Mr. W. H. Moyes) reported' that the school opened for the third term on September 13. Seven boarders had left and four had joined. Mr. Dobson, of Auckland, arrived on September 15 and had taken up his duties as resident mhisic master. The matter of furnishing the hospital at the boys’ school, which was reported to be almost completed, was referred to Messrs. Sladden, Nolan and Webster. Miss E. M. McIntosh, headmistress of the girls’ school, reported that the school opened for the third term on September 13, with roll numbers of 148 in the upper school and 42 in the preparatory school. There were also 53 boarders, one more than last term, and the accommodation at Strandon seemed to be taxed to the utmost limit.

A case said to be without parallel in the history of local bodies government in New Zealand was revealed at the monthly meeting of the Pahiatua Borough Council ]ast week, says an exchange. The Mayor stated that in the early part of the present financial year the Pahiatua Council was faced with the problem of having to pay accounts when it had reached the limit of the overdraft. The sum of £7OO was required to carry on, and so he devised a scheme whereby several of the councillors contributed to a trust fund. Promises to the amount of £650 were made, but only £5OO was required. It was an unusual and unheard of way of financing local bodies, and it served its purpose. The funds of the borough were now in a better position as a result of the rates coming in, and all the councillors who subscribed to the fund had had their money returned. The fund did not appear in the borough books, and it was not a loan in any way. He was rather pleased that he devised the scheme as it caused no inconvenience. The trust account was now wiped out. Another thing was that there was no interest payable, and could not be paid by law. The borough’s affairs would now have to be carried on with its own finances.

A strange confession has bqen made by a woman, 33 years of age, who is now a patient of Adelaide Hospital. According to the confession she has been masquerading as. a ship’s steward in the men’s quarters for many years. HeJ[ name is Bailey, and while on a coastal steamer she became ill with acute rheumatism, and when forced to consult a doctor had to disclose her sex identity. She was then dressed in male attire, and had dose-cropped hair. She confessed that she had been masquerading as a man for 15 years, during 11 of which she had stayed at a boarding-house at Port Adelaide, never raising the slightest suspicion as to her impersonation of a male. She had been "man” steward of a number of boats, and says, too, that •she has worked on farms in other States. Her reason for masquerading as a man, she says, is that she was able to make a better living wage than as a woman.

There is practically no work offering on the Dunedin waterfront 'at the present time, and the pay roll of the local waiersiders was last week very small in consequence. The three or four ships which have visited the. port during the week provided employment for a few gangs, 'but many of the men have barely earned sufficient to pay rent. One oi the single men who has been working on the wharves for several years, and who is looked upon as a steady, reliable worker, informed a reporter that lie had not, for several weeks past, earned sufficient to pay his board, and one could | imagine, therefore, the hardships of the married workers. With the exception of the Rama and the coastal steamer Kotare, which is laid up, the wharves •were on Thursday, deserted, and the whole water front bore a very desolate appearance. There is little prospect of an improvement for some time, as the only vessels expected are several coasters,' and these may arrive at long intervals. Taken altogether, the married men who look to the waterfront for a living are having a very bad time.— Dunedin Star.

Members of the Whiteley Club spent a pleasant evening at the Whiteley Hall on Monday. Miss M. Bottriil prepared a journal, which was interesting and also amusing. Mr. E. Coleman read some short stories by Robert L. Stevenson. An enjoyable evening w r as brought to a close ;wi'th a hearty vote of thanks to Miss Bottriil and ‘ Mr. Coleman. Mr. Ormonde Dunford presided. A feature of last night’s Male Choir concerts was the fact that all the highpriced seats were occupied, while vacancies were noticeable among the two shilling section. In order to assist those who were unable to book, the choir announces that two hundred seats at two shillings each will be available to-night ftt the Empire before 7.30 p.m.