LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3188, 12 September 1917, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Minister of Defence stated in the House of Representatives yesterday that he had received a cablegram "porta,, tho safe arrival of the J f w ®^7' nin H Reinforcements at a port of call, iia regretted to have to state that one man, Private Thomas ClaTk, 1 Company, hod ded during tho voyage from cerebro. spinal meningitis. ' The Minister of Defence stated in the camp canteens was under. consideration at present. It was. quite possible that tho Government might take ■ over tho management of canteens. They had been prepared to hand over the/canteens to the Y.M'.C.A., but tho negotiations had broken, down. 1 The«great cost of keeping German prisoners at Motuihi was mentioned by Mr. jrCallum in the House of Representatives yesterday. He said a strong feelin" of resentment liad been aroused by this extravagance. Something should be done to keep down the cost. The prisoners might as well be sent to the Grand Hotel at Auckland. The Minister of Defence said ho had visited the camp twice and ho could not find out Jiny gxtravagance. When the war was. over we anticipated being able to recover these expenses from our enemies.

The Napier Borough Council will on Friday conaidor a scheme to nssist' its employees to purchase £5 War Certificates (our special- correspondent telegraphs). It is suggested that tlio men should havo tho opportunity of paying for the certificates by monthly instalments of ss. 2d„ the council meanwhile advancing the money. The censor of films has examined separate films of a total length of 2,107,310 feet between September IG, 1916, and March 31, 1917. Approval was refused in 17 cases. - In lli cases approval was granted only after excisions had been made to the satisfaction of the cersor. One appeal (which was dismissed) was made ngainst the censor's decision. Inspection and other fees amounted - to .£733, which more than covered the expenditure during the period. Bequests have been made for an amendment of tho Act to provide . for the censorship of posters advertising films, and legislation is to be drafted to deal with the matter.

The rents charged at Trentham to soldiers whoso wives lived near the camp were referred to by Mr. Glover in the House of Eepresentatives yesterday. He said ho knew of soldiers who had to pay as much' as 30s. a week for a tworoomed' cottage. The Minister of Defence said the Government could not make provision in the vicinity of camps for, the wives and families of soldiers. Tlio regulations providing for financial assistance did not apply to such cas"es, and to build enough houses would involve an expensive and costly programme.

The details of family history furnished bj 1 an appellant who appeared before the First Military Service Board yesterday were of a tragic character. He stated that his mother was an invalid, that his father had had thrg.o paralytic strokes, a married sißter had died of cancer, and her husband suffered from epileptic fits, and of' two brothors one was an imbecile.

A return laid on the table cf the House of Representatives yesterday showed that 7,901,29D1b. of tea in bulk (in packages of slb. net or aver) wero imported into the Dominion during the year ending March 31 last. The' value of this tea was ,£389,181, and the aver, ago price per lb. wa6 11.7 d. Tho largest consignmout of the tea was landed at Lyttelton, where 2,220;0G71b., valued at .£107,770, was imported. Auckland imported ,1,456,9341b., valued at .£71,554; Wellington, 1,807,3041b., valued at ,£91,830; Dunedin, 2,027,8801b., valued at JJ99.648; and other ports 350,1141b., valued at .£18,379. Thero were al?o imported 15,921 packages of tea under 51b. not, valued at .£7lB, made up as follows: Auckland, 36061b., ,£172; Wellington, 82931b., valued at .rail; Lyttelton, .mlb., .£6l;- Dunedin, 24201b., J;!20; other ports, 10271b., .£54. The average prico per lb. of this tea was 10.8 d.

Tlio War Funds Collection Committeo acknowledge receipt of tho following sums on behalf of the Our Day Red Cross and blind soldiers and sailors ap-peal-.—Already acknowledged, J. Saltnond (Perth), £10: total, ,£SO.

"No Subbing" Laundry Help is what is recommended for washing clothes clean without rubbing or injury to the hands and fabrics.—Wright, Stephenson and Co., Ltd.—Advt.

A youth who appeared before the Military Service Board yesterday and said ho would bo twenty years old on October 2, was told lie was not a reservist, and asked why lxo appealed. The lad replied, "That is what I want to know.' It appears that the lad could neither read nor write, and the complications arose mainly through this.

A Press Association telegram stales that a meeting of settlers of Muripara yesterday carried the following resolution:—"That as the residents of Muripara, Galatea, Te Whiti, Ruatalianui, and beyond are practically without food, due to tho impossibility of getting carriers to travel along tho road in its present condition, it is urgont that a grant of .£IOO be at onco made for improvements on the Galatea Road from tho eighteen to the twenty-three mile peg. It was decided that tho resolution be telegraphed to the Minister of Public Works, the Minister of Railways, and the Minister of Agriculture.

Mr. R. Fletcher asked the Minister of Public Health in tho House of Representatives yesterday whether lie would exempt doctors under engagement /to friendly societies in his scheme for the conscription of medical men. These doctors, lie 6aid, were doing very necessary work, and they had been brought to this country* by the societies at great expense. The Minister said that the point had been oonsidered in the drafting of the Bill, and if the Bill came to the House in its present shape tho honourable gentleman would have nothing to complain of.

A request for leave for some of tho farmers now in the mounted camp at Tauhcrenikau was made to tho Defence Minister in the House of Representatives yesterday by Mr. G. Witty. It was.stated by Mr. Witty that there were fully trained mounted men at Featherston who were hold in New Zealand because of tho lack of transports. He asked whether these men could not bo given threo or four weeks' leave without pay, in order to return to their fams for the lambing season. He thought they could do more valuable work on their {arms than they could in camp, seoing that their period-of training was -completed, Sir Jajn'es Allen said that ho could not give a definite Teply to the question that day. Ho asked for time to make inquiries.

In. the Magistrate's Court yesterday, Jcftspji E. Croxson waß fined .£1 for insobriety. Daniel MTarlano was fined X 3 for a similar offence. A. lad about fourteen years of ago came before llr. S. E. M'Cartliy, S.M., yesterday, on charges of absconding from Weraroa State Farm, and "stealing an overcoat. He was ordorfid tt> be sent back to tlio farm. Another la<l was committed for stealing lead.

According to a return placed on tlio table of the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon by the Minister of Defence, on the motion of Mr. Wilford, there were eighty-eight home-£orvico men and twenty-three civilians employed in the A.G.2 (recruiting) branch of the Defence Department on August lb last. Tlio number of retnrneH "soldiers in the branch was twenty-four.

The annual report of the National Provident Fund, laid on the table ot the House of Representatives yesterday, shows that the contributors to the fund, on December 31 last numbered 9H7, representing an annual contribution lncomo of ,£88,664 Ss. id. The total funds amounted to £122,361 to. 7d-, compared 'with 9s. sd. at the close of tlia previous year. Maternity allowances amounting to ~£3775-17s. Bd. were paid to 634 contributors. The expenses for the year .1!M were 19.9 per cent, of the contribution income. A correspondent signing herself Inquirer" writes asking l\ow the number of winning tickets in the Crippled Soldiers' Art Union happened to &o™ uniformly high. Tho answer is that the largest proportion of the tickets sold there were 400,000 of them-were naturally those of six figures. Only 09,999 tickets out of the .400,000 could be less, in numbor than six figures. • . On Dominion Night (September 24) the Early Settlers' and Historical Association of Wellington is to hold a of pioneers and their descendants in tho Town HaU. An interesting programme is in course of preparation, for tho oocaTho Hawke's Bay Acclimatisation. Society is liberating a quantity of young trout in the Waikare Raver. v An amusing hoax, whioh played upon a weakness of human nature, tos perpetrated in connection with Save tho Babies" Day at Qisborne. A lanematocraph operator was statioped at a convenient point, industriously turning a handle, and as the proceanon wended its way- past, charming ladies, demure girls,- and even staid men preened themselves, and looked as "fetohing' as possible in tho delightful anticipation of "being in tho picture." Unfortunatoljfor their hopes, the "camera was merely a butter-Dos— got up by the stafl of a picture theatre in a style which decked even those who liatl a close of

the mechanism. A further letter, dated Mar been i received, from Flight-Lieutenaat Hugh Hamilton, of Kelson, a pnsoner in. Germany. He states (says the Colonist") that he has had another move, and at the time of writing was at Magdeburg, this being the. fifth hosratal of •wfcich he has been an inmate. He says that his right arm had so far recovered that the bandages were taken oil, Ms face was practically all' right, and it was expected that in another three weeks or a month the skin would have grown over the burnt flesli on the left arm.. When he had recovered he expected to be shifted to an officers' prison camp. He repeats that he is allowed to write one letter only .each fortnight, and, as he lias to make provision by letter for lus - needs to bo met by parcels from England, this itestriction prevents him from writing as regularly to his relatives as lie would wish. He also states that, exclusive of bread and biscuits, most of the parcels came through a committee set m bv the Government, and the allowaiico per man was three parcels 111 each fortnight. In' addition to that relatives or friends were permitted to forward articles to an aggregate weight of 221bs. per month, exclusive of apparel and "smokes." Incidentally, Lieutenant Hamilton gives a few additional particulars of his descent from a height of 9000 ft. in a flaming plane. He says that a bullet perforated the petrol tank and the spirit took fire He got from his seat on to one of the wires, and, reaching over, was able io manage the aircraft. When approaching the ground he was frightened to make ft landing, as the machine waß so much on fire that ho thought it would collapse under the shock, and bury his gunner and himself under the burning debris. He therefore "stalled" the machine, and called on his gunner to drop off, and lie himself dropped to earth, both of them escaping without furthor injury.