LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3003, 14 February 1917, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The health of tlm troops at Samoa was reported on yesterday by Colonel Logan, as follows 1 "19/375 Ptes. Cooney. debility, and 19/361 Rathboue, fiactured malleolus. All progressing favourably." ° "Wo have, I am sorry v 0 say, some people in this town who take pleasure in prowling round premises where they know that, there are no men folk at home." This statement was jnado by the Mayor (Mr. B. G. .Burn) at last evening's" meeting of the liarori Borouch. Council, wliere the subject under discussion was tlio rescinding of the motion passed early in January in connection with dog taxes in the borough. After lengthy dscnssion.on the point of reducing the dog tax,' ! it was finally decided to rescind the motion and make the don tax in the borousdi ss. for sport and house dogs, and 2s. Gd. for farmers' dogs. Speaking on the motion Councillor Fario complimented tho members of the deputation who waited on tho council for their interest and hoped that in the near future they would take tho interests of the borough even more to heart and form a Ratepayers' Association to forward affairs of interest to ratepayers.

Since the Military Senice Aot came into active operation nearly 17,000 Reservists of tho First Division have been notified that they have been selected for with tho Expeditionary Force. Tho number of names drawn in tho four ballots has been 17,467, but on each occasion the checking of the names has shown that somo of the men chosen are already members of the Forces or are dead. These names have been taken out of the lists, but are published in the official Gazettes under a special heading in order that no suspicion of may arise. The roll of the First Division contains now somo 60,000 names, but it is estimated that of tho men conceited not more

than 15,000 on a generous estimate will be found to bo availahlo for active service. 1 ' .

A young soldier who appeared before the Military Servico -Board.' yesterday told a story of tho strango effects of shell shock. "I romeniber going over from England to France," ho said, "but after that my mind is blank for a time. I do not remember the namo of my commanding officer, nor the date nor tho place .where, I was renderedunconscious by shell shock. When I 'came to' I did not even remember leaving New, Zealand. Sometimes now I feel the effects, and I have to givo up work for a while. Medical men tell n)e that in time the strange effects will wear off, and that my memory and nerves will bo restored to normal."

Tho promotion to a lieutenant-col-onelcy conferred C. E. Macdonald, Chief Instructor for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force Reinforcements, has given great satisfaction in the training camps, where the honour is taken as a compliment to the efficiency of the men and the system under which they are trained.

An experiment of interest to gardeners has been carried out at OhristcKurch. In August last a horticulturalist desired to make experiments on

lighting his greenhouse to endeavour to iWe his plants. Fourteen 100 c.p. and one 150 c.p. lamps were installed in this greenhouse. Thesoare of,the halfwatt type, which aro rich in rictinic rays or chemical rays, distinguished from the normal heat rays'. The filaments in these lamps aro worked at a very high temperature. Ho used sufficient current to cost at fd. rate 12s. 6d. per month;- but tho result was that he had t-omatbes in the market a month earlier than he would have had without the use of the lamps. The Christchurch Council Electrical Department donated the current free for these experiments.

A Westport district young man has becoming a soldier of tho King ina peculfar manner (says an exchange). A. "Clauso 35" man, who had received the usual official notice to attend the Medical Board, with humorous intention only, erased his own name, inserted that of a friend, and passed the document on. Before the joke could be explained, the second man, accepting the notice in good faith, went to Westport, presented his paper, was passed in Class A, attested, and has been postal to the next reinforcements. He

has no regretsj except that his funny neighbour is not going to Trentham with him.

A Christchurch boy, writing tu liis father from the front, gives an account of an unique experience that befell him. He says they wero doing their part in the "great push" at the Soninw when they came to some exceptionally deep trenches. These were examined most carefully, and at the end the New Zealanders came on a dug-out fully 100 feet deep and most luxuriously furnished. Hero there wero six German onicers sitting at 'r' table, but all wero dead. It is supposed that the Germans let loose gas, and that this surprised the officers ai their meal, when they woro unprovided with gas helmets, and they were promptly suffocated. Two orderlies were also similarly surprised..

For the third consecutive day 110 enlistments were recorded at the Christchurch Recruiting Office 011 Saturday. Mr. T. E. Stefci, !ho well-known shipping representative on the Auckland wharf, and his wife, says the Auckland "Star," have reason to be proud of their part in the war, having at present s[x sons in khaki. The whole of their eight sons pub in timo aa volunteers or Territorials before war broke out.

The Now Zealand Natives' Association Baud will play lit Newtown Park at 8 o'clock this eveuing.

With :i view to assisting the Federal war loan, the Hobart Recruiting Committee (states a Press Association message last ovening) is seeking to induce Tafctersall' to pay Ov-er sweep prizes of over £10 in war loan bonds.

Owing to the smallness of tho number of officers offering to attend, tho instructional course for officers sitting for the promotion examination at Wangauui, from January 29 to February 3, it was abandoned. Those officers who had signified their intention to attend will be permitted to attend the ■ refresher course which is to bo held at the show grounds, Palmerston North, from February 10 to February. 17. A seven days' refresher course for officers and n.c.o.'s of the Territorial Forco and Unattached List (b) officers, before going into the annual training camps, will bo held a|> tho show grounds, Palmerston North, commencing on February 10, and ending on February 37.

Tho Army housing scheme at Featherston, designed to overcome the difficulty of providing quarters for married men on staff and training duty, lias now been launched, and a start has been made with the constructijP. work. The quarterly meeting of the Public Servico Superannuation Fund Board was held at Wellington last week, Mr. J. H ; Richardson presiding in the unavoidable absence of the Hon. Minister of Internal Affairs. Nineteen contributors, retired under Section 35 of the Act by reason of ago .or length of service, were granted annual allowances totalling £3449 145., and two contributors, retired as medically unlit for duty, were granted allowances totalling £201 12s. pei' annum. Seventeen widows and fourteen children wero granted statutory allowances aggregate ing £488 per annum. In consequeuco of retirements wider Section 35, accrued compensation to the amount of £8138 became a liability of the Superannuation Fund, and a corresponding relief to the Consolidated Fund. Messrs. Allport, Ouggins, and tho member who may be elected to represent contributors belonging to the Police Department were appointed a Claims Committee for

tho ensuing year. Messrs.'Richardson, Allport, and Huggins were appointed a committee to draft the hoard's annual

report. The secretary reported tliat tho total amount to the credit of the fund on January 31, last was £933,182, an increase of £112,025 for the preceding year.

An examination in subjects B, D, and Tactical Fitness for Command, Part 1, for the promotion of officers of the Territorial Force, will bo hold at tho Garrison Hall, Wellington and the Showgrouuds, Palmerston North, commencing at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, February 21. Candidates will refwrt themselves half an hour before tho timtf fixed for the examination in the subjects they are taking up, in order 1o receive and sign for their index numbers and also to he allotted their seats by the boards.

. At last evening's meeting of tho Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals tho president (Mr. F. Meadowcroft) stated that as the result' of a request at tho previous meeting for publicity in connection with the small amount of subscriptions received there Md been a marked increase in the subscriptions received, for the past two weeks. One anonymous donor had kindly paid in £4 45., and the other subscriptions had been larger in number. Consequently the society was in a verv much better position to meetiits liabilities for Ule period.

The Wairarapa area officjr is, says our Mastertou correspondent, calling for twenty volunteers from among home servico reservists to act as medical orderlies at Awapuni Camp.

The importation into Now Zealand of "floss's Monthly" (a publication edited by R. S. Ross, 345 Queen Street, Melbourno) is prohibited by Order-in-Council.

The dropping of a few.words in the short biographical note about Colonel Logan in yesterday's issue gave rise to a rather important mistake. It was stated that Colonel Logan Was born in 188.1. As a matter of fact 1881, was the date of his arrival in Ne.w Zealand. Ho was born in 1863. -

The City. Council staff picnic will be held at Day's Bay ou Friday next. Invitations are being issued to the Mayor and the council to be present.

Those in the trade with tho best of inside information from Homo, state that all classes of _cotton goods will jump in value during the next few months. It, is said,that at the present time cotton piece goods can bo purchased iu Auckland and Wellington cheaper than they can be obtained by the trade from British manufacturers, and that even at the enhanced prices no guarantee of shipment cau be given. One representative of a Home firm informed a Dominion reporter that calico was being sold iu Auckland 2d. a yard cheaper than he could quote from the manufacturer, and that without the additioual charges of freight, insurance, and duty. The reason of big rises which had already taken place at Home was the shortage of cottoli supplies. America had only produced 12,000,000 bales of cotton last season, 9,000,000 of which were required for home consumption, leaving only 3,000,000 for outside' buyers, who had to pay fancy prices for it, not altogether for manufacturing purposes, but for munitions—to be shot away into thin air. When he last heard from Home, Is. 3§d. per lb. was being paid for American cotton, ■which usually brought sd. to 6d. per lb~ Egyptian ootton, from which the muslins, voiles, and lighter materials were made, was fetching 2s. sd. per lb., a higher price than has ever been realised in the history of the world.

An unusual interest was manifested' in the publication of the Gazette Extraordinary containing the names of those drawn in the latest ballot for active service. A tradesman on Lambton Quay, realising the keenness of the public to see the names, secured a copy of the Gazette and pasted the sheets on his window, with the result that his shop was the centre of a crowd that frequently throughout the day blocked the whole of the footpath. As only one Gazette had been secured, some of the pages faced the window, but before the afternoon was through , anxious people had torn down some of tho sheets in order to read the names on the other side, and the sheets were left flapping in the wind, still however, by hundreds of eager inquirers.

Captain W. J. Reid and Captain W. R.. Holmes have been' appointed assessors at the inquiry into the recent wreck'of the Maitai at Rarotonga, to be held at Auckland. The date is not yet fixed.

Samuel Ellis, found guilty at- the Christchurcli Supreme Court on a charge of assault, causing bodily harm, admitted that he had a hasty temper. His Honour Sir John Denniston sentenced him to three months' imprisonment. —Press Assu.

At a cominittce meeting of tho Wellington Automobile Club held yesterday it was decided to postpone the pro> posed motor picnic arranged to be given on February 17 to return wounded soldiers until there is a larger number able to accept the club's invitation.

Walter Whitero, a wharf labourer, residing at the 1 Salisbury Terrace, committed suicide yesteday afternoon by inflicting wounds with a razor. He was admitted to tho Hosiptal,- but died at 7 o'clock last night.

Tiio Commonwealth Bank of Australia now conducts tho Savings Bank Department, using the 2600 post offices in Australia as agencies for the bank as far as the Savings Department is concerned. It is jnteresting to find that New Zealand uepositors aro vastly better treated here than are depositors in tho Commonwealth Savings "iiauli. Tho latter institution only offers nt,present 3 per cent, up to £300. The New Zealand depositors are offered 3jd. per eenE. up to £300, and 3 per cent, on any moneys between £300 and £1000.