LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Chronicle, Issue 20112, 26 June 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The following tenders for leases of railway bookstalls have been accepted by the Railway Department :— Aramoho, New Plymouth, and Stratford, Books and Papers, Ltd. ; Hawera, Cole and Donnelly; Wanganui, S. W. Smith.

The latest additions to the telephone exchange are No. 1060, Messrs Schneideman and Co., the leading tailors, merchant tailors and custumiers, opposite the Bank of New Zealand, Victoria Avenue; No. 1071, Mr W. Mason ; motor engineer., 93 Guyton St.

Wednesday, the 15th day of July next, will be observed as a public holiday in the Government offices throughout the Dominion, for the celebration of Arbor Day. In order that the movement may he made as successful as possible, the Government, hopes (says the Minister of Internal Affairs in last week’s Gazette) that the Mayors of various municipalities and chairmen of local bodies will place the matter prominently before the people of the Dominion, and do all they can to encourage the planting of public reserves and other available lands, both public and private, with trees suited to the locality. The day will be observed as a Government holiday throughout the Do-

minion.

“Sooner or later the provision of a service of aviation in New Zealand will become necessary,” General Sir Ian Hamilton states in his report. “Military aviation is still to-day in the experimental stage, and experiments on the scale that would be financially possible in this country would be unlikely to lead far. Furthermore, the air and landing conditions in the Dominion are not such as to tempt hostile aviators. For these reasons I would recommend a waiting policy for the present. But it may be well to send one or two officers to learn flying elsewhere, in order that expert knowledge may be at the disposal of the Defence Department to assist in its study of progress made in other countries.”

Some excitement was caused at Putiki last evening, when a young Maori, who is Mr Walter Williams Hipango’s chauffeur, fired a revolver at himself. It appears that as the result of a quarrel with his wife, the young man became very excited and rushed out of the house with a revolver. He discharged the weapon, but the bullet fortunately glanced off, no damage being done. The revolver contained only one cartridge.

Some big deals are being made in hotel goodwills in Sydney. Mr. H. S. Wessel has disposed of the goodwill and lease of the Court House Hotel Oxford Street, to Mr. J. O. Peterson, for £17,000. This sum nearly approaches the record price which is held by the First and Last Hotel, Circular Quay, which was sold last year for £22,000. Mr. Trautwein paid £16,500 to Mr. Mayman for the hotel property at the corner of King and Pitt Streets.

The local Postal Department desire attention drawn that when the closing of a supplementary mail at 11.45 a.m. to connect with the south express was instituted, it was never contemplated that correspondence which could have been posted before 11 a.m., the time of closing the ordinary mail, would be held back for the supplementary; the department desire the public to post what correspondence they can before 11 a.m., otherwise the question of closing the supplementary at an earlier hour will have to be considered.

An interesting point in the Workers’ Compensation Act was raised in the Arbitration Court at New Plymouth on Wednesday, when Ellen Smith sued the N.Z. Express Company for £390 compensation for the loss of her husband while an employee of the company as a carter. The case recalled the Kal-

mata tragedy in August last. Smith was sent by the company to remove furniture from the house of a man named Julian. He slept at night there and was murdered by a man named Virgin. His widow claimed compensation on the ground that death arose in the course of and incidental to his employment.

A somewhat serious outbreak of fire occurred in the premises of Smith and Smith, glaziers and paperhangers, in the Octagon, Dunedin, on Wednesday evening. Considerable damage was done. The firm carried a heavy stock. The fire is supposed to have originated from the gas stove in the office in the middle flat. The office fittings were extensively damaged. It is anticipated that the damage will amount to about £1500. The stock is insured for £9000 and the building for £2500 in the Standard office.

Some of the Wellington Harbour Board’s works, which were delayed through the strike, are now reported to be moving forward satisfactorily. The big shed near the King’s and Pipitea wharves is now showing signs of progress. The pile driving is finished and the brickwork commenced. The building, which is to be used for the storage of wool and general cargo, is expected to be completed by about the end of the year. The work at Waterloo Quay has received a good start. Fifty piles have been driven, and the tops of these are now being concreted. The wharf portion of the extension work at Glasgow wharf is finished and the shed is now being enlarged. The piece added to the wharf is 160ft. long.

At 4.25 p.m. yesterday an alarm of fire was sounded, the outbreak being in Mr G. H. Newsome’s bakery, Ball Street. Before the brief clanging of the bell had fairly ceased the Wanganui Volunteer Fire Brigade’s motor reel, with Foreman Piper at the wheel, had cleared the station doors and was on its way to the scene of the fire. The conflagration originated near one of the ovens, and the walls and ceiling had caught fire. There was a good muster of the brigade, and the volumes of water that were poured into the building soon quenched the outbreak. The flames and water, however, did a good deal of damage. About five tons of flour were ruined. Mr Newsome estimates his loss at not less than £100. His property was covered by insurance.

Mr H. J. H. Blow, Under-Secretary of Public Works, who has just returned to Wellington from a month’s health trip to Tahiti, states that he thought to find Papeete a French town with cafes and boulevards, and so on. Instead he found that approximately one-third of the people are French, one-third natives and the remainder Chinese. The Chinese have practically the whole of the retail trade of the place, and he only saw one large retail French store. As for French cafes, there is no such thing; they are all kept by Chinese. The purely native population is not increasing. The Chinese intermarry with native women, and the British Consul told him that the Chinese make very good husbands, and the progeny are the most intelligent people on the island. The native Tahitian will not work, but the half-caste Chinese-Tahitian will. There are 100 motor cars on the island — the Moana took nine on this trip — and the great delight of the natives is to acquire one of them and spend their days and nights in “joy rides.”

Giving evidence at the inquest touching the death of Rubina McGill, school teacher, who committed suicide at Linwood, Christchurch, on Tuesday morning Mr G. W. Russell, M.P., said that on Sunday Miss McGill telephoned him for an interview, and he told her to come at once. She said that she was mistress of the Chaney’s School, having come from Rotherham. She had had great trouble at Rotherham. He declined to consider this, and she then stated that she had committed an act of great folly at Chaney’s, for which she was deeply sorry. In order to maintain her attendance on the register she had entered two attendances that were not correct. “I may say,” Mr. Russell continued, “that both the grading of schools and the salaries of teachers are affected by the average attendance, and very often a school alters its grade by one or two numbers. A teacher may lose an assistant, or her salary may be reduced. It is most ridiculous and improper, and I hope this may be the means of leading to its alteration.” Mr H. W. Bishop, after hearing the evidence at the inquest, found that she had committed suicide by cutting her throat with a razor while of unsound mind.