LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2836, 29 July 1916, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Postal authorities advise thai,the. s.s. Manuka, which sailed from- Sydney at noon on July L' 7 for' Wellington, is bringing Australian, mails ,cnlv, and is due here.'on 'Monday." According'to -a return tabled -in the House yesterday by the Hon. .T. Allen, the total amount of rent and other payments received, by .-the Governriient' for trading rights ai. tho. camps since the declaration of war up; till May iO, 1916, was This sum was distributed among the several reinforcement drafts in. proportion to their numbers and the, length of their stay in camps in which. the canieens are established. A practice of some years' standing, that of dispatching the ferry boat' for' Lylteltou 011' Saturday evening at 11 o'clock, instead' of at 7.'<15 p.m. as''6ii. ordinary week nights, is about to be discontinued. The Union Company announce that, commencing next Saturday, August 5. the ferry boat will leave the 1 new Terry Wharf for Lyttclton : at 7.4fi p.m., tho same as on ordinary week nights. . According to a Press Association cr-blo message from Sydney, Canon Garland, speaking ai: a> universal ■ service meeting, asked what objection could there be to conscriptioii 'wlieii. every Australian lived in', a daily atmosphere of compulsion. New Zealand, in" tiine,. and extent, was far in . advance of Australia in socialistic legislation,' yet. Now Zealand led Australia iu the adoption' of univer. sal service.

An astronomical' event.of considerable interest will take place-to-morrow (Sunday), when t!tc-sun -will be eclipsed,- more than half of its area- being obscured.The eclipse will, commence at 1 hour minutes, and end at 4 hours .15 min. p.m., the greatest phase being at ii.hortrs 3 minutes p.im, New Zealand mean time. Although only partial in Wellington, in Adelaide the eclipse will be of the type known as "annular," .that' is. the apparent diameter of the moon being less than that of the sun, at the. greatest, phase a ring of the sun's disc will be visible, completely surrounding the moon. .This is due to the fact that the npox of "the shallow cast by the moon into space will not 'quite reach the earth. Those wlid have- telescopes- on stands can exhibit the progress of the moon as it passes across the sun's disc, to a number of people at once, by projecting tho sun's image on to a white screen placed behind the eyepiece, at a distance o! about IS inches. A cardboard shade, cut out to fit round tho telescope tube, sn as to cast its shadow on the screen, will make the sun's image stand out. more clearly. Several sun-spots should be visible if the telescope is properly focussed. Too much stress.cannot he laid'on hhc danger to the' eyesight of attempting to look at the sun without proper dark shades on the eyp-nieccs of telescones and opera "lasses. Where optical aid is rot Available, well smoked glass, carefully us»fl, is sufficient protection. Tbiriir' the eclipse the IvpHmrn Observatory will'be open. to the public. , Only buy; the; Disinfectant. that is -keeping the pnces.ddw;i,.tfa'u]eb', aleyes l 'F-luid. .—Advt. t .

Mr. Lionel Curtis, of Loudon, will be the chief guest and speaker at the New Zealand Club's luncheon on .Monday next. The .subject of his address will be:—"After the War: The Future of Our Empire—''The Hound Table' inquiry into the Imperial problem."

A classical education is not held in very high esteem by some members' of the Fanners' Union Conference. During a discussion at the concluding s'ession yesterday on the need;for specialisation after, a pupil attains a certain proficiency in elementary work, one speaker said lie did not think there was much utility in teaching Latin. "I- quite agree," said another, "Latin won't milk a co';-." And the conference laughed at the idea of a member from a dairying district measuring even education by the milk standard.

'JL'lie delegates who are attending the Returned, Soldiers' Conference have been invited to'dinner at iJi-llainy's this evening by thn Minister of Defence, Hon. J. Allen.

_ A meteorite," or some similar manifesta'cion of the majesty of the heavens, w observer on Sunday night, at about 7 o'clock by many residents of Oamaru (says the "Mail")! A short flash, so vivid as to resemble-the near explosion of a huge quantity of magnesium powiler, occurred directly overhead, rendering every detail of the landscape as clear as at noonday, and almost blinding those wiio looked at it. The night was clear and starry,- and the. loud rumbling crash which followed the phenomenon by a-full half-minute came as an. even greater-sur-prise than the flash. The theory has been advanced that the (lash was caused by the combustion of the meteorite upon entering the earth's atmosphere, and the crash its immediate explosion. This is probably, the case, as the flash ended in a marvellously brilliant hurst of stars.-

"Give me back niy' children; give me back my 'children. Is there not one among you with a heart?" A dishevelled woman with a baby in her arms struggled in a city fruit shop at 7 o'clock on Tuesday night in Christelnircliagainst four • constables, who did their , best -to pacify her the while they restrained her feently. Outside the shop an immense crowd.had gathered, and late;■ arrivals asked what was the trouble, 'the story •was a sad one. A country woman had suddenly lost her reason and .stolen into the city with her three children, and .her strange attitude very quickly attracted '.the attention of the' police'. - She-was taken into the shop in question,-and her two' oldest children sent away under charge of a relative; ' A taxi-cab was then summoned, the four burly; policemen having to carry the. woman. to It. She was conveyed to the-police'station, where steps, were taken to. have her committed to the Sunhvside Mental Hospital. ;

At the annual meeting of : tlin; KenSouth Wales Institute of Journalists held' last week,, an interesting speech was made by Dr.- F. W. Ward (for many years editor of the "Sydney Daily Tele graph"), who was, welcomed backtoSydney after an absence of over two years. ■Thero would, ■ lie sflid;-'ho ; spm'ft-' happy outcomes of the war/arid one : bf- tho best would be that there would be new in•twnational"; friendships. 'I.'hey were all proud of France. The idea that France was decadent had proven a colossal blunder. France vfasjever so great in all her history as she was now. (Applause.) It. would .have' been a. crime against mankind to blot out -France-from the map of Fiurope—a crime against, all that was-most high. It was a blessing that our' race 'had helped. Fr.ance..t<i..jdefend herself, and that' France .'was going to' stay in the list of first-class civilised Powers, and that she always would be England's friend. There were a great many Englishmen buried in Francs, and one could riot imagine that there' would ever be war between .these two countries again. Then ..there .was. .Russia,, .wiio. vo were so sure: was going to have , a ter.rible.fight Britain/one day—, no one was surer of this than 'Germany,, and when the bear and the lion had _finisiied foroeone else would liave had' a say. That war -had 4)een rhappily averted;"and they were looking" forward to a friendship with Russia,- A misapprehension" had existed with .regard Russia, .the same as in regard to France. Russia was goinsr to'' lie a better and greater nation after .the war, and he thought her political situation would undergo .very, radj.cal, cliaijses.

~'A named-EoVrt, ;iv?s'charged, in the . • fihristeluirch - trate's--Court yesterday;, >vith.\• deserl.y.ig from .Tr<>n.thani... where -he Was in *th" Fourteenth Reinforcements; also withstealing- rings and other .ie-welW-v. -eirls. lividenee was..i»iven that. Ar'Laucbland If'd niet the girls-in- the -street-.--and:, taken fife jewellery -from them-;anpar"*t-1v- as- a jok-*. and then nawned -it.' -The ; ai'rls give cvidenc" that- they- were-'tryin" ti -ire H.he things back,.- Accused, win sni-l their stories were untrue, was sontenod ; to '• six weeks' imprisonment for the th°fts. and r-rclcM to b D returned' to the military autho-ities :'t the exniration of his sentence—Press Association. .-

Vneculinr incident' Knnnened' in the.Maeist,rate's Court' vest'e'rday. An'in-' dividual who was charged with failin? to pay his tram fare was in the r"°cinets of .the .Co'i.rt . throughout. . t>» morning.' AYhen t l >«-fV>nrt orderly' celled his name he failed to respond, iin>». evide""e for the was call"'!, mid the esse was held over until the afternoon; until n noi'nt'in si-similar'east-was 'd»"'ded. Thi«--"s"cond ease. Vowever.'did not reveal : 'tli» erneeterl-lnriM point, and tlie case'of'tli® absent dual was asain called-' for Me>ri>trnte' to fly t^i o -"penalty. Bp 4 ' b°fore this cuild be' 'lone , the .pown stepped forvnrd. end '"TulaiW that. h» was in the Court biiildin'is-all dav.- 'nin' never heard his name called. As he l' n d not. heard t''» evitUni-e nsainst him, the case was adjourned for a week.

At a sitting in Chambers ' yesterday' morning the Chief Justice (Sir Bob»rt KtoutS dealt with an application under th"''Mortgage Extension Act for leave to sell in 'the matter of the mortgage from: Sophia Haines, wife of., Walter Cecil Haines..of,Wellington, and John Lamb, of Wellington, plasterer; Leave to sell was granted, either at n . price, not less fiau the Government valuation, by pub~ : lie. unction, or upon the valuation of n competent .Valuer. The application was made bv Jfv. J. jC. Peacock on beimlf of Mr. ,T. B. Harcouvt.

Jlr. Borneo Gardiner, the well-kno-wn whistler, who is now appearing before London audiences at tho Victoria Palace, has written to friends here that he-.is doing well. He has been performing in South America, and also in France. Recently, while in London, ho met a lot of okl friends from Wellington, who are in tho ranks and have been fighting in France. Amongst those he specially mentions was Sigaal-Sergt. Alonzo Dwan, who went with the Third Battalion N.Z. Eifle Brigade. They are old college friends. • He says the New Zealanders and himself had a great time" in LBndon together, where the boys had a 'week's holiday from- the trenches, but most of rhem had returned again to the tiringline.

During the period of forty' days, ended on Tuesday (says the "Neiv Zealand Herald"), which has elapsed since the commencement of the Itua trial, 111 witnesses wero called by the Crown and .19 by' the defence. Each side further recalled three witnesses, and the Crown, in rebuttal, called or recalled witnesses to the number of 31. Thus, counting the recalled witnesses twice, 107 witnesses were, heard. Their evidence, when typed, covercd over 3!>(J sheets of fool- . scap. Each sheet contained 3G lines, making a„total of -'12,01)0. The average number ot words to the line was I'J, so that 131.200 words have been typed. To read them at the rate of 100 words a minute would take -5 hours and 12 win-.' utes, In the Magistrate's Court, Christchurch, yesterday, says a Press Association telegram, Sidney Mavne was fined .£lO and costs for selling milk containing 14.5 per cent, of added water. A branch of the Returned Soldiers' Association was formed in Masterton an Thursday night. The Proprietors of "Desert Gold" Tea do not claim that "Desert Gold" Family Blend at Is. 9d. is equal to "DrcrVGold". 2s. grade, but guarantee it to b;>. I'ie Best. Value at Is. Ad. in New X.ealfind.—Advt. For Winter Wear—Youths' strong boots, toe and heel plates, at 13s. 6d., from Geo. Fowlds, Ltd.,. Manners Street. -Advt. . Ask stationers and storekeepers for "'rile Thinker's Favourite" writing tablets. _ Shakespeare's photo, with samplo of his most important- philosophy, on ■outside cover "and- pretty picture ;on;-in-side. Best-for everybody-,—Advt.-;

At a meeting, of the Grey town-lire Brigade on Thursday the following were awarded bars or certificates for service! —Lieutenant T. Fisher, 33 years' service | Fireman J. Braggin, -22 years' service; Fireman H. Trotman, two .years' service; Fireman A. Morris, three years', service; Fireman M. Jackson. (returned soldier), silver medal; Mr. C. W. Arm-. . "•trong, six years' service (treasurer), gold' i:'?.lllFireman G.Lysteiy.seven, years' 'service; 11.-Haigh '.(secretary),;, silver, medal, 21 •years' service. . . ~' r In- .the .House ■ of Representatives yesterday afternoon, Mr. L. M. A ls'itt aslied a question of the Minister of Education in respect of a difficulty which had arisen in connection with the use of one of the schools in his constituency for religious purposes, after ordinary school.hours. The members of -the Roman Catholic persuasion had applied for tlie lise of the school, to which-; a, very fair number-of children went, and a. blunt refusal hail been'received from the committee. The Act, he admitted, gave the School Committee the right to sijy whether thev would allow the building to be used for this purpose or not, and consequently the p.ommitt°e wpe within its legal rights in refusing, but such- an action was a very ..-serious ! menace t« our whole system. He asked the Minister whether the matter would l>; brought, before Cab-1 inet and stens taken to provide a remedy. Tli* TTrp, ..T A* TTftnan renlied that hs recognised. t|ie point'raised was a very important one. He'wotild. have pleasure in bringing the Cabinet. The "Ofticial Teienho!:". Directory", for. .Tuiy, 1916, is being .circulated at'present. The new Directory contains the names of about 50 additional subscribers, and is an . improvement oh previous issues. One outstanding feature is Ihe printing of the. names and numbers in a heavier type; the addresses remaining in 'the old style. The inclusion of private hotels under thg liiain heading of "Hotels" is another altpration. Ciovernmeht Departments, besides being shown separately in' the front of the Directory,-are also included under their respective letters. Other, institutions, such-as baths, banks, clubs,, colleges, railway stations, meat companies,' etc., are ail placed under those headings, apart from their insertion ill the usual alphabetical order.

A'-emitter of vital concern to' wheatgrowers was mentioned in the House o£ Representatives yesterday, when Mr C. •T.: Talbot "(Temiikn), in a question' to-the Minister 'of Agriculture, alleged 'that the wheat Veevil had . made its appearance in- Australia.. -He'"desired to 'know' if every possible step would "be taKen to'prevent the'imiiortntion of the.'weevil- into N T ow Zealand by shipments of wheat or flouiv The Hon. W." D. S. MaCDonald asked'that the question-ljo put on the Order Paper. ' He'.stated; however, that the Agricultural' Bepartlneni 'wa's'"in-' vest'igat.ing the matter. "

A" Christchurclr resident lias 'received an 'interesting letter from-'a relative", on l>oard H.'MiS. Warrior iri.the ! great naval fight.- The : following extra'cts will'Be of general interest:—Ai't.er' being' in 'the thick : of. it. for"about- half ail' liour, we were disabled.!'. We had about : 67 killed' and- -10"wounded, the latter' being "in'"a' bad condition.'' We Had one salvo pitch in on' deck, whicli'-.went' through .and killed 'everybody in the engine-room,' and nearly" everybody who' wds near.- However,^'the Germans' did'not" sink-us; ' Wd were towed' .for .ten' hours; but the seas came oft' So' rough'that ire had to abandon her. We were then taken off by a seaplane ship,-and arrived-in -port about 30 - hours '-afterwards;. .1 ; am pleased to.say that' the -tild: Warrior fought well in the action,.-'and we accountcd for. at least, one Bh'ipi'i think a.Germ-in cruiser; also the office*? and crew-.. There-was not the slightest panic. It. is wonderful. liow 680 - from our ship were, saved, after it being disabled. ' .The engines were stopped, and the ship was on fire. It. was a, no one would care to see very often. Of course',, on some ships there were no 'survivors at all.' If the weather had : beenall right, I think they would'have-lviau- • aged to get .the old Warrior into port. ; - Messrs. Baldwin' 'and Rayward, patent l pttornevs- and'- consulting, engineers, ot 215 I.ftrtWo'S Quay; report--that- recently Shey 'acted '-"as".'agents' .in . ftling-.ttie*' t'ol lowing applications for' lptters patent rrn" New-Zealand:—7..' Z:: Kraft, • Chicago, cheese'steriliser; S-. S. 'Allwill.' Auckland, preventing railway collision; FvR. I/ong, ('alirnry, card' index cabinet-; P.; Arthurs, Wellington;-tny'; Rv Fosterj-Anckland; fiat" fastener,•":S." -S: "Allwil],-'A;if'klarid,- intei-. ■ ;-,nal .^ombu'stionj,engine f;. R-.~Ar. Mason,' .Auckland, .-.vegetable.' .mit'ee:'-: S.-Slevenf, .•Auckland, hnri.ew;--.1: Petersen, Snattle, trnns-.nipsion devices Philli.ps and*Keller, fiydno.y; raft: D. E'. -Pei-rett, Palmerston, internal combustion engine. . ...

Messrs.-, Dalgety- ami Co;,-Ltd-..- MastKv. : ton.: report having, held,- -in' M-urray-'a Hall, rllasterton, -on Thursday/ a -successful sale of the-Waingawa account cf the"Wellingtou -Heat .'Export Co.. Ltd.- All ..the sections .worn disposed of at auction, with one exception, the following prices being realised Section 1. containing G2 nercs,- to Pierce Cotters Jtasterton, at, ,CM per acre; Section 2, containing CO .acresT to Pierce Cotter. Mastf-rton, -at -.vfila per acre-: Sectinji. 3, containing 70 acres,-to A. F. Playle. Dalefield, at -£15 lis-, per acre; Section 4. containing 72 acres,"to Harry- Hnw'tin. -Carteiton. -aty .£2O. .per. acre; Section.' 5, passed. ' ....