LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3167, 18 August 1917, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Sir Joseph AVard stated yesterday afternoon that ho liiid received a telegram stating that the Auckland Savings Bank had decided Io invest .£250,000 in the new War Loan.

At a, recent meeting of the parishioners of St. Thomas's, ii was unanimously agreed that "the parish should give ono of the pillars (,£1000) for tho proposed new Anglican Cathedral.

• A (ive-roomed house, No. 4 Princo Street, off lioxburgh Street, and contents suffered severely by fire last evening, the outbreak occurring while the occiiiiant, Mr. Wyatt, was away from home. Tho building, which was covered by insurance, was owned by Mr. H. G. Jensen.

Tho following taxes have been paid during the war by the , Jlanawatu Bacing Club:—Totalisutor tax 1914-15 racing year, £$M 17s. Bd.; totelisator tax 1915-16, .£2928 Ifis.; totalisator tax 1916-17. £1627 Bs. lid.; dividend iax 1915-11). .£2636 (is. 6d:; dividend tax li)l(i-I7, 4?2(>5 Ss-; ta* on stakes 1915-ie, JCBB 17s.'; tax on stakes 1916-17, ,E93 95.; tnx on receipts 1914-IS, .EB2 fis. ,Td.; tax on receipts 1915-16, Jcs3 9s. 8tl.; tax on receipts 19115-17, .ESli'Ss. Gd. Total, £16,284 18s. lid.

The folloH-injj will be presented with medal's by His Excellency the GovernorGeneral at the parado to be held at Auckland on Tuesday evening next (says the "Star"):—Mrs. Powley, wife of Captain Powley, receives Hie Military Cross on behalf ot her husband, who was killed in action; Mrs. Boyd, wife of Caplain Boyd, N.ft.M.c!. at present on his way to Erpl; receives the Military Cross on behalf of her lmOjami; Mrs. Rankin, mother of the late Sergeant J. lfankm,. N.Z.F.A., receives Hie D.C.M.,. won by her sou on GallipoH; Mr. K. G. Gault, of Poneonby. receives the Serbian Medal, awarded" Io his son, Private A. Ganltj Trooper N, D. Chanipney, of Whangarei, receives the Serbian Silver Medal; Private W. H. Butler, of Te Kanwhatn,.recedes the Militay Medal; Sergeant S. G. S. Lock, of Dovonport, receives the Military Medal; Sergent J. fc. ..Beatlie, of Remuera, receives ( the Meritorious Service Medal.

The following telegram, dated August U has been received by tho Prime Minister of Australia —"With reference to tout telegram of August 8, . I regret ih«t owing to gifts .for Australian troopi having been rigorously restricted, _and the Teat difficulty experienced in findins space for the small quantities permitted to be carried, it is quite impossible to prov.ido space to Egypt tor New Zealand gift goods.' .Hie. High Commissioner is being asked, in view ot the above, how gift goods, can bo sent to Egypt from New Zealand; and if they are shipped to England will they be "sent on to Egypt. ■ The lack of bathing facilities at Tauherenikiin Camp was brought under the Defence Minister's notice, in the House of Representatives yesterday by .Jlr. tr. R Sykes. Hβ said that the absence of any kind of baths at the camp was a. source of complaint among the men. Sir James Allen said he had had no complaints on the matter, but he would make inquiries.

In connection with the French Legion of Honour, one of the privileges of the wearer of this decoration is that lie cannot, in any. Trench jurisdiction, be '.imprisoned, or even formally sentenced till ho has been expelled from the Order. The form of expulsion is, however, a simple one. The Judge of the court says: "You have been found wanting in honour; in the name of the Legion I solemnly expel you from its ranks. After this tho law takes its course, 'lo the Russian Cross of St. Andrew attaches the privilege of demanding, once, the life of a man seutenced to death. The wearer of the Cross has the rigiit to nsk. ■for, and is entitled to receive, a free pardon for any-convicted criminal. Saturday evening, October G, has been fixed as the date of the performance of Coleridge Taylor's tuneful cantata, "A Tale of Old Japan." by the "Wellington Choral Tfnion. The soloists will .be Messrs. Frank Charltou (baritone), G. W. Ibey (tenor), and Mrs. Maurice Jones (contralto). So far the soprano has 'liot been definitely engaged. A Wellington.gentleman who recently paid a visit to Japan states that war contracts are creating millionaires in that country just as quickly as they do in America. Before the war Japan was not a financially strong nation, but now she- is to be reckoned with as one of tho strongest of the great Powers, for apart from naval pa'trol and escort work, her part in the great war has been negligible, except as a provider of munitions to Bnssift, which work has kept every factory going at top speed, and in addition, .to this the trade of tho world has flowed automatically to Japan as the nations became involved, in war. Tho enoi'inous demand for metals has been a bonanza for Japan. AVhen the visitor in question was. there he heard that fortunes had been made by shrewd Japanese, who liad combed China for its brass "cash" (the coins wfth tho square hole in the centre), which were bought at face value and sold in ingot form at a big advance. ■

■ An ancient ship's cannon with an interesting history has" been presented by Colonel Porter, C.8., ; to the Napier Soldiers' Club. The cannon was recovered from the wreck of a, whaler near the East Coast about (he year 1795. _In the year 1827, or thereabouts, one Maori murdered another. The murderer was captured, sentenced to death, and a newlyappointed Maori preacher authorised to decide what form the execution should take. Crucifixion wn,s decided upon, but when the man was tied to a rude cross a warrior suggested that the cannon above referred toi being a weapon made to kill wit'h,' should be used; The gun w.iK loaded, l>each stones being used as bullets, and fired from twenty paces, the result being that the murderer wns blown to ntoms. The cannon was subsequently designated "Te Pu Repu, i Renekatia te Kohuru," the translation of which, it is stated, is "the cannon that crucified the murderer." In 1865. on the outbreak of war, the late loyal Chief of Ngatiporou, Major Ropata, N.Z.C., presented the cannon to Colonel Porter. Accompanying the cannon aro two 6Mb. shots, 'which were fired from H.M.S. Brisk -when landing troops at Poverty Bay in 1856. N

A wharf labourer flamed George Johnston, a married :nan, residing at 31 Ohir-) Boaxl, vras admitted to the Hospital'last night with both ankles broken. Ho., was -working on a steamer -when a sling of timber struck him.

•■ Yet another ■ convenient aid to the •thriftv has been-lost (says-the ...Auckland "Star I ').-. Inquirers-at the savings coinnter in the General Post Office are now' informed that the neat and efficacious savings- boxes ire .no longer _ available. What a boon those boxes are in increasing .savings balances may ■be gauged from tlie fact thnt a-very-large proportion- indeed of account owners in the Post Office Savings Bank make use of them, as by the deposit of a single shilling the. thrifty ono had the means of accumulating every snare coin, withna possible chance of being able to extract it at a later day. As the clerk at the counter will Bexplnin, these most handy "banks" are not manufactured in )hiscountry, but have to bo imported, and prevalent conditions have made the authorities unable to pot them. So all the stocks in hand have been distributed, and there is no immediate prospect of obtaining more. One of the enthusiastic admirers of the British "lank" recently ._gnvo his impressions of the car in action. Hβ said, in a letter to his friends: "The tanks are simply wonderful. They can do up prisoners in bundles like straw, binders, and, in addition, lia.ve an adaptation of a. Gross printing machine, which onables. them .to catch up the Huns, fold, count, and deliver them in quires, every 13tli man .being thrown out. a little further than the others. The cars in question can chmew up barbed wire aud turn it into munitions. As they run they slash their tails and clear away trees, houses, howitzers, and everything else in the vicinity. They 'turn on their backs, catch live shells with their caterpillar efet, and can easily bn adapted as submarines; indeed, most of them cross the Channel in this gm?e. They loon-the-loop, travel forwards, backwards, sideways, not only with equal speed but at the Bamo time. Iho tanks can do anything and everything; in'fact, if there is anything that can t ue done, the tanks can do it.; . . Satisfaction in hats:froni Gco. Fowlds, Ltd., Manners Street, fireat selection in shades and ehapes, Bs. 6d. io 425. Stetson's start at 376. Bd,-Advt,. ■

The Napier-Wairoa Road has for some time been blocked for motor traffic (says our Napier correspondent), and is likely to remain so for some time yet. Motorists desiring to proceed by that route havo to abandon the journey, though several disappointed parties from other centres have arrived in Napier, and only then icarntthat the. road is impassable. ■ James Emvright, age-d 18, and residing in. Egmoiit Street, was yesterday working in the State coal yard when he fell and fractured his right leg. He was admitted to the Hospital in the afternoon. Mr. England, agricultural chemist attached to Cuming Smith Proprietary, Ltd., acting under the Victoria Wheat Commission, has destroyed 36,000,000 mice ill wheat stacks in two months (says the Sydney "Sun"). Under his control, inspectors from the Vermin Destruction Department, worked at 10 stations," and in *ix weeks captured l>oo tons of mice. The cost of the bisulp'hatcd sulphide of carbon used in the destruction amounts to a. few farthings for every 10,000 mice gassed.

"The picture shows are drawing people out of fiie pubUc-hou<e.v" said Mr. . J. Payne (Grey Lynn). "They are drawing the boys aiid girls from the street corners. The tax proposed to be placed on flic picture shows would close nearly all tho theatres in New Zealand if it was not passed on the public. To pass it on fo the public means making a levy on (he. amusements of the women anil tho "boys and girls."

Tho telegram has been sent by tho Defence Minister to the chairmen of the councils of the four University Colleges of New Zealand:—"Committee under Lord Selborne have formulated a scheme to make available for suitable applicants from among overseas soldiers and sailors who have served the Empire, the academic, scientific, commercial, and industrial educatioual facilities of tho United Kingdom, and have ascertained that universities and technical schools will welcome such men and provide tor one year courses of study specially designed for all needs. Committee has sufficient funds aavilable to commence, and the New Zealand Government has been asked to nominate- one disabled Aew Zealand soldier for course at University, beginning soon. Will you please suggest for consideration the name of a New Zealand disabled Eoldier whose studies were interrupted by the war. ■ To enable nomination to be acted on without delay it will be well to sugeest disabled man now in England or France."

Some interesting figures were laid on the table, at a Farmers' Union meeting at Auckland. They concern British imports for 1915, comparison being made of those from within the Empire and those from foreign couintiree. Thirty-four per cent, of the wheat and flour came from within the Empire, the butter from the Umpire was valued at five millions, and from without 22 ' millions. Much the greater portion of the imports of cheese, Rubber, and wool came from British Dominions, but only 28 per cent, of the meat came, from these sources, 20 pe cent, of the sugar and cotton, worth l<, millions, as against a ™I«<> ° f 4 ' nullions brought in from elsewhere. in evidence of the extreme mildness of the winter and the early approach of sprin- is to be seen in the country between Alexandra and Cromwell (says the "Ota"o Times"). There the late peach trees are in bloom, which is quite a month earlier than usual. Another evince of an early spring is the nojve*ng of the gore© bushes, which are now a blaze of yellow. Air J M'Combs, M.P., will deliver an address on ''The Budget ?«W™** at the Alexandra Hall, Abel Smith Street, ou Sunday evening at b. Messrs. Baldwin and Rayward, patent attorneys and consulting , engineers, ot -lo Lambton Quay, report that recent y th y acted as agents in filing «ie follo«iu; applications for letters patent of New Zealand—Postum Cereal Company, Limited. Battle Creek, puffed' cereal cakes; G. Craw, AVellington, treating flax; Al. Si Budge, Auckland, wool holder; R, A\., aiSnd;Se&s%ui M6rrin\ville. watch guard; Pomnghouse and' Mills, AVellington, water heater; S. S Allwill, Hautapu, aeroplane; F. M. Allen, Manurewa, coal breaker.