LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2595, 18 October 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

<5 English and Australian mails are being brought to Wellington by tho s.s. Manuka, which is due from Sydney-this morning. English and American mails via Vancouver are being brought by R.M.S. Niagara, which is now due at Auckland. The lioness at the Zoo gave birth to four cubs on Saturday. The lioness is tho ono borrowed from Mr. J. J. Boyd's Zoo at Onehunga some six months ago. The exports of dairy produce for tho first eight months of the years 1915 and 1914 wero as followßutter, 1915, £1,303,981 worth; 1914, £1,325,856; cheese, 1915, 1914, £1,932,066. These figures, it' may be noted, do not, substantiate tho widely-held opinion that there has been an abnormally heavy export of butter and cheeso from Neiv Zealand this.year. "The men who enlist and back out are ten times worse than the out-and-out shirker," declared Lieutenant-Colonel Stoneham, at a recruiting meeting in Dunerlin. "AVe have had hundreds of men who have put their names on the registration cards, or the name of somebody else, and then failed to turn up for "medical examination, or who turn np and are passed lit and let us see no moro of them. Men of that' kind aro wore than shirkers. When once a man's name goes down he should seo it through." A tent has, says our Napier correspondent, been erected on tho Hawke's Bay A. and P. Society's Show Ground for tho purpose of recruiting volunteers, and Dr. Robertson has consented to cxamino them there and then. Mr. J. H. Coleman, of Napier, has given a further £100 to the Belgian Relief Fund. Chevrolet.—Whereas Chevrolet cars are equipped with enclosed overhead valves, let all people know that it necessarilv follows that those cars combine lower fuel consumption, less heating, less r.-nr-bon deposit, more power than any other car on Hie market—size of engine considered. To obtain proof it is only neeesoary to visit the Dominion Motor Vohicles Oar«e, 65 Conrttnay Place, and 41-18 Tory' Street—Advt,

Tho following instruction has been issued by Defence Headquarters at Palmerston North, and will, come into force forthwith: —"Standard height, reduced to sft. 2in; age limit increased to 45 years for recruits for tho Expeditionary Forces. —Press Association.

Tlio Postal authorities advise that the Ii.M.S. Marama, which sailed from San Francisco on October 13, and is duo on November 4, is bringing English and American mails.

Tlio Minister of Defence advises that the following contributions have been cabled through tho Government to tlio Oflicer Commanding, New Zealand Expeditionary Forces, Baso Depot, Alexandria :—To bo handed to Chaplain-Cap-tain Angus M'Donald (or, in tho event of his having been moved from Egypt, to somo other responsible officer) for tho benefit of_ sick and wounded New Zealand soldiers in Egypt: —From Miss Nona Thomson, London (per Miss Thomson, Lennel, Southland), £-10. For Lady Godley's Convalescent Homo at Alexandria: —From Rangitikei Patriotic Society, £8 10s.; collected by Mrs. Russell Hastings (wife of BrigadierGeneral Russell), as a contribution from Hawko's -Bay, £150.

At tho meeting of tho Eastboumo Borough Council one of the councillors took strong exception to the delay of ccrtain of the trips of the ferry service, through tho lack of system in .dealing with cargo. Tho Mayor explained that tho Forr.v Board had taken steps to remedy tho matter, and there should bo no further reason for complaint.

A paragraph in the monthly report of tho Eastbourne Ferry Board bore striking evidence of tho present activity in tho Borough of Eastbourne. The paragraph stated that tho cargo carried on the council's steamers for the month of September amounted to 136 tons. The cargo carried during the same month of tho previous year was 87 tons. Tho largo increase is act%unted for by tho present building activity in the borough.

A public meeting was held at Ashburton on Saturday afternoon to inaugurate the Ashburton County War Relief Fund, by which it is hoped to raise .625,000 for the relief of Ashburton County soldiers and dependants. Tie first £5000 was raised at the meeting, the principal .subscriptions being £1000 from Mr. Thomas Bullock, and £500 each from Messrs. John Grigg, Nicoll Bros., Robert Bell, and D. G. Wright.

The Wellington Municipal Officers' Association is sending a parcel containing 200 cigarettes, 7 cakes of chocolate, 3 tins of condensed milk, 2 cakes of soap, 3 tins of Ivelcon, a plum pludding, and a writing outfit to each of the following members of the Corporation staff serving at the front: —A. Lancaster, G. Mitchell, D. L. Rose, J. B. Paton, F. De Rose, and W. B. Ginders. A similar parcel is also being sent) by the association to the officer commanding at Alexandria, with a request that he should use it for any deserving case.

Referring to the destruction by firo on Thursday night of Mr. R; L. Levin's residence of forty rooms at Taonui, near Feikling, the "Manawatu Standard" says:—"As far as can be ascertained the outbreak occurred at about midnight in a chimney in one of the rooms in the lower story. All the occupants, who were sleeping upstairs, were aroused just after midnignt, and Mr. Levin made strenuous efforts to suppress the flames with a chemical extinguisher. Being unsuccessful, ho telephoned for the Feilding Fire Brigade, which arrived on the scene promptly, but was unable to prevent the spread of the fire, and for two hours the conflagration blazed furiously, the whole building, comprising about forty rooms, beiug completely destroyed. The residence was handsomely furnished and practically everything, including valuable pieces of plate and other articles which can never be replaced, was destroyed. Mr. Levin says it is impossible to. account for the-fire, as the room in which it' was discovered had not had a fire in it for several months. The damage is estimated at £5000. Following arc the insurances: —Liverpool, London, and Globe, £2675 on the building and £1800 on the furniture and efFects." *"•

According to recent files from Suva, an elderly Indian woman, named Lekenia, was chargcd at the Supremo Court on September 27 with murdering one Madari, at Gelonimatu, Bau. The case as briefly outlined by the Crown Solicitor, was that the murdered man, Madari, ran amok, killed two Fijians, and tho husband of the accused woman t and also attempted to kill her son by means of a knife and spear. The accused sprang upon the murderor, and held liim down, the prostrate victim meanwhile slashing at her with his knife. The son came to his mother's assistance and took the knife from Madari. At his mother's request he then handort the knife to her, and she did the rest. The assessors found tho accused not guilty of murder, justifiable homicide being their view of the case. His Honour accordingly discharged the woman.

The shortage of fully-qualified teachors owing to the demands of recruiting has resulted in an increase of half-time schools in the Auckland military district. Tho system adopted is to group two schools together, and appoint ono teacher to hold classes'three days at cno school and throe days at tho other. Recently tho Mareretu and Marerctu North schools were combined under this system, and the action of tho board was strenuously opposed by the parents of scholars at both schools. In some eases parents refused to send their children to school at all, and to the warnings of fclie trduant officer replied, "Will send to school when fulltime school is recorded." The result was the institution of Police Court proceedings, and a special sitting of the Ccurt was held before lljr. E. Page, S.M., at Maiingaturato, when several defendants were each fined 19s. and costs.

Tho sum of £1. 6s. Sd. has boen forwarded to the Wounded Soldiers' Fund by tho St. Paul's Troop of Boy Scouts, wiio were on duty at the wharf last Saturday week,' and who received tho money for running messages, etc., for tlio soldiers. One of the primary rujes a boy scout learns is that any service ho renders is to bo ciono without any thought of remuneration, and, consequently tho money which was given has been devoted to a deserving fund.

In connection with the recent case, the Inspector of Awards v. H. Brice (restauranteur), Mr. E. P. Bunny, the counsel for the defendant, in answer to the Hotel and Restaurant Employees' Union's protest to the Minister of Labour against the decision of the Court, has written to the Minister as follows: "The Hon. tli3 Minister for Labour, Wellington.—Sir—My attention has been called to a communication made to you 011 behalf of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees' Union protesting against the rcceilt decision in the case of tho Inspector of Awards v. Herbert Brice, for wliom I acted. The union alleges apparently that the' Magistrate has practically overridden the statute and the award. If that is so, may I point out that his decision is open to review bv the Arbitration Court, the constitution of which, I believe, possesses the' entire confidence of unions throughout the Dominion. Tho bad precedent is not tho decision of the Magistrate, as the petitioners allege, but tho practico of the union in endeavouring to subject our Courts to tho pressure of political influence in cases where the decision happens to bo in favour of the employers. 1 will not deal with the merits of this particular case, as they may, if the Labour Department so desire, in accordance with tho provisions of the Act, be submitted for the consideration of a higher Court.—(Signed) E. P. Bumiy." Men who like a fine plait straw will be oloascd to inspect tho stock at Geo. Fovlds. Ltd., Manners Street, The price' ■is 7a. 6d,—Adrt,

A mail named Patrick Dunn, of tlio crew of tlie c3.s. Muritai, was admitted to tlio Hospital'on Saturday night suffering from a broken ankle. Tiie last unmarried man employed in tlio Hawke's Bay Education Board's Office and workshops staff, Mr. A. Neilson, leaves for 'J'rentham to-morrow. Three members of tlio staff are already serving.