LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2778, 24 May 1916, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

. No case of infantile paralysis was reported from the Wellington Health District yesterday. The Hon. Cr. W. Ttusselt hns received a special contribution of .£SOO from the Wauganni Patriotic Society, witlv a request that it l>e cabled to Lord Banfuriy on be, half of tho Rod Cross Fund for sick and wounded soldiers belonging to New Zealaud. The Patriotic Socioty, which ie initiating a big Sunday church parade, to tak<s place in Newtown Park on Sunday week' (June 4), in honour of Empire Day, has been notified that tho National Reserve will participate in the parade. We Rive .CIO guarantee with every Is. pacltago, "No R.ubling Laundry Help." that it wilt wash all clothes perfectly elenn, without rubbing or injury. Wardell Bros, and Co.—Advfc,

The Fire Brigade received a call to premises occupied by Mr. Ernest Arrowsmith, No. 74 Todman Street, Brooklyn at 7.48 last evening, somo clothes, which wore being aired in front of a fire having ignited. The outbreak was checked after damago hud been dono to the clothes. Reference was made in the House of Representatives yesterday to the price of butter. Mr. C. H. Poolo drew attention to tho fact that there were large quantities of butter held in store, much larger quantities than wero held in normal years. For this reason, ho urged, there was no need for the present ruling high prices, and ho asked the Prime Minister what stops he was prepared to take to prevent increases in the price of butter for local consumption. Mr. Mass*y said that tho matter had -been referred to tho Board of Trade for report. In connection with the daylight saving scheme in Europe, the Secretary of the General Post Ofiico has been advised by the International Office of the Telegraph Onion 'that in the following countries legal time has been put forward one hour from the dates given Great Britain, May 21 to September 30; Hungary, May 1 to September 30; Austria, May. 10 to September 30; Holland, May Ito September ,30; Denmark, May 15 to September 80; Sweden, May 15 to September 30. Notice has been given by Councillor A. R. Atkinson of his intention to move •at the meeting of tho City Council 011 June 1: —"That the following resolution, passed at a special meeting of the Wellington City Council, held on April 3, 11)16, bo rescinded: 'That, in order that a handy record of the council's proceedings may be in the hands of every councillor, the minutes of the council since April 1, 1915, and tho future minutes of the oouncil, bo and a complete copy furnished to each councillor. In the case of future minutes, a copy to be furnished prior to confirmation." In a letter regarding tho protection of hawks received by Mr. J. A. Young, M.P., from tho of Internal Affairs, it is stated that tho Department has decided to protect these birds this year as it was strongly urged that they, being the natural enemy of tho rabbit, should now bo protected. It is impossible, 'says the Minister, to deal with the matter differently in any one portion of the country, but it is hoped to deal with the matter during the present session. Mr. Russell adds, however, that under the existing Act he has power to authorise any person to destroy animals or birds found on his property and committing damage. If application is made by tho owners of property that is being 50 destroyed he will favourably consider such application. Despito the fact that this is the war period, the work of the Native Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives is not likely to show any diminution during the session. There are already no fewer than 142 petitions before the committee, including 23 which have been presented this session. ' The remainder were all held over from last session. Mr. J. A. Young (Waikato) lias been re-elected chairman of the committee. The shortage of teachers in Hawke'a Bay is (says our special correspondent) still very marked, and the Education Board is experiencing extreme difficulty in filling many positions. Several probationers have refused appointments at certain places, anticipating better .things offering, but the board- has decided not to give these teachers further opportunities until they are fully qualified. . No cases of infantile paralysis have .been reported in Napier since April 27, and it is thought (says our special correspondent) that the outbreak, so far as Hawke's Bay is concerned, is completely stamped out. Some months ago the City Council let a tender for the re-seating with upholstered, tip-up iron-framed seats ot the gallery of the Town Hall, to replace the present rather uncomfortable Austrian chairs. The contractors, W. H. Edwards and Co., havo been delayed in their. work owing to a I difficulty in getting enough of' certain materials consequent upon the war. Several-hundreds of the iron frames have now been delivered, and have been stored in the cellar of the Town Hall, pending the completion of other essential parts. Tho chief cause of the delay has been the difficulty in getting delivery of tho "inoroecoline" material used for the seat coverings. About 1000 yards of this material is on board a steamer now in New Zealand waters, and Mr,' Edwards hopes to push on with the work more rapidly in the future. The comfort of titling in an upholstered seat should add materially to the pleasure of Town Hall entertaiumont3 ana functions. The gallery of the Concert Chamber is also to be provided with new tip-up seats. 1

New Zealand soldiers who have boon in England since January, and have experienced the succession of blizzards said to havo been the worst for fifty yoavsr will, says ft writer from the New Zealand base at Rornchurcli, havo a keener appreciation of the mild winter of their homeland than' they., havo hitherto had, Tho' writer stated that he made a trip to Staffordshire that usually takes about 2£ hours, but ho had to leave during tho height of the worst blizzard of the century, and tho journey took twelve hours Tho distance was 101) miles. If he hart been in Now Zealand the timo occupied on such a journey would not have Been 6» very extraordinary, but in England, where you cannot count the blades of grass as the train moves, it was something quite out of the ordinary. AH tho way along, the telegraph poind wore eikhef lying full length on the "snow-covered (•round, or snapped off half-way, up. Snow fell heavily all through the journey, and was so thick that the head of the train could not be seen three oarriage lengths away.

A sensational statement was made in the Te JCuiti Magistrate's Court by Mr. G. P. Finlay, counsel for a railway porter, who pleaded guilty 'to keeping liquor for sale, also to obtaining liquor without furnishing his correct name and address (says the correspondent to the "New Zealand Herald"). The jwlico stated that accused had got liquor in at leasit 20 different names, and suggested that a conspiracy existed among railway employees. Mr. i'inlay stated that a conspiracy existed, one of the chief clerks being the principal. The accused Swansun was tho tool of the clerk' in question, who gave Swanson a valuable ring to remain silent. The ring was handed to the police in court. A parcels delivery book, which wculd have 'been important evideuco in tho case, disappeared when the polico started inquiries. A departmental inquiry is now taking place. Mr. llawson, tho Magistrate, inflicted a fine of ;£SO, and stated that, if subsequent disclosures warranted it, accused could apply for remission of the line, and he would recommend it. Accused has had ten years' servico in the railway. Woollen mill employees in the South Island have been granted a war tonus on almost the same iines as 'that recently obtained by workers at the Petone Mills (reports a Chr.iUchurch paper). The South Islafld employees met ill Christclrarch a low days ago, when it was decided to grant a war bonus on the following terms: —(I) Ten per cent, to all males receiving up to and including dSs. a woctc; 5 per cent, to ail males receiving over ■18s.; 10 per cent, to all females receiving up to and including 355. 9d. a week; 5 per cent, to all females receiving oyer that amount. (2) 'Die bonus to be paid as tho various companies may find convenient. (3) Payment of bonus at the rates mentioned to commence from the date of tho first pay-day in February, 1910. The Crown Law Office has been instructed by the. Minister of Internal Affairs to go on at once with prosecutions of a considerable number of persons in different parts of New Zealand who havo failed 'to send in their National Registration Cards. Those who had taken advantage of the period of grace allowed would not be prosecuted, but those whose refusal to register had been accompanied by flagrant determination to evade their responsibilities would bo. prosecuted. This morning at 9 o'clock there will be Requiem Mass at St. Joseph's Clmrch for tho late Rev. Dr. Watters (first rector of St. Patrick's College). Old boys of the college—particularly those who were there in the timo of Dr. Watters—are invited to attend. Every city worker can be protected against Winter's showers. AVe are showing 25-inch frame, horn, crook handle, silver-mount, gloria cover Umbrellas at 14s. Gel. Geo. Fowlds, Ltd.—Advr. Commercial travellers are hauling in storekeepers' orders for No Rubbing Laundry Help with commendable zeal, because it lightens woman's toil on washing days—Advt. I

On® of the side-lights of the ivar wai revealed at Wharigarei, when Maximilian Ballin was comraited to prison for three mouths 111 the Mount Edeii gaol (says the Whangarei correspondent of the "New Zealand Herald")- He is a brother of Herr Ballin, the great German shipping magnate, and head of the HamburgAmerika line, Maximilian Baufti has been m the colonies for many years. Ho was apparently t-n educated mail, and was in receipt of remittances from his brother, lie followed a quiet occupation and kept tradesmen's books, and to all appearances was harmless. At all events, an exception was taken to his presence in the town. After the outbreak of the war Ballin's remittance money was apparently stopped, and, being a foreigner, ho could not get the class of work he was capablo of doing. Ballin gradually drifted, and some time ago hail io go to the hospital. After his dischargo he came back into his old circle in tho town, but he could get 110 work to do. Eventually, after hanging about for some considerable time, ho went to tho polico station, and asked to bo arrested, .lie was put in the cells, and next morning was charged with vagrancy. Mr. Cliassoll, J.P., and Mr. Ecclcs, J.P., sentenced him to three mouths' imprisonment; saying that it was not punishment for a criminal action, but the best way to dispose of Ballin, who was practically helpless to look after himself in the community. There is no specially unkind feeling towards Ballin, but, as the brother of a personal friend of the Kaiser, feeling naturally operates against him at th© present time. It' is generally thought that his proper ptoce should be with the interned men.

In one of his letters from "Somewhere on tho front," whero he is acting ■ as chaplain to tho New Zealand Mounted Brigade, Chaplain-Captain Grigg, of Leeston, tells of a boy about fourteen who ran away from Canada with the soldiers with tho object of "seeing . life." Captain Grigg says: "Yesterday morning early, as I started out, I met a soldier coming with a little boy dressed in uniform, trotting along by his side. As they passed me at a littlo distance the little chap saluted ino in very smart military style. . I returned the salute and went on. When I came back I heard about him. He was still in tho camp, and the officers did not know what to do with him. Later on an, officer brought him for me to see and question. A doctor happened to bo in my tent, so he'told us that ho wanted to seo tho war and the fighting so he left his home in Alberta, Canada. In answer to niy questions, he told me that ho ran, away, to Quebec, and stayed there for somo time. Then he "got into a ship, and somo boys hid him away and ho reached Europe. He managed to get to Ypres, where he stayed some time, and, I believo, 'saw a good deal of fighting. Then he got on a train and went down to Marseilles, and travelled by steamer to Salonika. He stayed there a little while, and then got aboard ship again and reached Gallipoli. I am not sure, but I think it was at Gallipoli that he was wounded. A shrapnel bullet struck him in the wrist, and as bis arm was broken a good way up from where any ballet struck him, tho doctor thinks he must have fallen down and broken it after he was struck by the bullet. It could not havo been properly set, as it mended all crooked, and I suppose always will be so. I' believe he is pretty; rough in liis speech when he is with themen, but when ho addresses officers ha is great in his politeness. I asked him for the address oT his parents, and. he gave it me right off, and I have written them, telling all about the boy." A farmer of Makirikiri sustained a serious loss of stock, in unusual circumstanccs, a few days ago. He had made arrangements to sell 200 fat sh'eep, and instructed an employee to put tho sheep in an open paddock on which a whare was situated, as tho intending buyer was to inspect them on. Sunday last. On Saturday ii/,»lit tho employee went to Mangamahu, andj in his absence tho wharo was burned down. ' Next morning, when the buyer arrived on the scene, tho sheep were seen in heaps against a fence in a corner of the paddock near where the whare had stood. Seventy-sis of the animals were dead. There were no signs of any injury, the sheep not having even been pinged. It Is thought that they had heon attracted by the glare of the fire, had, rushed into tho corner, and been suffocated. , An exchange reports that arrangements havo been' mado by the Commonwealth Department of Internal Affairs for Mr. Barnett, ono of the senior, stipendiary, magistrates of New South Wales, to proceed to Darwin almost immediately and conduct an inquiry into 'the charges mado by Dr. Jensen (Chief Government Geologist) against the Administrator (Dr. Gilruth) and other officers. The charges are very numerous, and some of them are of a serious nature (says the Melbourne "Age"). It is understood thrut, in addition to charging Dr. Gilruth with unfairly interfering with tho management of tho Department, Dr. Jensen alleges that documon'ts likely to reflect upon tho Administrator haye been removed from the files. This is 021 cof the most serious charges into which Mr. Bar* • nett will have to fnqrirc. It is also un< derstood that Dr. Jensen accuses the Administrator and other officers of using the horses and material of tlvs Govern, nient for their private needs, ami for tlicir women folk, to such an extent that th? legitimate business of the Department hai frequently been interfered wtih.

The death is announced of Mr. Jonathan Sowden, one of the best-known residents of the Dunsandel district, who ha<l beeil long associated ivitli the agricultural affairs of the province. A native of the village of Sutton-on-the-Sea, in Lincolnshire, Mr. Sowden was lwrn in 1845. lor many years he served as a member of the New Zealand .Farmers' Union and the' Bllesmere and Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Associations. As a breeder and judge of stock, more particularly of sheep, he enjoyed considerable reputation, and during many years, was a very prominent prize-taker at numerous shows, both in Canterbury and further afield. His services as judge were frequentlv requisitioned at agricultural shows. He was also an excellent judge ol ploughing, and during recent years he has frequently adjudicated at ploughing contests. Mr. Sowden was married m 1878, and leaves three sons and three daughters. .