LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2357, 13 January 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The postal auUiorities advise that the b.s. Makarini, wMoh sailed from Sydney on January 9 for Wellington, is bringing Australian mails only, and is due thiß morning.

Monday's demonstration on the ooeac sion of the departure of'the tioops foj .< Trentham has had a stimulating on Teoruiting, says a Press AsßOoiatioift telegram from Dunedin. Within s. few hours of the departure of thetraiif twenty men reported themselves at thV Defenoe Office and aßked to be enrolled.

The State schools of the Wellington district are to reopen on Tuesday, February 2.

By the Union Steam Ship Company's cargo steamer Waitemata, which arrived from Vancouver and San Francisco yesterday morning, arrived 6000 sacks oi wheat consigned to the Government of New Zealand by the Government of Canada. This consignment will be dealt with precisely on the lines of the Niagara's wheat, which is being sold to millers at ss. 9d. per bushel. The Wain temata has also 1000 sacks 'of San Francisco flour for Wellington, and a simir lar quantity for Auckland. She also has about 7000 case? of benzine, and gasoline for Wellington, and consignmeijts for other ports in the DominionShe also brings a considerable quantity, of cargo for Australian ports, including, a big consignment of Canadian tinned Balmon.

Four stowaways were discovered onboard the Union Company's big cargo: carrier Waitemata after the vessel had : loft San Francisco for Wellington on . December 20. On arrival here yesterday everything was in readiness for their arrest. Captain S. Nicholson put in a strong plea on their behalf, however, and after due consideration it was decided_ that no action be taken, in consideration of the way in which the men had worked on the run across the pacific Three of the Btowaways had been employed in the stokehold and one in the ship's galley, It was stated that they had worked like Trojans on the run down, and their help had materially, affected the speed oi the Waitemata, £, which,arrived in port a day beforo she" -* was expected.

Tramcar No. 100 haß been placed on the track-during the past week, says the Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke), and very shortly; others, up, to No. 103 will be in active service. The work now being 1 oarried out at the oar-building factory at Wellington South consists of the alteration of the last car which required attention under tthe Davey clause, a work that has cost the Corporation a vast amount of money and had reduced the oarrying capacity of the cars by at least 20 per cent. The small care on the Brooklyn line have been found to be inadequate to carry ■ the traffio during the rush hours, and it is now proposed that larger cars be used on that section to supplement the smaller ones. Two of the old Hong-Kong oars have been found not to justify the expense of alteration, and are to be used for work other than the conveyance of passengers.

The allocation of portfolios recently! held by Mr. P. M. B. Fisher is not quite as published yesterday morning. \, The information was supplied to a re- - porter by a Minister who was speaking" from memory at the time, and his* •memory was faulty in one or two d&» tails. Following is the correct ■ bution:—Customs and Marine, the_Hon; v v Mr. Hemes: Inspection of Machinery, the Hon. Sir. Fraserj (Advertising, Printing, and Stationery, the Hon. Mr.; Herdman; Legislative, the Hon. , Mr,: . Fraser; Insurance (Life and Fire), the* Hon. Mr. Bell; Electoral, the Right Hon. Mr. Massoy; National Provident Fund and Pensions, the Hon. Mr.' Rhodes.

The New Zealand War Relief and Emergency Fund, whioh is being raised by the Salvation Army, now amounts to £2390. The following are among the latest donations:—-Auckland City Corps, £26; Resoue Home, Christcauron(inmates' picnic), £2; Palmerston North Ccrps, £25; Wellington Corps, soldiers' gifts, £3. '. An amount of £700 hag, been allocated from self-denial, 1914. '

A meeting of delegates of the Wawj rarapa Centre of the Athletic and Oy< cling Union was held on Saturday last*. It was decided that application ba made for the holding of the annual con* ferenoe at Masterton in 1916. Remits were drafted for the oonferen<» to ba held at Christchuroh this month, and the president and secretary were appointed delegates.

On Monday last William Collins with' a companion entered a sweet shop in tho city, tie latter purchasing some lollies. Collins could not wait till he' got' outside to demolish the Bweets, , *nd straightway oranimed his mouth with them. He followed this up by, making an effort to .recover the money % which had been proffered_ for the con-.j feotionory, The man behind the conn-. ter (Mr. Robert Martin) naturally ob-j jeotod and Collins, annoyed at this, hit him on the head with a walking stick,) Collins, when arrested for his act, was; found to be the worse for liquor. He appeared in Court yesterday and Inspeotor Hehdrey said he had a Dad) oriminal history." A flue of £2 In dev fault 14 days' gaol was imposed, f

A man who was charged at the Auok' land Polioe Court with' having left his norse and cart unattended in Customs Street the other day; blamed the 0n&Jiunga complaint for it; He got the complaint and tried to cure it with three brandieß and port wine, the roBult being that he'not only'forgot all abont the complaint, but also all about ihis horse and oart, which wandered the 'fitreet ti'l the police took possession.

According to the evidence given by [Arthur Roddy in the Magistrate's Court yesterday morning he met Georgo Long, ah acquaintance of his, on the Monday and on reminding and asking him for a half-crown ho (Long) owed him, Long hit him on the nose. "Not much of a-Wti" said Roddy reminis-. pently, when giving evidence, "but .all the same it ivas a hit on the nose." Long voluijje-r".') .quite a different story from his jwaci i'u. the dock. "Ho came up to me and s'ai'd: ''You're out a month before your._time,' and then I pushed •him back" ws— .Long's version. Unfortunately for Long he had' triumphantly observed to the constable who arrested him: "I gave him a smack oh the nose |and a jolly good one, too." ■'• In. the face of this the Magistrate convicted Long and fined him £1 with costs, 65., in default seven days' imprisonment.

The local office of Thos. Cook & Sons has been advised from head office in London hot to cash any of-the hew British Government issued £1 and 10s. notes, owing to the existence of very cleverly forged notes, known to be .in circulation. One of the latest £1 State notes was exhibited to a Dominion represenitative, yesterday.' At first glance the snote ;appears to. be a comparatively easy one to imitate from a lithographic tpoint of view, but the water-marking land the testure of the parchment paper ■which: is almost transparent offer serious ''-'.obstacles, to the criminal. Tho ivater-mark contains the words "One apound" in large letters, "G.R." 6ur r «iounted_ by the crown, and the sham.sjock, thistle, and "the ■ toso symbols Aleverly worked in, yet according to adJvices the water-mark of the forged notes ,2s. exactly similar to that of the genjuine ones. The only ijifference detect:*We is in the thickness and texture of :,!the paper.

A meeting of the executive of the Wellington Branch of the New Zealand [Reserve'was held yesterday afternoon, Major H. S. Davis presjfing, when, a jnumber of details ' in'-~-connection with the organisation of me ;biranch were •dealt with. .-. ■'■'■;'. L .

It is reported tiat keen and widespread interest _ir being evinced in the National Reserve movement in Wellington City and the suburban districts. Enrblmeni is going on very rapidly in rail the country subdivisions, and' the .greatest possible eagerness is' being 'manifested by those enrolled to, begin legular drill: '■ ' ''.■-■'■ V The Farmers' TJnion Mounted Rifle JOlub promises to be a V6ry powerful 'organisation hefore very .'long. Thfe membership for the' Auckland province is expected to exceed 1000. The objects >»f tho corps dre "the preservation of Jour rights, the maintenance of law and 'fcrder, and the defence cf our country." ! At a meeting of the Palmerston North, ffailway employees yesterday, the following resolution was carried:—"That this 'jneeting ; of, tho Palmerston North branch of the Amalgamated (Society of jJßaiiway Servants strongly condemns the : action of merchants and distributors in the system of exploitation adopted,un'taecessarily.inoreasing the prices of foodstuffs, and deplores the inactivity of the Government in allowing such fjtipn to tako place."—Press Associatioht ;' A resident of Timaru who has just from a trip to Auokland ■; atjtended the; Auckland Oup meeting. ifWhile there.he saw what ho had.never (ipeen before but had occasionally read ;abont, namely, a man who, under' the 'excitement of a good win (if was when (;Warstep .won the Chip) threw money tout of;his pocket up in the air, by ihandfiilsj not ionce, /but several times. \and let those round about him scramble •for it. This appeared to relieve'his feelings sufficiently to allow him to go ;!to the totalisator and collect his dividend quietly.

'• Five more prisoners of war were sent jo Somes Island yesterday. '

A shipping man just returned from a ifcrip north-informed a Dunedin "Star" reporter that in the matter of wharves Otago Harbour seemed to be losing ground .as compared with. • Wellington and Lyttelton. The Wellington wbarvee jwer© bristling with cranes to whisk the torgo from snips' holds in the minimum Df time. .

"Bristol to Bristol" is the title of the hsport of the delegates of the Port of Bristol Authority who visited Wellington last year tn their -world tour. The. Ireport, a copy of -which has been for.tvarded to Thb Dominion by one of .thetrade ambass'adofs referred to (Mr. H. |L. Risely), devotes a generous allowlance of space to New Zealand. UnforItunately, as it happens,-, competition among English ports for colonial trad© is'now rendered impossible by. the war, but by and by the report' may bo interesting and helpful both to buyers at Pome and producers hero.

■I The persistences of the Japanese in "fostering the tourist traffic is capitally illustrated by a pamphlet issued quite recently by the Toyo Kisen Kaisha ! after assuring the world that Kiao-chau had been taken by the Mikado's forces, says:-- :, 'As jou are already aware, Japan has* at last been drawn into the whirlpool of ithe European war, and sine© we have been obliged reluctantly to take up arms, American tourists, we' fear, may he hesitating to come over to our country. But the hostile operations in the 'East,are confined to portions of the iYellow and. China Soas, and_ in Japan proper, except for the. occasional ories j>( 'extras' conveying the war news, $here is scarcely anything to remind "one of the fierce conflict. Everything goes on just as smoothly as usual. Our Government has repeatedly issued instructions for the protection of foreign residents and visitors, and a large measure of attention is being given by the authorities to ensure their safety. Perhaps the best idea of the quietude now reigning in the'capital and in the provinces can be obtained from the fact that the Germans and Austrians either follow their usual pursuits in security and in peace, or continue their sojourn in mountain or seaside resorts."

' A few days ago attention was called in these columns to the fact that no convenient handbook of Wellington's attractions had been published, and thnt the lack was ah unfortunate one, both for visitors and to Wellington City. The article in question only, preceded by a fow days the publication by Harry H. Tombs, Ltd., of a handy little pocket guide to Wellington, which should prove of value to residents as well as visitors to the city. It includes particulars of all the holiday and soasido resorts, railway, tramway, and harbour steamer timetables, a calendar for 1915, mail and j>pstal information, and miioh other information of a useful nature.