GENERAL NEWS.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16359, 2 November 1918, Page 8

GENERAL NEWS.

The Maori's departure from Wellington for Lyttelton yesterday afternoon was delayed owing to a shortage of firemen. During the evening a sufficient number of men was secured, and, according to a Press Association message, tho ferry steamer was due to 6ail from Wellington for Lyttelton at- daylight to-day. The auction announcements of New Zealand Loan and M.A. Co., Harris Bros., and Claridge and Smith will be found on page lo of this issue. In America new telephones are only supplied to persons engaged in war work, or in occupations of vital necessity. In New Zealand the only limitations so far are thosp imposed by. tie difficulty of obtaining equipment, The Postmaster-General now announces that in the event of this difficulty continuing, similar restrictions to those in the States may have to be imposed'. A suggestion that the seaplanes used for training purposes in Auckland bhould be utilised for observation purposes in connexion with the floating mine danger, was made in the House of [Representatives by Mr Poole. The member 6aid that the work qf the minesweepers was distinctly dangerous, and he thought the seaplanes could be used to good advantage in lessoning this danger. He asked the Minister for Defence to consider thp matter further. To-morrow evening, in the Queer's Thoatre, a vocal and instrumental concert will bo given by the Queen's Theatre orchestra in aid of the Navy League War Fund. The orchestra (Mrs Midclleton, Miss Cadonhead, and Messrs George EUwood and A. Hutton) will be assisted by Mrs Harry Ellwood (solo pianist). Miss Olive Thorpe (soprano), Mr J. H. Cocks (baritone), Mr Arthur Maodonald (baritone), Mr H, McD. Vincent (raconteur). Mr Harold Black ('cellist). Mr A. Hutton (flautist), and Mr R. L. Clarke (violin).

Word has been received in Christchurch that Mr It. D. Martin, representative of the drapers' employees, who recently went to Auckland for the purpose of endeavouring to secure an award for the Auckland drapers, attended a conference of omployers and employees called for the purpose of considering the matter. It is understood that an agreement was come to on the matter of the minimum rate of wages 86 follows: Senior male employees 72s 6d per week, females Site 6d, and that other conditions arrived at were satisfactory.

The seventeenth and final Sunday ooncert arranged by Mrs BurnesLoughnan in aid of the Navy League Fund will bo held in the Theatre Royal to-moriw night. Mrs BurnesLoughnan has been indefatigable in arranging these concerts, and her activities have been extended over more than four months. A particularly strong programme has been arranged for Sunday night, and the tickets are selling at a highlv satisfactory rate. Amongst the vocalists will l>o members of the Fisk Jubilee Singers' Company, Miss Madeline Knight, of the Scarlet Troubadours' Company, Miss Bess'e mds, and Mr F. C. Pnnfold. Mr <*• Martmengo will contribute a number of liigh-class 'cello soli, and Mr Verc BrWianan will give a violin solo ("Moments Musicnle") with orchestral accompaniment. Mr J. H. Marciel will recite Tennyson's famous ballad of "The Revenue," and Everybody's orchestra, under Mr W. J. Bellinghajn, will give a number of selections.

The twenty-third annual festival of the Sunday School Teachers' Aa?oiation ■will he held on Wednesday. Holy Communion will be celebrated in the Cathedral at 6.30 a.m. and 7.15 a.m. There will be also a Choral Eucharist at 11 a.m., with sermon by the Rev. F. N. Taylor. At this service, as has been customary of late years, the music used will be Merbecke's. For the benefit of those who are unfamiliar with this, a practice will be held in tha vestry of the Cathedral at 10.15 a.m. The afternoon of the festival will be dervoted to a garden partv. Tea will be served in St. Michael's Hall at 6 p.m., after which Mr Alfred Worslev will give a short organ recital in the church. At 7,30 the annual meeting will take place in St. Michael's HalC when, after the transaction of necessary business the Rev. J. de B. Galwey will open a disTuseion on "The Next Step for the Middle School." It is expected that the Rev. F. Dunnage, Chaplain to the Forces, will be present and speak on his recent ex* perienoes in the Old Country.

Tho railway arrangements in connexion with tne A. and P. Show next week will be found on page 14.

The Mayor requests citizens to observe Friday next, People's Day at the Show, as a public holiday.

An artilleryman writing to a friend in Christchurch from the Western front says: —"The 'Weekly Press' copies that come to the Battery get a thorough good thrashing, I can tell you, being usually in ribbons before being thrown away. 'Tis out here you appreciate the home stuff."

Qualifications for entry into the Now Zealand Flying Corps was the subject of two questions which Mr J. Vigor Brown (Napier) gave notice to ask tho Prime Minister in tho Houso of "Representatives on Wednesday as _ follow : — Whether a man who is registered as illegitimate and cannot prove his parentage is debarred on that account from joining the Flying Corps_ in New Zealand? Whether it is possible under tho Regulations for a man of German descent to enter the Flying Corps in New Zealand?

An enquirer writes to tho "Bazaar" asking for information about New Zealand and its prices. Having given; an approximate estimate, our London correspondent- snys tho editor remarks: <r Now Zealand has honourably shouldered her portion of the war burden, and that she will have to increase taxation to meet, her heavy expenditure is evident. Further, wages m all occ"p;iti n > iiavo increased, and this alone tends to higher cost of living. All we can say is that at present the colony is a cheaper place to live in than tli© Mother Country, but it is very difficult to get there. Socially. New Zealand is much the samo as England. The same pastimes are indulged in freely. For a sportsman tho country is ideal, nnd the climate —particularly of the North Island —equable and exceedingly healthy."•

The Hairdressers' Association has come to an agreement with the Hairdressers' Union, whoreby the minimum wage is to be increased by 10s per week. Other concessions granted by tho employers includo Boxing Day, which is to be an all-day holiday, instead as previously, from 12 noon. January 2nd has been included among the holidays from 12 noon' The week's holiday on full pay is still includod. Tho employers and employees came to this agreement without reference to tho Conciliation Commissioner. The new award takes effect from yesterday, and is to oontinue for two years. To meet the extra expense owing to the increase in wages, an increase in prices has been decided upon by the members of the Hairdressers' Association. These prices come into operation to-day.

Mentioning the enormoufe advance in hospital expenditure in Britain, the "Hospital" remarks that the Dominions find themselves very much in the same financial position. Our London correspondent writes that the "Hospital" mentions ''that while the increased burden in this country falls upon the comparatively faithful few. in Australia, New Zealand, and elsewhere, it is a question of larger rates and taxes, and the facts obtain larger publicity. In New Zealand the money required to run the hospitals comes from the State, from municipalities, and, in a very small degree, from the charitable public. The municipality, as a rule, kicks when it is asked to give more. Certainly it has a real grievance, as it has no voice in the election of the Hospital Board, who spends the money."

Our London correspondent states that the "Electrical Times" and the "Electrical Review" each contains a throopage article on the "Hvdro-electric Power in New Zealand," with pome fine illustrations of the Lake Coleridge scheme. The latter journal remarks: "The urgent necessity of employing mechanical power on farms needs no demonstration. • The alternative to using waterrpower is the consumption of fuel in some form, usually oil or petrol, both of which occupy cargo space which is so precious now. "Henoe, as Mr Birks remarks in connexion with the Canterbury scheme, the use of water-power to replace these fuels has an increased importance from the nationM point of view, while the fact that electricity is the only medium by which this can be done renders the subject of immediate interest to the electrical industry." An officer of the N.Z.E.F., writing from the Western' front to a friend m Christchurch, says:—"A little while ago "the New Zealand Division decided to inaugurate an educational scheme for the benefit of tho soldiers pending uiu during demobilisation, and five directors of studies were appointed from the division. The organisation of the Y.M.O.A. is beipg utilised to get the. scheme going, and tho Y.M.C.A. are defraying all expenses, which will be fairly considerable. The aim of the scheme broadly is to compensate as far as possible what a man loses as a citizen by becoming a soldier, and, if possible, to improve his original citizenship by the time he gets back." One of tho directors under the scheme is Sergeant H, W. L. Digbv N.Z.F.A., who was for several years chief reporter of "The Press," andi who obtained leave of absence from that position when he went into camp at Trentham in May, 1916. He has charge of the section relating to the history and progress of New Zealand.

An application for a rehearing of the case in which Henry W. Mayo, formerly a master at the Auckland Technical College, was fined £25 on April 15th for having used a disloyal utterance, was made before Mr E. ]>. Mosleyj S.M. in the Police. Court at Auckland on Wednesday. The words which accused was charged with uttering were "The Biifish nag is a dirty piooe of rag, and not worth fighting for," the remark being made to the liftman at the Ferry Bu ldings, Air A. E. Skelton said that on the evidence at the orig'nal trial accused was properly oonvicted, but since then new and material evidence had been discovered which was not then open to defendant. Counsel callod three witnesses, who said they had seen one of the witnesses in the original case, and he had told them he was sorry the case went against Mayo, as if he had known at the time of the case what ho knew now he would not have given evidence. Tho witness had also expressed the opinion that Mayo used the remark ho did because the liftman set a trap for him and made him say it. The witness had also signed the petition to the Education Brard asking that accused be reinstated. The magistrate said he was satisfied nothing had been brought before him to make him alter his judgment one iota. The application was dismissed.

The theft of pennies from tho slotboxes of tho doors at tho Auckland Railwny Station lavatories has been traced to an elderly man, Thomas Webb, a nightwatohman at the station and a 1 ail way employee of over 32 years' service. For some time past, reports the "Star," there has been rus- | picion that the pennies in the lavatoryslots wore being systematically tampered with, and ae the result of police effort, Webb was found in possession of certain marked coins, which had been put into tho slot-locks. He was also found to have a kev to open the locks. It was part of Webb's duty to examino the Main Trunk train after it arrived at the station in the and when Webb's house was searched, after his arrest, a number of articles like spectacles, gloves, brushes, etc., which might , have Seen left in the train, were found there. These articles should have been handed in at the railway station aa lost goods Accused, a married man with ' a grown-up family, admitted tampering j with the locks for about a month only, and stealing about 10s, but the Railway .Department, by comparison of the returns, was of opinion that _ the theft had been going on for a period of two and a-half years, and that about £60 bad been t.nken. Mr E. I>. Mosley, S.M.. imposed the maximum penalty allowed by the section under which the charge was laid, by fining accused £20, in default, three months' imprisonment for the theft of the pennies. On fcho other charge of theft, accused was oonI yicted otiH discharged.

All tho Canterbury fishing streams -'/6 were reported clear yesterday, with th« exception of the North and South Waimakariri, which were discoloured.

A nineteen-year-old recruit, A. J. Myall, 10 Hill View street, Linwood, carter, enlisted in Christchurch yeeterdav for active sorvico

A meeting of tho Domain Fete Co®mit too was held yesterday afternoon, Mr J. A. Flesher presiding. It was dacidod to enquire whether students of Christ's College and tho Technical Collego could tiilco part in the fete. Various details in connexion with the practical side of tho fete were discussed..

A Press Association message from Grevmouth states that a sequel to the Grey election was heard in the MagisCourt yesterday, when John William Boyle was charged with personation and voting in the name of John E iyle. accused not being on the roll - The Magistrate held that acensod had acted in ignorance and dismissed the case.

A special "thanksgiving eervioe for victories past, and victories yet to come." will be held to-morrow "evening in Durham stroot Methodist Church Tho Rev. Percy Knight will speak on ''The comparative worth of the trench fighter aud the man at the rear " Mr Marshall Palmer, managing director of tho Fisk Jubilee Singers,- win sine ' calvary (Hndnoy) and Mr H. Blakelev will sing "If With All Your Heart*" (Mendelsohn), and with Miss Twos©, ' Lovo Divine" (Sterndale Bennett).

Loasbv and Co., chemists, announce that business is now being conducted in their new and up-to-date pharmacy, cr. Cashel and Colombo street* (onn. Ballantyne's.) j

There is no more useful gift than a wristlet watch—a good watch will last for years and is a constant reminder of the giver. We have a very wide selection of wristlet watches in all 6tylos—« guaranteed timekeepers, and a wids range of prices to suit requirements. Watson's, Jewellors, Ltd., Colombo street, Christchurch. 8

The Red Cross Sales Depot will be f fateful to receive an extra. BUpply of o>yers during Carnival Week, as thsy will be holding special sales or buttonholes and cut flowers. 5

Good news for holiday-makers.— Stewart Robinson's offer accepted for > 2000 pairs of White Boots and Shoes. liig rush of business on Friday, opening day of sale. Now is the time to buyAll sizes and prices to suit all- Come along; early to Stewart Robinson's, •Cashel street west. 1 Golden Rule School Rulers, superior wood, bevelled, varnished, brass edge, best for all schools, fourponco each. "VYhiloombe .and Tombs, Ltd. 7 .■ English-made oollapsiblo Push Oars* strong and comfortable. £5 10s; aiy> I folding Push Chairs. £2 10s. Is di*- ' count in £1. Drayton's, Colombo iv street. 5 .' Do not wait the crowded sea- V r son. Arrange your visit to beautiful ? health-giving Akaroa right away. Motors from Broadway's, Ohriatchurcii, f daily, 25s return. 1 Vi General Carrying of all sorts undertaken Dy J. M. Heywood and Co., Ltd. < Their plant of horses and yehicles is ono of tho largest in New Zealand. 6 > "NO RUBBING" Lauqdrv Help for ; progressive and thrifty housewives. Always a brisk demand for "NO RUB- >■ RING." Kincaid's, Ltd. 6 > Fordson Tractors—The Farm Tractor ' of proved ability. First shipment to i arrive in Now Zealand early in Novem- >! her. Anticipated price £320, f.0.b., Timaru. Full particulars, Canterbury ;* Motor Co.. Ltd. ' "1 | The brilliancy and beauty of the •? Diamond Rings showing in Cyril ,K. Whale's window in Cashel street oom- | mands the attentipn of all prospectiye purchasers. For the quality in eridence the values are exceptional. '. Returned Soldiers' Work.—The eicol lent Baskets and Trays made Christchurch Hospital by men are now on sale at Messrs HostiftVlH Bull, and Pickering'p, at the prices ;j| ed at the Hospital. 6 % The after-effepte of Influenza are worst. Much present and future puffer* & ing may be avoided with a few doseiTcl ¥ our Special Influenza Mixture, gs (Jd bottle. E. Cameron Smith, Chemist, .86 Worcester street (just off Square). 6 THE Biff X. * >' We have received a shipment new Military Modal 7-9 h.p. Excelstyr * motor-cycles, the special poii}tß ?! which are: Cushioji spring drivej BJH>- f side-car frame; detachable centra bar over motor; cradle spring forksj . Liberty magneto ignition: powerful safe brakes; chain on righfcband St 4*» . for side-car service. Price £UQ, wW* /! lamp and horn. Adams, l<td,, Hign ~ street. . ,® FOR SALE—STUDEBAavER ROADSTER, £815. Now on view at garage, three-sector Studebaker Roadster finished in i shade, condition first-class; full eqt"JJ- I ment, good tyres. Has had very cprefol | usage. Prjce £315. $<WPS» s§ Garage, 219 Tuam street, • 6 FOR SALE—REGAL ROADSTER, 1 £210. | Now on view at garage 20 h.p. ;<'* 2-3-seater Regal Roadster, finished in :} dark green, over-siee tyres, Auster; / ■ wind-screen. Car and full equipment in exceptionally good order; used only for town running. Price £210. Adams, 1 Ltd., Garage, 219 Tuam street. 6 -i;