LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2551, 27 August 1915, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The case involving a claim for £10,000 for. alleged libel, in which Fergus Ferguson Munro is the plaintiff and William A. Mowbray is the defendant, will be commenced 111 the Supreme Court tliis morning before a Jiidgo and a jury. Fjre did slight damage to a sevenroomed two-story building at 68Rtissell. Terrace .yesterday morning.. TJio fire originated in a ropni occupied by a boarder who is employed at Trenthanr. The boarder left his room for ivorlc at 4 o'clock in the mpnijng, qnd' as no one had entered it ill tho interval the cause of the outbreak is unknown. The bujld? jug, which' is occupied by Mr. "\Villiam A. Jones, jp.oiynpdby Mr. Cousin,j-of Island Bay. The contents'were not insured. ' ■ ' ■ I'A man goes into <a Native land transaction, and it doesn't pay him,- and ho, comes .to the Government for relief.'lf lie makes thousands of pounds on it wo never hear about it." A member: "The Native comes 'then 1" Mr. Hofflsby: "No, lie never has the chance. I do know that in tho whole of the history of this country transactions-jyitli the Natives reek with the fact that the Native has been robbed, .and I am sorry to liavo to say that the same thing is going on to-dayi I intend to take another opportunity wherein I shall give particulnr instances."—-Mr. J. I'. M. Hornsby, during tho discussion on a report'of the Lands Committee in Parliament yesterday. Facilities are. to be given to prisoners of war to execute legal documents. Any solicitor ov other person who may visit a, prisoner of war in connection'with the preparation of a legal document will ]jo required to sign ail undertaking to the satisfaction of -tho authorities. A boy of ten years of sjgc appeared before Mr. 1). G. A. Cooper, S.M., in the Jiive'ni|e Court yesterday, charged with stealing 175., the property of Edward Fingan. Ho was. admonished nntl nrtloretT to mftind tli9 mouoy bsfore Scßtetnber 1,

Students throughout . the Dominion are reminded that entries for tho New Zealand University's degree examinations' close on Wednesday next, September 1. The Scnato considered the advisability of putting forward the November examinations in order to allow recruits to he called up after sitting for their examinations, but decided that no action in that direction was necessary. The examinations will therefore commence on November 2. The following notice, received from the Colonial Secretary, Hong-Kong, is published in the Government "Gazette" : "It is hereby notified that British, Allied, or neutral passengers may bo called upon to produce either —(a) A passport on an official form and bearing an official stamp (this is essential in tho case of passengers to Europe), or lb) a certificate of nationality signed by a Consul or other proper authority, stating name of passenger, destination, name of ship by which travelling, and date of sailing." The gate receipts of the Wellington Municipal Zoo for the period between August '2 and 25 amounted to £35 15s. 6d„ as against £25 17s. EJd. for the corresponding period of last year. There are 471 workers' dwellings erected by the Government'in the different towns and cities of the Dominion. A big deputation of representatives from most of the sports' bodies in Wellington is to wait upon the .City Council at its. next meeting to- protest against the cutting up of the Basin Reserve, as proposed in the Bill now awaiting Parliamentary consideration. On 'July 31 last the membership of the Incorporated Institute of Accountants of Now Zealand totalled 372,. having increased by five during tlie year. There are now 207 fellows and 165 associates, as against 199 fellows and 168 associates at the close of the previous year. A declaration by the Attorney-General is published Jn the "Gazette" to the effect that certain contracts entered into by the New Zealand Casein Company are enemy contracts. A surprised man was Mr. J. C. Hay, farmer, of Church Bay, Lyttelton, when ho entered his stable yard oil Sunday morning and found an unusual visitor, in the'form of a, large light-coloured animal of the seal species. The animal was about seven feet in length, aiid ■three hundredweight avoihlupois, and had evidently found its way up the Lyttelton Harbour from the south. To prevent it from escaping a' harrieado was.erected around it. When the nejys became known in Lyttelton, a party, including Mr. 15. J. Haynes (taxidermist to the Canterbury Museum), left in a. steam launch to take cliargo of the animal. 'Some difficulty was experienced in . getting it bound up, as, whenever it was approached, it showed a mouthful of chisel-like teeth and growled in an ominous manner..- Eventually, however, the trouble , was surmounted by rolling the animal in a pieco of tarpaulin. Despite it's snorting and wriggling, it was lifted up. and carried on hoard, and upon arrival at Lyttelton was placed in a, railway truck, it being the intention to send it to Cliristchurcli to place it on view ill aid of the -Patriotic Fund. However, as nobody in authority could b>! found to take charge of tho animal in town, it was taken to the wharf and given its liberty, being out of sight within a few moments of taking to tlie water. Mr. Haynes stated that it was. citlier a male sea tiger or sea leopard of a species similar to one which was washed up on the beach at New Brighton -about two years ago. Probably it camo ashore, to rest or on account of illness. " ' ' The serious nature of tlie reeeii? droijglit. in Queensland is briefly referred 'to' in a letter forwarded ,by a farmer over there to a friend in Auckland. He refers to it as having been a very severe one, jnoro severe eveii-than that of 1902. Tho losses are stated to ho greater, and .relief more difficult to get, owing to the drought following upon a, succession, of bad seasons. Referring to tho prices realised for fodder, the writer quotes £17 per ton for lucerne and oaten chaff, while even straw chaff was worth £10 per ton. "Many cattle have died," continues the letter, "and, many' men have - emptied their pockets to buy feed to save their stock. Our losses of about- 20 head of cattle were light. However, every' lano has its turning, and so had ours, for one day it rained. We had kept horses at work all the time, and were ready for it. In went ' barley, wheat, and oats. "A further fall of rain brought it on fine, and it grew by the inch every day, and now. we have enqugh feed for three times the amount of stock 1 . As a matter of fact wo can't stook our oats and barley on account of having so much native clover, which appears, in the spring or after drought, and is as dangerous as lucerne for bursting cattle.' Tho. cattle get transformed into balloons every • day, and wo quite expect some will die." •'. "When we first landed,": says Private H. E. Metcalfe, of the Field Ambulance, in a letter to -his parents in Aucklana, "many chaps mado a resolutionnever to. fall alive into the hands of the 'Unspeakable Turk,' but from little stories that I hear they seem to ho more civilised than the Germans. Ono of our wounded was found under a tree, itfiere they had left 'him as comfortable as they could, with three days' provisions ; and the other night, during an attack, a Turk- brought, in ono of our wounded under heavy fire. Wo ha'vo not drawn any pay now, for thirteen weeks; it'would be no uso to us if wo had it, as we are miles away from any town, and have not yet got a canteen. .Wo got a plentiful supply of tobacco, cigarettes-,., and matches issued to ns, so it is not so bad. ' Of course, we, do not use tents. now, and naturally do not bother about cleaning boots or buttons, or shaving, eto. Our tucker' consists' of tinned meat and biscuits (lately we have been getting Jirdad every two days), with-extras of cheese, japi, N and bacon. The colonials are more .than holding their oivn against-the Turks.' During an attack a "few nights ago we lost at most fifteen men, and the enemy's losses are put down at about 300. This is a fact. We liavo all been served out wjth* respirators, . against poisonous gases, but hope ■wo.wilj not have to uso them.'.' ■ Some -day, lylicp a complete history of thq' war is ivritten,'tjiq general public ivill bo' made awi|ro of 'many interesting incident's which fpr tlio present remained uncliropicled (says an exchange). Writing:; I*> 'a friend in Waiiganui, a Home resident makes rcforenco to an underseas mystery off, the Scottish cqast'. At one particular locality German '(submarines of tho big U olass wero particularly active,' but soino time elapsed before suspicions arose that their movements wero "directed from the Scottish- shore.' Investigations, which extended oyer soinq time, were fruitless. Then a ruse, which proved successful, was carried out. A British submarine travelled under water to the locality,, and ron rising to the snrfaco displayed ;the German ensign. Immediately signals were made- from a lighthouse a few. .niiles away. Tho submarine. then dived; and on returning to Iter base, tho-'- heuteuaut-coramander at oiipo .made his reporV 'Tho sequel was tho visjt of ail armed guard to the lighthouse, [where. :thoy. discovered ono of the assistant keepers dead, and a revivor "clutched in his hand. It appears that ho vns ,t German, who some years before had become a naturalised British subject. .' Chevrolet, a handsome, powerful cry, equipped with every accessory of proven quality, and 'bearing' the hall-mark of •strength, trustiybrtiiiiiMS, and durability. Tom- inspection of the latest model —self-startjiis,' of 'course—is invited by the Dominions Motor Vehicles, Ltd.,. Gj Cpurtenny Place, w.ho will be pleased to demonstrate to you the superior Qualities of tho Chevrolet car,—Advii '/. " -