LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 14, 11 October 1917, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Postmaster-General stated in the The contract had just been extended for «f the war, and 5t is not intended to „ ake'tn; concession on the rates nnmstaneeVthe Railway Department will in the House of Representatives yesterA slight shock of earthquake was- ex-, .erienced in Masterton at 11.20 o'clock on Tuesday night. i' notice is gazetted prohibiting, the etpoitaUon of butter from the Dominion eavo with the consent of the Minister of PiKtoius The prohibition, does not. exSTo butter shipped *m™!™* with the consent of a Collector of O«s----toms as stores for the use of the vessel. The cost of furnishing (i MI » di "K <$£?■ writers) tho various offices of the Eincieucy Board is as follows :-Auckland, X- Wellington. J546; Christchurch. ,£29 C: Dnnedin, .£4lO. A etorv of 'luck" is told in Wellington. •V shopkeeper was selling «rt union ticket* for patriotic purposes. He asked a customer to buy one. The customer refused, tat afte.-hard battling the shopkeeper aot him to buy a shilling chance, lhe obstinate buye/drew a prizo running_into three figures, and a few days later ;e----nied to the shopkeeper .and Rave him €1 for having Twdgowd luin into taking Hie winning ticket. The shopkeeper invested Z S M in another ar union and struck a. very handy sum in pnsse to the request for musical instruments for the men at Trentham, a Sntlcinanrwbo declined to give his name, called at the Y.M.C.A. -headquarters, yesterday and left a valuable Unto n. a A 'statement regarding the conduct of j New Zealand troops was made in the House of Representatives yesterday by Mr L M. Isitt. "Mr/Poole. and myself spent a very pleuart hour with tho captain and officers or the .said Mr. Tsitt "We were more than delighted to hear that they had taken out a- big contingent of New Zealanders and that they had had experience of English troops and to hear tho captain say that never in his life had he been assocm ed with a number of men whose discipline was so good, or whose behaviour was so Tplendid as that of these men. When they Btopped at a certain way port there wa/not a man who did not behave in I way that was a credit to the conntry and to his contingent. There is just a possibility that the Defence authorities will take over the buildings vacated by the Cable Company at Wakapuaka to use them as a convalescent home lor returned eoldiers. Councillor Tucker has given notice of his intention to move at Saturday s meeting of tho Onslow Borough Council:"That in view of the extremely unsatisfactory reply of the- Superintendent of J>legraphs to the request forUhe. installa-tion-of a slot telephone-in Ngaio. a deputation consisting of Hie the Mayor and the councillors of the> Nsaio waYd wait upon tho Postinaster-General and point out the vital necessity of'such a telephono for Nsaio. The establishment of a wireless time service in New Zealand has been strongly" urged on many occasions (state* tho Government Astronomer in his annual report), but beyond the erection of an aerial at tho Observatory nothing has been done in this important motter The need for such a service has been recognised by most other British possessions, and many wireless bine services havo been established within the kst two yenrs. New Zealand occupies a uniquTposition in the Pacific Ocean for he establishment of a regular, wireta time service, so it is hoped that steps nmy now bo taken to complete the mstallation at the Observatory. The cost would not be E reat, provided errawemento wn bo made with, the Telegraph Department for the U so .of the existing wireless stations in sending flißnals.,OcSnnl time-signals have been received at the Observatory with apparatus loaned by the Teleuraph Department. Tho report mentions that tho determination of the longitude of Tahiti by wireless was successfully carried out last year, and it is recommended that steps be taken to determine the longitude of tho Islands of New Zealand. A rather good story is told of a resident in a township on the Main Trunkline whose children make a hobby of pmiltrv-rearinK. Wishing to encourage them, 'the other day he bought pome eese in town and put two in each of the fowls' nests. That evening one of the TonnVsters camo mslune into the house, Sliming- "Mother! Mother! our fow 3 are S «ffl with Palmerston North printed on them!" judge Jones is presiding over a sitting of tho Ikaroa Native Land Court at Mas"rhe' following will represent the Wairarapa Presbytery at the General Asscrablv to bo held at Dnnedin next month; The Revs. Cathcrwqod, Welch, M'Gregor, and L. Thompson; and Messrs. Dagg, Fisher, and M'Kenzie. ' A return laid on the table of the House nf llcnresenlatives on the motion of Mr. T \ II Field regarding the nernianont Staff'officers in charge of operations in tie camps at Featherston Trentham, Awapuni and Narrow Neck gives the total number as 90. OF these 51 are without experience in the present campaign; ?i are without, experience in tho present or previous campaigns; 1.1 havo expericure in previous campaigns, but without experience in the present campaign. Tho number of returned officers and men employed in the camps aro: Officers 40, other ranks 100.

Additional regulations iiR to the sale anil purchase of wool are published in a Gazette Kxtruordiuary issued yesterday. They provide that the controller of tlio Doparlinont of Imperial Governniont Supplies may license such persons as ho deems iit to purchase wool for subsequent sale to the Crown. All wool purchased by a person so licensed must bo delivered by him at the wool store of a Government wool-broker.

The number of admissions to hospital at the military camps for the week ending Octobor 5 were:—'L'rontham 50, Vcntlierston 50, Awapuni 3. Influenza wae responsible for 48 cases. Ouo death look place, and there were three soriouu cases. Influenza is much less at Fcatherston, but remains the same at Trentham.

The alleged •wrongful arrest of o child at Kawakawa in of last .year was diseuesed in the itouso of Kepresentalivca yesterday. The Minister for Justice, who had been questioned on the subject, said that tho local constable "was not guilty of exceeding his dnty in the action he took in tho matter." The child "was not arrested nor publicly charged with theft by 'the police." Mr. V. 11. Heed (Bay of Mauds) said the fact was that the little girl had been suspected of theft by a policeman, who had stopped her in the street, taken her to the police station, and frightened/her into confessing guilt by threatening to lock her up. Then, he took her to her school nnd told the teacher she was tho thief. Tho parents were ignorant of these happenings, but tirouga the intervention of a local clergyman, tho real thief was discovered and tho frightened child- released. Mr. Roed added that the girl's parents were entitled to a full admission of the constable's blunder. Several other memSers expressed indignation at tiie affair.

Owing to tho City Council having reserved the Town Hall for each Saturday ovoning after November 1 for the entertainment of soldiers, tho Choral Union has boon compelled to change the date of tho performance of "The Messiah from Saturday, December 15, to Wednesday, Deoember 19. The 30th Reinforcements have organised a concert party, and the gift of a set of costumes would be very much appreciated. A parcel addressed to Corporal Pritcliard, H Company, K Shed, would be gratefully and promptly acknowledged. , Our soldiers have been the victims of 'many classes of "sharper." One particu'lar "branch of victimisation (says the Dunedin "Star") practised on our ieturning men, particularly at certain Wls; ports, is by the sale of "precious stones and jewellery, which, when examined by experts, are found "to be practically valueless. Our attention has been drawn to this fact by a well-known local tovcller, whose unpleasant duty it has been on. several occasions lately to explain to disappointed, and sometimes resentful, .roldiers. that the "rubies ■ sapphires," etc., which they had brought home to be set for their womenfolk wero not worth the pocket space they had occupied, There is work for all and plenty over just now, more especially in the country (says the "Southland Times ). lhe dewand for all-round farm hands, plough, men, shepherds, and inusterers grows in Keenness daily, and the supply is not nearly up to the demand. Particularly is this so in regard to ploughmen (both married and single), wages for whom a>* still gradually on the increase. Sawmills and flaxmills aro busy but very shorthanded. Country casual labourers are not so eagerly inquired alter, but most can be placed. In towu trade emp oynient offers steady work, but general, labourers have not a great choice of jobs.

TVTr. -Witty (Riccarton) has given no ice to ask the Government: W hetlier they will state the reason unutr (lie present snipping difiicultics why JCIOOO per trip is paid to the Union Steam Ship Company for a service between New Zealand awl San Francisco anil allow the colony ol Tahiti, which pays a much smaller subsidy., to monopolise the majority ot cargo space available?

Miss Grant, residing at 21 kenwyn J erraue, was last ijight admitted to the Hospital suffering , from severe .burns about the hands und. amis.

Tho Board of Trade has wade further inquiricß in Christehurch into the position of tho meat trade. The members ol the board have left for the south and will not return until October 20. ihe butcher* in the meantime have ..agreed to bear the charges fixed ''until the board's inquiries aro completed. Since tho arrangement was made with the butchers, the board lias received many complaints as to tho high prices of meetin Christchuich. Definite complaints have been made- that people cannot buy frozen meat from the butchers at the prices agreed upon. It is stated that the butchers, when asked for frozen moat, simply state they do not sell it, and customers have to buy fresh meat tor which high rates are. paid at Addmgton yards. These complaints are being •■investigated b'y the board. On its southern tour the' board will visit Timaru, Oamaru, and Dunedin. Its work there will be mainly in connection with the wheat question, especially the Governments purchase of the 1917-18 crop, lhe Minister for Agriculture has instructed it to consult farmers, millers andi others, it is probable that a conference ot the wheat trade, representing all parts oi me South Island will be held to go finally into the question with the board. In his sermon at a special service in connection with-the day of national prayer," held at the Homan Catholic, Cathedral, Christchurch, Bishop Brodie, after reviewing the progress of the war, said- "Coniiriß to our own Dominion, our legislators ore grappling with questions of great importance, lor example, there is the question of pensions for tho men. of tho Second Division. But did they ever give a thought to the magnitude of' the . Second Division question itself? Whether they are justified m insisting on this universal divorce? Whether the infinitesintally small help the Second Division men can give the Jimnire'will compensate for tho irreparable harm the lose' of theso men will cause to tho moral and social life of this Dominion? And whether the Empire, m her desire to avonge injustice, would require her youngest Dominion to deplete her strength by such a. sacrifice which would reduce her mothers to the state of widowhood and would render her children fatherless?, The question of pensions may be important, but the mam nuestion is one of transcending magnitude In such a matter our statesmen are face to face with a problem which must be approached with the strictest conscientiousness and with a desire to do the best for the welfare of tho Empire and our Dominion. No less a quantity than 937 tons of fish was destroyed at the Christchurch city destructor during tho last financial year, out of a total of 16,570 tons of rubbish of ■ill kinds. Included in the food condemned by the health inspector were 1186 rabbits, ten sacks of crayfish, fifty-two casks of groper. and 8401b. of whitebait. Mrs A E. Horw'ood, of Rattray Street, Dnnedin, has received particulars of tho death of Major A. E. Horwood. lhe letter was written by M. M. Cowper to his father, Mr. F. G. Cowper, ot Kaitoke Station, Dannevirke, and the latter sent ft on to Mrs. Horwood. The, lettoiywhich is doted August.3, reads as follows:-You will no doubt be surprised to get a lettei dated so soon after the last, but I am just w.riting to mention we lost our O.C. a couple of days ago. A shell landed fair on top of his "bivvy." I was there ehortlv afterwards, and helped to get him out I will say nothing but that death was instantaneous. His name was Major A B Horwood, M.C. ,He was a man who had risen from the ranks (ho was a. sergeant-major in the Permanent Artillery -when war broke out), and the mere fact of that stamps him as a man something out of the ordinary. His crow was gained through his own devotion to duty, though Ke used to try to make us lieli'eve that the battery had won it for him. All of us who havo known him any length of time feel that we liavo lost n. personal friend, and not n mere officer, nnd I think most of us are better men for having been in close toucFwith him. The welfare of his men was hie first consideration, and I have never knovvn him personally to put a man "on the mat." and any ninn who appealed to Mm could W> certain he was getting a f:\ir deal. Hp was loved aifd respected by all, and I think the only way I can tell you of how we looked upon him is to say that ho was a "white man." Commercial travellers are Ukine kindly to "GOLDEN HULK" Soap and "NO RUBBING" Laundry Help. So ..!so are thrifty housewives, consequently its success is assured. Wellington merchants — Advt.

Mr. Malcolm (Clutha) intends to ask the Pniiio minister —(1) Whether it, is proposed to hold n. sitting of the. Imperial Conference or Imperial War Cabinet One year or early next year; and, if so, what are the Government's intentions in tho matter? (2) Iβ tho Government satisfied tli.it leading Ministers of tho House cannot afford to absent Uiunieolves to attend such niDeting6; nnd, if bo, mil they make other ai-rangomonts for Now Zealand b representation, at the abovo Imperial meetings?

The circumstances connected with an arrest at Hamilton -were discussed in. the House of Representatives yestorday. A man vns admitted to the Waikato Hospital and his case was diagnosed by the medical superintendent as delirium tremens He became violent, and as the Hospital's padded cell was nlready- occupied, the police were askej to remove him In order that he might become liable to arrest the Hospital authorities uut him outside the institution and a constable at once arrested him on a charge of being drunk in a public place. While in police custody the man injured his head by his own violence, and became a hopeless lunatic. His wife now appealed for relief. Several members urged that cases of. this kind ought not to be placed in police Lands at all. _nir John Fiudlay said there was an obvious weakness in tho law, since- a man could not be arrested even for his own good unless he had committed an offence or was insane. The man in the enso under notice had only becomes liable to arresi. by tho action of the Hospital authorities.